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December 06, 2007
"Scholarly Communication in Turmoil"
What is the fate of print journals in the face of the tremendous new wave of technology (RSS feeds, podcasts, blogs, institutional repositories, etc.) that is luring authors and subscribers away from the traditional format?
This is the issue that Miriam A. Drake discusses in "Scholarly Communication in Turmoil" in the February 2007 issue of Information Today. Drake discusses several different valid points that explain why print journals are in danger from modern trends. Drake says that "the current state of scholarly publishing is marked by confusion, uncertainty, and the lack of a clear path for the future." She draws information from two different experts in the field: Sally Morris and Michael Mabe. Drake goes on to say that libraries, after years of buying bundled journals to save money, are starting to demand the right to chose what kind of periodicals they want to include in their "big deal". Drake discusses the increasing rate of new journal growth and its effect on professional organizations. Drake also says that both experts are concerned about threat to scholarly print publishing in the form of institutional repositories and self-archiving, as well as open access. Finally, Drake discusses copyright and the increasing issue of who owns the article: the author or the journal?
Drake's overview of the new issues facing traditional scholarly communication today is an interest read that provides a tremendous amount of information for the curious reader. I highly recommend this article to anyone who is interested in the fate of traditional scholarly communication.
Posted by--Amy Hopkins
Posted by colldev at December 6, 2007 04:35 PM