Zeitschriften der DMG digital

[Lindquist, Steven]

While you mention several good points, my assumption is not that "freely making available publications online will decrease the value (and sales) of print versions."  The assumption in my email is only that *certain types* of free distribution of material could do this. The distribution method of this online journal *does* make the material freely available, but only in a particular fashion (i.e., not as PDFs).  In fact, it seems that they are doing precisely what you mention -- trying out a different model to see how it works.

Steven


>Just to add an observation here: the underlying assumption of this
>argument is that freely making available publications online will
>decrease the value (and sales) of the print versions. This assumption
>has not been confirmed by the experience of online publishing so far -
>in fact, publishers do regularly report that their print sales go up
>once their content is available online - because on the one hand,
>apparently, many readers do prefer having the physical (bound)
>publication in their hands (and many libraries reasonably assume that
>paper is a more reliable form of long-term archiving than digital
>formats that may turn out to be short-lived), and because on the other
>hand, online circulation attracts new readers to a journal or book that
>otherwise would not have come across it.

>All of this is terribly complex, and as with many other things
>concerning digitization, things are far from being predetermined; a
>number of financing and distribution models for journals are currently
>being tried out. But one thing is for sure: the assumption that free
>online access diminishes print sales is most certainly not a categorical
>truth.

>Best regards,

>Birgit Kellner