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Abstract
This article introduces changes brought about by the advent of professional publishing on the Internet and discusses the infusion of technology in Counselor Education. It reviews significant changes that have occurred with the movement toward professional publications, like counseling journals, to present their publishing efforts on the Internet. Finally, this article discusses the resource capabilities of web-based professional publishing and introduces the Journal of Technology in Counseling as an example of hypermedia professional publication.
Given the rise in the interest and use of technology across academic disciplines, counselor educators are becoming more aware of avenues for the use of technological advances in training. In recent years there has been a mandate imposed on many academic departments and faculty members to infuse technology within the counseling discipline.
Cyberspace, or the Internet, and computer connectivity has become a new source for the counselor who is well skilled in the resources that it can offer (Wilson, Jencius, & Duncan, 1997). The mandate to infuse technology can be used by counselors for purposes of teaching and training skills of counselors-in-training (Rotter, McFadden, Lee & Jencius 1999). Within the last ten years, email and other means of professional communication, including listservs, chat, and other venues have become part of a regular regime. Counselors have increasingly used the Internet for the purposes of email, a service that has only been easily accessible for less than ten years. Counseling listservs (mailing lists) have become an accepted means of professional communication. Listservs like ICN for counselors, CESNET-L for counselor educators and COUNSGRADS for counseling graduate students, have become commonly referenced as resources for the counselor (Morrissey, 1998). Counselor preparation will include utilizing the Internet at an even greater capacity including university department websites and listservs, course websites, virtual classes (Rotter et. al, 1999). Other uses for internet connectivity has included emerging paradigms like
videoconferencing as an adjunct to face-to-face supervision (Baltimore, Jencius & Iris, 1999). In addition, researchers in the field of counseling are using the internet for research purposes.
The electronic journal, which has been on the horizon, has now become an expected option for publishing professional information. The use of the internet, as mentioned, is increasing, as scholarly publications, particularly as text-based journals are now seeking to publish to the web.
On-line publications and traditional journals
A distinction has been made between several types of journals that are now published on the internet. These journals are made up of e-journals, online journals and h-journals. Monty (1997) define e-journals as a journal available only in electronic form and distributed over the Internet usually without charge. The American Counseling Association ‘s eNews (http://www.counseling.org/enews) is an electronic news and practice bulletin of the that follows the e-journal structure. ACA staff provides and edits the journal’s content. Subscribed members to this e-journal receive it via email or is available online, but never appears in printed form.
Next, the on-line journals offer the readers a parallel version of the printed journal. That is, these types of journals, seemingly responding to the need to have a web presence, maintain an electronic existence parallel to a print counterpart and tend to be commercially produced (Langscheid, 1992). The ACA publication, Counseling Today has its online counterpart in CTOnline (http://www.counseling.org/ctonline). Two other examples are the Association for Adult Development and Aging (AADA) that has its online presence at http://www.uncg.edu/ced/jada and also includes a printed counterpart in Adultspan.
This emerging trend for traditional text-based journals to publish their materials on the web appears to be a simple matter of utilizing web-publishing software to convert text material in a form that can be read on the internet. Yet, the medium of the web is increasingly multimedia based. That is, what one sees on various websites is geared toward, not only text, but to multimedia events such as streaming video and audio, and other interactive formats.
A conversion of text-based journals to text on the internet seems to lack certain properties to which the technological advances are moving.
The hypermedia journal is the next step in digital scholarly publication and is commonly known as an "h-journal". H-journals are entirely web-based and are available to interested readers at the journal's website through their internet connection. The journal that you are reading, the Journal of Technology in Counseling, is an h-journal. These journals make use of the multimedia platforms that are available and include such content as video, audio, graphics, pictures, tables, links to other information and other content that are aimed at a different experience for the reader.
The different in experience for the reader and the difference between types of journals and their content has given rise to many questions. A comparison of the traditional text-based journal compares not only the change in format or publishing medium, but suggests a questioning of the process that surround the additional content and the change in expectations. Similar questions may suggest refining the scholarly journal given this infusion of technology in traditional publishing.
Van Brakel (1995) lists the essential functions of a scholarly journal. They are: building a collective knowledge base, communicating information, distributing rewards (priority, recognition and funding), and building scientific
communities. These important functions of professional journals come from the acceptance by the professional community and the use of the journal in creating and building a greater scientific base. Adoption as a scholarly publication by the professional community can be obtained if important factors identified by Collins and Berge (1994) are present. These factors are acceptance, credibility, accessibility and permanence.
