New white paper suggests collaborative improvements for discoverability of scholarly content

Los Angeles, CA - In a changing academic environment, discoverability of scholarly content demands cooperative efforts across the communications supply chain. A new SAGE white paper, out today, summarizes the current discovery landscape for scholarly communications, advocates for cooperative efforts across the industry, and proposes specific recommendations for discoverability improvement for librarians, publishers, and service providers.

“This white paper draws upon novel insights contributed by international experts about the scholarly ecosystem of publisher content, research tools, and library systems. The experts make predictions about new cross-sector partnerships as researcher workflows evolve,” stated lead author Mary Somerville. “Our recommendations advance the common goal of furthering discovery, access, and usage of scholarly publications and creative work.” 

Authors Mary Somerville, PhD and Lettie Conrad, MA propose actionable recommendations for all involved in scholarly communications in order to achieve collaborative improvement of discoverability. The recommendations are based on the following four themes:

• Standards: All sectors should participate in ratified standards to ensure that cooperation is part of business-as-usual routines.
• Transparency: Standards compliance is critical for successful discovery, and the development, implementation, and enforcement of these standards require open relationships across the industry.
• Metadata: Quality metadata, observing ratified standards, enables successful discovery of scholarly content, products, and services.
• Partnerships: Opportunities exist for new discovery innovations across the industry, such as linked open data and cross-publisher discovery tools.

This new white paper, titled “Collaborative Improvements in the Discoverability of Scholarly Content: Accomplishments, Aspirations, and Opportunities” is SAGE’s second white paper on discoverability of academic work. An update to the first study, the paper addresses recent accomplishments and new opportunities for reinventing conventions and relationships among libraries, publishers, and service providers. A presentation of the findings will be made next week at the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting.

“From research methods to quality of content, ease of discovery, and scholarly communication, SAGE is dedicated to supporting all aspects of the research process,” stated Stephen Barr, President of SAGE International. “As the scholarly environment is continuously changing, we are delighted to be releasing a second white paper on the discoverability of scholarly content. We are confident that its findings will be helpful to librarians, researchers, content providers, and publishers alike.”

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Find out more by reading the full white paper here: http://www.sagepub.com/repository/binaries/pdf/improvementsindiscoverability.pdf

Be among the first to hear a presentation of the findings from the lead author, Dr. Mary Somerville at the ALA Midwinter Meeting at the Philadelphia Convention Center on Sunday, January 26 at 11:00am. RSVP here: www.sagealamw14-b.eventbrite.com

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Mary Somerville, MA, MLS, PhD, is a University Librarian and Library Director at the University of Colorado Denver.

Lettie Conrad, MA, is the Executive Manager of Online Products at SAGE.