According to Kathleen Fitzpatrick, an authoritative observer of scholarly communications, “we have not yet begun to consider whether the book and the journal article should remain the primary forms that scholarly production takes in the digital age.” Their constraints give structure to scholarly inquiry but they also present unnecessary limits: “There has long been nothing in the large space between the journal article and the book.” This presentation features uses of this “inbetween” space for the treatment of ideas and practices at an appropriate length. It begins with an account of the founding of the Charleston Briefings, a series of short books representing an experiment in “inbetweenness” in publishing. A review of the rationale for the Briefings, paired with an examination of the guidelines for authors, will demonstrate editorial expectations, particularly for the properties of scholarly writing—in organization, explication, voice, and citation--well suited for the professional learning that is the goal of the series. The second part of the session will offer an account of the latest Charleston Briefing: The Scholarly Workflow in the Digital Age (due to appear in late 2019). Its author will explain its genesis, planning, and composition. While the length of the Briefings (as the series name suggests) may appear to be its defining element, how it manages its scholarly and educational tasks is the key to meeting its goals and the needs of readers. In this case, the author of the new Briefing will explain how “inbetweenness” can be an advantage for representing the subject’s timeliness and utility while managing the rapidly growing literature on its different dimensions, particularly what the evolution of the scholarly workflow means for library services. Participants will be invited to contribute to a discussion of the format’s utility in the context of opportunities for professional learning.
