U of M press is going all digital for monographs. The comments on this article indicate, predictably, that some people think it’s a great idea and others think it’s the end of the publishing world as we know it. I am in favor of digital publication, if it means that books will be cheaper and/or more will be published. The article notes that the latter should be true, while the former will be true at least for libraries.
I like books. I like the feel of paper and, like many, I am in the habit of writing in margins. But I also hate moving boxes of the things every time I move. Reading onscreen can be tiresome, and not always practical. I can’t bring my pdfs into the woods with me on a camping trip. Also, reading onscreen sometimes hurts my eyes. On the other hand, I can’t search my paper books for key terms. I would love to see a device like the Kindle that allows me to write on it and save my notes.
I think Michigan is making a wise choice, publishing electronically but giving the option to print-on-demand if you want an actual book. One thing I worry about is the idea of licensing books to libraries, etc. When a library buys a book, it gets to keep it, but what if the license expires on an e-copy, or the publisher wants to change the terms radically? All the books from that press just disappear for all intents and purposes. I also worry about losing access to individual books if I lose affiliation with my university library. In the end it comes down to the price scheme for the individual user, both for e-books and for print-on-demand. What do you think?