Does the publication advance thinking in the field? Can the publication be easily accessed? Is the information in the journal provided in such a manner that it demonstrates its presence over time? These questions can be applied to both the traditional and electronic journal formats. Yet, the acceptance of a new medium imprinted on a traditional paradigm may cause difficulties for some.
Rosen and Weil (1995) state that the acceptance of online publications is hindered by the reluctance of a significant percentage of the counseling population to use computers. Some professionals have not utilized computers as expected in their work. This under-utilization may be connected to other reasons than a lack of acceptance of professional publication on the web. Langston in 1996 observes that peer-reviewed text based journal publication is considered a more rigorous process by most tenure review committees. Yet, the same amount of rigor may be applied to the electronic journal depending on the journal. In fact, it may be the platform itself that is the focus and not the merits of the publication that is the focus. There may be a trend toward more acceptance by tenure committees in academic settings as the publication is judged by its merits and not by the platform (Valauskas, 1997).
Butler (1994) proposed scholarly criteria for journal publication. These include:
It’s contribution to further scholarly dialogue.
The publication’s ability to serve as an exclusive channel for initial dissemination
Known and respected through strict review policies and a well-respected editorial board.
Quick publication of submitted materials so that authors may establish priority claims to new knowledge.
Sponsored by a well-respected institution.
Receiving good publication reviews from other publications in the same field.
Accessible through indexing and abstracting services.
Retrievable by the scholarly community.
This listing serves as a guide for comparison of the electronic journal to the traditional print-based journal.
Comparisons of traditional printed professional journals and web-based journals can begin with limitations for paper-based publications. In many cases, information provided in printed journals is often published, in some cases, years after the research was completed. As scholars are expected to be informed of the latest discoveries in their field, the traditional journal may delay access to the information due to the lengthy review and publishing process. Van Brakel (1995) points to some of the limitations of traditional paper-based journals. These limitations include ineffectiveness, high-specialization - low circulation, declining revenue base, lack of timely feedback, and the process of reselling scholarly writings. As one surveys these difficulties of the formal publication of printed journals, the traditional review and publishing process may, in fact, be a significant problem for the professional attempting to keep current on topics of interest.
As for limitations with internet-based professional journals, several issues are apparent. The presentation of material is the first of these. Reading on the internet versus reading from the printed page is quite different. We read slower on the computer monitor than from the printed page. The printed page can hold more information in a given area than the monitor. Too much text can be bothersome and cause eyestrain. The change toward more multimedia embedded in manuscripts also adds an additional burden to the reader as internet access and hardware and software compatibility must be established. Readers must have the equipment and it must perform in a manner consistent with the material presented. Electronic journals do have issues related to the reliability of the digital transmission of information over the Internet (Machovec, 1996). Internet connections are not always reliable and are sometimes slow.
Yet, the advantages of the electronic medium are apparent. The high cost of the printed version of professional journals and the production process, including the limitations of content due to maximum page limits are not present for the internet based journals. Information can be presented in a more timely fashion. The length of time for submission and eventual publication can be shortened by the electronic process and thus disseminated faster. Software and hardware innovations have allowed faster connections and access to the multimedia content can be controlled and refined from the publishers platform and not the readers.
The computer publication can present material in an interesting and helpful manner. Most information can be printed from the web page. The manuscript from an h-journal is available at anytime and in many locations rather then being restricted to a library shelf for access. Connectivity to other sources and supporting materials are accommodated. Electronic citations can be instantly found and read. Kubly (1996) observes one advantage of the h-journal web-based interface being a powerful document keyword search and storage capabilities. Pictures, video, and audio can enhance the experience as mentioned.
In addition, the exposure to academic research materials from a multimedia perspective may enhance the user’s cognitive abilities. For instance, Harnad (1995) and Ayersman (1993) suggests that cognitive learning is enhanced by the use of multimedia information. These additional aspects from the development of the h-journal will continue to impact traditional research standards and invoke creative uses for a traditional venue.
Changes in Research Thinking and Design
As a natural part of the evolution of technology usage, professional publishing may undergo changes that few traditional publications have anticipated. Yet this change toward incorporating multimedia in professional publishing can be seen as additive to traditional publishing methods. In kind, there may be aspects of the inclusion of multimedia into publishing that will result in change to the approach toward the research process. This may be likened to a paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1970) as a new system of thinking adds to the existing one.
