The equivalence of books: Monographs, prestige, and the rise of edge cases. (October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Sullivan, James
• Other Names: Rayner Samantha J guest-editor.; Canty Nick guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Convergence. Volume 24:Number 5(2018)
• Page Start: 494
• Page End: 503
• Publication Date: 2018-10
• Subjects: Academic book of the future -- academic books -- digital humanities -- digital publishing -- edge cases -- forms of scholarship -- modes of production -- publishing; Mass media -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Telecommunication -- Periodicals; Mass media and technology -- Periodicals; 621.3897
• DOI: 10.1177/1354856518780457
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1354-8565

Abstract

The digital has shifted the forms through which we present scholarship, and as academic projects become increasingly disconnected with the codex form, our conceptions of what constitutes an academic book warrants problematization. This is particularly so with 'edge cases', projects which look to collate, curate, and create thematically consistent critical insights on topics of relevance to the Arts and Humanities, using unfamiliar forms. This brief essay explores a selection of digital projects that might be classified as edge cases, interacting with relevant stakeholders through short surveys designed to determine why digital apparatus were favored. The purpose of this essay is to query whether such outliers can be considered, as exemplifiers of what is meant by an edge case, to be the equivalent of the academic book.