Open Access
was to put the book online free and sell printed copies, but Bloomsbury still has to make money; myself and my colleagues have to get paid. So now we will sell enhanced e-books as well,’ she added. The publisher is currently working on
the software platform for its new business model with the website scheduled to launch this April. And, while the current website comprises half a dozen research publications ready to download, more will follow. ‘We have more books coming,’ highlighted Pinter. ‘In terms of forthcoming projects, we’ve got about a hundred on the go.’
All change
Bloomsbury Academic and OHP are just two of a small, but growing number of organisations that can see the potential for OA publishing of digital monographs in the humanities, as well as the social science sectors. For example, OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) is an EC- funded consortium of academics, launched in September 2008, which is endeavouring to develop a sound OA publication model for academic books in the humanities and social sciences.
The network’s latest research pinpoints
what humanities and social science scholars want from OA publishing. Findings are positive, including researchers’ thoughts on how a new mode of publishing could save the monograph from a traditional, print model that is no longer sustainable. Pinter and Hall’s experiences echo OAPEN fi ndings. ‘We’ve been able to fi nd fi rst-class authors, even Nobel Prize winners,’ enthused Pinter. ‘Many potential readers simply don’t have access to academic monographs, because these books are expensive and often only get into a small number of wealthy libraries that can afford them. The authors just love the idea of their content being disseminated.’ Hall agreed, arguing that the vast majority
of authors simply want people to access their work, read it, comment on it and cite it. ‘Publishers have thought that authors of books were interested in royalty fees, and wouldn’t wish to give away material for free,’ he said. ‘However, when you sign a contract with a publisher, the royalty fees are so small due to the small numbers of sales, money is not the issue, you just want your information out there and accessed by people.’
Hall is confi dent that with time the interested body of academics will grow. ‘In a couple of years, more and more academics are going to want to be publishing books and monographs online. They will ask their publishers’ permission to do this or take advantage of the many OA publishers that are emerging,’ he asserted. And as he pointed out, software is already available, and more is being developed, to ensure this can be done quickly and easily. ‘You don’t yet get the credibility of publishing with a well-respected press such as Harvard or Oxford, but people will be looking for new ways to get that stamp of authority,’ he adds. ‘Why would you publish your research with a press that’s only going to bring out a few copies, charge £70 in hardback and nobody will buy it?’ The senate committee from the University of Maryland would probably cite quite a few reasons. However, as reported on The Diamondback Online, the university’s arts and humanities dean, James Harris said: ‘Libraries are slowly becoming virtual and the university will eventually have to transition with them. This is happening. The train has left the station.’
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