Publishing for Free?
The Project? I’ve jut finished my 2nd textbook, now available to all and sundry for free!
All right, it’s more of a tutorial than a book, but it’s still lots of hard work and careful thought neatly organized. And yes, it’s free.
The Theory? – The idea behind Open Access is that your research or findings are available to anyone at no cost. The rationale is that since most research is government-funded, the researcher had already been paid.
Of course, this begs the question of what research has been vetted, who’s paying for the peer-review – usually a scholarly journal – and who’s paying for distribution, whether via print, database, or website.
The Reality? – The State of Florida asked for Open Access textbooks to help offset the cost of textbooks, but we’re still heavily dependent on our publishers. Competition between publishers means we get continually updated material and in the field of media, that’s essential. You’ll notice my little guide refers to a number of blogs to cover what’s happening today.
The cost? – I got a $500 grant from my college for this project. Adding up the time involved, I made about $6 an hour for the initial effort. I actually don’t count. After creating a grammar guide last summer, I realized the work never ends. Both will need to be continually checked and updated.
Always available instruction for all of my classes and any student who wants to contribute to the student newspaper with huge amounts of time and energy saved in giving directions? – Priceless!
kathybryson 