I'll say that I am surprised by the negative reactions to Ann's original message and then further explanation.
I think it's a great idea to put the reviews on the web. First, anything that can reduce the production costs (paper and printing) of Art Documentation will accrue to the benefit of the journal and the Society: more money is freed up to improve the journal or to spend on other projects. Second, and more importantly, any strategy (such as the web-based strategy) that gets reviews out faster works to the benefit of book selectors, authors, and publishers alike. (That's not an original observation, but one I received from the Princeton University Press when I was editor of the electronic journal, Architronic.)
The tenure issue is, I believe, a red herring. First of all, it's hard to believe that people get tenured on the basis of doing book reviews. Reviews may be icing on the cake -- evidence of professional service more than anything else -- but a record of research and publication is simply not established by reviewing other people's work. Second, tenure committees perceive the prestige of publications based on a variety of factors having to do with the intrinsic quality of their content. The quality of their content derives, as Joan Benedetti pointed out, from the underlying quality of the scholarship, the editing, and the blind criticism typical of peer-reviewed products. The prestige of a publication does not derive somehow in reverse from the perceptions of tenure committees, or for that matter -- these days -- from whether it appears on paper instead of on a computer screen. (If it did, Elsevier's competitors would not be making the investments they are in electronic publishing.) Finally, while the prestige of a given journal does put an imprimatur on the reviews it publishes, ultimately it is the reputations of the individual reviewers that count most in gauging the reliability of the reviews.
While I am left aghast by the admission that Art Documentation is not a peer-reviewed publication, I think that the open admission itself is a step in the right direction. Since we don't have to spend any more mental energy on pretending that Art Documentation is peer-reviewed, we can redirect that energy to making it peer-reviewed. I'd hope that the Board would see such a use of our mental energy as a good investment, and would support turning Art Documentation into a peer-reviewed journal (again?), by assembling a full editorial board and taking the other steps necessary to make that happen.
It is true that some of our sister organizations (notably CAA) have pulled ahead of ARLIS/NA in re-casting their publications programs in ways that take advantage of the internet and other digital technologies. I think the ARLIS/NA Board and our Publications Committee are squarely on the right track in moving ARLIS/NA's program ahead by taking such steps as were described as being applied to book reviews ("being proactive," as Ann put it).
It seems to me that the hard challenges facing Art Documentation don't have much at all to do with its reviews, or with their mode of delivery, but with the journal's niche placement and marketing. Who reads Art Documentation? Why do they read it? Who should read it, but doesn't? Why and why not? Where are the very best articles each year on art information being published, and how can a higher percentage of them in future years be attracted to Art Documentation? Etc.
As conferences become more and more expensive and therefore harder to attend every year, the publishing programs of groups like ARLIS/NA take on increasing significance as both a benefit of membership and a means of fulfilling the mission. I'd say that, if anything, the Board needs to be open to even more radical ideas for refreshing Art Documentation than moving reviews to the web.
Al Willis
Hampton University
PS In another post, Ann has noted that art Documentation is a "respected journal." I'd agree, while pointing out that respect is not so much produced as _reproduced_. To have been respected yesterday or today doesn't necessarily mean that something will be respected tomorrow. Art Documentation should therefore not aspire to "being respected" but rather to "staying respected." Being able to change, and changing in good ways, play a big part in generating respect for any ongoing enterprise -- professional societies and their journals included.
-----Original Message-----
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ann Whiteside
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 4:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] President's message
Hello Shannon,
Yes, the Board has discussed the issue of tenure and other issues related to electronic publishing. The Board and the Publications Committee have had several discussions about many of the issues regarding publication in print and electronic forms.
We are also not in any way suggesting that the reviews will not be edited in the very same ways they have been to date. We still have an editorial process that will be followed. However, there is another issue that we as a Society have not addressed yet, and that is that Art Documentation is not in fact a peer reviewed journal. We do not have a full editorial board of peers in the field as do other scholarly publications, such as the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (just one of many examples). And I am not sure how publishing in a non-peer reviewed journal supports tenure.
As professionals, we are all aware of the growing issues around scholarly communication and electronic publishing in various fields. It seems to me that as librarians, we can help to model what publishing will become by being proactive.
