2016 Charleston Library Conference

The scholarly communication world has been in turmoil recently, as some participants call for radical change, others defend existing practices and systems, and still others push for incremental improvements. One aspect of the current system that makes these discussions difficult is the degree of isolation that often exists between its participants - publishers who understand little about libraries, librarians who have never edited a journal, authors with no idea how much the journals in their field cost, etc. Members of these groups run in different circles, attend different industry meetings, and monitor different listservs. None of us can know everything about all of the ecosystems in which we function; however, in light of the current ferment and disruption we are seeing in scholarly communication, knowing more about all parts of that particular ecosystem might be helpful to everyone involved.

This panel discussion will feature five different participants in the ecosystem of scholarly journal publication: two authors (one from the STEM disciplines and one from HSS), a journal editor, a journal publisher, and an academic librarian. Each will be invited to answer the following three questions:

1. What costs do I incur - in terms of time, energy, money, etc. - when carrying out my work?

2. What value do I bring to our ecosystem with the work that I do?

3. Of the things my fellow panelists do within our ecosystem, which are of the most value to me?

Following the panelists' responses there will be general discussion with the audience.