Hypermedia online publishing : the transformation of the scholarly journal

This thesis looks at the impact of the technologies of networking and hypermedia on the scholarly journal. It does so in five main sections. The first section, Overview and Theory, begins by outlining the aims of the study and examining prior related work. Next it defines the three main theoretical perspectives that inform the research (a constructuralist ecology of communication, punctuated equilibrium, and a genre-based framework for new media) as well as considering and rejecting a number of  lternatives. The second section. Publishing and Technology, first places the scholarly journal in its historical context and then identifies the stakeholders in the scholarly journal ecology. It then looks at the range of technology de­velopments over the last twenty years that have the potential to be applied to scholarly com­unication. The third section. Potentials and Responses, looks at the ways in which both publishing functions and stakeholder roles could be transformed and at some of the pressures 

for such a transformation. It then considers some of the responses that have developed be­cause of these pressures and the potentials of the available technologies. The fourth section.  Surveys and Case Studies, presents evidence gathered in this thesis project about users and 

libraries as key stakeholders. The survey is designed to gather evidence from users about their access to technology, use of electronic publishing, and attitudes to electronic journals.  The library case studies look at leading edge examples of libraries who are actively facilitat­ing electronic publishing. The final section. Interpretations and Conclusions, takes the results of all the research activities and discusses them in the context of possible transformations of the roles and practices of stakeholders and the form and function of journals. Evidence from each of the theoretical perspectives, research literature, survey and case studies is brought to 

bear on each transformation. The concluding chapter discusses the future of the journal as artefact, the possibility of a new technology stasis, whether changes in journals can best be characterised as evolution or revolution, the interlocking systems and interdependencies of the various stakeholders, the archiving dilemma, and the role of technology as enhancer.

This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author.

Author requested conversion to open access 3 Nov 2022