From: Dot Porter <dot.porter@gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, February 23, 2013 7:52 AM
To: Bob Peckham <bobp@utm.edu>
Cc: "dm-l@uleth.ca" <dm-l@uleth.ca>
Subject: [dm-l] Future of digital availability

This might be a good time to point out a new initiative, Reveal Digital (revealdigital.com) which is operating under a new model which is accepting subscriptions while the digitization work is happening, just enough to cover costs (which are clearly presented) and the subscription costs depend on how many other institutions subscribe and the size of the institution. Costs are much less than "traditional" [ProQuest etc.] publications. After five years the publication will go into open access. The first collection is modern (alternative press publications from the mid-late 20th c.) but the model is appearling (to me, and to others in the library community who are already signing on) and could be applied to any collection including medieval materials. It's also a direct reaction to the appauling costs and practices of some (not all) existing digital publishers.

I do think it's important to acknowledge that not all libraries have the wherewithal to support the digitization and publication of their own collections, that publishers do have a role to play in making collections available, and that not all publishers are the same.

Dot