Professional Learning and Inbetween Publishing: The Tasks of the Charleston Briefings

Abstract

Should the book and the journal article remain the primary forms of scholarly production in the digital age? That is a question asked by publishing scholar Kathleen Fitzpatrick. She proposes a role for “inbetween” work. Indeed, there is a history of “grey literature” in many fields and of the short book. And academic publishers are experimenting with the form. In this context, an explanation of the rationale for and origins of the Charleston Briefings illustrates the possibilities for experimenting with inbetween publishing featuring subjects of interest to librarians and professionals in allied fields. There follows an account of the genesis, planning, and composition of a forthcoming Briefing on the scholarly workflow. While the length of the Briefings may appear to be its defining element, how it manages its scholarly and educational tasks is the key to meeting its goals and the needs of readers. In this case “inbetweenness” can be an advantage for representing the subject’s timeliness and utility while managing the rapidly growing literature on its different dimensions, including what the digital evolution of the scholarly workflow means for library services.