From: Laura Wilkinson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 29 Feb 2016 09:47:22 +0000

Dear Cendrella,

Presumably they are going to sell access to your content once they’ve digitised it? It would be good to be clear about this from the outset, especially if your own university would have to pay for access.  “make it discoverable” could mean various things – best to check, and be sure it is what your journal’s board/members want.  Don’t assume that this means making it freely available to the world.

I have had a quick look at their website, and noticed that much of the site is under construction :

I don’t think it is good practice to have a website with pages stating “coming soon” or “under construction”.  And if OA is important to your journal’s board/members, take care.  Their site states “all rights reserved”, and they don’t yet have an OA policy/statement – indeed the page is blank.

You might also refer to “Think. Check. Submit.” http://thinkchecksubmit.org/ to help you make a decision.

In general, I think it would be better to plan a digitisation project for your journal and research several different providers to compare how they can realise the project.  Such a company which approaches unsolicited would not inspire confidence in me.  But it is important to start with what your ambitions are for the journal and then decide how to achieve them.


Best wishes,