Elsevier cuts off UC’s access to its academic journals

zadokshi wrote: post #4

betterunix2 wrote: post #2

Death throws of a dying and unnecessary industry.

I can’t tell if by “dying industry” you mean universities or journal databases.

Honest question: why do commenters here frequently seem to bear a chip on their shoulder when it comes to institutions of higher learning?

Re: Elsevier cuts off UC’s access to its academic journals

#6

Post by CydeWeys » Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 2:45 PM UTC

betterunix2 wrote: post #2

Death throws of a dying and unnecessary industry.

*throes

Re: Elsevier cuts off UC’s access to its academic journals

#7

Post by CydeWeys » Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 2:47 PM UTC

Sounds like everyone at UC is going to use SciHub now, and most likely won't switch back once access gets restored?

This seems like a self-defeating move on Elsevier's part?

Incidentally, I heard from someone who worked at Elsevier around four years ago that the working environment there was terrible, and she couldn't wait to leave. That doesn't seem surprising.

Re: Elsevier cuts off UC’s access to its academic journals

#8

Post by knolax » Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 2:47 PM UTC

hyperbovine wrote: post #5

zadokshi wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t tell if by “dying industry” you mean universities or journal databases.

Honest question: why do commenters here frequently seem to bear a chip on their shoulder when it comes to institutions of higher learning?

My guess is programming is one of the rare white-collar jobs where a non-negligible amount of people don't have college degrees. So there's some resentment/contempt/regrets from seeing people who spent massive amounts of money and four years of their lives end up doing the same quality work as highschool drop-outs.

Re: Elsevier cuts off UC’s access to its academic journals

#9

Post by hyperbovine » Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 2:51 PM UTC

knolax wrote: post #8

hyperbovine wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why do commenters here frequently seem to bear a chip on their shoulder when it comes to institutions of higher learning?

My guess is programming is one of the rare white-collar jobs where a non-negligible amount of people don't have college degrees. So there's some resentment/contempt/regrets from seeing people who spent massive amounts of money and four years of their lives end up doing the same quality work as highschool drop-outs.

Wouldn't the resentment be going the other way then?

Re: Elsevier cuts off UC’s access to its academic journals

#10

Post by Vinnl » Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 2:51 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #7

Sounds like everyone at UC is going to use SciHub now, and most likely won't switch back once access gets restored? This seems like a self-defeating move on Elsevier's part? Incidentally, I heard from someone who worked at Elsevier around four years ago that the working environment there was terrible, and she couldn't wait to leave. That doesn't seem surprising.

Well, they've been maintaining access for institutions that cancelled their subscriptions for presumably this reason pretty often already, but as more and more institutions jumped on the train, that's not really tenable: why would others keep paying subscriptions if you're not going to cut off access if they don't?

But of course, if it turns out that access is not that necessary anyway, people will stop paying too. But well, that's the risk if you're not adding that much value. And by now, Elsevier has seen this coming long enough that they've hedged their bets well enough not to be reliant on journal subscriptions alone any more. In fact, I'm sure they'll have considered the past few years in which subscriptions hadn't yet massively been cancelled as being a windfall.