Bitte beachten Sie, dass das Interview in englischer Sprache geführt wurde.

 

On Wednesday, 16 October 2019, starting at 8.30 am, the second micro-conference "Food for Thought with SSP and The Scholarly Kitchen" (Öffnet neues Fenster)will take place. Trade visitors will learn about the latest trends in scholarly and academic publishing worldwide. Time for an interview with David Crotty, author at The Scholary Kitchen Blog.

This year will be your second time at Frankfurter Buchmesse : Could you please describe your job and your connection to Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019?

I volunteer as the Executive Editor of The Scholarly Kitchen(Öffnet neues Fenster), the daily blog from the Society for Scholarly Publishing(Öffnet neues Fenster) (SSP).  The blog covers “What’s hot and cooking in scholarly publishing“ and we feature 23 regular authors including publishers, librarians, publishing consultants, executives from various not-for-profit organizations in the publishing sphere, and representatives from research societies. In my regular job, I am the Editorial Director, Journals Policy, for Oxford University Press. I’ve been a visitor to Frankfurter Buchmesse for many years, and am thrilled that since 2018, the SSP has been collaborating with the Buchmesse to create a larger presence for scholarly publishing. We ran a well-received panel discussion about the state of scholarly communications last year and are looking forward to a new presentation for 2019.

 

What’s the story behind your blog’s name „The Scholarly Kitchen“ and how did you come up with the idea of a blog about scholarly publishing?

The blog started in 2008, and was an experiment by our original Editor and Founder, Kent Anderson. Back in 2008, Kent was an SSP Board Member, and wanted to try a new thing called, “blogging“(Öffnet neues Fenster) as a way to keep society members current with the latest happenings in the market. Eleven years later, we see around 1.5 million views of our posts each year(Öffnet neues Fenster), and over 11 million since we started. The name comes from the idea that the best conversations at a party always seem to happen in the kitchen. And that’s really been our goal, to create a connecting point for all stakeholders in scholarly communications to come together and talk about what’s going on.

 

How do you see the scholarly publishing industry developing during the next five years - what will be the biggest trends and challenges?

Scholarly publishing has always been in flux, but has mostly moved at an evolutionary pace, as the market we serve, academia, is largely conservative and moves at a similarly slow pace. But things are changing as the digital environment has completed its initial stages and we’re really starting to get a handle on how it has changed the way we communicate and the possibilities it offers. I’ve started calling our current period, “The Great Acceleration(Öffnet neues Fenster)” as we’re now seeing increased market consolidation and increased regulation, both forces driving a more rapid pace of change.

 

The second edition of the SSP/Scholarly Kitchen Conference „Food for Thought” will take place this year at Frankfurter Buchmesse. Why should visitors and exhibitors join the event?

We've reached a point where it’s almost impossible for one person to keep up with everything happening in the industry. At our “Food for Thought” session, we will present another discussion of the pressing issues facing scholarly publishing, and the landscape has already changed enormously from where we were at the 2018 Buchmesse, just a few months ago. You’ll hear from experts about what really matters and where you should focus your energy and efforts.

Thank you for this interview!

 

Alle Infos zu Programm und Sprechern des Events "Food for Thought: Micro-conference & Business Breakfast with SSP and The Scholarly Kitchen" sowie weitere Highlights rund um das wissenschaftliche Verlagswesen finden Sie hier(Öffnet neues Fenster).