A Digital Library Initiative for Scholarly Monographs: An Activity Theory Analysis
Open Access
- Author:
- McCauley, Jennifer Colleen
- Graduate Program:
- Information Sciences and Technology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 19, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Mary Beth Rosson, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
- Keywords:
- socio-technology
digital library
activity theory
qualitative
scholarly communication
organizational - Abstract:
- Scholarly communications are changing with the application of technology. Historically academic scholars established their reputations through publications in monographs and journals. Scholarly presses often acted as an outlet for such publications. Research library budgets funded the process through journal subscriptions and monograph purchases. However, as science, math and engineering journal subscriptions increased, the funding for monographs decreased in parallel, creating a need for new publication processes and funding models. An attractive candidate for many university libraries has been digital publication opportunities, which seem likely to decrease costs while maintaining the goals of faculty publication and dissemination. This project followed a university research library and university press as they partnered in a digital initiative to create an economically viable monograph series, using a dual-delivery method of electronic and print publishing. Using an interpretivist epistemology, the researcher employed observation, artifact analysis and qualitative interviews to examine the activities surrounding the project. The research focused on the context of the digital library initiative and the influence of that context on the choice and implementation of technology. Implications of this research include insight into the social and organizational interactions surrounding a complex technology project, pointing to the challenges of integrating people, information, technology and foundational work in the realm of digital library initiatives.