HighWire Press

What is it famous for? HighWire has created web sites for accessing the full text of top biomedical journals such as Science, Journal of Biological Chemistry and PNAS. How did a little company get started so fast? Amazingly, HighWire isn't even incorporated yet. It's a staff project of the Stanford University Library, with all expenses being run out of the library budget. Many of the employees are part-timers and a few 'partners' are working for free. Who's the genius behind all this? Chief Librarian Michael Keller started the project in 1993. He got his degree in musicology. John Sack, who set up Stanford's information system, is one of the few full-timers. Together they pulled aboard a dozen other computer experts and biology post-docs, including Marc Weiser, who doubles as drummer for Severe Tire Damage, the first rock band to play live on the internet. What's the purpose of all this — good times? HighWire people may be having fun, but they have a certain evangelic fervor. Keller says commercial publishers are getting rich by taking free information from scientists and selling it back to universities, and that HighWire is trying to provide an economically viable alternative to the profit-making publishers. Right now, its only purpose is to save money for the Stanford Library, but that won't last long. A corporate spin-off is likely. Is HighWire making money? The division made US$ 800 000 in revenues in 1996, and will probably double that figure this year. HighWire charges about $ 50 000 to put a sizeable journal online (no archives). Then there is an ongoing maintenance fee of about $ 4000 a month. HighWire is also developing software that will enable journals to do the job themselves. That could become a real cash cow. Would all this translate into a profit outside the Stanford environment? Nobody wants to look yet. What's so special about what HighWire does? Their expertise is in handling complex scientific material. Greek letters need to be coded and mathematical formulae illustrated. Plus, there are features that can't be done in print: film clips of lab results, three-dimensional analysis, even sounds. Keller and Sack are often credited with having a vision of where scientific publishing is headed. And where is scientific publishing headed? Away from the printed word and towards the electronic — but not entirely. Some journals are simply putting up duplicates of their print versions, except …