In Oldenburg's Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers and the Control of Scientific Publishing

Dr. Guédon made a presentation on these ideas in May 2001 at the 138th Membership Meeting of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The presentation was received very positively and, as a result, Dr. Guédon agreed to write a paper to encourage further discussion. The result is the paper in hand. In the last 50 years, publishers have managed to transform scholarly journals—traditionally, a secondary, unpromising publishing venture at best—into big business. How they have managed to create extremely high profit rates is a story that has not yet been clearly told. What is the real basis behind this astounding capability? What is the source of their power? How can it be subverted? This presentation will address these questions. I will start by moving the analysis back to the point when the system of scientific communication began to emerge, thanks to the novel way in which a few creative individuals managed to harness printing. In this manner, we will be able to retrieve some of the original meanings and intentions of the system itself, as well as the intentions that presided over its inception, Both meanings and intentions have remained remarkably constant over time; the only difference between then and now is that some people have found a way to graft a new and efficient moneymaking device on the communication system of science. The only difference between the present and the future is that some feedback mechanism appears to be setting in between the communication system and the money-making device, leading to a gradual shift in the very scope and meaning of the ways in which fundamental research results are broadcast and made accessible. In effect, this presentation asks whether the results of fundamental research in science, technology, and medicine—results that clearly stand at a pre-competitive stage if viewed in commercial terms, results that may even, in some cases, save lives—will remain part of humanity’s knowledge commons, or whether they will be gradually confiscated for the benefit of smaller and smaller scientific and business elites.