The infusion of technology throughout counselor education includes the use of multimedia particularly in teaching, as witnessed by faculty websites and distance learning. In addition, training counselors in a skill-based program is often enhanced by the use of demonstrations and modeling. This can be accomplished through the use of the multimedia platforms available on the internet.
The h-journal differs from the printed journal in that the h-journal uses the hypermedia capabilities of the medium (Sundaram, 1990). But does the h-journal affect the way research is presented? That answer appears obvious. Thus an additional question becomes pertinent: does the multimedia professional journal impact or change the research process? This appears to be an important area for exploration.
Further, as one discovers the multimedia capabilities of the interactive internet platform, a change in expectations may occur. Indeed, will this change cause repercussions in the gathering, collecting and dissemination of research? Are there challenges to the well established research process that change as a result of the new platform? What constraints or technological challenges for both researcher and publisher are there given this change in process?
Writing Style, Data Gathering, and Presentation
As one surveys the difference in preparation for presenting materials in a web-based form with multimedia events as part of the manuscript, several issues become apparent. First, the authors must contemplate issues concerning writing style, whether there is potential in the data gathering process for video or audio or graphic representation, and finally, what forms will the final presentation of the research take.
The authoring process may entail a shift in ones writing style. This idea which includes the traditional outline format from the scientific-research method, also includes whether video/audio information can be demonstrated or explain further the research effort. This additional line of thinking has the researcher/writer looking for additional ways to explain, show, and further enhance the full experience of their work. Those counselor educators who teach research courses are often struck by the difficulties that students have in grasping the critical features of the traditional text-based research article. If students have additional aids, such as videotaped explanations of design,
Further, writing style that includes other forms of presentation allows the writer to present a multi-sensory experience to the reader. The reader is also free to pursue links and resources available to further research a topic during the reading process. This important notion allows the reader to go to other resources at-will to expand the reading process.
During data gathering, the researcher can plan for one-time events to be captured for inclusion in their work. Interviews, subject responses, observations, and other events reliably demonstrate the actual rather than described event. As one plans for this, a change in the research questions may occur. The research questions may be expanded to include how the data is obtained. Well-thought out research questions will not be encumbered by this additional process. For example, the anticipation of a video discussion as part of the publication, might lead authors to record via videotape aspects of the study that are never seen to the reader of research. Procedures and events can be captured during the research process and used to explain and advance the understanding of process and findings in a project. This is an exciting opportunity for reader and researcher.
Thus, a paradigm shift in authoring may be required before an author turns to the keyboard to write. The way ideas will ultimately be presented appears to have an impact on the strategy used for collecting data. Finally, the presentation will depend on the available resources of both the researchers and the publishers of the h-journal. Limits on the presentation of materials for the publishers will naturally limit what authors can show. On the other hand, as publishers have expansive capabilities, much is left to the imagination of the researchers. This notion may affect change in the very nature of research data gathering itself. While there may be debate on the degree of this effect, Willis (1995) has suggested that the process based on the scientist-practitioner model has been in place for many years and is unlikely to change dramatically.
One other consideration has to do with the editor’s process. This process may change very little from the traditional process of reviewing and sending manuscripts for review to the editorial board. However, additional duties are also apparent. Editors can act as advisors and consultants to potential authors as they prepare the additional materials for presentation of their work. Authors must prepare the multimedia materials while editors have to develop a new set of standards for the review and processing of multimedia content. Since no standards are developed at this time for video and audio materials, the editors must work to establish comparable criteria to insure quality and acceptance that matches the high level of text-based work. The review process for these materials will continue to improve as more presentations are available.
How does one evaluate an hypermedia journal and the surrounding processes that lead to professional publication? One approach is to examine the currently available h-journals. For our purposes, we will review the Journal of Technology in Counseling as a model for h-journals.
A HyperMedia journal: The Journal of Technology in Counseling
The Journal of Technology in Counseling (JTC) at http://jtc.colstate.edu is a production of the Department of Counseling and Educational Leadership at Columbus State University. JTC was developed by the authors as a web-based peer reviewed journal to address a need in the counseling profession to have a journal that supports the current trends in technology infusion. The development of a journal vehicle that utilizes the whole capability of the Internet multimedia seemed to establish the next level of Internet professional linkages. In addition the use of a web-based format for a journal on the topic of technology seemed appropriate.
