A panel of nationally known experts on issues of research and publication addressed nearly 350 registrants for A&M’s first-ever, institution-wide conversation on scholarly publishing. The Texas A&M Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics, Texas A&M University Press, the Texas A&M University Libraries and the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research were principal sponsors of the event.
(Media-Newswire.com) - While leaders of major educational associations were issuing a national call for universities to broaden access to scholarly works last week ( see http://www.arl.org/bm%7Edoc/disseminating-research-feb09.pdf ) faculty and administrators of Texas A&M University — one of the nation’s largest institutions of higher education — were actively discussing ways that Texas A&M could advance the use of digital technologies to publish and disseminate the results of their scholarship.
A panel of nationally known experts on issues of research and publication addressed nearly 350 registrants for A&M’s first-ever, institution-wide conversation on scholarly publishing. The Texas A&M Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics, Texas A&M University Press, the Texas A&M University Libraries and the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research were principal sponsors of the event.
In his welcoming introduction, Jeffrey S. Vitter, A&M’s provost and executive vice president for academics, noted that “the new paradigm of scholarly communication raises questions for which we seek answers, questions such as the very definition of “publication” itself, the common denominator in what all academics do as part of research and knowledge generation.” He stressed that we must “recognize scholarship in a broader way, as an intellectual artifact,” and he applauded the development of “the new and exciting options for digital publication of the artifacts of scholarship at earlier stages, in a fuller and more comprehensive manner, while maintaining and assuring quality standards.”
During the three-day event, symposium participants from around the state, including representatives of all of the institutions in The Texas A&M University System, heard from a number of prominent authorities, including keynote speakers Donald Waters, program officer for scholarly communications at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Clifford Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information.
David Shulenburger, vice president for academic affairs of the Association of Colleges and Land-Grant Universities, Michael Jensen, director of strategic web communications for the National Academies, and Stuart Shieber, director of the office of scholarly communication at Harvard University — one of the first institutions of higher learning to adopt a formal open access policy — also headlined the event, along with Michael Keller, university librarian at Stanford and founder of its High Wire Press, and Georgia Harper, scholarly publishing advisor at the University of Texas, who issued a bold and thoughtful challenge to current copyright laws in the United States.
The final day’s well-attended roundtable discussions focused on how new technologies and mandates affect opportunities and standards for the publication and evaluation of scholarship in all fields at Texas A&M and what steps the university should take to facilitate, enhance and fund its commitment to scholarly communication and the publication of research and ideas. Video of all the presentations and discussions will be available on the symposium Web site http://futureofpublishing.tamu.edu beginning next week.
In his closing remarks, interim vice provost Luis Cifuentes said that he envisions Texas A&M’s emergence as a leader among public universities in the effective exploration of technologies and policies that will promote the widest possible dissemination of the data and ideas generated on the Texas A&M campus.
He also remarked on the need for improved System-wide education on how researchers, administrators and publishers can utilize the digital tools Texas A&M has already made available.
University administrators and scholarly publishing stakeholders are planning to meet in the near future to discuss initiatives and recommendations, based on the symposium presentations and the feedback they received.
“Texas A&M University now has an opportunity to take further advantage of the powerful digital technologies that are a welcome part of our current and future efforts,” said Texas A&M University Press Director Charles Backus. “While harnessing these capabilities will prove challenging, what we have begun at this symposium has helped pave the path toward a freer and more timely flow of information across disciplines, across campuses and to a wide variety of audiences.”
During the symposium, Texas A&M senior executive for development Robert Walker announced the receipt of a substantial new endowment for Texas A&M University Press. In addition to an unrestricted gift of $5 million in endowed funds for the press, donor John Tom Campbell, A&M class of 1945, has established a $2 million endowed chair, named for his late brother Edward R. Campbell, A&M class of 1939. Backus has been appointed to the newly endowed directorship, which is believed to be the first such chair for a press director in the country.
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