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"Talk about Talking about New Models of Scholarly Communication"

Brown-Bag Discussion Guide Series: Issues in Scholarly Communication

ARL Endorses Call for Action to Preserve E-Journals, October 2005

Overview

Access to information, the foundation of scholarly communication, has traditionally been provided through academic journals, research collections, and other print publications. Recent advances in digital technology, however, have revolutionized scholarly communication, leading to innovations in the conduct of research as well as in the conveyance of ideas to readers. At the same time, changing copyright laws, licensing rather than owning publications, and rapidly increasing subscription costs for scholarly journals have limited access to and restricted uses of scholarly information.

ARL has been a leader in advocating the development of innovative systems that offer barrier-free access to research and educational resources. Libraries, research institutions, scholarly societies, commercial publishers, and others are experimenting with a variety of models to provide digital, online, unfettered access to scholarly information. A number of business models have emerged utilizing different approaches to handling publication costs, managing collections, and providing user access. Despite variations, however, the goal is the same: to develop more efficient, economical, and accessible models for research and scholarly communication.