Digital or Die Debate
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
Last week, the Annual Conference of the Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers featured an Oxford-style debate under the rubric “Digital or Die: Defending Our Future.” The proposition: “The Journal and the Contributing Reference Book are no longer valuable as the Unit of professional content distribution, and will die.” There were four debaters (two for the proposition, two against). A poll taken prior to the debate determined that 56% of the audience believed journals and reference books would survive; 35% thought they would die; and 9% were unsure. Following the debate, the numbers shifted to 59%, 36%, and 5%–so journals and reference books still viable (for now). There’s a good summary at The Scholarly Kitchen.
