IRLS 589: SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

Spring 2005
Mondays, 6:30-9:00pm
C CTR 301

William Welburn
wwelburn@u.arizona.edu
621-5221

 COURSE DESCRIPTION: Structure and workings of scholarly communication and product in the U.S. Examines the content and technology of scholarly communication in various disciplines. This course will introduce the history, theory and practices of scholarly communication, primarily in broad disciplinary cultures, such as the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. This is an introductory course that both surveys the state of the art and techniques that exist or are emerging in scholarly communication.

 OBJECTIVES: By the end of the semester, we hope to:

  • Develop an understanding of the nature of scholarly communication and its impact on libraries, archives, and other information organizations
  • Gain familiarity with technologies useful for capturing and transferring scholarly information

Course discussions, readings, and assignments will be organized around three broad themes: (1) the nature of scholarly communication, (2) pragmatic issues that affect the work of librarians, archivists, and other information professionals, and (3) the relationship between scholarly communication and public knowledge.

I. The Nature of Scholarly Communication (January 24 - 31)

What is meant by scholarly communication?? In this first section of the course, we will take a look at the meaning of scholarly communication.? We will consider the relevance of various theories (Bush, "As we may think," Chartier, The Order of Books) in framing scholarly communication as an issue for information professionals and information organizations.? We will consider the centrality of the development of disciplines and the effect of information and communication technologies ("social informatics").

 Suggested Readings: Vannevar Bush, "As we may think," originally published in the July 1945 issue of The Atlantic Monthly and available at http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/works/vbush/vbush.shtml; Roger Chartier, The Order of Books, chapter 1, Communities of Readers, and chapter 2, Figures of the Author; others, TBA

Assignment #1: Development of a Discipline. Briefly describe the history of your chosen discipline, its sub fields, and significant trends in scholarship. Identify the data resources and methods of data collection and analysis commonly used, and the system(s) used to communicate research within your discipline, including scholarly associations, key print and electronic journals, publishing preferences (book, journal), reference tools, reviewing tools (if relevant), Web presence, etc. You will be expected to give an informal report on what you found on January 31. Your written assignment (a 5 - 7 page, double spaced paper) is due January 31. (30 points or 30% of your grade)

II. Impact of Scholarly Communication on Libraries and Information Organizations, Four Issues. (February 7 April 4. Note: We will not have class on Monday, February 14)

  1. Publishing, Print and Electronic
  2. Economic Issues
  3. Legal Issues and Open Access
  4. Preserving and Accessing Scholarly Information: Information Repositories, Preservation Issues, Digitization Projects

 Readings: Gerard Boismenu and Guylaine Beaudry, Scholarly Journals in the New Digital World, Jean-Claude Gu餯n, "In Oldenburg's Long Shadow"; William G. Bowen, At a Slight Angle to the Universe; others to be assigned.

Assignment #2: Webliograpy. Take the discipline you've studied and identify key information sources for that discipline. Create a 20-25 item annotated bibliography of Web-accessible sources (either Web exclusive or in both Web and print). Annotations should be brief (25-30 words), evaluative, and succinct. These may include reference tools, identified subject or special collections and archives, organizations or think tanks, electronic journals, information repositories, or collections of "gray" literature (working papers, dissertations, etc.). As with Assignment #1, you will be expected to give an informal report on what you found on April 1. Your written assignment is also due April 1. (30 points or 30% of your grade)

III. Scholarly Communication and Public Knowledge (April 11 - April 25)

 Communication to a Broader World; the concept of the Information Commons and its relationship to Scholarly Communication; the Public Knowledge debates; the West and the Rest of Us (Scholarly information and the 3rd World)

Readings: Corynne McSherry, Who Owns Academic Work: Battling for Control of Intellectual Property, other readings TBA

Assignment #3: Research Paper. Identify an issue associated with scholarly communication and information organizations in the discipline you've studied. Create a thesis and write a research paper (7-10 pages) that explores your chosen topic as it relates to the global or transnational flow of scholarship in your discipline. We will divide into research roundtables of 5-6 members to discuss what you found on May 2. Your paper is also due May 2. (30 points or 30% of your grade)

 Class Participation: 10 points or 10% of your grade (Class participation is based on regular attendance and meaningful participation).

 Textbooks:

Roger Chartier, The Order of Books (Stanford University Press, 1994)

Gerard Boismenue and Guylaine Beaudry, Scholarly Journals in the New Digital World (University of Calgary Press, 2004)

Corynne McSherry, Who Owns Academic Work? Battling for Control of Intellectual Property (Harvard University Press, 2001)

 Other readings include:

William G. Bowen, At a Slight Angle to the Universe: the University in a Digitized, Commercialized Age. (Princeton University Press, 2001) Available at:

http://www.mellon.org/publications/AtaSlightAngle/Romanes.pdf

Jean-Claud Gu餯n, ?In Oldenburg?s Long Shadow: Libraries, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing? (Association of Research Libraries, 2001) Available at: <http://www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/138/guedon.html>

Ann Okerson, ?On being scientific about science publishing,? Nature December 28, 2004 (http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/accessdebate/9.html)

_________. "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" Academic Publishing, Copyright, and other Miasmas, 2000 (http://www.library.yale.edu/~okerson/amsterdam.html)

Charles Phelps, " The Future of Scholarly Communication: A Proposal for Change." <http://www.econ.rochester.edu/Faculty/PhelpsPapers/Phelps_paper.html>

 

Other readings as assigned

 

Supplemental resources:

Andrew Abbott, Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences (Norton, 2004). Abbott has written a useful guide to thinking about research and identifying research problems.

Wayne Booth, et. al. The Craft of Research, 2nd edition (University of Chicago Press, 2003). Viewed as a useful handbook on preparing and writing research papers.

Any style manual (APA Manual seems to be preferred by many in Library and Information Science; however, it is entirely up to you whether you choose Chicago Style Manual, APA, or MLA Style.? What?s important is that you are consistent in your usage of the style manual.)

 All assignments are due on dates given above. Grades will be reduced 10% for assignments received after the close of class.

More Policy Notes: It is expected that we will all abide by the University of Arizona?s Code of Academic Integrity, which begins with the following statement:

Integrity is expected of every student in all academic work. The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the student's own.

The Code also details procedures for handling academic misconduct as agreed upon by the University.

I would like to hear from anyone who has a disability that may require some modification of seating, testing, or other class requirements so that appropriate arrangements may be made. Please contact me during my office hours.

Information contained in the course information sheet, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.