MIT Press has announced six new books published in dual (OA and non-OA) editions. From Ellen Faran, Director of the press:
[W]e are publishing six titles as part of the MacArthur Foundation's initiative on Digital Media and Learning. This Wednesday, December 12, is the official publication date for both the print and online editions. The content is already openly available [here] and the print editions are generally available in bookstores....
The six topics addressed here examine various aspects of how immersion in digital media including the Internet changes behavior and patterns of thinking: identity, credibility, race, games, civic engagement, and "innovation and unexpected outcomes." This emerging field of inquiry engages an unusually broad interdisciplinary and multi-sector community: scholars, designers and developers, educators and commercial interests. Accordingly, the MacArthur Foundation is supporting it with a combination of traditional and new ways of communicating and community-building. These include scholarly publications, conferences, competitions, public forums, with many meetings convened online as well as in person.
The six books were created collaboratively by the six volume editors, more than 50 chapter authors, and an advisory panel of experts. A variety of tools --from online discussions to blogs to virtual worlds to simple listservs-- were used to garner feedback and involve experts from around the world during all phases of writing as each volume was developed.
Of course, with this context and background, the final publications are being published openly online! We are also, simultaneously, publishing attractive and low-priced paperback editions ($16)....
[W]e have experimented successfully with simultaneously open online and paid print for other books in the past. The MacArthur Foundation Series will be our first experiment with six titles at once and with edited collections. We expect to learn more about how the two forms of publication may happily coexist.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/10/2007 04:10:00 PM.
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.
