Colleagues --
MediaCommons, a digital scholarly network focused on the field of
media studies, is happy to announce the launch of MediaCommons Press,
a new feature dedicated to the publication of open scholarship in open
formats. MediaCommons Press
(http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress) hopes to promote
the digital publication and discussion of texts
ranging from article- to monograph-length, both single- and multiply-
authored, in forms ranging form the traditional to the experimental,
serving all areas of scholarship in media studies.
As co-coordinating editor of MediaCommons, I'm putting my money where
my mouth is, so to speak, and serving as the test case for
MediaCommons Press: our first major publication opened for discussion
is my book project, Planned Obsolescence: Publishing, Technology, and
the Future of the Academy
(http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/plannedobsolescence).
The book will be published next year by NYU Press, but is now
available online, for open peer review.
Planned Obsolescence focuses on the social and institutional changes
that will be required within the academy for digital scholarly
publishing to succeed -- changes that will affect authors, reviewers,
presses, libraries, and indeed the structure of the university
itself. One of the book's key arguments is that the peer review of
digital texts must be an open, conversational process, one that draws
on the wisdom of a far greater number of readers than the usual two or
three anonymous reviewers, and one that focuses on discussion among
the reviewers, and between the reviewers and the author.
I hope you'll come by and join in the discussion, both on the book
itself and on its linked community blog
(http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/plannedobsolescence/blog).
And I also hope you'll consider joining in by publishing with us.
MediaCommons has developed into a thriving community network in media
studies, and we're now taking the first steps toward transforming that
network into a viable, community-based scholarly publishing system.
--
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Associate Professor and Chair, Media Studies, Pomona College
Co-coordinating Editor, MediaCommons
