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A writer's diary in the year 2015
Author(s) -
Albert Tim
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
learned publishing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.06
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-4857
pISSN - 0953-1513
DOI - 10.1087/095315102320140563
Subject(s) - principal (computer security) , citation , computer science , world wide web , library science , operating system
we were forced to block access to all but subscribers, with individuals being asked to use their credit card to pay the fee of £39.50 to gain instantaneous and permanent access to the set of back issues, and a further £39.50 for the two current issues. Predictably this provoked mixed reactions. Many readers were understanding, recognizing that they had benefited from a good deal for a long time. One wrote to say: ‘I am going to view this as a purchase as in a book or print journal subscription as opposed to a rental as in an online subscription. I like this approach! If I am unable to timely budget for the next year, I will still have access to all material for which I have previously paid.’ Others saw the imposition of subscriptions as a challenge to the traditions of the free Internet and open access to all. Several wrote in to say that this seemed very expensive and one commented ‘I’m inclined to suggest that they set up an e-print archive, or find a friendly e-prints archive to do it in a more costeffective manner than they seem able to manage.’ To us this rather missed the point, and misunderstood the nature of the journal. When it comes to the long-term preservation of digital multimedia, then the term ‘archive’ as used in ‘Open Archives Initiative’ is misleading. Mounting text files on a Web server may be fine for text-only HTML or PDF, but when it comes to an Oracle database, a GIS, or a VR model, then more active curation is required. Fortunately the journal is looked after by the national digital data archive for Archaeology, the ADS, which is part of the JISC/AHRB-funded Arts & Humanities Data Service, and so long-term access to its content is assured, but does not come cheap. However, even without the preservation question, it is about time the community recognized that e-publication does not come for free. Articles need marking-up for the server; they need copy-editing; they need to be put into journal housestyle; if they are to have academic credibility they need peer-reviewing; if they are to be found again, they also need cataloguing and indexing. Someone has to pay for the hardware they reside on, and the bandwidth required to download them. Our experience with Internet Archaeology is that even without the multimedia ‘bells and whistles’, running an e-journal still costs a lot of money. All credit to those who give up their own time, or that of their employers, without passing the cost onto the reader. But, please, do not let us pretend that we can publish for free, as that does a great disservice to our labour and that of others.