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Just in case you don't know, a biface is a stone age tool. If you don't know how to make one, maybe you know how to forge damascus steel? No? How about using a slide ruler? A sextant? How about steering a horse carriage or riding a horse, can you do that? Do you know where your nearest telegraph station is? If your answer is 'no' for all or most of these question, the reason is probably that none of these concern common, modern-day technology.Similarly, printing peer-reviewed, scholarly literature and sending it out to libraries when most scientists of today haven't visited a physical library in about a decade is also not the most common, modern-day technology. Yet, people worry about what will happen to those wonderful cover images of journals, when the print version disappears:
Printed materials have their own charm and practicality — no batteries required! — and will always have a loyal following. Whereas some individuals may be happy to replace their dusty bookshelves and their contents with a plastic electronic reader of some description, many would shudder at the thought.
Moreover, should chemistry publishing become an online-only endeavour, the concept of 'issues' also comes into question. With the ability to dynamically group articles on a website using criteria such as dates or keywords, does journal content need to be collated into bite-sized chunks if print is no longer a consideration? And without issues, what becomes of cover images? These serve to advertise both the journal and people's work — many conference talks are proudly emblazoned with journal covers, as doubtless are many people's offices.
Of course, museums and research institutions still have people who know how to make a biface. There are still enthusiasts who know how to forge-weld damascus steel (I have done that). Some people still ride horses for sports and horse carriages are popular for weddings. On the other hand, some will argue that maybe print issues of scholarly journals really should go the way of the telegraph.Moreover, should chemistry publishing become an online-only endeavour, the concept of 'issues' also comes into question. With the ability to dynamically group articles on a website using criteria such as dates or keywords, does journal content need to be collated into bite-sized chunks if print is no longer a consideration? And without issues, what becomes of cover images? These serve to advertise both the journal and people's work — many conference talks are proudly emblazoned with journal covers, as doubtless are many people's offices.
Posted on Wednesday 02 September 2009 - 14:49:10 comment: 0
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