Scholarly communication Scholarly communication and electronic resources: and electronic resources:

two viewstwo views

Berenika M. WebsterBerenika M. WebsterCentre for Information Behaviour and Evaluation Centre for Information Behaviour and Evaluation

of Research, University College London of Research, University College London

Keith WebsterKeith WebsterUniversity Librarian and Director University Librarian and Director

of Learning Services, University of of Learning Services, University of QueenslandQueensland

Scholarly communicationScholarly communication• ProcessProcess• ActorsActors

How is behaviour of scholars How is behaviour of scholars changing?changing?

How can libraries respond?How can libraries respond?

My work – Berenika (academic)My work – Berenika (academic) Sources of information: Sources of information:

• Discussion list, blogs, RSS feedsDiscussion list, blogs, RSS feeds Bibliographic info of new publicationsBibliographic info of new publications Full text (from inst rep. author’s webpage, etc.)Full text (from inst rep. author’s webpage, etc.) Follow discussionFollow discussion Pose questionsPose questions Announcements of conferences; calls for papers; funding Announcements of conferences; calls for papers; funding

opportunities; jobs opportunities; jobs • E-mailE-mail• A&I services for searching (Web of Science, LISA, A&I services for searching (Web of Science, LISA,

Medline)Medline)• Full text services for browsing (Science Direct; Ingenta)Full text services for browsing (Science Direct; Ingenta)• Google search, then request of off-print from author Google search, then request of off-print from author

Communicating researchCommunicating research• Peer-reviewed journalPeer-reviewed journal• ConferencesConferences• Professional literatureProfessional literature• Book chaptersBook chapters• Self-archiving (of post-prints)Self-archiving (of post-prints)• Open publishing (reports and data sets)Open publishing (reports and data sets)• Wikis for collaborative researchWikis for collaborative research• VoIP and videoconferencing VoIP and videoconferencing

My work – Berenika (academic)My work – Berenika (academic)

• SelectSelect• AcquireAcquire• StoreStore• RetrieveRetrieve• Provide accessProvide access• Preserve and disposePreserve and dispose

Of information to support research Of information to support research and learning & teachingand learning & teaching

My work – Keith (librarian)My work – Keith (librarian)

Manage infrastructureManage infrastructure• StaffStaff• BudgetBudget• SpaceSpace• TechnologyTechnology

Manage infrastructure at UQManage infrastructure at UQ• 250+ staff (38,000 students, 6,000 academics)250+ staff (38,000 students, 6,000 academics)• AU$35 million BudgetAU$35 million Budget• 13 libraries, 2 million books, tens of thousands 13 libraries, 2 million books, tens of thousands

of journalsof journals• Lots of computers, repositories, systemsLots of computers, repositories, systems

My work – Keith (librarian)My work – Keith (librarian)

Scholarly communicationScholarly communication

… … technological and institutional means by which technological and institutional means by which theories, interpretations, and findings are theories, interpretations, and findings are submitted to the scrutiny of expert disciplinary submitted to the scrutiny of expert disciplinary communities and then critiqued, endorsed, communities and then critiqued, endorsed, disseminated, synthesized and archived on behalf disseminated, synthesized and archived on behalf of broad community of teachers and learners of broad community of teachers and learners

(Fyffe, 2001)(Fyffe, 2001)

Informal – social/professional networksInformal – social/professional networks

Formal – publishing and making availableFormal – publishing and making available

StructureStructure

Changes in scholarshipChanges in scholarship Research fundingResearch funding E-researchE-research Scholarly communication crisisScholarly communication crisis New forms of scholarly New forms of scholarly

communication and the academic communication and the academic responseresponse

Players in the formal processPlayers in the formal process FundersFunders

• establish research prioritiesestablish research priorities• provide resources,provide resources,

Scholars Scholars • do research do research • write articles and write articles and • provide quality assurance through peer review, provide quality assurance through peer review,

Publishers and learned societies Publishers and learned societies • accumulate accumulate • copy-edit copy-edit • provide quality assurance through peer reviewprovide quality assurance through peer review• produceproduce• market market • distribute, distribute,

Academic libraries Academic libraries • buy buy • archive and archive and • provide access.provide access.

