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South African lessons: Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)

May 27, 2005 4:12 AM - comments (1)

One of the most interesting presentations at this fantastic conference was given by Eve Gray, of Eve Gray & Associates. Gray was asked to study the publishing strategy of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa. This research institution had a traditional strategy of publishing lots of research books, and selling them. Gray convinced them to change their strategy -- to give away all their research books for free online, and offer a high quality print-on-demand service for anyone who wants the paper version. The result: "the sales turnover of the publishing department has risen by 300%." As she concluded her presentation, "giving away books and lead to an increase in our book sales." There's much much more in her interesting analysis. She has generously offered it for downloading. Here's the press release.

Posted on May 27, 2005 4:12 AM | | technorati

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» Giving Electronic Books Away Increases Paper Book Sales from Zmetro.com
Lessig:Gray was asked to study the publishing strategy of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa. This research institution had a traditional strategy of publishing lots of research books, and selling them. Gray convinced them to ch... [Read More]

Tracked on May 27, 2005 6:00 AM

» Research Institution Gives Away Research, Increases Sales from Library Autonomous Zone
South African lessons: Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Lawrence Lessig notes on his blog the experience of the HSRC changing their publishing model. They started "to give away all their research books for free online, and offer a high quality pr... [Read More]

Tracked on May 27, 2005 7:00 AM

» Donner le contenu pour augmenter les ventes de livres? from Opossum
Le Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) d'Afrique du Sud travaille depuis quelques années à implanter un modèle de publication mixte pour la diffusion de travaux de recherche. Ils diffusent gratuitement toutes leurs publications ... [Read More]

Tracked on May 27, 2005 8:24 AM

» Free online promotes demand for print from Tensegrities
Lawrence Lessig has a nice link to the story of the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa which used to publish high quality research in print. They've changed their strategy. Now giving away the research online, and then offering... [Read More]

Tracked on May 27, 2005 9:08 AM

» The rise of the publishing gazelles from Ramblings
Larry Lessig points out the case of the HSRC (Human Sciences Research Council) in South Africa. They offer content for free on the net, and we're talking about complete books here, but also offer print versions for those who want it. [Read More]

Tracked on June 1, 2005 4:57 AM

Comments (1)

May 30, 2005 12:52 AM David Horwitz:

The exprerience of the HSRC makes an interesting contrast to other publishing bodies and their oposition to digitising efforts. Just look at the reaction of the AUP (Assosiation of University Presses) to Googles library digitisation project....

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