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Understanding Digital Natives: How Does Academic Publishing Need to Change to Serve Tomorrow’s Scholars?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Eastern Time

There has been much talk about the challenges of publishing for the “Google generation,” digital natives for whom the availability of Internet connectivity is assumed. As the first members of this “millennial” generation begin to enter graduate school, the need to understand how they interact with specialist information, and whether they will research and publish differently or in much the same way as their predecessors, has become acute. These are the authors and readers of tomorrow, and scholarly publishers’ fortunes will depend on whether their needs are appropriately served. While the media is filled with anecdotes about millennials’ ways of working and communicating, the evidence required to make strategic decisions concerning their scholarly needs has been lacking until recently.

This seminar takes advantage of the webinar format to bring together researchers from two important, but geographically widely spread, centers that have pioneered the systematic study of scholarly behavior. Using the data they have collected, these experts will focus on evidence of particular relevance to scholarly publishers. Their findings will be discussed by an expert commentator, and they will answer questions from participants.

Moderator:

  • Charles Watkinson, Director, Purdue University Press

Presenters:

  • David Nicholas, Ph.D., Director, Department of Information Studies, University College London
  • Roger Schonfeld, Manager, Research, Ithaka S+R
  • Sophia K. Acord, Ph.D., Research Associate, Center for Studies in Higher Education Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California at Berkeley
  • Rebecca Kennison, Center for Digital Research & Scholarship, Columbia University Libraries
  • Amber Fischer, Senior Editor, Grove Programs, Oxford University Press