The only example of a book I own licensed under a free license, I dont really know if this would be considered an OER or whatever but none the less check this out.
http://oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_as_in_Freedom:_Richard_Stallman%27s_Crusade_for_Free_Software At the time it cost me $50 AU but previously I had read it online and also downloaded the pdf, printed and bound it myself which allowed me to read it again while traveling. In the end I bought the hard cover version and traded my poorly bound version for a stack of blank cd's at a unix user group meeting. Recently rms was in brisbane so now I have it signed :D Warm Regards Chris Harvey http://chrisharvey.id.au On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 7:36 AM, kirby urner <[email protected]> wrote: > I was just having lunch with my uncle, who self-published a book on > pre-WW1 submarine construction in the North Pacific region of the USA > (Seattle etc.). He shared about his dealings with Amazon, but more > generally with publishers witnessing the digital revolution. I did > his website: > > http://web.archive.org/web/20060505050706/beneaththesurface.biz/front.html > > For those who don't know, Amazon now has a huge printing press and any > book that goes out of copyright is fair game to mass produce and sell > as new i.e. hot off the press, on demand with your order (no need to > build inventory, the hardcopy is custom generated, and in such a way > as to still make a profit at $10 a pop -- most traditional publishers > can't compete at these prices). > > I come from the software world, where open source licenses flourished > because software defines working machines, and people are always > wanting to add bells and whistles. With other authored works, such as > novels, it's not the same situation, as you do *not* necessarily want > other authors interleaving their thoughts and characters in your work > of art. That'd be defacement, like spray-painting a Picasso with > Marvin the Martian (criminal -- though you could do it on a digital > copy). > > I know the Oz books underwent a transition, but the new author didn't > rewrite any of the original Frank Baum stuff did he? Likewise the > Disney characters progress through generations of artist, but it's not > like you wanna go back and "deface" the originals. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oz_books (re Oz as the > prototypical Open Source world) > > In software, it's maybe a little different. We have version control, > so might keep the old stuff around indefinitely, but few are > interested in reading it. The most-in-demand stuff is usually cutting > edge, sporting the latest new features. > > Engineer-artists of software actually expect (aim, hope) to have their > work included in derivative works. That's the intention. You write > hoping your stuff will be absorbed, as your currency in the software > meritocracy is your reputation as an author. You want your name > associated with your "text" but it's not like you expect royalty > payments. More, you expect to be granted the privileges (such as > deferential respect) of royalty by your peers and the lay public, as > it's clear in the accounts that you're a person of merit (or a "jolly > good fellow" as they said in Queen Victoria's era). > > Academia is already like this. It's not how much you sold out for, so > much as how much of your academic integrity remains after X presumably > profitable publications. Edwin Black (the historian) comes to mind, > as a successful academic who nevertheless insists on telling it as he > finds it, upsetting a lot of carefully guarded apple carts in the > process. His books continue to sell because he's still a trusted > source of scholarship by enough accounts to keep him in the game as a > bestselling author. > > Publishing is essentially free via the Internet, but then distribution > matters. How will the right people hear of your work? Twitter? > > There's always the "visibility problem" of gaining a following, what > some might call "marketing" though in academia there's a somewhat > cynical attitude towards either "selling oneself" or "self promotion" > although I'd say ethics have changed, and now some professors engage > in "self branding", creating such personalities as Dr. Ruth, and Dr. > Chuck (a Python guy, whom I've worked with) also even Dr. Phil (the > guy Britney made a fool of). > > Anyway, what's interesting to me is to see more academic professorial > types (vs code wrangler geeks) grapple with the challenges of the > loaves and the fishes, i.e. the miracle technology makes makes > possible, of spreading of communications extremely efficient at almost > no marginal cost per copy. > > So what business models are based on artificially creating scarcity > where their needn't be any? > > Those are the ones most worried about what to do next, and I > empathize. Putting a floor form of tenure under the meritocracy, a > safety net, would make it all more like Finland (of Finlandia fame). > > A geek encampment, known for great code, might compensate all its > people with room and board, kitchen access, wifi, days for fishing and > goofing off, and yet not all of them have a commit bit on every > project (some are not committing code at all, such as when busy > learning new languages), some of which projects may have quite low bus > numbers indeed (using the geek shop talk, sorry if it sounds opaque > **). > > On the other hand, many resources remain scarce. Not every science > fiction writer is as good as every other. > > Not everyone is as good a writer, period. Same in software. Same in > the visual arts. > > They say the most productive coders are freakishly more productive, by > orders of magnitude. What's that about? > > I'm just pointing out that good (sometimes technical, sometimes > professional) writing is not always easy to come by. > > Creating scarcity artificially (where it's technologically > unnecessary) is different from simply accepting the fact of only so > much gold and silver in "them thar hills" (noting in passing that many > precious metals are recycled, not mined anew). > > Kirby > > ** "bus number" is the number of people that'd need to be hit by the > proverbial bus before a project would seem pretty much unintelligible > to the other geeks, i.e. there'd be no one left to pass the torch. > "Low bus numbers" mean only a few people understand and work with a > given project or code repository. > > On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 10:55 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Thank you. I think that it is important that we work on these issues > > together as cordially as possible. Big publishers don't particularly > like > > OER either as my editor reminded me just this morning...I don't want to > be > > caught in the middle but I have been a mediator many times in my > > life...perhaps there is a place for such skills here. Joyce > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
