Librarians and scholars consider the future of the monograph @insidehighered

"The first four chapters prove the scholar’s done the work, and the next two chapters – the ones 'people might actually read' – present the argument. Elsewhere and in between are the reworking of the author’s dissertation and implicit tenure pitch. That’s how Timothy Burke, professor and chair of history at Swarthmore College, described the scholarly monograph here Thursday during a forum on its future sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries. Half-jokingly, Burke said of how authors view their books: 'I prize this because only five people in the world understand it … We all know it.' Despite being so easy to criticize – it’s static, expensive to publish and inaccessible to all but a small few – Burke said, “the monograph is still the standard” to which junior scholars aspire and on which tenure bids often hinge. So what to do about it? Burke and other speakers pointed to the digital monograph as a remedy to higher education’s stubborn grip on an increasingly obsolete form ... For Stefan Tanaka, professor of communication and director of the Center for the Humanities at the University of California at San Diego, that means working collaboratively and sharing history in new, dynamic ways. He’s currently working on a digital monograph about 1884 Japan that seeks to present a nonlinear version of events, and a story that’s 'problem-based,' rather than focused on a single place.  The desired outcome is something closer to life, and that better reflects the 'pleasure' a historian feels about his or her work – before trying to fit it into a conventional monograph, Tanaka said. On a wide scale, that has profound implications for how information is transmitted going forward ... Somewhat counterintuitively, however, he added, the historian in this context becomes more important, not less. With the wealth of data now available to the general public, historians don’t just transmit information; they must think critically about how it is best shared with which audiences, and how it intersects with research and teaching ... Other speakers focused on ways to rejuvenate the more traditional monograph. Elliott Shore, executive director of the Association of Research Libraries, said the body was working with the Association of American Universities on a proposal that institutions include in a young scholar’s startup package funds to publish his or her monograph with an open-access press. Some may consider the idea similar to a 'vanity press,' Shore said. But, he asked, 'Are there any university presses who aren't essentially subvened?'More importantly, he argued, newer scholars need outlets in a publication landscape that is increasingly spare. The humanities also need to be a bigger part of online scholarly conversations, he said. Still, Shore said he wondered if the proposal -- especially in light of the day's conversations -- 'goes far enough.' He told the librarians in the room that they were the 'intellectuals of this new ecosystem,' and encouraged them to share feedback and -- along with faculty members -- 'take risks' in exploring the future of the monograph.

The Andrew W. Mellon foundation is considering a similar proposal to the one Shore described, in which it would offer 'seed funds' to universities to help their junior scholars publish high-quality digital monographs with university presses, said Donald J. Waters, the organization's senior program officer for scholarly communication ..."