The New Digital Scholar

The New Digital Scholar presents innovative thinking and groundbreaking research on the challenges NextGen students face with research-writing projects. Reminding readers of the history of the academic research paper and the scope of the recent information explosion, editors McClure and Purdy open a discussion long silent in academic circles-that the teaching of research-writing is mired in practices poorly suited for digital natives. Through the experiences and analyses of more than 20 writing teachers, library science professionals, and higher education administrators, the book examines research-writing in practice, revealing what has been learned, what works, and what doesn't. Practitioners describe teaching methods and research projects suited for the new digital scholar-concepts not only rooted in traditional academic research values, but designed for the information universe NextGen students inhabit.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. While industries such as music, newspapers, film and publishing have seen radical changes in their business models and practices as a direct result of new technologies, higher education has so far resisted the wholesale changes we have seen elsewhere. However, a gradual and fundamental shift in the practice of academics is taking place. Every aspect of scholarly practice is seeing changes effected by the adoption and possibilities of new technologies. This book will explore these changes, their implications for higher education, the possibilities for new forms of scholarly practice and what lessons can be drawn from other sectors.

What does it take to become a digitally agile scholar? This manual explains how academics can comfortably navigate the digital world of today and tomorrow. It foregrounds three key domains of digital agility: getting involved in research, education and (community) service, mobilising (digital) skills on various levels, and acting in multiple roles, both individually and interlinked with others. After an introduction that outlines the foundations of the three-dimensional framework, the chapters focus on different roles and skills associated with evolving as a digital scholar. There is the author, who writes highly specialised texts for expert peers; the storyteller, who crafts accessible narratives to a broader audience in the form of blogs or podcasts; the creator, who uses graphics, audio, and video to motivate audiences to delve deeper into the material; the integrator, who develops and curates multimedia artefacts, disseminating them through channels such as websites, webinars, and open source repositories; and finally the networker, who actively triggers interaction via social media applications and online learning communities. Additionally, the final chapters offer a blueprint for the future digital scholar as a professional learner and as a “change agent” who is open to and actively pursues innovation. Informed by the authors’ broad and diverse personal experience, Evolving as a Digital Scholar offers insight, inspiration, and practical advice. It equips a broad readership with the skills and the mindset to harness new digital developments and navigate the ever-evolving digital age. It will inspire academic teachers and researchers with different backgrounds and levels of knowledge that wish to enhance their digital academic profile.

The forms and genres of academic communication have changed considerably over the past decades – from standardised ways of producing texts on/for paper to a (less?) standardised way of communication in Web 2.0. Published papers are now available to a greater number of readers, interaction among colleagues can take place in real time via written, audio or visual formats, and it has become much more comfortable for students as well as for those outside the scientific community to access academic information and to contact its authors. It seems, however, that many aspects of academic communication have not yet changed, and its participants – either in the „old“ or in the „new“ generation – are ill-equipped to work within the multimedia context. This volume, therefore, takes a look at academic communication in the multimedia environment, in order to throw light on how these processes are linked to new multimedia affordances, while at the same time encapsulating old genre conventions and participant interaction with the medium.

This book provides strategic insights drawn from librarians who are meeting the challenge of digital scholarship, utilizing the latest technologies and creating new knowledge in partnership with researchers, scholars, colleagues and students. The impact of digital on libraries has extended far beyond its transformation of content, to the development of services, the extension and enhancement of access to research and to teaching and learning systems. As a result,the fluidity of the digital environment can often be at odds with the more systematic approaches to development traditionally taken by academic libraries, which has also led to a new generation of roles and shifting responsibilities with staff training and development often playing ‘catch-up’. One of the key challenges to emerge is how best to demonstrate expertise in digital scholarship which draws on the specialist technical knowledge of the profession and maintains and grows its relevance for staff, students and researchers. This edited collection spans a wide range of contrasting perspectives, contexts, insights and case studies, which explore the relationships between digital scholarship, contemporary academic libraries and professional practice. The book demonstrates that there are opportunities to be bold, remodel, trial new approaches and reposition the library as a key partner in the process of digital scholarship. Content covered includes: • the impact of digital scholarship on organizational strategies • an insight into new services and roles, partnerships and collaborations • case studies exploring new technologies to support research and development • new approaches to service delivery • re-visioning of space, physical and virtual. This is an essential guide for librarians and information professionals involved in digital scholarship and communication, who wish to extend their awareness of emerging practices, as well as library administrators and students studying library and information science.

This book delves into the changes in technology regarding higher education and seeks to define what it means to be a scholar in the digital age.

Amy E. Earhart is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Texas A & M University.