Little Reviews

On “Editing as a Theoretical Pursuit” by Jerome McGann

On “Editing as a Theoretical Pursuit” by Jerome McGann

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In the chapter “Editing as a Theoretical Pursuit” from Radiant Textuality, Jerome McGann considers how scholarly editing can be a theory-based activity rather than a straightforward attempt to provide a faithful version of a particular text (the dreaded “factive obligations” [81]). He argues that electronic textual editing can be especially fruitful for theoretical editing, because it can blend the procedures of documentary and critical editing. To demonstrate his argument, McGann uses the creation of The Rosetti Archive as an example. He…

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On “The Productive Unease of 21st-century Digital Scholarship,” by Julia Flanders

On “The Productive Unease of 21st-century Digital Scholarship,” by Julia Flanders

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In the classic 2009 digital humanities (DH) article “The Productive Unease of 21st-century Digital Scholarship” Julia Flanders explores the unique position of DH vis-a-vis the larger narrative of the inherent progress of technological development. She suggests that although DH is innately tied to changes in technology, it doesn’t “progress” in the say way (or else isn’t as driven by the concept of progress as industry might be) — rather, it creates a productive unease. Flanders points out three examples of productive…

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On “In Defense of Open Access: Or, Why I Stopped Worrying and Started an OA Journal,” by Megan Lowe

On “In Defense of Open Access: Or, Why I Stopped Worrying and Started an OA Journal,” by Megan Lowe

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In the article “In Defense of Open Access: Or, Why I Stopped Worrying and Started an OA Journal,” Megan Lowe describes Codex, an open access (OA) journal that she edits. Lowe frames the Codex summary within a larger framework of the critique of OA publishing as not being rigorous enough (especially in a 2013 study done by John Bohannon where he criticizes peer review in OA publications). By contrast, Lowe argues that peer review issues are not endemic only to…

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On “Publications,” by Steven E. Jones

On “Publications,” by Steven E. Jones

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A chapter on publications in Steven E. Jones’s 2014 book The Emergence of the Digital Humanities” might seem out of place at first. (As in, “Hey, this is a DH book, why are we talking about scholarly communication?!”) But Jones is quick to point out the close ties between the digital humanities and publishing, which he frames under the conception of publishing as a means of the academy’s own production. Digital humanists, Jones argues, “are in a good position to…

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On “Network Realism: William Gibson and New Forms of Fiction,” by James Bridle

On “Network Realism: William Gibson and New Forms of Fiction,” by James Bridle

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In the blogpost “Network Realism: William Gibson and New Forms of Fiction,” James Bridle offers his thoughts on William Gibson’s novel Zero History, and posits the book as an example of what he calls “Network Realism.” Network Realism, according to Bridle, is “writing that is of and about the network” (n.p.). According to Bridle, Gibson’s novel fits the bill because it is timely, realistic, and media-saturated. He situates the novel in the media stream of Google and Twitter, and claims…

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On Reading Writing Interfaces: From the Digital to the Bookbound, by Lori Emerson

On Reading Writing Interfaces: From the Digital to the Bookbound, by Lori Emerson

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In Reading Writing Interfaces: From the Digital to the Bookbound, Lori Emerson takes contemporary interface designers and their drive toward transparency to task. She questions the validity of seamless connection, an occasional side effect of ubiquitous computing — why would we want to be unaware of the many ways that computers, networks, and algorithms are shaping our lives, decisions, and interactions? Emerson frames her study through the concept of readingwriting: “the practice of writing through the network, which as it…

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On “Reassembling Scholarly Communications: An Evaluation of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Monograph Initiative,” by John Maxwell, Alessandra Bordini, and Katie Shamash

On “Reassembling Scholarly Communications: An Evaluation of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Monograph Initiative,” by John Maxwell, Alessandra Bordini, and Katie Shamash

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The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported 13 monograph-focused grants in 2014-15, and John Maxwell, Alessandra Bordini, and Katie Shamash were tasked with reporting on each of these initiatives. “Reassembling Scholarly Communications: An Evaluation of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Monograph Initiative” is the report that summarizes their findings after studying each funded project and discussing it with project leads. Of note, the authors organize the projects into 4 unique categories: 1) Studies of monograph publishing processes and economics; 2) Projects…

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On “The Costs of Publishing Monographs: Toward a Transparent Methodology,” by Nancy Maron, Kimberly Schmelzinger, Christine Mulhern, and Daniel Rossman

On “The Costs of Publishing Monographs: Toward a Transparent Methodology,” by Nancy Maron, Kimberly Schmelzinger, Christine Mulhern, and Daniel Rossman

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Although there are various opinions on how best to fund scholarly communication in general and open access publication in particular, some key data regarding the actual cost of knowledge production is missing. In their study “The Costs of Publishing Monographs: Toward a Transparent Methodology,” Nancy Maron, Kimberly Schmelzinger, Christine Mulhern, and Daniel Rossman tackle this issue, with a focus on monographs. Their tri-partite goal is to: provide a comprehensive list of all of the activities needed in order to produce…

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On “The Future of The Monograph in the Digital Era: A Report to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,” by Michael A. Elliott

On “The Future of The Monograph in the Digital Era: A Report to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,” by Michael A. Elliott

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The majority of conversations around open access scholarly communication centre on the academic article as the research output in question. This is the case for a variety of reasons:  there are many more academic articles published annually than monographs or other research output; articles are the units of the serial crisis; the transition from toll access to OA seems most feasible with articles because of relatively low production costs, etc. In “The Future of The Monograph in the Digital Era:…

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On “The Future of Scholarly Communications,” by David De Roure

On “The Future of Scholarly Communications,” by David De Roure

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The transitional state of scholarly communication due to increasingly networked ways of working has been an oft-discussed topic over the past 30 years or so. In “The Future of Scholarly Communications,” David De Roure presents his own take on the subject. De Roure makes the standard gestures toward the Philosophical Transactions, the early development of the Internet at CERN, and the rise of citizen science and social media. He also reiterates a common question: “is [the traditional] model of scholarly…

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