Digitize This Book!: The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now

The merits and ramifications of open access-the electronic publishing model that gives readers free, irrevocable, worldwide, and perpetual access to research-are currently being vigorously debated. Particularly in the sciences, open access is now increasingly proposed as a valid means of both disseminating knowledge and career advancement. Gary Hall presents a timely and ambitious polemic on the potential that open access publishing has to transform both "papercentric" humanities scholarship and the institution of the university itself. Rigorously interrogating the intellectual, political, and ethical implications of open access, Digitize This Book! is a radical call for democratizing access to knowledge and transforming the structures of academic and institutional authority and legitimacy.