Saturday, July 3
Dictionary of National Biography
I received a mailshot today informing me that, after over a decade in the making, the New Dictionary of National Biography is due to be published on 23 September 2004. Without doubt, it is a major achievement, and will be a fantastic resource, but ...
... why make it so expensive & inaccessible ?
The introductory price for the print edition is £6,500 !!!
It is obviously aimed at libraries and other institutions where it will get regular use. But what I cannot understand is why there are no provisions to make it available to individuals for the odd lookup online. It will be available online, but only through (a) libraries that have coughed up for the print version or (b) an individual annual subscriptions costing £195.
If that were not bad enough, I emailed my local library to find out whether they were planning to buy it - and they have not even replied to my email.
... why make it so expensive & inaccessible ?
The introductory price for the print edition is £6,500 !!!
It is obviously aimed at libraries and other institutions where it will get regular use. But what I cannot understand is why there are no provisions to make it available to individuals for the odd lookup online. It will be available online, but only through (a) libraries that have coughed up for the print version or (b) an individual annual subscriptions costing £195.
If that were not bad enough, I emailed my local library to find out whether they were planning to buy it - and they have not even replied to my email.