The Ludwig von Mises Institute publishes priced, printed books, and for many of them provides free online full-text. Jeffrey Tucker, the Institute's Editorial Vice President, wrote a March 12 note for the Institute blog to explain, Why We Put Books Online. Excerpt: "As a non-profit dedicated to getting the word out about Austrian economics, and serving as many people in the world who are interested in learning, it only makes sense that we pursue every viable means of doing so. To have the means of providing something as powerful as [these books] for free and not doing so would amount to deliberately withholding the product pending payment from people who may or may not have the means of providing it. That prospect has to make every nonprofit that cares about its mission somewhat squeamish. So we gladly offer these texts at no charge simply because we believe that this is part of our core mission. If that sounds implausibly high-minded, there are other considerations at work. There was much confusion in the early days of the web about whether online viewing would displace books. It didn't happen. In fact, the broad development of the web as a vehicle for commercial search and delivery has actually led to a boom in books sales, both new and used. Also, experience suggests that online and offline books are different goods that serve different purposes (quick reference versus deep reading; quote checking versus extended study; etc.)....All of this means that one does not (necessarily) cut into ones sales by offering the book online for free. In fact, by showing people what is inside the book, it is possible to increase sales of the offline book." (Thanks to Kimmo Kuusela.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/15/2004 08:44:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
