As I am not an academic but rather an independent researcher working in industry, I have little useful to say about the academic power structure or its future.<p>To get back to why I joined this thread, do you accept that your scenario of having to visit a state university library in person to read someone&#x27;s &quot;magnum opus&quot; in book form is unlikely enough that it is more fanciful than meaningful?<p>As you are also not an academic, I instead offer a better scenario. Many Masters and PhD dissertations are deposited in the univeristy library but otherwise unpublished, and even un-indexed. For some of those you may have to visit the library in person to see a copy or even learn that it exists.