The MLA has released the report of the MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion. The Executive Summary reports,
Even more troubling is the state of evaluation for digital scholarship, now an extensively used resource for scholars across the humanities: 40.8% of departments in doctorate-granting institutions report no experience evaluating refereed articles in electronic format, and 65.7% report no experience evaluating monographs in electronic format. (p. 3)
The 4th recommendation is that,
Departments and institutions should recognize the legitimacy of scholarship produced in new media, whether by individuals or in collaboration, and create procedures for evaluating these forms of scholarship. (p. 3)
Bravo! As Scott Jaschik puts it in a story on Rethinking Tenure – And Much More in Inside Higher Ed, departments should
Accept “the legitimacy of scholarship produced in new media,” ending the assumption that print is necessarily better. (And to the extent that some professors and departments don’t know how to evaluate quality in new media, “the onus is on the department” to learn, not on the scholar using new media, Stanton said.)
Donna Stanton chaired the MLA task force and provided the briefing for the quote.
Thanks to Judith for pointing me to this.