Davis, Jeffrey wrote:
One of the ideas that came out of last week's conference in Corvallis
was for a code4lib journal. Here's a proposal for what such a journal
might look like; comments, article submissions, and volunteers are all
welcome.
I think this is a fine idea. Higher-ups willing (and I think they would
be), I can offer it an install of Open Journal Systems for a home, as
well as a DSpace installation for a preservation failsafe.
In addition to a number of full-length, in-depth articles on the above
topics, I would also like to see a section of each issue devoted to
shorter, "lightning talk"-style articles directly relevant and useful to
the people actually working with Dspace, MODS, content management
systems, and recalcitrant OPACS. Some possible subjects might be:
A "hack of the month" might be a useful ongoing feature. If it proves
popular, it could even be subdivided into the "Web hack of the month,"
"OPAC hack of the month," etc.
WOULD IT BE PEER REVIEWED?
That's a good question, and I'd like to discuss it. Given the
relatively small size of the field, peer review might not be feasible.
Possible to do some of both. Peer-reviewed articles, editor-vetted
shorter pieces.
I'm personally interested in the idea of a collaborative review process
-- less traditional peer review, more Slashdot/Digg/Wikipedia -- but
that has its downsides as well. What do people think?
If we get something like that working, there'd be a research article in
it for somebody. ;)
For the less-theoretical pieces, I should think an "I tried this and it
worked!" button would be an effective alternative peer-review mechanism.
Dorothea
