Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
In practice, it is unlikely that any one of these scenarios would be played
out in isolation. It is actually much more probable that they would all
have a part to play to a greater or lesser extent, and that some would
be more likely than others for certain disciplines of academic endeavour.
Conclusions
In periods of rapid change a little disorganization is inevitable. As in any
process of evolution, blind alleys will be followed and there will be
duplication of effort and expense. The aim, as the scholarly
communication system evolves, is to ensure that there are no
discontinuities of any of the important functional parts of the process,
that one mechanism does not become extinct before another is mature
enough to replace it.
There is much to do and there are challenging questions to be
answered about who does it and how it is paid for. There are important
and expensive issues of stewardship, particularly around version control,
authority, the preservation and curation of digital material, research
data and standards. Paying for this will also be challenging and all
stakeholders in the scholarly communication chain will have to focus on
efficiency and be ruthless regarding costs. A rapid move to an
electronic-only environment would seem to be the most obvious initial
priority and would be an avenue to substantial, achievable savings. As
such, this should be pursued aggressively by all actors.
However the future detail of scholarly communication works out, the
roles of publishers and librarians will become more, not less important.
With a morass of information before them, readers will - more than
ever before - need mechanisms, techniques, technology and, I am sure,
trusted brands to help them sift the wheat from the chaff and find
trustworthy, reliable content. That is not to say that what librarians and
publishers do will remain the same. In fact, publishers and librarians
will need to continue to change, and perhaps this transition will
transform them almost beyond recognition. For publishers, there will
continue to be both mixed business models and a mix of business
models, and the world, as ever, will get more complex.
We will see new types of publisher and new types of librarian, but the
role of librarians and publishers is to serve readers, and I am optimistic
about the future of both.
