Tragedy of the Commons Revisited: Librarians, Publishers, Faculty and the Demise of a Public Resource
Loading...
No Access Until
Permanent Link(s)
Other Titles
Authors
Abstract
The model of scholarly publishing can be reduced, in economic terms, to a Tragedy of the Commons, whereby the individual interests of publishers, libraries and scholars are in conflict with what is in the best interest of the public good. Serials inflation, price discrimination, and site-license pricing are all manifestations of this dysfunctional economic model. Moral arguments to change human behavior are not effective because they do not provide individual incentives. Technology-alone is also not a viable solution since it fails to change the underlying human behavior that is driving the economic model. Abandoning the current system of publishing is both risky and costly. This paper argues for a reintermediation of the library as governor of the public scholarly commons, but illustrates that these solutions are in conflict with the mission of the library profession.
Journal / Series
Volume & Issue
Description
Sponsorship
Date Issued
2003-10
Publisher
Johns Hopkins
Keywords
Tragedy of the Commons; crisis in publishing; open access
Location
Effective Date
Expiration Date
Sector
Employer
Union
Union Local
NAICS
Number of Workers
Committee Chair
Committee Co-Chair
Committee Member
Degree Discipline
Degree Name
Degree Level
Related Version
Related DOI
Related To
Related Part
Based on Related Item
Has Other Format(s)
Part of Related Item
Related To
Related Publication(s)
Link(s) to Related Publication(s)
References
Link(s) to Reference(s)
Previously Published As
Portal, 3(4), 2003, p.547-562
Government Document
ISBN
ISMN
ISSN
Other Identifiers
Rights
Rights URI
Types
article