In any case, this is a first step in looking at publications in ARLIS/NA, and there are many other ways in which we (ARLIS/NA) can support publishing. The book reviews are one type of publication that lend themselves to web publishing due to the timeliness of the information. Our goal with the book reviews is to provide timely information for our members, and to provide book reviews more often than is possible through Art Documentation.
Best,
Ann
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ann Baird Whiteside
Head, Rotch Library of Architecture & Planning MIT Room 7-238
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-258-5594
[log in to unmask]
http://libraries.mit.edu/
*********************************
President, ARLIS/NA
http://www.arlisna.org/
Editor, Cataloging Cultural Objects
http://www.vraweb.org/ccoweb/index.html
-----Original Message-----
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shannon Van Kirk
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 4:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] President's message
Regarding the move to web-only book review essays: did the board consider that tenure track librarians get more credit for publishing a book review essay in Art Documentation (a print publication) than they do for web-published reviews? There might be some exceptions out there, but tenure committees are not generally impressed by web-published items. (Yes, of course, they should join the 21st century, but in the meantime.....)
--shannon
Shannon Van Kirk
Librarian for the
College of Architecture & Environmental Design
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
<[log in to unmask]>
(805) 756-7589
-----Original Message-----
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ann Whiteside
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 1:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] President's message
Dear ARLIS/NA Members,
Here is some news about the Society.
As part of the work of analyzing our services across ARLIS/NA, we have been looking at the use of "jobnet" and ARLIS-L for the posting of positions. As you may or may not be aware, the posting of job opportunities is a service which we provide through ARLIS/NA Headquarters. Openings are listed on ARLIS/NA JobNet and are also posted once on ARLIS-L. This service is invoiced based on the word count of the ad accordingly, with the base fees being $100 for the first 200 words, and $0.50/ each additional word. Institutional members receive an additional 25% discount on this service. We have had some misunderstanding about this service and how it is provided. In an effort to ensure we are providing services consistently, the Board, with Listserv moderator Judy Dyki's agreement, has agreed to move ARLIS-L to a moderated listserv. Moving to a moderated listserv will allow Judy to catch job postings that have not yet been properly invoiced, which means that postings to the list will not be as immediate as they currently are, but will still post several times per day. We are not closing the listserv; we are merely moving to a moderated list at this time.
The Publications Committee was asked by the Board to look at issues around digital publication, specifically regarding book reviews. Art Documentation's long standing Review Section is moving from the print edition to the World Wide Web. The new feature, entitled "ARLIS/NA Reviews" and edited by Joan Stahl, will début on the ARLIS/NA Web site < http://www.arlisna.org/> in early fall. The move to an electronic format was approved by the society's Executive Board at the annual conference in Banff. We are confident that this new means of distribution will increase the visibility and currency by bringing more, and more timely, reviews of new publications to our readership. "ARLIS/NA Reviews" will be published six times a year and each issue will review approximately 10 titles.
The Conference Planning Advisory Committee met in Atlanta last weekend to begin preparations for our 2007 conference. Debbie Apfeld, our new conference manager, was there and we think Debbie is a great addition to McPhersonClarke! We looked at program proposals, tour ideas, and event ideas. The content of our next conference will be varied and aligns with many of the directions in which we are moving as a Society. The theme of the Atlanta conference is "At the Crossroads: Inside, Outside, Past, Present, Future...". That sounds very much like where ARLIS/NA itself is - at the crossroads in terms of where we want to go, thinking about how to bring the best of the past with us, plotting our future, and looking outside our own organization toward collaborative ventures. Additionally, we will be celebrating our 35th anniversary, allowing us to look back, and to the future. The conference promises to be challenging and thought provoking, so put the dates on your calendars now - April 26th - 30th.
As always, if you have questions, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Ann
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ann Baird Whiteside
Head, Rotch Library of Architecture & Planning MIT Room 7-238
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-258-5594
[log in to unmask]
http://libraries.mit.edu/
*********************************
President, ARLIS/NA
http://www.arlisna.org/
Editor, Cataloging Cultural Objects
http://www.vraweb.org/ccoweb/index.html
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
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