Dear all,
The recent discussion about the dissemination of Design research
findings looked at the issue from one side: how can we
publish/present papers in journals and conferences.
It's clear that a deluge of papers caused by 'administrative
necessity' will hit us sooner or later. Even more journals, even more
conferences.
Let's turn the question around and look at the 'user side':
"What would be the best ways to support your research through peer
reviewed knowledge of other researchers?" or "How would you like your
information to be delivered?".
[I'm convinced that conference formats are good opportunities to
see/hear new ideas and ideal for face-to-face discussions. Developing
digital modes might enhance this. As Rosan mentioned: there are at
least 8 relevant Design research conferences. [Information designers
have a choice of 19 conferences in the rest of this year.] I don't
think that conferences are the main problem, although the costs
issues (Chris Rust & Uma Chandru) are problematic.]
I'm not convinced that the current journal formats are ideal from a
reader/researcher point of view. Some arguments are:
1. it's a continuous stream: each journal publishes 2-4-6-12 issues
per year, there are many different journals, there is a continuous
development of new journals. Even with unlimited time, it would be
difficult to be aware of it all. I have to disregard nearly all.
2. in each issue, there are a lot of articles that I'm not interested
in. I have to disregard most - I rarely read from cover to cover.
3. storage space: keeping every issue is nearly impossible. How to
select what can be disposed and what must be kept?
4. digital versions of journals make it easier to store and easier to
find things. Web-access and web-searching makes it possible to find
relevant papers. But it still is an enormous amount of 'potentially
interesting material'.
From a reader's point of view, peer reviewed journals are not an
optimal format. Would it be possible to base the development of
alternatives on 'current best practice'?
Let's start with the basics:
"How do you currently use publications (paper and digital)?"
- how do you search? (scan issues in libraries? e-mail notifications
of publishers? web-searches? following up references? collections of
photocopies?, ...)
- how do you read a paper article? (first: check author-title
combination, second: flick through the pages. Third: Check the
illustrations/diagrams and captions. Fourth: Go to the references:
scan these for familiar names. Fifth: Go back to begin: read
abstract. There is a strong preference for structured abstracts.
Sixth: make a photocopy/print and store it for later. Only if it is
really interesting: postphone all other activities and start reading
it.)
- how do you store photocopies/prints and pdf-files of articles that
are relevant to your work? How do you categorize them?
I'm fairly sure that I am not using the most appropriate methods, but
I am curious how other people search, read and store peer-reviewed
information.
Kind regards,
Karel.
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