That I can reach an international audience from my desktop, without the aid of publishers or distribution channels, can be seen as a testimony to the democratizing nature of personal computers and networks. In the world of information dissemination, power is flowing to individuals. In the past, in order to reach a wide audience, an author had to be published by a large publishing house with the resources to distribute the publication. As my own publisher, I have been able to reach a world-wide audience without any assistance from traditional publishing channels. This ability of the Web to empower an individual is far more fascinating to me than all the commercial Web applications being discussed in the news media.
A question arises as to the function of publishers and refereed publications in the new open environment where anyone can reach a world-wide audience from a personal desktop computer.
In the teleconference "Networked Information and the Scholar" (October 28, 1994), Dr. James J. O'Donnell made some interesting comments about the changing role of traditional publishing, especially academic publishing. Professor O'Donnell is coordinator of the Center for Computer Analysis of Texts in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor O'Donnell argued that peer review of manuscripts by publishers has the purpose of rationing access to rare print resources. Recall that those reviewing the papers prior to publication are in fact in competition with the authors being reviewed for rare print space and for grant money.
In the networked world, there is no necessity to ration access to the audience. Peer review becomes censorship in this environment. Professor O'Donnell used the very evocative and provocative phrase that in the networked environment "what was indispensable will become indefensible." Control of access to the publication medium, once an indispensable part of the publication process, will become indefensible when anyone can distribute publications through the network.