Abstract(s)
We are entrenched in systems that no longer serve our needs,” Kathleen Fitzpatrick
writes in Planned Obsolescence: Publishing, Technology, and the Future of the
Academy (New York University Press, 2011). In her study, Fitzpatrick scrutinizes
specific points in the network of research production, evaluation, preservation, and
circulation – from notions of authorship and the traditional peer review process to
the role of the university press and library. Acknowledging the “wholly unsustainable
economic model” under which scholarly publishing operates, she sets her focus on
“the technological changes that many believe are necessary to allow academic
publishing to flourish into the future,” while addressing in each scenario “the social,
intellectual, and institutional changes that are necessary to pave the way for such
flourishing.” In the following dialogue, Kathleen and I discuss institutional
obsolescence, the publics and the production of her more recent work, and the future
of scholarly communications.This exchange was conducted via email between New
York and Montreal.