Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book presents research on digital scholarship today, case studies on the use of digital scholarship, guidelines that have been developed to deal with digital scholarship in the university setting and, finally, thoughts on the future of scholarship in a digital environment. One critical issue for universities, and one goal of the book, is to educate academics about the nature of digital scholarship how it is created, structured, and presently evaluated in order to make informed decisions about its worth in the university setting. The authors of the book present research, case studies, and examples that bridge the evaluation gap between traditional scholarship and the creative potential of the information age and the digital scholar. Then the purpose of the book is appropriates to fill the gap while academic culture moves from one state to the next.