The DPLA

I was actually recently asked to give ideas about what the DPLA should be, or what should be understood about it by the public, and has utterly no idea what to say about it because any literature I could find was extremely vague. So this article, as an advertisement for it, was very enlightening. First, I balked at the statement that even Harvard was being hit by tough times. Really? Really??

Well. Anyway.

That more book titles are being published than ever before is really something to think about, and supports the argument that the "death of books" is a bit of an overstatement. Meanwhile, the assertion that professors don't know (I would assert that they don't feel they need to know) about the serials crisis and what their libraries have to deal with is well taken, and initiatives/petitions to support open-access journals seem like a good idea. I certainly hope that universities like Harvard are vocal about their willingness to hold up their end of the bargain by rewarding people who are published in less-prestigious open access journals with grants, jobs, promotions, etc. I also want to mention (sorry I think I better not cite) a conversation I heard recently with a high ranking U of M faculty member on the serials crisis. It's a problem, he said, sure. It's also a "drop in the bucket" for an institution like U of M or certainly Harvard. When I look at my tuition bills this sort of statement really hits home. So while I think it's awesome that institutions like Harvard and U of M are coming up with ways to get around the serials crisis, I would warn that there is a lot in play, things are complicated, and everyone has obscure interests at stake. I'll be very interested to see how the DPLA thing unfolds.