e-publishing

Well......it has been an interesting and challenging week as a library science student, as I have attempted to publish a drawn model of dissemination here on my blog without much success. Maybe you can't teach an old dog new tricks. However, I do have another important topic to discuss here: e-publishing.

Publication of research, and fiction or non-fiction books, is another aspect of dissemination. It is the mass distribution of ideas without diffusion, as our textbook states it (Greer, Grover, and Fowler, 2007). Traditionally this has been done through the print medium, but advancing information technologies are changing that. E-publishing is the process where "manuscripts are submitted in electronic form and edited, printed and distributed to readers via computer networks" (Mohd and Premlet, 2004). Scholarly e-journals and e-books are the two main forms of e-publishing.

The American Chemical Society was the first professional body to publish their journals in electronic form, in 1983. Since then, the e-journal has really taken off, and is available from many different sources. The publication process for scholarly journals in print form is time-consuming. The manuscript is sent to the editor, then to referees for criticism, then perhaps rewritten and resubmitted, then formatted and sent to the printer. This process is shortened considerably when done electronically, and the quick turn-around time is one of the best features of e-publishing. This time-saving feature could be important to researchers. Another benefit is the ability to do keyword searches of the material (Mohd and Premlet, 2004).

One of the major downsides to e-journals though, is the difficulty in accessing them through directories and catalogs. One study found that dead links or non-working URLs are a big problem in online directories and catalogs. Catalogs fared better than directories in this regard (Ford and Harter, 1998). In an Internet environment, URLs and content may change rapidly, and this makes it difficult to maintain these access guides. In another study, problems with e-journals in general were found, such as "multiple modes of access and data formats, numerous difficulties in connecting to e-journals, incomplete archives, inaccessible articles, and inaccurate printed e-journal directories" (Harter and Kim, 1996).

Clearly, technology has been a boon to information dissemination, but it is still evolving. We need to improve usability, access, and the accuracy of directories and catalogs for e-journals.

The other part of e-publishing is e-books, which so far hasn't been a great success in terms of popularity or demand. Most people don't want to do pleasure reading from a computer screen, or print out an entire novel for themselves. E-book readers like Amazon's Kindle are now available, but I don't see that as much better than reading from your PC. It is portable, but it's still like a computer screen. I don't see the library becoming "paperless" antime soon. As a society, we will always want and need printed material. Younger and future generations may feel differently than I do about information technology, which brings me back to my original thought in this blog entry. I grew up learning to type on an electric typewriter, which I used for many years. Computers are a relatively new tool for me. As a library professional, I will need to have some familiarity with computer and word-processing programs, so I welcomed the challenge of posting a drawing on a blog. I hope the older generations embrace information technology, because it really is changing our world. We are becoming an Info-Nation.


References:

Ford, C.E., & Harter, S.P. (1998). The downside of scholarly
electronic publishing: Problems in accessing electronic
journals through online directories and catalogs.
College & Research Libraries, 59(4), 335-46.
Retrieved from WilsonWeb database.

Greer, R.C., Grover, R.J., & Fowler, S.G. (2007).
Introduction to the library and information professions.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Harter, S.P., & Kim, H.J. (1996).
Accessing electronic journals and other e-publications:
An empirical study.
College & Research Libraries, 57, 447-49.
Retrieved from WilsonWeb database.

Mohd, A.A., & Premlet, B. (2004).
E-publishing: Need of the hour.
DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology, 24(2), 3-7.
Retrieved from WilsonWeb database.