More than good business in certain scenarios Free is primarily good public public policy, ie doing the right thing in alignment with mission.
Come listen to us continue this discussion in Portland. Alan On Nov 1, 2009, at 9:40 AM, "Amalyah Keshet [akeshet at imj.org.il]" <akeshet at imj.org.il > wrote: > > "Free is just another price, and prices are set by individual > actors, in accordance with the aggregated particulars of marketplace > power. "Information wants to be free," Anderson tells us, "in the > same way that life wants to spread and water wants to run downhill." > But information can't actually want anything, can it? Amazon wants > the information in the Dallas paper to be free, because that way > Amazon makes more money. Why are the self-interested motives of > powerful companies being elevated to a philosophical principle? " > > http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell > > Posted by Amalyah Keshet, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf > Of Newman, Alan > Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2009 3:48 AM > To: Museum Computer Network Listserv > Subject: [MCN-L] Bloomsbury Academic > > Bloomsbury Academic is a "new academic imprint of Bloomsbury > Publishing Plc, one of Europe's leading independent publishing > houses, with a distinguished list of fiction and non-fiction. > Bloomsbury Academic will publish world-class research-based books > across the humanities and social sciences, with a strong commitment > to the traditional virtues of scholarly publishing, including > rigorous peer-review. We use current technologies and licensing > developments and have established an innovative publishing business > model that will better meet the needs of the academic community." > > excerpted from their business model: > > "We're committed to publishing the best scholarship in the social > sciences and humanities - and for the content to be as widely > accessed as possible. > > Our research publications will be made available online on a > Creative Commons non-commercial license. Unlike open access journals > we are not looking for authors (or their research funders) to pay > for the publishing process. From early 2010 they will appear on our > new platform in html. Until then PDFs will be posted on this > website. At the same time we will be publishing in traditional print > book formats as well as ebooks with enhanced functionalities. > > The debate over whether or not free availability increases or > decreases sales rages on, not just in publishing but also in the > music and film industries. Pilot projects in academic publishing > indicate that book sales are not harmed, and authors are happy to > reach a wider audience." > > http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/business.htm > > posted by Alan Newman, National Gallery of Art > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
