The shift to e-Research and its implications for the system of scholarly communication

About

Terms like ‘e-research’ and ‘e-science’ are shorthand for a profound set of changes in scholarly practice that are taking place as a result of the Internet, advanced information technology, and vast and growing collections of digital data. It is already clear that this will cause equally profound changes in the system of scholarly communication that suppports and documents scholarly practice.

I will look at some of these changes, ranging from the growth of databases as representations of scholarship to the changing nature and use of the traditional scholarly literature and issues related to digital preservation. I will also examine changing roles of various players in this environment, with particular focus on the tensions between institutional and disciplinary perspectives.