Open AccessFollow the Pathfinders: a Case Study Approach to Production, Use, and Readership on Scalar
Author(s) -
Hannah Ackermans
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hyperrhiz
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1555-9351
DOI - 10.20415/hyp/024.e01
Subject(s) - audience measurement , affordance , scalar (mathematics) , context (archaeology) , sociology , computer science , world wide web , advertising , mathematics , business , history , human–computer interaction , geometry , archaeology
This born-digital article examines the multimodal academic publication Pathfinders (Moulthrop and Grigar). Through a combination of interviews with readers and the author, textual analysis of the book, and literature review of Scalar, I trace the affordances of the platform, appropriation by scholars, the media text, and readership of Pathfinders. I distill themes that are key in the multimodality of the book, including platform adoption, institutional embedding, technological context and research values. Throughout the article, which is also written on Scalar, I reflect on my own use of Scalar and the various considerations that come with it in terms of software sustainability, accessibility, and transparency of research context. I conclude with a reflection on the media specificity of Scalar as an academic platform.