Yesterday I read Alain Vince' editorial in Issue Four. He says
> So, if we cannot rely totally on subventions and sponsorship then that inevitably means that you, the readers, have to pay. For details, subscribe to our maillist where any announcements will be made.
I heard this discussion from the very beginning of Internet Archaeology.
I hope you will try hard to keep the access free. It is not that I and
many other readers would be very unhappy not to have free access to your
e-journal. I am afraid that many readers in less fortunate countries
(like mine) simply cannot afford to pay. E-journals are an alternative
to our poor libraries, to our limited opportunities to travel abroad, a
chance to be informed in your field. We often have limited financing to
buy books and journals, but have a free Internet access through our
university or institution. Don't shut the door in front of us.
On the other hand, are you so confident about the popularity of your
journal, to expect people pay to read it? Yes, I know, you recorded
8,000 readers (or less, considering those who forgot their previous
password and registered several times with a new one). But... Internet
Archaeology is mainly an experiment we watch with interest, and less a
journal with personality. I would expect more unity of the content. For
instance, issues dedicated to a theme, papers asked in advance, with
contributions from many countries, from various places. Why is IA so
static, so slow in a global medium like WWW ? Now the issues are too
diverse in the range of topics. No connection among them.
And even as an experiment of digital publishing, you can do more than
just copying a paper academic journal. In two years, I saw no updating
of a paper. The authors abandon their articles the same as in a paper
journal printed once for ever. Not at least a new photo, or a note on
the news in their research, or an updating of bibliography? A more
active way of publishing should be encouraged.
The papers make few references on the Web. The very advantages of the
global network is poorly used. I wonder if the editors should not do
more to make links to other sites on the Internet on the topic of an
article, or assist the author to do that? If IA stays isolated at its
URL, what is the reason to be an electronic journal only?
We were told that a lot of things happened behind the scene. Very good.
We would like to see more innovative changes ON the scene of Internet
Archaeology.
Best,
Irina Oberlander-Tarnoveanu
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Irina Oberlander-Tarnoveanu
CIMEC - Institute for Cultural Memory
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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