[Asis-l] Ceasing publication of ARIST

[Richard Hill]

[Apologies for a lengthy post.  Dick Hill]

The decision to discontinue print ARIST was actually made in Nov 2008 after
a substantial amount of board and task force discussion.  It was announced
in a Bulletin President's Page (June/July 2009) after we had consulted about
the changes with the publisher, Information Today.  The decision was also
announced at the 2009 Annual Business Meeting.

As context, prior to the decision, Blaise Cronin had become the new JASIST
editor and we had a new publishing contract with Wiley Blackwell.  With
Blaise moving from ARIST to JASIST, we needed a new ARIST editor, which
presented the problem of what context to give a new editor, forcing
re-consideration of ARIST as we know it.  

Over the last dozen years ARIST sales have gone from well over 1500 to well
under 1000, dropping around 10% per year. Our consultants advised that sales
of such publications were projected to continue dropping.

We included ARIST in the publishers RFP which led to our Wiley Blackwell
contract.  All the publishers who responded recognized the quality of ARIST
but were considerably less than enthusiastic about continuing it as a print
publication in anything like its current form.  All suggested an electronic
publication or did not address ARIST.

The ARIST editor has had increasing difficulty getting authors to agree and
significant numbers never completed their review articles.  Some potential
authors felt that a review 3 years old by the time the publication came out
was not useful; others thought that print was not the best medium for timely
reviews.  

There was a retreat in the fall of 2008 with Wiley-Blackwell and a
consultant that resulted in the recommendation to the Board.  The Board
deliberated at length before voting to discontinue. This was a difficult
decision for all of us, but a decision that was made recognizing where
publishing and scholarly communication are headed, future directions and
trends.

The JASIST review sections will serve as a transition venue at least.  The
reviews will be available in a more timely fashion and to all ASIS&T
members.  Perhaps someday we will be able to establish a review type series
that will serve the role that ARIST played so long and well.

We only posted recently to the web site to protect sales of the final three
volumes, which is prevailing advice, and out of consideration for
Information Today.  Tom Hogan and Information Today deserve enormous credit
for keeping ARIST afloat for so long (as well as ASIST itself in years
past).  

_____
Richard B. Hill
Executive Director
American Society for Information Science and Technology
1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510
Silver Spring, MD  20910
Fax: (301) 495-0810
Voice: (301) 495-0900 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: El-Hadidy, Bahaa [mailto:elhadidy at cas.usf.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 1:53 PM
> To: belkin at rutgers.edu; asis-l at asis.org; leadership at asis.org
> Subject: RE: [Asis-l] Ceasing publication of ARIST
> Importance: High
> 
> I agree completely with Nick Belkin. The decision
> of ceasing tha Annual Review
> is important for all members and the problem should be widely discussed by
> the membership at large. I realize the financial problems of the Society,
> but other alternatives should be discussed and members should have a say
> in this decision.. I would like to propose that this decision would be
> kept on hold and mambers be given the chance to give as much input as
> possible, and the final decision would be made during a special meeting
> during this year Annual meeting in Pittsburgh.
> 
> 
> Bahaa ElHadidy, PH.D.
> Professor of Onformation Science, Retired
> Tel (813)978-1551
> elhadidy at cas.usf.edu

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