Quote:
Originally Posted by mitford13
I can sort of see these prices for an academic/research library, but for "everyday" public library use this seems extortionate to me.
|
However, you can argue the other way. Research universities cannot fulfill their mission unless their researchers have access to current literature in their field. Publishers taking advantage of this have created the
serials crisis. Important academic books are also high priced. Here is a good
example of how they price a quite well-reviewed research monograph. (You'll notice, by the way, that this current book has no eBook version, thus deterring piracy.)
Providing access to current best-sellers, whether paper or eBook, is arguably the public library equivalent of football for a research university. It brings in donations, but doesn't have much to do with the core mission of creating knowledge (in the case of the research university) or literacy promotion (in the case of the library).