Introduction
From Establishing a Research Agenda for Scholarly Communication
The system of scholarly communication allows research results and scholarship to be registered, evaluated for quality, disseminated, and preserved. A complex and growing set of issues – environmental changes, challenges and opportunities – affect the evolution of infrastructure, products, and services that perform these core functions of scholarly communication.
Changes in scholarly communication affect diverse and well-known stakeholders, including North American academic libraries and their parent institutions. These stakeholders are taking actions such as experimentation, policy intervention, and exploring new market behaviors. In doing so, they seek to respond to the changing environment and to influence the rapid evolution of the conduct and sharing of scholarship.
In an ideal world, stakeholders would have timely and comprehensive data about the state and dynamics of scholarly discourse, the needs and expectations of stakeholders, and the impact of technological and organizational changes in the academy, as they implement new strategies and plans. Meaningful research questions and results can inform and assist the entire academic community in influencing and managing the evolution of scholarly communication.
Recognizing the value of a collaborative understanding, the Scholarly Communications Committee of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) organized an invitational meeting to discuss these issues with a selective group of principals from leading not-for-profit organizations attuned to North American academic libraries. The primary goal of the meeting was to identify foundational questions and evidence needed to inform strategic planning for scholarly communication programs. A related goal was to explore whether these organizations could pool their resources and co-operate to address and refresh the priority needs.
Representatives from ACRL, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), Ithaka, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (Mellon), and Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) met on July 21, 2007, in Washington, D.C. to discuss research needed in the area of scholarly communications.[1] Each of the participating organizations has a unique role, specific mission, and an explicit record of addressing change in scholarly communication. Collectively they share the view that profound changes are occurring in scholarly communication, and they are particularly engaged in the role of academic libraries as stakeholders and change agents.
The Report & Invitation
This report thematically summarizes and synthesizes the meeting’s rich discussion, framing essential research challenges and opportunities to engage others and to broaden the conversation.[1] It is intended primarily for those engaged in supporting the creation and distribution of scholarship and research. As such, it assumes that the reader will have more than passing familiarity with the rapid evolution of scholarly communication and will have an interest in framing and deepening the collective understanding of how to shape scholarly communication models to match current and emerging scholarly practices.
Eight themes emerged from the conversation. In non-prioritized order they are:
- The impact and implications of cyberinfrastructure
- Changing organizational models
- How scholars work
- Authorship and scholarly publication
- Value and value metrics in scholarly communications
- Adoption of successful innovations
- Preservation of critical materials
- Public policy and legal matters
Each theme is explored below through an introduction, a list of challenges that begin to illustrate the need for deeper understanding, and a set of specific research questions or opportunities. The research challenges vary in their scale and relative complexity, and are offered here to engage consideration, not as an exhaustive, prioritized, or definitive list.
The academic community and its key partners in the creation and communication of scholarship are invited to comment and extend the issues and possible research initiatives. The report is expected to provoke additional ideas and responses. Without substantive comment from librarians and their partners the goal of outlining a community research agenda cannot be considered complete. The planners hope this report and its comments can prompt new research ideas and pursuits.
NEXT: Theme 1: The Impact and Implications of Cyberinfrastructure
