Steve O’Connor e-Book Conference, Kowloon Tong, June 2008 E-books: an editor’s view E Book Conference June 2008 Steve O’Connor Editor Library Management

Steve O’Connor e-Book Conference,

Kowloon Tong, June 2008

E-books: an editor’s view

E Book Conference June 2008

Steve O’Connor

Editor Library Management





Role of an Editor

• International Peer reviewed journal – pressure to get ‘listed’– To mentor potential authors– Say “no” to those who just will not make it– Create new possibilities

• LMC totally in Chinese• Includes both International and Chinese authors

• Expectations observed to journal publishing last 5 years– Retention of the print version– Demand of the author to expect a ‘print version’ or look alike– Greater demand for publishing– Decline, even disappearance of the Editorial



Observations

• Articles are typically around the 4,000 to 6,000 word length

• A book might be around 100,000 words

• Both are still produced in print but as a by-product of the digital means of creation

• Both are simply digital objects

• Both just exist out there in ‘key-word retrievable land’



The Process

• Who or what adds value to publishing content?

• Reviewing process– Peer review – Editorial Advisory Board Members and editorial staff

• Impediments to success on the internet– Note plagiarism– Note ‘sloppy’ attributions– Scandals of publishing without authority

(Lonely Planet, various authors purporting to be or done something when they had not)



Trust

• Kieron O’Hara Trust Totem Books, 2004• Not necessarily moral.. can be quite absent• Trust is in systems and expectations…. a

predictability• Changing environment• Replacement with individuality and autonomy• Vertical and Horizontal ( Geoffrey Bilder)

– Vertical.. relationships of authority• Decline in respect for peer reviewed processes

– Horizontal.. With our peers, family neighbours



Trust and publishing

• Trust is necessary for any kind of cooperative endeavours

• Any activity involving two persons involves some mutual trust

• Internet and authority are two terms which go not necessarily sit easily together

• Publishing and Trust sit well together.. Or do they?

• How do we give stamp of authenticity to material? DOI?, Publishing Brand?



Internet Trust

Scholarly Trust

Vertical

Horizontal

Local Global



Precautionary principle

• Impact of trust on new publishing efforts such as Blogs, wikis etc.. Not ephemera

• New publishing becoming part of the scholarly communication process

• These communications will become the record for tomorrow

• Are we able to trust or stamp the product from these processes?

• Do we need e-books, a series of articles or blogs as ‘digital objects’?

• Do we have effective models of access, discovery and archiving?



Questions

• A serial article translates to e-form easily and is readable ( easy acceptance as pdf)

• Should we be translating books as ‘artifacts’ into digital environment?

• No such thing as serendipity in e-book world• Should we package e-books into parcels of

information?• Is the search for a suitable reading vehicle

(e.g. Kindle) the real issue?



Directions

• Users initiate change to communication, especially in Web 2.0

• Do we need to replicate the old technology into the new? ‘Digital incunabula’

• Accessibility from Everywhere is a real plus• Writing for the new ‘e-book’ or modes of

communication will evolve into different skills• New e-book might be the Blogs and Wikis of the

present but what about Trust and the stamp of authenticity

• Is the e-book an interim phase to…..



Publishing and communication will change ….

Documents

Steve O’Connor e-Book Conference, Kowloon Tong, June 2008 E-books: an editor’s view E Book Conference June 2008 Steve O’Connor Editor Library Management