Electronic Publishing at the American Anthropological Association

Savage Minds just posted a short piece on "Understanding the Current Future of the AAA" by Chris Kelty. It is about the AAA's Committee on the Future of Print and Electronic Publishing. The committee solicited a bunch of memos about the AAA's publications program. Kelty says,

• "I’ve read a handful of these memos, most of which seem to say something like “our section is still alive, so we have no complaints.” This is kind of worrying, since a bunch of memos recommending no action will lead to no action by the Section Assembly, no decisions by the Executive Boards and no executions by the Staff"

He then mentions an extraordinary memo by Kim Fortun, outgoing co-editor of Cultural Anthropology, that is posted on the Savage Minds site. Kelty says,

• "Kim’s memo could be a handbook for understanding the current crisis and politics of scholarly publishing in general, and the promises, fulfilled and unfulfilled, of the AAA’s union with Wiley Blackwell, in particular. It is incredibly detailed, well-sourced, well organized and throughtful–far beyond the call of duty of a memo."

Anyone interested in the publications situation at the AAA (and by comparison, at many scholarly societies) should check out Fortun's memo. I have long been disappointed in the AAA's approach to publishing (click here, for an example), and I was impressed by the detail and insight contained in Fortun's memo.