Scholarly Communication Challenges
Scholarly communication is the life-blood of the university's teaching and
research mission. And with the advent of new technologies, the nature of
scholarship and scholarly communication has expanded beyond the traditional
print formats to include other means of dissemination: email, pre-print servers,
e-journals, e-books, e-reserves, distance learning, etc. In an online environment,
issues of copyright, intellectual property rights, and the long-term preservation
of digital assets are posing new challenges to faculty, administrators, and
librarians.
UCI Libraries is providing leadership by offering a forum and facilitating
campus discussions on these evolving issues. Through collaboration and a community
dialogue, we can explore these issues, raise awareness, develop local solutions,
and potentially influence the course of scholarly communication on campus.
UCI Libraries' Response and Role
The UCI Libraries serves as a major national knowledge center, and is recognized
as an essential information resource and clearinghouse for the UCI campus.
The UCI Libraries can play a key role in assisting the UCI academic community
to address many of the scholarly communication issues that we face. And it
participates in several national nonprofit organizations that promote innovations
in scholarly communication: Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Consortium
(SPARC), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Council on Library and
Information Resources (CLIR), Coalition for Networked Information (CNI),
and National Initiative for Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH),
We invite you to visit SPARC's Create
Change website to learn about these and related issues.
· New opportunities and alternatives for scholarly publishing
· Economics and cost-effective solutions for scholarly communication
· Issues related to the reward and promotion system
· Digital technology in the classroom
· Distance education (ownership of course materials; library
support of distant learners)
· Preservation and access of electronic resources and digital
assets
· New roles for libraries in scholarly communication
SCAMP: Scholarly Communication and Management
Program:
Some of the specific activities that the UCI Scholarly Communication Program
will sponsor, promote, and explore are:
Forums and programs about broadly-based initiatives such as the Open Archives
Initiative, and issues of concern to the entire academic community such as
preservation and access to electronic educational records.
Informal meetings among key groups such as UCI faculty who serve as editorial
board members, or faculty who are developing new forms of scholarship.
UCI initiatives, such as working with faculty and administrators to build
both an institutional repository of scholarly work in electronic formats and
to selectively digitize and preserve UCI administrative records of permanent
historical significance.
UC-based projects, including opportunities to participate in BioMed Central
and the eScholarship Repository being developed through the collaborative effort
of the UC University Librarians with support from the California Digital Library.
Participation is sought from all the disciplines and academic units at UCI
so that the full range of issues and actions can be considered by the UCI community.
In taking on the role of catalyst for change in scholarly communication, the
UCI Libraries is fulfilling its role as full partner with the professoriate
and the university administration in creating a robust and equitable infrastructure
for knowledge creation and dissemination in the twenty-first century.
We invite you to participate in the forums and programs that the UCI Libraries
will sponsor, and to promote these kinds of dialogues with your colleagues
and students.
For further information on the UC Irvine SCAMP Program please contact:
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