More ruminations, rambles, rants and raves from the downhill side of the mountain.
Just so you know exactly where I stand vis-a-vis today's polarized politics, let me recommend this organization to you.
And I also recommend my gentle employer to you as well. The Barnes & Noble Affiliate Network, which seemed to have stopped working, is back in operation, so the links and banners are working again.
Now, go buy some books.
And I also recommend my gentle employer to you as well. The Barnes & Noble Affiliate Network, which seemed to have stopped working, is back in operation, so the links and banners are working again.
Now, go buy some books.
Links:
Fox Den: Creative (i.e. Fiction)Writing
A Pilgrim's Progress
Ian's Knowledge Modelling Weblog
Future Scan: Future Studies Department University of Houston at Clear Lake
PLSJ (aka Anne, the Anthropologist)
link
Lost in Transit
link
Coffee Grounds
Traveling in Style
Slacktivist Recommended with a bullet!
Hoofin To You: Bridgewater, NJ politics
Inadmissible Evidence
Big Black Van
Overflow
In Spite of Years of Silence
Metamorphosism (Mig's new blog)
Real Live Preacher
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Alas, A Blog
A Fistful of Euros
BuzzMachine
Eschaton
Pedantry
The Poor Man
Barefoot and Naked
Boing Boing
Craigblog
Fafglob
The Road to Surfdom
link
E-Mail Me
My Other Blogs, Journals and such
Fox Den: Creative (i.e. Fiction)Writing
A Pilgrim's Progress
Business/Economics/Future Studies and other Social Sciences
Ian's Knowledge Modelling Weblog
Future Scan: Future Studies Department University of Houston at Clear Lake
PLSJ (aka Anne, the Anthropologist)
link
International
Lost in Transit
link
New Jersey New York Pennsylvania and Delaware
Coffee Grounds
Traveling in Style
Slacktivist Recommended with a bullet!
Hoofin To You: Bridgewater, NJ politics
Inadmissible Evidence
Personal/General
Big Black Van
Overflow
In Spite of Years of Silence
Metamorphosism (Mig's new blog)
Real Live Preacher
Blogs with Attitude
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Alas, A Blog
A Fistful of Euros
BuzzMachine
Eschaton
Pedantry
The Poor Man
Barefoot and Naked
Boing Boing
Craigblog
Fafglob
The Road to Surfdom
link
E-Mail Me
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And finally, here are a few books I might recommend for your edification and amazement.
What's the Matter with Kansas?
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
OK, I've been Blog surfing again. I admit it. It is a nasty little habit in that it perniciously eats up significant blocks of time, but, other than that, it is relatively harmless. Since I have pretty much foresworn all my major vices, I think I'll let this one ride for a while.
Anyhow, I was reading Anne's blog (see permanent links over on the left border of this window) when I came across her comments about academic publishing. That lead me to Peter's blog, and there I found this comment by Alex which I had to comment upon. First, my anal personality forces me to gently correct Alex's use of the word "argue". I think he actually means "debate" when he uses the former word. When one "argues" a position, one is supporting that position. Thus the statement "while few librarians would argue that the Web is changing scholarly publishing..." actually means that few librarians would support that position where the reality is that, in fact, the Web is changing the field. And that (he says in a smooth segue) brings me to the actual point of this little monologue.
"Publish or Perish" has been an academic reality for at least the last 100 years or so. For at least that long, the professional academic journals have held the key to professional advancement in the academic world. Should one aspire to attain the rank of full professor, one had to be published in one of the major journals in his/her field. Being a "beloved" teacher was simply not enough. Therefore, it is only natural that the professional journals would resist relinquishing their power to another medium. However, the economics and realities of an increasingly complex and densely populated world are going to mandate a gradual shift from pure print to a mixed media format. It should be noted, however, that many of the major journals are published by the primary professional societies in the various disciplines. These societies use the journal as a means of establishing the social hierarchy within the organization and within the professionals who make up the body of discipline as a whole.
That being said, I think it will become inevitable that the journals transform from print to electronic media for both immediacy and for general archiving. While the larger libraries may carry back issues in their physical form, the majority of libraries will find it necessary to archive back issues electronically. Even today virtually all libraries archive most of their periodicals, from daily newspapers to annual reviews, on microfiche, so the physical form disappears quite early in a journal edition's lifetime. No, in twenty years young scholars will access journals from their school's library via their school's LAN. However, the journals, because they are referreed/moderated will still be the sine qua non for the procurement of academic credentials and status. Blogs, such as this, will provide interesting content, but that content will not be deemed credible as academic research until it is actually put under the peer review process of the journals. Of course, having all this potential content out there could lead to a form of ad hoc peer review where the content of these personal journals is hashed out in moderated online forums.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
©El Zorro Viejo 2002-2005
