On Parade

[mcbishop]

I have just put my 'On parade: status, display, and morale in the Roman army' paper from the 14th Roman Frontiers Congress online at Scribd as a PDF for any who may be interested.

Mike Bishop

[Jona Lendering]

I have just put my 'On parade: status, display, and morale in the Roman army' paper from the 14th Roman Frontiers Congress online at Scribd as a PDF for any who may be interested.

Thanks. If only all scholarly papers were available online...

[Paullus Scipio]

Thanks from me too....a most interesting summation of present knowledge. I have sent you a P.M.

[Narukami]

Thank you

Indeed, it would be great if all papers were so readily available or that all authors were so generous.

Many thanks

:wink:

Narukami

[mcbishop]

Indeed, it would be great if all papers were so readily available or that all authors were so generous.

One problem I foresee is that many academic publications, specifically periodicals, now expressly forbid reproduction elsewhere - Britannia, for example, requires exclusivity and only makes it available online to subscribers (then at an extra charge - cheek!) and through JSTOR. Fine if a you are an academic with access through a system like Athens, but if you are not... tough!

I abhor such practices but have had little choice to go along with them in other publications, whilst ensuring that JRMES does not demand that of contributors, nor does it make any claim on copyright (which some journals do).

Ultimately, the business model will have to change: don't doubt that it will, but it may take a while.

Mike Bishop

[Jona Lendering]

One problem I foresee is that many academic publications, specifically periodicals, now expressly forbid reproduction elsewhere

Which essentially means (and I am not blaming you, but the academic system) that I first have to pay taxes to allow people to do research, and that I have to pay -through JSTOR- a second time when I want to read that they have found out. Are we surprised about the current surge of pseudoscience? No, we are not. The system is rotten to the core.

Fortunately, the European Union is preparing legislation that will allow the great publishing houses some time to keep their texts "closed", but forces them make the accessible after this interval.

[mcbishop]

Fortunately, the European Union is preparing legislation that will allow the great publishing houses some time to keep their texts "closed", but forces them make the accessible after this interval.

Which is pretty much what has happened with the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Of course, a lot of archaeological/ancient historical research is not (or only indirectly) publicly funded. Even developer-funded archaeological reports, where statutory bodies place a requirement of public domain on the information produced, are trumped by journals specifically claiming copyright (and in the UK legislators are itching to tighten copyright legislation even more, which is why Creative Commons becomes so important for those of us with a more liberal attitude to 'rights management' issues). The only solution is to boycott publications adopting such an approach, but I have found that such little catch-all clauses tend to get sneaked in when you have already agreed to the publication and perhaps even started work on it. Caveat scriptor.

Mike Bishop

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Thank you Mike.
Looks interesting!

[Salvianus]

Laudes to you: I like a dual system of free circulation of summaries, articles, bibliographies, updates - anything which will promote and facilitate further research in the community of enquiry - which then make it easier for students (whether professional or amateur) to locate the more detailed nitty gritty scholarship they really need to advance their own, which then can be the focus of their invariably restricted research funds, thus helping to provide an income for the authors and artists.

Authors often seem to be treated very badly by publishers. In short, and as a teacher, I believe knowledge must be shared freely, but the worker deserves their wage: thus I encourage all to read your (very useful) article, but make sure they save up for, or request as a gift, Roman Military Equipment!