Drivers of changeDrivers of change

Shift in knowledge production mode Shift in knowledge production mode

Funding structures and requirementsFunding structures and requirements

ICTICT

Crisis in scholarly publishing systemCrisis in scholarly publishing system

Mode 2 in knowledge productionMode 2 in knowledge production

Context (diverse teams focusing on use)Context (diverse teams focusing on use)

Discipline base flow (interdisciplinary and Discipline base flow (interdisciplinary and problem-based)problem-based)

Social organisation (collaborative across sectors; Social organisation (collaborative across sectors; transitory)transitory)

Accountability (social and economic)Accountability (social and economic)

Quality control (academic merit, cost Quality control (academic merit, cost effectiveness, economic and social relevance)effectiveness, economic and social relevance)

(Gibbons [et al], 1994)

CollaborationCollaboration• enabled by ICTenabled by ICT• requirement of fundersrequirement of funders• changing nature of research changing nature of research

(instrumentation; professionalisation; (instrumentation; professionalisation; multidisciplinarity; specialisms)multidisciplinarity; specialisms)

InterdisciplinarityInterdisciplinarity• use driven and problem-based use driven and problem-based

Funding structures and Funding structures and requirements 1requirements 1

External fundingExternal funding Diverse source of fundingDiverse source of funding

• GovernmentGovernment• Not-for-profitNot-for-profit• IndustryIndustry

Economic outcomesEconomic outcomes• increase wealth creation & prosperityincrease wealth creation & prosperity• improve nation’s health, environment & quality of lifeimprove nation’s health, environment & quality of life

InnovationInnovation Improved competitivenessImproved competitiveness ““Commercialisation” of researchCommercialisation” of research Less “curiosity-driven” activityLess “curiosity-driven” activity

Funding structures and Funding structures and requirements 2requirements 2

Evaluation, evaluation, evaluation…Evaluation, evaluation, evaluation…• intellectual meritintellectual merit• cost-effectiveness or “value for money”cost-effectiveness or “value for money”• economic and social relevanceeconomic and social relevance

Requirements of research assessmentRequirements of research assessment• increased quantity of published outputsincreased quantity of published outputs• increased “quality” of outputsincreased “quality” of outputs

Compliance requirementsCompliance requirements• published outputs in open accesspublished outputs in open access• storage and re-use of data setsstorage and re-use of data sets

Percentages of UK biomedical papers Percentages of UK biomedical papers acknowledging support from five main acknowledging support from five main

sectors, 1989-2000sectors, 1989-2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

No funding ack. UK Govt UK PNP Industry Foreign International

% o

f al

l U

K R

OD

pap

ers

1989-92 1993-96 1997-00

Numbers of UK biomedical papers and Numbers of UK biomedical papers and authors per paper, 1989-2000authors per paper, 1989-2000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Pape

rs p

er y

ear

5+

4

3

2

1

Percentage of UK biomedical papers co-Percentage of UK biomedical papers co-authored internationally, 1989-2000authored internationally, 1989-2000

0

4

8

12

16

20

24

28

32

36

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

% o

f al

l U

K p

aper

s

Other addAustralia addwith US addwith EU add

ICT (1)ICT (1) Democratisation of informal networksDemocratisation of informal networks ““De-formalisation” of formal De-formalisation” of formal

networksnetworks• open publishing and self-archivingopen publishing and self-archiving• open peer review open peer review • blogs and discussion boardsblogs and discussion boards

ICT (2)ICT (2)Cyberinfrastructure to support e -scienceCyberinfrastructure to support e -science

Atkins, 2004

ICT (3)ICT (3) Decrease in the use of physical librariesDecrease in the use of physical libraries

Access to wider range of materials Access to wider range of materials • depth (backfiles) depth (backfiles) • breadth (interdisciplinary databases; aggregator breadth (interdisciplinary databases; aggregator

services)services)• digital access to primary resourcesdigital access to primary resources• federated searching across various formats and federated searching across various formats and

institutional collections (libraries/archives/museums) institutional collections (libraries/archives/museums) • new ways of knowledge discovery (data mining) and new ways of knowledge discovery (data mining) and

hyperlinkinghyperlinking

Citation studies: low uptake of web-only Citation studies: low uptake of web-only materials. materials.

Questionnaires and interviews: web-only Questionnaires and interviews: web-only materials are important. materials are important.

