Our journals department is proud to announce the Information & Culture Special Issue: The Histories of the Internet.
The current issue of Information & Culture—50(2), available in spring 2015—focuses on the topic “Histories of the Internet.” Guest editors Thomas Haigh, Andrew L. Russell, and William H. Dutton explain the purpose of this special issue:
We explore the gap between broad conceptions of the Internet common in daily life and the rather narrow framing of most existing work on Internet history. Looking at both scholarly histories and popular myths, we suggest that the expanding scope of the Internet has created a demand for different kinds of history that capture the development of the many technological and social practices that converged to create today’s Internet-based online world. Finally, we summarize the articles in this special issue that collectively demonstrate that there is more than one history of the Internet.
The six articles in this special issue answer the question: What is the history of the Internet the history of? Topics include popular histories of the Internet’s pioneers, social perceptions of the Internet, networked computing in education, the genesis and development of networks, and the free and open source software movement. One study concerns the case of a small town’s early adoption of computer networking and its ill-fated municipal fiber project. The authors are known area specialists, including Merav Katz-Kimchi, Christian Oggolder, Joy Rankin, Valérie Schafer, Nadine I. Kozak, and Kevin Driscoll.
Individuals can order the single issue 50(2) at a cost of US$22 within the United States, US$35 in Canada, and US$40 international. Annual subscription for Volume 50 (2015) includes four issues. For information on ordering, see: utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/journals/information-culture
Information & Culture publishes historical studies of topics that fall under information studies as it is practiced by the interdisciplinary information schools. The journal is edited at the School of Information at UT Austin. For more information about Information & Culture, see: infoculturejournal.org/
Each year the University of Texas Press publishes around 100 books. A cause for celebration, the release of a new title is heralded with ads, reviews, a social media blitz, and author appearances. Compared to the buzz surrounding a new hardcover, the arrival of a new issue of an academic journal is more understated. It’s easy to take a publication for granted when it has been reproducing itself for years—or for over a century in the case of Texas Studies in Literature and Language, which celebrated its centennial last year. So it may be easy to forget that UT Press also publishes 11 journals in various academic fields, including film and television studies, archaeoastronomy, and Asian and Latin American music.
In contrast to the production schedule of a book, a scholarly journal’s advantage is speed. Whereas a book is the culmination of years of research, writing, and editing, a journal provides a more direct way for scholars to present the latest research and critical analysis on a subject area. Occasionally, a special issue provides more than a journal’s usual scope by focusing on a chosen topic. This summer’s edition of Asian Music, for example, was devoted entirely to Indonesian pop music. And of course, more than one journal article has become the seed for a book idea.
Journal publishers excel not only in publishing the most current scholarship but also in innovating distribution of content. UT Press Journals expedites subscription delivery with digital options. Among other access models, Project Muse offers complete issues of Asian Music, Cinema Journal, Information & Culture, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Journal of Latin American Geography, Latin American Music Review, Texas Studies in Literature & Language, and The Velvet Light Trap. (Hard copies of Archaeoastronomy and Journal of Individual Psychology can be ordered through the UT Press website.)
Earlier this fall, Director Dave Hamrick announced the promotion of Journals Manager Sue Hausmann to Assistant Director, a promotion that commends everyone in her department, who have accrued a total of 65 years at UT. The strides her department has taken in electronic publishing and marketing will allow Hausmann to use her more visible position to help inform the growth of UT Press as a whole.
“How may I keep up with UT Press Journals?” Let us count the ways:
- UT Press has launched a new website where you can find each of our journals. Peruse tables of contents, purchase a subscription, and order single issues and articles.
- Follow us on Twitter (@UTPressJournals) for new issue announcements and updates on our authors, relevant academic fields, and university events.
- Like us on Facebook. UT Press Journals has a page, and there are pages for Information & Culture, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Latin American Music Review, Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Texas Studies in Literature and Language, and The Velvet Light Trap.
—Sheila Scoville, Promotions Coordinator
