G.G. Chowdhury’s Sustainability of scholarly information is original, in that it is the first work to propose in detail an integrated model of sustainability for digital information systems and services. His jumping-off point is that sustainability is a “key issue of discussion in every sphere of business, institution and industry” (p. 3) and so, given the prominence of information in the modern digital economy, should be an area of interest and concern for researchers, academics and information practitioners.
He broadly sets the scene of changes in the information sector over the past few decades with the rapid technological and cultural changes in society related to information production and consumption, and proposes some questions around sustainability issues that he hopes to answer. These are undoubtedly important aspects to consider. However, I had some frustrations with the book from the outset, mainly around the slipperiness of the language, lack of definition in places and assumptions underlying some of the discussion. The author seems to slip between talking about the sustainability of information in its widest sense and information systems and services in particular, and similarly moves between information and scholarly information.
For example, what does sustainability really mean for information in that broad sense? Given that much of the mass of information consumption and production happens outside of the information sector, where does responsibility for sustainability lie in relation to that? If information increases rather than depletes with use, it is diffusive and can be given away and retained at the same time (Eaton and Bawden, 1991); what does this mean for sustainability? Can we “carry over uncritically to the management of information the concepts which have proved useful for the management of things”? (Eaton and Bawden, 1991) Admittedly, Chowdhury’s book would not have the space for lengthy consideration of this, and it is not that these issues are completely ignored, they are touched upon in the section on social sustainability, for example. However, they could have been more explicitly acknowledged and addressed.
It would be unfair to apply this criticism to the work as a whole. This is a scholarly work and there is no lack of clarity in the aims of the author. Chowdhury is clear from the outset about the nature of the work and its intended outcomes (p. 13). This is a research monograph based on a substantial literature review and meta-analysis, which proposes some models for future research in key areas identified around sustainability.
Indeed the structure of the text with detailed chapter headings, section headings and reference lists means that readers can select specific chapters to focus on. This is useful in a work of such density and detail, and is especially helpful given the newness of some of the perspectives proposed. Chowdhury’s final chapter identifies and describes six areas for future research in some detail. In this sense, there is a clear and well-defined structure to the work.
Chowdhury begins with a definition of sustainability as a tripartite concept encompassing environmental, economic and social dimensions that are widely recognized in the literature as inter-related aspects of sustainable development (p. 26). He discusses each aspect in relation to scholarly information, and the first half of the book is focused on reinterpreting the library literature against this model of sustainability. He goes further and offers suggestions for future research in each of these areas.
There is a focus on scholarly information, and I found the chapters on open-access publishing (7 and 8) particularly good and supported with recent literature; overall, the text is well-structured and well-referenced. The book provides an introduction to the issue of sustainability for new readers and attempts to relate this to scholarly information provision, which may appeal to practitioners working within academia. However, I am unconvinced that the author has fully achieved his aims.
