The new dissemination of knowledge: digital libraries and institutional roles in scholarly publishing

Abstract

Technological developments in areas such as digitization and networking are changing scholarly communication in fundamental ways. This paper describes the most important changes and their impacts on the various actors in the information chain. Its main argument is that the responsibility for scholarly communication is shifting from functional actors such as publishers and libraries to a more integral responsibility held by the academic community itself. Publishers and libraries would then change from product-oriented organizations to service-oriented organizations, supporting scholarly communication in an outsourcing relationship with the academic world. The paper finally explores changes in scholarly communication in the context of Michael Gibbon's concepts of knowledge production.