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["saundrakaerubel.com" <saundrakae AT saundrakaerubel.com>]

Hello

Online versions of newspapers, periodicals, dissertations and the like have 
been around for a price since at least the late 70s when I was using them 
through Dialog, Lexis-Nexis, Orbit or DJ to access information.  Of course 
they were available to the privileged few that were trained to use some 
very archaic systems.  Or I could have bused it to the local library and 
looked at them for free.  With the Union List of Periodicals, a source that 
lets you know which libraries have which publications, if I knew the 
article was only available at Harvard Med, which was frequently the case, 
getting it from the online service was a LOT cheaper.

With the Internet, this information is now available to the masses, it's 
called paying for convenience.  I am not surprised that some online 
periodicals/newspapers are now charging.  I know that some silicon valley 
papers already do, but it is their parent company, Knight Ridder that 
probably made that decision.

Enough of these dot coms going to dot gones.  You have to make money 
somewhere.

Perhaps that "rich guy in California" is my friend the Venture Capitalist 
interested in reading about what others are doing in different areas of the 
country.  You want information, you get it any way you can, and sometimes 
that means paying cash.

Saundra, The Former Librarian


At 02:51 PM 12/28/2000 -0500, "B"ing mobile wrote:
> I know that dot-coms are trying to figure out how to make money with
> their Web sites, but charging for _links_ to content!?!? What happens to
> our ability to say "lookit what I found here, Clyde"?
>
> http://ww.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,40850,00.html
>
> This is another leg in the all-information-as-commodity ramp. The News
> and Observer soon will begin charging for the privilege of viewing its
> online archive, as a number of other news organizations are doing. (No
> charge if you subscribe.) Used to be that the newspapers made their
> money through advertising -- roughly 60-65% of a regular paper is ads --
> and saw the news-ed parts of their product as the method by which the
> advertising was distributed. I certainly haven't noticed fewer ads
> online....
>
> I am troubled by this movement toward paying for information online
> since it places information in the same cart as exotic fruit.... In a
> "free" and "democratic" society, we *must* be informed before we can
> make informed decisions. At the least, in the current Real World(tm)
> scenario, public libraries provide copies of newspapers that anyone can
> walk in and read, free of charge. What happens when/if libraries fade
> away and there's no place for folks to find information that they want
> or need? Will online libraries be allowed to provide free news archives
> that anyone can access? (Somehow I doubt it....)
>
> It seems that, for news organizations, this is yet another step away
> from serving the public and toward serving the bottom line. (Does some
> rich guy in California _really_ _care_ about what happens in the
> Research Triangle, NC? Don't think so, as long as his profits increase.)
> Here, I could go off on my favorite rant about how the
> mega-corporatization of news organizations is threatening our
> liberty....
>
> --
>             "B"ing mobile
> =====================================
>     I always have more questions
> Thank you in advance for your answers
> =====================================
>  http://beeline.home.mindspring.com
>
>
> ---
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