[lbo-talk] A public square

[wrobert at uci.edu]

Actually, it gets even better than this.  One of my professors in history
is about to publish his first book.  Not only is he not going to get paid
for it, but he is expected to pay for the production of the index.  Now
this is for a respected press, and my professor has already edited an
important collection of essay on post-colonial studies for Verso. 
Obviously, this doesn't mark professors as an especially oppressed group,
but it is kind of amazing.....  robert wood


> How about the racket of high-end academic publishers who solicit
> articles from professors, pay the authors little or nothing, then sell
> them back to the same institutions that funded the research for
> thousands of dollars?  The professors have little choice but to go
> along with it, since their tenure and promotions rely upon publication
> in prestigious sources.  And the institutions need the articles for
> their ongoing research.
>
> This scandal is one of the single biggest drags on academic
> librarianship.  By way of example, the physics library at my alma
> mater, which was left unguarded 24 hours a day, contained a slim
> quarterly journal which cost $25,000 a year.  I was always tempted to
> make the modest effort necessary to steal the collection, but
> refrained.  (Scruples aside, what the hell would I have done with a
> stack of physics journals?)
>
> If anyone's interested in learning more about this disgracful
> situation, a Google search for "academic journal pricing crisis,"
> minus the quotation marks, will reveal a wealth of information.
>
> On 5/21/07, joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> Chuck wrote:
>>
>> > Don't get me started on how public libraries are using taxpayer money
>> to
>> >
>> >subsidize large publishers. The evil side of Harry Potter.
>> >
>> Get started. That's a very interesting topic. I would have guessed there
>> would be a conflict of interest...."publishers sell less because I can
>> get their books at the library...."
>>
>> Could you say more?
>>
>> Joanna
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