Willinsky, John. The access principle : the case for open access to research and scholarship. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006.

John Willinsky, noted author of multiple books on the subject of scholarly communication, explores in his book The Access Principle then newest development in scholarly communication. In this book he argues that the open access initiative is a good thing for the scholarly community and the general public as well. He claims that this new development can benefit both the frustrated researcher and the mundane high school teacher as well. These beneficial aspects are covered in depth in the chapters entitled “Public” and “Politics” respectively. This is a fine book for seeing how exactly the Open Access Initiative is able to be applied to the wider spectrum of society.

Andresen, Deborah Lines. Digital scholarship in the tenure, promotion, and review process. N.Y.: M. E., Sharp, 2004.

An Associate Professor of information studies at the University of Albany, Deborah Andresen explains the difficulties of digital scholarship. Of particular interest is part II of her book where she writes on the history of digital scholarship. However the most relevant part of her book in regards to the scholarly communication crisis is the third section where the author writes on tenure, promotion, and review. This section is important as it gives critical insight into one of the cogs of the communication crisis. By understanding the why’s and how’s it may then become apparent a way to solve the problem.

Abel, Richard E. Scholarly Publishing : Books, Journals, Publishers, and Libraries in the Twentieth Century. N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, 2002.

Richard E. Abel, known to many as “the father of the modern library approval plan”, addresses in his book the history (in regards to the twentieth century) of publication and scholarly communication. His book is a collection of fifteen essays that evaluate the contributions of the prominent figures of publishing in the twentieth century. Also in his book is what he calls the evolution of college textbooks. The most pertinent chapter, however is the fourteenth; wherein he specifically covers the impact of library budgets on the communication crisis. This text is very important in understand how the crisis came about and where t is headed now.

Alexander, Alison; Potter, W. James; Anderson, James A. How to Publish Your Communication Research: An Insiders Guide. California: Sage Publications,
2001.

Professors at the Universities of Georgia and California (respectively) their book covers the nuances and pitfalls of scholarly publishing/ communication. They admit that it is a brutal process and as such they have provided this guide, as it were, to help those new to this field. The aime of the book is to aid not only scholarly publication, but mundane publication as well. While the book doesn’t seem to address the communication crisis specifically, its contents provide insight into this rather nasty business. It may also provide moving arguments in favor of moving away form the whole high priced scholarly publication issue.