Extending the Principles and Promise of Scholarly Communication Reform: A Chronicle and Future Glimpse

Interest in the functionality and components of scholarly communications has increased dramatically since the last decades of the 20th century. Many articles, books, reports, anddeclarations have appeared, some of which call for change and describe new functions and norms. Often, these documents espouse principles to guide and promote change. They may take the form of explicit statements, declarations, resolutions, directives, and policies. This chapter reviews representative and influential documents and describes the principles and goals on which change has been based. The review finds that the visions and principles for change have evolved, and in many cases have grown more ambitious and expansive. A look at early publications will set the stage and then principles will be examined by type of organization and will be analyzed and categorized. In some cases, principles have been quoted in their entirety and in others they have been abbreviated or condensed without changing their meaning for purposes of concision and inclusion. The chapter also explores questions and principles that might extend past trends and reflect recent developments. A discussion of the roles of librarians in the future of scholarly communication will conclude the chapter.