The Transition from Paper

Under the leadership of R. Stephen Berry (University of Chicago), The Transition from Paper project probed how the expansion of electronic communications is altering the collection, dissemination, and storage of scholarly information. Participants included scientists, a librarian, a publisher, an editor, and others involved in scientific communications. The project focused on the impact of electronic communications on the physical sciences, particularly chemistry.

A resulting volume of essays, The Transition from Paper: Where Are We Going and How Will We Get There?, is available online. The first part of the volume addresses the impact of electronic communications on daily teaching and research in the sciences. Discussion focuses on such issues as the prospects for large-scale displacement of classroom teachers, distance learning, the rise of for-profit institutions of higher education, and the future of peer review. The second part of the volume addresses various legal and commercial issues associated with the transition to electronic communications. The third part explores global impacts of the transition away from paper.