Thanks,
In his most recent "Editor's Foreword" Gilbert Merkx cites two sources for
the challenges faced by LARR and its "sister publications" (Latin American
Research Review, 31,3, 1996, pp.4-5). The first stems from mercantile
forces, that for-profit publishing of scholarly research and its gradual
(or sudden) price escalation have extinguished personal subscriptions and
impoverished libraries. Merkx's second source is a technological one, that
I will summarize as follows. The principal costs of a scholarly journal
(research and editing) do not diminish apace with declining costs in
electronic distribution. Digitization of information makes producers'
rights more tenuous. And further, it threatens to undermine the broad
subscription base that makes LARR and similar publications viable.
While I find myself very much in agreement with Gil's basic premise-- that
it is essential to maintain LARR as a high quality and widely accessible
means of scholarly communication-- I believe that the sources of challenge
he cites, especially the electronic one, deserve further discussion. Why
not begin here?
I will kick things off with two questions, but feel free to pose your own.
1. How do we insure that electronic technology does not diminish the
vibrancy of LARR and other journals like it? 2. What are the potential
benefits of electronic communication in the academy, and what must happen
to enable them?
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David Block
Ibero-American Bibliographer
504 Olin Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
voice: (607) 255-9480
fax: (607) 255-9346
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