Valuing and protecting our intellectual property: the lifeblood of our business

It is a matter of real regret that we publishers appear to be more concerned with ‘protecting’ rather than ‘providing access to’ the content we publish online. They may be two sides of the same coin, but the message we send to our readers and to our library customers is all too often a negative one. First of all, we need to be more deliberate about establishing the value of what we publish. Secondly, we must meet the needs of our readers, and use technology to extend the reach of the research we publish. Thirdly, we need to ensure that our library customers have all the rights they need to do their jobs properly and professionally. If we do not exploit the facilities that computers and the Internet have afforded us, we do not deserve the name of ‘publishers’.