In the last 50 years, publishers have managed to transform scholarly journals--traditionally, a secondary, unpromising publishing venture at best--into big business. How they have managed to create extremely high profit rates is a story that has not yet been clearly told. What is the real basis behind this astounding capability? What is the source of their power? How can it be subverted? This presentation will address these questions, but more research is clearly needed, and it is of such scope as to require a concerted, sustained effort. Recently, because of the advent of digitization and the Internet, the technical system of scientific communication has undergone a profound change that is still unfolding. The imposition of site licenses and the corresponding development of library consortia signal changes so deep that the very status of the "document" and the ways in which individuals may interact with it appear quite incommensurable with the past. The role of libraries is also deeply subverted, as we shall see. The consequences stemming from these developments are difficult to ascertain, but we can be sure that scientific communication is morphing. This presentation will endeavor to sketch out two scenarios that are presently unfolding on courses that, although relatively separate for the moment, will eventually collide. Each one of these scenarios corresponds to a different take on the paradigmatic shift. Which one will win is unclear; it may even be that these two scenarios will compete for quite some time. In any case, we need to acquire an image of the territory we are entering, however grained, and of the forces that are shaping its contours, if mapping out strategies is of the essence. In effect, this presentation asks whether the results of fundamental research in science, technology, and medicine--results that clearly stand at a pre-competitive stage if viewed in commercial terms, results that may even, in some cases, save lives--will remain part of humanity's knowledge commons, or whether they will be gradually confiscated for the benefit of smaller and smaller scientific and business elites.
Una pubblicazione, per avere un valore "scientifico", deve uscire presso un editore noto e su una rivista prestigiosa. Nel mondo delle scienze naturali questo luogo comune ha fatto la fortuna degli editori: se ci sono riviste così importanti che tutte le biblioteche universitarie devono averle, i loro prezzi di abbonamento possono essere aumentati a piacere. Il sistema editoriale tradizionale ha inoltre sfruttato la digitalizzazione per restringere l'accesso ai testi, tramite licenze che riconoscono agli utenti delle biblioteche diritti di lettura soltanto temporanei. Ne risulta un sapere per pochi e controllato da pochi, perché le sue fonti sono saldamente in mano a poteri oligopolistici e oligarchici. Jean-Claude Guédon dimostra che il luogo comune all'origine di questo esito vale solo per il mondo della stampa e non per quello della rete. I costi e la tecnologia delle pubblicazioni a stampa richiedono sia la mediazione di un editore, sia la selezione preliminare di ciò che si deve pubblicare. In rete, di contro, gli autori possono pubblicare direttamente tutto quello che vogliono; la selezione avviene successivamente, attraverso l'uso. Se la vita della scienza dipende dalla discussione pubblica, la pubblicità del sapere non è un problema tecnico o editoriale: è un problema politico e culturale. Un problema che ha a che vedere con la libertà degli studiosi stessi, sia come autori sia come lettori.
Guédon J.-C., La lunga ombra di Oldenburg: i bibliotecari, i ricercatori, gli editori e il controllo della pubblicazione scientifica
Di Donato Francesca;
2004
Abstract
In the last 50 years, publishers have managed to transform scholarly journals--traditionally, a secondary, unpromising publishing venture at best--into big business. How they have managed to create extremely high profit rates is a story that has not yet been clearly told. What is the real basis behind this astounding capability? What is the source of their power? How can it be subverted? This presentation will address these questions, but more research is clearly needed, and it is of such scope as to require a concerted, sustained effort. Recently, because of the advent of digitization and the Internet, the technical system of scientific communication has undergone a profound change that is still unfolding. The imposition of site licenses and the corresponding development of library consortia signal changes so deep that the very status of the "document" and the ways in which individuals may interact with it appear quite incommensurable with the past. The role of libraries is also deeply subverted, as we shall see. The consequences stemming from these developments are difficult to ascertain, but we can be sure that scientific communication is morphing. This presentation will endeavor to sketch out two scenarios that are presently unfolding on courses that, although relatively separate for the moment, will eventually collide. Each one of these scenarios corresponds to a different take on the paradigmatic shift. Which one will win is unclear; it may even be that these two scenarios will compete for quite some time. In any case, we need to acquire an image of the territory we are entering, however grained, and of the forces that are shaping its contours, if mapping out strategies is of the essence. In effect, this presentation asks whether the results of fundamental research in science, technology, and medicine--results that clearly stand at a pre-competitive stage if viewed in commercial terms, results that may even, in some cases, save lives--will remain part of humanity's knowledge commons, or whether they will be gradually confiscated for the benefit of smaller and smaller scientific and business elites.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.