Re: Homer Simpson at the NIH

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com>]

The original publications are all gone. There used to be a great 
number of them, from companies like Prentice-Hall and Commerce 
Clearing House.  The publications all struggled when the Internet 
put the government into the business.  Some of the companies 
transformed themselves (CCH is still around, but it's very 
different, for example), some did not.  Now there is a robust 
publishing sector for tax information, as publishers have found 
new ways to package and augment material.  So now we have a 
government expense for a "free" service (meaning your tax dollars 
at work) AND a parallel universe of commercial publications, 
which are mostly superior to what the government offers (but 
people will debate that, though there must be a reason money is 
being forked over).

The analogy with research publications breaks down (no peer 
review for tax publications, for example), and I don't mean to 
push it too hard.  I am making a very simple point:  Many people 
believe open access to publications based on NIH-sponsored 
research will save money, and it won't; many people believe that 
publishers will not disinvest in certain essential services such 
as peer review if there is an OA embargo of 6-12 months, but they 
will; many people believe that publishing is about dissemination 
of information, as though it were a marketing campaign for 
Coca-Cola, whereas it is about the allocation of attention; and 
many people believe they have come up with a clever way of 
getting something for nothing.

Joe Esposito

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Walsh" <libwdw@langate.gsu.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 6:42 AM
Subject: Re: Homer Simpson at the NIH

> > > > On 8/1/2007 at 12:51 PM, "Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > By analogy, any American taxpayer can go to the IRS site for 
> > tax information, but most taxpayers have learned to go 
> > elsewhere, to books, other commercial Web sites, and 
> > accountants.
> If so, doesn't this undermine the argument that the plan "will 
> inexorably undermine the economics of the original 
> publications?"
>
> William Walsh
> Head, Acquisitions Department
> Georgia State University Library
> Atlanta, GA 30303
> Email:  wwalsh@gsu.edu