Publish then Select

"One of the effects of web development is an increasing number of people "talking" and a reduced number of people "listening". People have less time to listen, but seem to always have time to talk! .... If the volume of information ("people talking") continues to grow, ... so the question that I predict will be the "hot topic" in the future will be how information gets filtered... (ie publish then select)" in a posting by Pippa Smart (Research Communication and Publishing Consultant) on lib-licence list.

Academic publishing has always relied on an odd relationship betwwen supply (lots) and demand (less but predictable). The problem can be summarised as in a world of OA and even lower barriers to entry for the prospective suppliers - the supply has increased and the contol gate for demand has gone from selecting for publication to select from publications.