This report to DEST was prepared by the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University. Released in September 2006, it explores the costs involved in research communication activities and some of the potential benefits available through emerging, more open, scholarly communication alternatives.
The environment in which research is being conducted and disseminated is undergoing profound change, with new technologies offering new opportunities, changing research practices demanding new capabilities, and increased focus on research performance. This changing environment raises a key question: are there new opportunities and new models of scholarly communication that could enhance the dissemination of research findings and, thereby, maximise the economic and social returns to public sector investment in R&D? This study makes a significant contribution towards helping us answer this question.
The study draws on international and local experience to provide a preliminary cost-benefit analysis of existing and emerging alternatives for scholarly communication for institutions in Australia and for Australia as a whole. Its focus is on:
- The underlying economics of scholarly publication, distribution and access;
- Understanding the various emerging alternative models for publication and access; and
- Exploring the costs, benefits and implications for Australia at both the national and institutional levels.
The examination of the total costs of the process of research creation, dissemination and access also provides an opportunity for a wider analysis of funding and budget issues in scholarly communication at institutional and national levels.
The full report including appendices is available for download as a PDF 
(1.7 MB) or RTF 
(4.4 MB) document.
An important turning point in terms of furthering advanced distributed learning technologies through international collaboration was reached at an International Forum in Melbourne sponsored by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL 
) Initiative on 4-6 October.
See the DEST Press Release on the forum and its outcomes.
On 22 August 2005, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, Minister for Education, Science and Training, announced funding for nine projects involving over 30 Australian universities . Many of the funded projects comply with more than one of the areas identified and support many of the themes and problems that are emerging through the consultations for NCRIS and e-Research Committees. The funded projects are known collectively as the Managed Environments for Research Repository Infrastructure (MERRI) Projects.
As part of SII the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, MP established the Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee (ARIIC) in August 2003.
The Minister appointed the ARIIC to advise the Government on the information infrastructure requirements of the Australian higher education sector and their intersection with the wider information and technical infrastructures used by the scholarly and research community.
Access to information is essential for research. In order to produce high quality research, researchers must have access to research data, including large specialised data sets, and to the products of research, including scholarly publications.
Increasingly, research information is being produced in electronic form. This includes both research data and research results. This offers great opportunities to improve the access of researcher to information. It also presents significant challenges, for example in the area of information preservation.
The Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee is the principal body advising the Australian Government on research information issues. Its goals are:
Key areas of interest for the Committee are:
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Development of principles to increase the accessibility of research information;
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Promotion of standards based approaches to information discovery, storage and sharing;
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Fostering practical demonstrations of integrated information management solutions;
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Promoting cross institutional, cross sectoral and trans-national cooperation in research information management
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Securing improved access to key information resources, including major research data sets and databases of research publications.
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Advocacy in assisting researchers embrace the potential offered by an improved information infrastructure.