POST: Academia, Not Edu 3

In “Academia, Not Edu,” a post published on the heels of Open Access Week, Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Modern Language Association) argues that scholars should move away from sharing work on proprietary social networks, proposing disciplinary repositories as more ethical, and ultimately, more viable, alternatives. Likening Academia.edu to Facebook, Fitzpatrick writes:

The network, in other words, does not have as its primary goal helping academics communicate with one another, but is rather working to monetize that communication.

While Fitzpatrick is intimately associated with the development of the MLA Commons, her concerns regarding the widespread practice of academics going nominally “open access” through closed systems transcend her specific disciplinary issues. Further, the post raises questions about the relationship between academics, disciplinary repositories, and institutional repositories and the best way to share scholarly work with “the people I hope will read it.”