Since the technology field advances so quickly, an added benefit to the web-based format is the capability of having the journal provide timely feedback to authors and a shortened publication schedule. The journal's goal of advancing the professional discussion on the use of technology in counseling carries the message by using the medium.
The Journal of Technology in Counseling publishes articles on all aspects of practice, theory, research and professionalism related to the use of technology in counselor training and counseling practice. The Journal accepts manuscripts that respond to the full scope of technology interests of its readers. Each edition of the journal will contain articles from one or more interest areas. Manuscripts are solicited which respond to one or more of the journals six areas of focus: professional exchange, newcomer's interest, theory, teaching, practice, and book/software reviews. JTC has an editorial board representative of counselor education professionals who have expertise in technology and diverse areas of counseling. The editorial board acts to guide the overall direction of the journal and to review manuscripts for the journal. Manuscripts are submitted electronically and are posted at a secure site that allows for reviewers to review the article on-line and submit their reviews electronically back to the editors. Reviewers comments are compiled and reviews returned to the authors for consideration. Should the review require a rewrite and resubmission the authors can elect to do so and resubmit.
The Journal of Technology in Counseling can be compared to Butler's (1994) criteria for scholarly publication previously mentioned. JTC was developed to respond to a professional need to disseminate information on technology in an accurate and timely fashion given the pace of change in the field. In that way it contributes to further scholarly dialogue (per Butler's criteria) around the infusion of technology in the field.
JTC has established a respected editorial board considered scholars in the field of counseling. The journal aims to reduce the production time and allow for quick publication of submitted material by creating a paperless submission and review process. Using electronic review and revision the turnaround time for reviewing submitted articles is greatly reduced, a goal suggested by Butler. If given a large number of approved for publication submissions, JTC is not limited to the amount that it could publish because each issue is not physically limited to page number like paper-bound journals. Another of Butler's conditions for scholarly h-journals is the use of an indexing system for the journal. JTC has established an ISSN number and is being catalogued as part of OCLC Electronic Collections Online and its editors will look to having JTC catalogued through other indexes.
JTC has developed a easy to use formatted page that allow readers to gather information about submission and formatting necessary for publishing in the journal. Examples of the possibilities come from reading the current edition and giving thought to how one can use this new platform for publishing. The Editors have designed and published this professional journal with the intent to contribute to the counseling field. Peer-review of published material and verification will continue to stand as a basis for judging the appropriateness and worthiness for publication in this journal.
a. Know the journal you are writing for. Look at other examples of work in the journal so that you can visualize how to present you ideas in a format that suits the journal's website.
b. Consult with the editors whenever possible. This is a new medium for scholarly publication and with few examples around you may have to tap into the editor's vision for the journal until you develop your own digital vision.
c. Think differently about how you can use the full qualities of the net to present your ideas. Dramatic presentation is not necessarily better and multimedia components should relate directly to the theme of your work.
d. Collaborate with someone who mirrors your weaknesses. For those new to the digital realm, enhance your own cyber authorship by co-authoring with colleagues who know the digital landscape. For those more comfortable with digital publishing and its capabilities associate with colleagues who can help you in the content areas of your work.
e. Organize thematically not linearly. Since digital articles use hyperlinks, authors would be encouraged to think in themes that connect from a central idea then to think in a linear development of ideas across one text.
f. Compartmentalize thinking, write in concise fashion. Most text publications would be too cumbersome for readers to waft through on a web site. Get your ideas out briefly, use multimedia to simplify complex ideas. Graphics are used liberally
Summary
By reading this journal, you have already become aware of the differences that are apparent between the traditional print-based journal and the hypermedia journal. It undoubtedly challenges all of us in unexpected ways. Certainly, in our opinion it pushes our thinking and may be the advent of a new era in professional publishing.
The reach and scope of publishing on the web is not known. The impact of this new medium on the traditional paper-based publishing is also not known. We hope that this publication has stimulated your thinking about cyberpublishing and that you will engage in discussion of the possibilities and transitions and even new directions. The challenges are upon us as this paradigm shift continues.
Finally, the editors of the Journal of Technology in Counseling hope that this contribution will help to generate greater possibilities for the infusion of technology counseling and counselor education. It is our pleasure to offer this journal to you.
