I struggle to understand the angst of this post. In the United States, we have a wonderful public library system where virtually any publication can be obtained free of charge (or at nominal cost) through interlibrary loan (this is true, at least, for my local library). For some of us who are graduates of universities, we may retain some library privileges as alumnus / a. For others, taking an inexpensive course at a community college will allow access to the college library. Heck, my kids have access to many resources through the high school library. Some of our employers still employ librarians and provide access to work-related publications. My point is that the information is available to many, if not most, of us in some manner if we expend a little effort. (And yes, I recognize that there are folks on the List who are not fortunate enough to have access to any of these resources, but the majority of folks on this list have at least Internet access
 and likely public library access and are in the United States.)


I have difficulty with the premise that intellectual property should be given away. As a member of a number of professional associations, and a former board member of one, one of the benefits of membership is access to the intellectual property developed by that association. There is a basic economic reason for an association to establish a "paywall" (I hate that term). If I have full access to publications and presentations, what incentive do I have to join that association? As I look at professional associations outside of the information management world (such as information security), I find that these very large and well-funded organizations often have substantially higher costs for publications, many of which are far more rigorously written than things in our own field. And yet these associations enjoy great success and respect and encounter very little whining about the cost of a publication. The amount of information available for "free" on the
 Internet spoils us. But behind that information, there has to be something that has the resources to collect and/or publish that information. People must be paid, Computers must be purchased. Internet bandwidth must be provisioned. Those costs are real, so there must be income. for commercial websites, that often means advertising. For an association, that means dues, advertising, and payments for information. It isn't magic.


For those of us who do write the occasional article for a professional association, we generally give up the rights to that publication. Many of us are contractually not at liberty to republish that material. After all, we are often compensated for the article. As a sometime author, I'm motivated to publish articles in professional journals (versus blathering on in my blog or on the Listserve) because writing for a journal is more disciplined, carries some additional credibility, ensures some permanence of what has been written, and yes, puts a few extra dollars in my pocket to support my eBay habit.

The suggestions that Rachel makes of open source academic journals and related sites are good suggestions. That said, digitizing professional journals or republishing articles that you have written for a journal may be contrary to copyright law or contractual agreements. Also, beware that publishing to open source journals may not protect you from plagiarism by others, so read legal language closely and understand both your rights and your responsibilities, as well as your protections.

 
Patrick Cunningham, CRM, CIP, FAI
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"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier." 
-- Colin Powell

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