National Scholarly Communications Forum

The National Scholarly Communications Forum (NSCF) is a body sponsored by Australia's four Learned Academies, with a membership from a wide range of organisations representing academics, independent researchers, writers, librarians, publishers, and specialists in copyright and in digital technologies. The Forum exchanges information about scholarly communication and research practices in Australia.

The aim of the Forum is to disseminate information changes to the context and structures of scholarly communication in Australia, and to make recommendations on what a broad spectrum of participants see as the best developmental policies. To this end, it organises a series of events and conferences where relevant issues are debated, future strategies are proposed and outcomes are recorded through a variety of forms of publications.

The NSCF, founded in 1994, had its origins as a forum held in 1993 - Changes in Scholarly Communication Patters. Australia and the Electronic Library - edited by John Mulvaney and Colin Steele, and published by the Academy as an occasional paper in 1993.

The latest Forum was held at the University of Melbourne on 19 September 2011.

Book to What Future? The Scholarly Monograph in the Digital Era

Sixty-nine leading publishers, booksellers, academics and librarians discussed the future for the academic book in Australia in an invitation-only forum organised by the National Scholarly Communication Forum under the auspices of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Organisations represented included Universities Australia, the Australian Research Council, the Australian Publishers Association, the Copyright Agency Limited, the Council of Australian University Librarians and members the Book Industry Strategy Group.

Links to available presentations are included in the programme below. A report with recommendations for further action is forthcoming.

Please direct queries regarding the NSCF and/or the Forum via email to Colin Steele, Emeritus Fellow, Australian National University.

Programme

9.05: Welcome

• Professor Iain McCalman, Past President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities

9.05-9.35: Overview of Issues

• Colin Steele, Emeritus Fellow, Australian National University [.pdf 2.7 MB]

9.35-10.35: The Academic Perspective

• Professor James Fox, Emeritus Professor, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University [.pdf 2.3MB]
• Professor Ian Donaldson, Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne [.pdf 116KB]
• Professor Joy Damousi, Professor of History, University of Melbourne [.pdf 200KB]
• Chair: Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Webby, University of Sydney

10.35-11.00: Morning Tea

11.00-12 00: Australian Bookseller, Library and Publisher Perspectives

• Graeme Connelly, Director and CEO, University of Melbourne Bookshop (link to video presentation here) 
• Cathrine Harboe-Ree, President Council of Australian University Librarians [.pdf 588KB]
• Professor Terri-ann White, Director University of Western Australia Publishing
• Paul Reekie, General Manager. CSIRO Publishing [.pdf 2.9MB]
• Chair: Dr Robin Derricourt, Publishing Consultant

12.00-12.30: The Bloomsbury Academic Perspective

• Dr Frances Pinter, Publisher, Bloomsbury Academic, London [.pdf 9MB]
• Chair: Dr Robin Derricourt

12.30-1.15: Lunch

1.15-2.00: Publish or Perish Continues? What’s the Value of a Scholarly Monograph?

• Professor Andrew Wells, Deputy CEO Australian Research Council
• Dr Damien Williams, Research Fellow, Monash University [.pdf 360KB]
• Andrew Wells, Librarian University of New South Wales
• Chair: Dr John Lamp. Senior Lecturer, School of Information Systems, Deakin University [.pdf 1.1MB]

2.00 – 2.45: New Digital Frameworks and the Scholarly Monograph

• Ross Coleman, Director eScholarship, University of Sydney Library [.pdf 4.2MB]
• Oliver Freeman, Director, Neville Freeman Agency [.pdf 148KB]
• Derek Whitehead Director, Information Resources and University Copyright Officer, Swinburne University of Technology [.pdf 1MB]
• Chair: Philip Kent, Librarian, University of Melbourne

2.45-3.10 Afternoon Tea

3.10-3.55: Panel Discussion with audience: Where Do We Go From Here? Australian Scholarly Monograph Futures

• Professor Tom Cochrane, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Queensland University of Technology
• John Shipp, Librarian, University of Sydney
• Emmett Stinson, Lecturer, Publishing and Communications, University of Melbourne [.pdf 504KB]
• Chair: Professor Iain McCalman

3.55-4.00: Concluding Remarks

• Professor Iain McCalman