From print to electronic: The transformation of scientific communication

Reviews

103

Crawford, Susan Y., Hurd, Julie, M., and Walker, Ann C. From Print to Electronic: The Transfomzation of Scientific Communication. Medford, N.J.: Information Today, 1996. ASIS Monograph Series. 117 pp. $39.50. ISBN: l-57387-030-7. Reviewed by Blaise Cronin, Dean and Professor of Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 . This slim volume contains six chapters (two each by Hurd and Crawford, one by Weller, one by all three) and a two page foreword by Belver Griffith. It purports to deal with the (imminent) transformation of scholarly communication. A generalized model, derived from Garvey and Griffith’s studies in the 1960s is used as a benchmark against which to measure changes in publication and communication practices. The alternatives are labeled “Modernized Garvey/Griffith,” “No-JourIn each case a simple schematic (lines and nal, ” “Unvetted,” “Collaboratory.” boxes with implicit left to right flows) describes the salient features and processes. The variations are a function of the degree to which the traditional value/production chain has been altered as a result of digitalization, disintermediation, and democratization. The authors instantiate their models with case studies and general behavioral descriptions from a number of salient research communities-high energy physics, astronomy, and genetics. These are of value in that they show, compellingly, just how complex and sophisticated scholarly communication has become in recent years. There is some useful contextual information in the case studies which are the core of the book. However, this merely serves to underscore the importance of a grounded approach to analyzing communication patterns across specialties. Overall, the book is weakly analytic. The authors may be knowledgeable about scientific information systems, but they are unable to provide any kind of theorizing which might explain the shifting social practices they describe. This torturous sentence exposes their shortcomings all too painfully: “Scientists are concerned with the norms and values of science, legitimized by their own group, but they are also dependent upon the social structure in which they live and work” (p. 112). Anyone coming to this book with the hope of finding a compelling description of scholarly communication in the future will be disappointed. The authors’ conclusions are, to put it mildly, limp: “We conjecture, however, that eventually the whole process of scientific communication will be transformed into one that is unrecognizable from the current practice” (p. 107). The book also suffers from an apparent lack of editorial oversight. Although there are only just over a hundred pages of text, the level of redundancy is striking. The chapters feel as if they have been written in isolation. The prose is at times sophomoric (“The impact of universal access can only be speculated; it is premature to say whether it will actually occur.“-p. 14). The referencing is quirky. Hurd (1996) appears on p, 2, but there is no index or end of chapter citation. On p. 29, a National Research Council report is cited secondarily-in Wulf (1993); the same

104

Reviews

NRC report gets its own 1993 citation on p. 89. But perhaps one should not have been surprised: after all, the title of the book, “From Print to Electronic,” is itself solecistic. In sum, a missed oppo~unity.

Heidorn, P. Bryan, & Sandore, Beth, Eds. Digital Image Access & Retrieval. Papers presented at the Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, March 24-26, 1996. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1997. 191 pp. $30.00 + $3.00 shipping. ISBN O-87845-100-5. Reviewed by Constautia Constantinou, Coordinator of Information Access & Library Technology, Helen T. Arrigoni Libr~~e~hnology Center, Iona College Libraries, 7 15 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801-1890 . This collection of 11 papers presented at the 33rd Annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing is arranged in three sections. Each section reflects the different aspects of digital image access that were discussed at the symposium. The first section, “Systems, Planning and Implementation,” consists of three papers that cover the historical, technical, and management issues regarding the development of a digital image collection. The middle section consists of six papers, all of which address issues on automatic and semi-automatic indexing of digital images. The last section includes two papers on prese~ation by using digital techniques to replace deteriorated original collections. Howard Besser’s paper, “Image Databases: The First Decade, the Present and the Future,” traces the history of image database development and examines technological capabilities existing since 1986. Although the database imaging projects of the 1980s did not anticipate developments such as the World Wide Web, most of these projects were able to adapt to changing technology. They established certain standards and addressed image quality issues and different approaches for content-based retrieval. Besser emphasizes that, as the roles of librarians and computer scientists interrelate, the implementation of image databases should move forward, regardless of the limitations imposed by today’s technologies. Jennifer Trant describes the Museum Educational Site Licensing (MESL) project, which was established to allow museums and universities to benefit from each other’s resources. The project provided a vehicle for educational institutions to access digital museum collections through their campus networks. The paper addresses issues on intellectual property rights in digital images, administering intellectual property rights and legal me~h~isms for delive~ng image collections to universities. In the last paper of the section, Lois F. Lunin describes the components involved in planning and designing an image information system. Notable topics include being prepared for a disaster and the social and ethical issues such as accuracy,