ETHU welcomes Steven Laporte (philosopher of science and professional librarian at the VUB) for an online presentation on the latest hot topic in academic publishing, namely open-access publishing.
This will be the occasion for ETHU to discuss this development as we believe it's important to be aware of changes in the practices and structures of our profession to be able to carry on delivering good work.
Please find below the abstract of Steven's presentation.
For all further information: Thomas.van.Binsbergen@vub.be
The world of academic publishing is in a state of flux. The traditional way of distributing academic information, as it has developed since the end of the seventeenth century, is pushing its limits. Digitisation allows information to circulate faster and almost without impediments. Then there is the old business model of the large academic publishers that is becoming increasingly untenable. New models such as open access, creative commons, academic social media (researchgate, academia.edu) and preprint databases (arXiv.org) were developed in quick succession, but will they bring about a new sustainable equilibrium? Or is the future shaped by Sci-Hubs pirates?
With this presentation we try to paint a clear picture of what was, how it is now, and what could be in the field of dissemination of scientific resources, from the perspective of the VUB university library.