Crisis in scholarly publishing Crisis in scholarly publishing system (1)system (1)

Numbers of titles are soaringNumbers of titles are soaring• publish or perishpublish or perish• research assessmentresearch assessment

Death of scholarly monograph?Death of scholarly monograph?• new breed of journalsnew breed of journals• e-publishing onlye-publishing only• universities/funders subsidise costsuniversities/funders subsidise costs

Inflation rates for books and journal are Inflation rates for books and journal are soaringsoaring

Libraries cannot keep upLibraries cannot keep up

Decrease in purchasing power (1)Decrease in purchasing power (1)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

2007

2010

Buying power

Decrease in purchasing power (2)Decrease in purchasing power (2)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

2007

2010

Buying power

Function ofavail info

Crisis in scholarly publishing Crisis in scholarly publishing system (2)system (2)

Scholars have lost control of the formal Scholars have lost control of the formal communication systemcommunication system• learned societies sell off titleslearned societies sell off titles• peer review process secretive and biased; peer review process secretive and biased;

unable to detect fraud unable to detect fraud Commercial publishers have taken overCommercial publishers have taken over

• scholarly information as commodityscholarly information as commodity• scholars freely giving away their research scholars freely giving away their research

outputs; libraries buying it from publishers; outputs; libraries buying it from publishers; funders pay twice funders pay twice

Crisis in scholarly publishing Crisis in scholarly publishing system (3)system (3)

Problems with publishing in a Problems with publishing in a traditional modeltraditional model

• space constrains and high rejection space constrains and high rejection rates in premium journals rates in premium journals

• slow to produceslow to produce• fewer monographs publishedfewer monographs published• no money to pay page changesno money to pay page changes• No appropriate outlet for No appropriate outlet for

multidisciplinary researchmultidisciplinary research

Crisis in scholarly publishing Crisis in scholarly publishing system (4)system (4)

Electronic publications Electronic publications • Faster turn-around of submission/revision/publicationFaster turn-around of submission/revision/publication

ModelsModels• As a supplement to traditional print journal (with full content or As a supplement to traditional print journal (with full content or

part content in e-format); subscription based (majority of part content in e-format); subscription based (majority of commercial publications)commercial publications)

• Electronic only publication; subscription based Electronic only publication; subscription based • Open accessOpen access

Digital versions of print journals “free to air” (e.g. BMJ)Digital versions of print journals “free to air” (e.g. BMJ) Open access e-only journals (PubMedCentral)Open access e-only journals (PubMedCentral) Who pays?Who pays?

• Self-archivingSelf-archiving institutional or subject repositoriesinstitutional or subject repositories pre-print archivespre-print archives poor knowledge of copyrightpoor knowledge of copyright slow uptake by researchersslow uptake by researchers

Disciplinary differencesDisciplinary differences

Science, technology and medicine •Rapidly changing user needs•Digital everything – especially big data sets•Electronic journals – bundling•New scholarly comms models emerging – especially open access

Social Sciences•Diverse users including theoreticians and practitioners •Research needs vary from big data sets to traditional monographs•Collection has patchy strengths but has been less prominent historically•Resource discovery challenges

Arts and Humanities•Not just traditional academic researchers•Increasing interdisciplinarity and collaboration•Fewer foreign-language literate researchers•Changing user needs in digital age – some disciplines ‘going digital’ more quickly than others

Sources of informationSources of information

Medical and biological sciences

Physical sciences

and engineering

Social sciences

Languages and area studies

Arts and humanities

Pre-prints 5.8% 1.4% 1.0%

Post-prints 6.3% .9% 3.9%

Journal articles 90.7% 71.6% 69.3% 28.0% 27.2%

Conference proceedings

5.8% .5% 1.0%

Books .6% 1.4% 9.2% 50.0% 35.9%

Datasets 4.3% 3.4% 7.8% 2.0% 2.9%

Technical reports 1.0%

Govt or NGO reports

1.2% 2.3%

Legal sources .5%

Other textual 3.7% 10.0% 14.6%

Non-textual .6% .5% 2.0% 8.7%

Other 2.5% 4.8% 4.1% 8.0% 4.9%

JISC, 2005

Informal mechanisms of locating Informal mechanisms of locating informationinformation

