[INDOLOGY] Fwd: New publication

Artur Karp karp at uw.edu.pl
Sat Apr 16 05:11:08 UTC 2016


Dear All,

Antonio writes:

> I don't see how this can remain tolerable.

It doesn't remain intolerable. Sooner or later (at the most two years)
those expensive electronic copies are stolen (or pirated, whatever) and
trickle down into a kind of second-hand, freely accessible electronic
depositories.

Should I provide links to some of the most popular web portals, calling
themselves "scientific community targeting collections of books"?

By not coming up with much cheaper alternatives to their products, such as
could be purchased (and placed on their shelves) by the general reading
public, the publishing business acts against its own interests. Ultimately,
limited demand for their luxury editions, and, simultaneously, loss of
possible profits from the sale of the cheaper versions of their books.


Regards,

Artur






2016-04-16 3:30 GMT+02:00 Antonio Ferreira-Jardim <antonio.jardim at gmail.com>
:

> Dear all,
>
> I'm not certain of the situation elsewhere but here in Australia
> increasingly it is the preference for university libraries to purchase
> books in its electronic form - with many of the older physical books being
> liquidated or placed into storage. Many Humanities librarians are directed
> by university policy to purchase the electronic rather than the physical
> copy.
>
> This purchasing policy direction seems irreversible and seems to weaken
> the notion of a beautifully produced physical book that will last 100 years
> on a library shelf somewhere. This purchasing model also makes
> inter-library loan much more difficult as the library's purchase of that
> particular book is bound only to registered users of that particular book.
>
> It's no surprise to me either that often the electronic copy is as
> expensive as the physical copy. We also shouldn't forget that University
> libraries are having their budgets cut (especially in the Humanities) at
> precisely the same time as some publishers like Brill are increasing their
> prices.
>
> Academics don't exist in an ethical bubble. If academic authors choose
> publishers that are simply unaffordable to individuals and libraries then
> they participate in a system that is putting valuable research in the hands
> of fewer and fewer people - at a time when the Humanities are under
> unprecedented threat from politicians and university administrators.
>
> I don't see how this can remain tolerable.
>
> Kind regards,
> Antonio
> On 16 Apr 2016 7:56 am, "Dominik Wujastyk" <wujastyk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have a lot of sympathy for all the views expressed here about the high
>> prices of Brill books.  I'm ambivalent myself, about being an editor of a
>> series published by Brill.  When I founded the series (with Paul Unschuld
>> and Larry Conrad) we argued strongly about keeping prices down.  And at
>> first that seemed to work, sort of.  But now prices are extremely high, and
>> we're in a problem situation. €299 for Zysk's book is very much, although
>> one does get two volumes, and there is a huge amount of work in the
>> volumes, both Zysk's scholarly labours and multiple refereeing,
>> proof-reading, good paper, typesetting, binding, marketing and
>> distribution.  It's a very nice physical object, it has to be said.  And it
>> will be on the shelves in a century, when many books less-well produced may
>> no longer be useable.  That sort of thing has to be paid for.  Nevertheless.
>>
>> I have advocated Open Access publishing for journals.  I'm less sure
>> about books.  It's worth discussing.  Books are very different animals
>> (usually).  I'm not sure the OA model translates to books, although I am
>> sure it's very good for journals.  I especially advocate authors keeping
>> their copyright.  The idea of Open Source, mentioned by Antonio, doesn't
>> apply to academic writing, although I also like the concept.
>>
>> Antonio also mentioned that Brill hasn't endowed a professorship in
>> Indology.  It would be interesting to know what they do fund,
>> academically.  I know one colleague personally who edits a series for
>> Brill, and whose university receives an annual payment of several thousand
>> dollars from Brill that buys him out of some teaching because of his
>> editorial duties.  Perhaps Brill pays for more that we're not aware of?  It
>> would be worth asking them.
>>
>> It's always been clear that Brill's business plan is to market to
>> academic libraries, and only incidentally to individuals.  With modern
>> inter-library loan, it's normally not too difficult to get hold of a volume
>> one wants to read.
>>
>> Best,
>> Dominik
>>
>>
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