SC - medieval garden herbs/flowers

[Stefan li Rous]

- --- LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 5/11/99 12:30:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> ddendy at silk.net 
> writes:
> The OED was excessible through universities sites on-line instantly 
> until Dec. That acecess was cut off for tjhose not paying for the
> privelege of gaining knowledge. That is what I view as a grievous 
> wrong. 
> 
> With over half of American households having web access there is no
> reason that the resources of library cannot be made to everyone 
> on-line. When one of those resources is offered for a short while and
> then snatched awy, I find it appalling. I also find it offensive that
> the priveleged few have free access while others must go out of their
> way to get access. This is not the universities fault. They offered 
> it freely but were forced to sign a restrictive use contract to be 
> able to use the on-line version. The onus lies squarely on the 
> shoulders of the publishers of this dictionary.
> 
> Ras


Sorry, Ras, I cannot agree with you here.  The dictionary is a work
under copyright, and they have every right to limit access to those who
have contributed back something to the truly staggering costs of
producing, maintaining, and updating this most ambitious of
intellectual undertakings.  When most of us contemplate a project, we
have to think about how much it will cost us (in time and money) to
complete it before we decide if we can afford to go ahead; if we can
get someone else to help defray the cost, by allowing them to benefit
also, that helps a lot.  But no way no how is Oxford University Press
making money on this dictionary project, no matter how much it costs --
the volume ain't there.  This project initially took 70+ years to get
out the first edition, and then immediately started updating for the
second, etc.  Think about it -- who but those supremely self-confident
Victorians would even attempt to document every single word that has
ever been used in the English language -- by reading everything ever
written in it?  The hubris required boggles!  And it only took them
about 5 times as long as they had projected, to put out a first
(somewhat unfinished) edition!  

While Oxford may be willing to underwrite a good portion of the
operating budget for the prestige factor, and it would be nice if they
considered it a service to humanity and gave it out free, they have
every right to demand SOME return for use.  I am frankly amazed that
some University sites granted free access -- they are usually much more
careful about copyright protection than that.  

I will agree, however, that it is agonizing to have such access and
then loose it.  I'm jealous -- I hadn't found that loophole access, and
while I fully support the rights of copyright holders to protect their
rights, I still wouldn't have been able to resist using it.

- -- Harriet

_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================