JSTOR Statement on Aaron Swartz
IMO, JSTOR isn't directly to blame. They are operating within a broken system, and it seems like they are doing what they can.<p>Academic publishing is what needs a serious overhaul.<p>After having worked in an academic library and, more recently, leading technology operations for a prominent new ebook publisher and article archive, the first two words that come to mind when I think of both publishing (academic and trade) and librarianship are "waste" and "bureaucracy."<p>Librarians are supposed to be the ones advocating for the readers, but they are hobbled by a culture of committees, conferences, and politics. They work within organizations that are heavily stratified ("librarians" and "staff"), with all the worst aspects of severely hierarchical organizations.<p>Recently I was also was privy to a variety of details during the formation of a new academic digital publisher, and it was the same kind of top-heavy, anti-"lean" structure you'd expect. The amount they were raising just to get started seemed absurd, especially when we were in the process of building a larger organization that did more with less funding.<p>The point being, when you look under the surface, it's no wonder that everything in this space seems to cost more than necessary.<p>There must be enough of us fed up, skilled, and idealistic enough to disrupt this space, creating new, actually modern publishers and/or publishing platforms if necessary.<p>Does anyone with more domain expertise have any advice about where to start or what to focus on?