Asking a colleague

Emailing a colleague or peer

Reading email

newsletters

Posting an enquiry to an email

list

Reading blogs

Medical and biological sciences

80.2% 87.0% 17.9% 11.7% 4.3%

Physical sciences and engineering

81.9% 81.9% 21.9% 12.4% 4.3%

Social sciences

76.0% 78.2% 35.6% 15.1% 7.1%

Languages and area studies

74.0% 80.0% 16.0% 12.0% 2.0%

Arts and humanities

76.7% 79.6% 31.1% 21.4% 6.8%

JISC, 2005

Resource discovery toolsResource discovery tools

Medical and

biological sciences

Physical sciences and engineering

Social sciences

Languages and area studies

Arts and humanities

Other 13.0% 5.7% 6.7% 8.0% 3.9% Subject-specific abstracts and indexes

18.5% 20.6% 22.4% 6.0% 13.6%

Subject-specific online gateways

22.8% 3.3% 6.7% 2.0% 2.9%

General bibliographic resources

9.9% 11.5% 15.2% 46.0% 29.1%

Citation databases

21.0% 21.5% 9.9% 4.0% 3.9%

Search engines 14.8% 36.4% 35.9% 24.0% 36.9% Work of reference

0% 1.0% 3.1% 10.0% 9.7%

JISC, 2005

Availability of resourcesAvailability of resources A lot of what I want is in Baghdad… (Cuneiform A lot of what I want is in Baghdad… (Cuneiform

studies) studies)

Archives are widely scattered. Library holdings of Archives are widely scattered. Library holdings of journals and printed sources are patchy even in journals and printed sources are patchy even in London. It all means much travelling and time London. It all means much travelling and time wasted. (Naval and maritime history) wasted. (Naval and maritime history)

The list of journals taken by our University Library The list of journals taken by our University Library is reduced each year; this is certainly not peculiar is reduced each year; this is certainly not peculiar to my particular interests (Economics) to my particular interests (Economics)

Availability of e-content (arts and Availability of e-content (arts and humanities)humanities)

Yes Some No

Journals 55.5 25.4 10.1

Books 6.4 14.4 78.2

Manuscripts 4.5 19.3 76.1

Archives 3.6 0 96.4

Editions and sources 46.2 19.2 34.6

Maps 32.0 24.0 44.0

Newspapers 50.0 27.8 22.2

Rare books 16.7 44.4 38.9

Government documents

5.0 31.2 18.2

New opportunities opened up by e-New opportunities opened up by e-resourcesresources

I am beginning to explore using 3-D modelling of buildings and I am beginning to explore using 3-D modelling of buildings and computer replications of lighting effects. (computer replications of lighting effects. (Byzantine art historyByzantine art history) )

Interactive survey data, newspaper archives world wide. Interactive survey data, newspaper archives world wide. ((Sociology, AnthropologySociology, Anthropology) )

Digital versions of government documents allow one to perform Digital versions of government documents allow one to perform your own analysis on them (e.g. coding voluminous documents for your own analysis on them (e.g. coding voluminous documents for subsequent quantitative analysis. (subsequent quantitative analysis. (Public policy and Public policy and administrationadministration).).

Electronic data sources are essentially new in their richness and Electronic data sources are essentially new in their richness and

scale. (scale. (Economic and social historyEconomic and social history) )

The A2A site has opened up a wealth of searchable catalogues for The A2A site has opened up a wealth of searchable catalogues for archives a cross the country. This has made locating interesting archives a cross the country. This has made locating interesting material much more convenient. (material much more convenient. (Early modern historyEarly modern history) )

Neuro-imaging databases such as the one at Dartmouth in US. Neuro-imaging databases such as the one at Dartmouth in US. ((PsychologyPsychology))

What do academics want ?What do academics want ?

More electronic content from desktopMore electronic content from desktop Continuing/long-term accessContinuing/long-term access Maintaining authenticity and integrity of e-resourcesMaintaining authenticity and integrity of e-resources Electronic access to primary materialsElectronic access to primary materials More backfiles (e.g. popularity of JSTOR)More backfiles (e.g. popularity of JSTOR) Reliable IT Reliable IT Explain the maze (I&A; full-text; aggregator; OPAC; etc.)Explain the maze (I&A; full-text; aggregator; OPAC; etc.) Seamless access/transitionsSeamless access/transitions Customisation Customisation ““In-time” serviceIn-time” service

How can libraries support How can libraries support researchers?researchers?

LiaisonLiaison

Publishers of contentPublishers of content

Support for CyberinfrastructureSupport for Cyberinfrastructure• Online access to complete credentialled, archival literature.Online access to complete credentialled, archival literature.

• Stewardship and curation services for enormous collections of scientific data.Stewardship and curation services for enormous collections of scientific data.

• Digital repositories for diverse digital objects as instructional material and works in progress.Digital repositories for diverse digital objects as instructional material and works in progress.

• Digitized special collections.Digitized special collections.

• More continuous (vs. batch) and open forms of scholarly communication.More continuous (vs. batch) and open forms of scholarly communication.

• Individual and community customization information services.Individual and community customization information services.

Licensing and accessLicensing and access

CostCost

Publisher practices: bundingPublisher practices: bunding