This article by Larry Teo usefully summarizes the various events going on to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages. It has a particular focus on Singapore of course, where there will be a conference, exhibitions and the erection of a fibreglass replica of what might have been the famous "dragon's tooth gate" of the old Chinese texts. Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu editor Geoff Wade is quoted, reminding us that the Ming voyages were not purely peaceful in nature.

A strong analysis, from the American point-of-view, of the enterprise of history-writing by David Greenberg. He takes a wide overview of the different choices and trends in history-writing, and the issue of their relevance to both academic and public audiences. What should we write about he asks.

He doesn't go on to analyze the situation from a publisher's perspective (though we note with gratitude the mention he gives to the key role university presses play here). The scholarly enterprise of writing history for scholarly audiences will always be of great importance. What is not clear is whether such writing can continue to be published in the usual manner, not if audiences for such books fall below a sales threshold of a few hundred copies. Is it economically rational to invest in book editing, production and marketing efforts for such small print runs, when cheaper alternatives for distributing this research exist?

Humbul Humanities Hub is a listing and review of online resources, including for Asian Studies. They've reviewed Geoff Wade's database, saying:
The site is well presented, quick to load and is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in Chinese and Southeast Asian history, particularly on account of the scarcity of primary research materials on this era of Southeast Asian history.

The British Academy has released a major policy review report on E-resources for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. As the report says "There are significant developments in resource technology, in publishing practice, and in intellectual property, that have major implications for higher education and related research, and demand action."
The level of coordination of British efforts in this area is high, with funders obviously meeting and discussing regularly. The report makes several interesting conclusions, including calling for continued support of non-electronic publishing, particularly for monographs.

Geoff was interviewed about his Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu, an open access resource recently published on the Singapore E-Press by NUS Publishing and Asia Research Institute. The interview touches on the importance of studying the Ming, and issues of the historical background to China's relationship to Southeast Asia. The interview is available online.

See the Washington Times headline EU chief proposes online culture library - May 04, 2005: "

Google's digital library plans have motivated European governments to act to digitize non-English-language books. The rhetoric is that of the threat of English against other European languages, but the effort itself is a generous one, of sharing out-of-copyright publications with the world.

Oxford Journals announced that a new open access policy, that will allow authors to put "post-print", (ie peer-reviewed and edited) journal articles online for free, 12 months after publication, or immediately if authors' research grants cover "author pays" publication fees. (Note that they already allow authors to post "pre-prints" online, ie articles as submitted). This new OA initiative is innovative, and aligns Oxford with the new US National Institutes of Health policy. Oxford publishes a number of other open access journals.

See the OUP Journals press release for more information.