From analogue to digital scholarship: implications for science communication researchers

Digital media have transformed the social practices of science communication. They have extended the number of channels that scientists, media professionals, other stakeholders and citizens use to communicate scientific information.

Social media provide opportunities to communicate in more immediate and informal ways, while digital technologies have the potential to make the various processes of research more visible in the public sphere.

Some digital media also offer, on occasion, opportunities for interaction and engagement. Similarly, ideas about public engagement are shifting and extending social practices, partially influencing governance strategies, and science communication policies and practices.

In this paper I explore this developing context via a personal journey from an analogue to a digital scholar. In so doing, I discuss some of the demands that a globalised digital landscape introduces for science communication researchers and document some of the skills and competencies required to be a digital scholar of science communication.

URL : http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/09/03/Jcom0903%282010%29C01/Jcom0903%282010%29C05/Jcom0903%282010%29C05.pdf

Science communication, an emerging discipline

Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current issues and recent research. But the status of science communication is uncertain in disciplinary terms.

This commentary considers two dimensions of the status of discipline as they apply to science communication – the clarity with which the field is defined and the level of development of theories to guide formal studies.

It argues that further theoretical development is needed to support science communication’s full emergence as a discipline.

URL : http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/09/03/Jcom0903%282010%29C01/Jcom0903%282010%29C03/Jcom0903%282010%29C03.pdf

Designing and Implementing Second Generation Digital Preservation Services: A Scalable Model for the Stanford Digital Repository

This paper describes the Stanford Digital Repository (SDR), a large scale, digital preservation system for scholarly materials. It examines the lessons-learned through over five years of development and operational experience.

Building on the knowledge gained, the paper goes on to outline a new repository design and service framework, SDR 2.0, that will address some of the challenges that have emerged. Changes in the environment such as staffing levels and collaborative opportunities are also described.

Finally, the paper includes observations on the general state of the preservation and repository communities, and the emergence of a new generation of systems and strategies in this space.

URL : http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september10/cramer/09cramer.html

Representation and Recognition of Subject Repositories

Subject repositories are under-studied and under-represented in library science literature and in the scholarly communication and digital library fields.

A study of practical literature on subject repositories reveals a relatively small proportion of practical articles to total articles found that discuss subject repositories in some way — where practical refers to articles that would help inform decisions on repository development and management.

In addition to the lack of practical literature on subject repositories, registries, software, publishers, and database thesauri do not define subject repositories consistently, do not recognize subject repositories as distinct from other types of repositories, or do not recognize subject repositories at all.

At the same time, subject repositories are frequently cited as highly successful scholarly communication initiatives, especially in relation to institutional repositories.

The lack of subject repository recognition within the literature and among commonly used repository tools may be attributed to the isolated development of the largest subject repositories and a general lack of awareness about small-scale subject repositories.

The authors recommend an increase of literature and research on subject repositories, development of standard language, guidelines, and best practices, and the formation of a community of subject repository professionals.

URL : http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september10/adamick/09adamick.html

Free exchange of ideas.Experimenting with the open access monograph

Editor’s note: Maria Bonn’s essay, a review of the challenges of applying open access models to monograph publishing, is based on her presentation at the ALA 2010 Midwinter SPARC-ACRL Forum in Boston, MA. The entire Forum, “The ebook transition: Collaborations and innovations behind open-access monographs,” may be viewed online at www.arl.org/sparc/meetings/ala10mw/

URL : http://crln.acrl.org/content/71/8/436.full

Bloc payment methods for online journals

This report is based on an analysis of the practicability and the effect of different models for allocating costs of journal and other digital information licences between HEIs where journal collections or other information products have been licensed by a “bloc” of institutions for a single all-in price – the so-called “Big Deal”.

This type of transaction is contemplated for core resources that have widespread application in HE. It can operate at a national level, or on a regional basis, or for groups of academic libraries with a common interest in a particular discipline.

The report draws on two studies:
1. Activities, costs and funding flows in the scholarly communications system in the UK, Research information Network, London, 2008 (referred to as the ‘CEPA Report), and
2. Review of the Costs and Benefits of Single Payment Arrangements for JISC/NESLi2 Licences, JISC collections, London, 2009, referred to as the ‘Single Payment Report’

Both reports point to the benefits of moving to a digital journal environment in which online-only journal lists are licensed from publishers (and print versions discontinued) and paid for in a single payment transaction and in which significant reductions in library operating costs are achievable.

URL : http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Reports/Bloc-Payment-for-online-journals/