Katherine Fitzpatrick Summary

Katherine Fitzpatrick does not only suggest that digital publishing has changed the very notion of authorship and the way a work is communicated to the world, but she suggests that embracing the new technologies that have infiltrated the ways we communicate, can help people feel more comfortable with themselves and their writing. Fitzpatrick claims that we need to “rethink our authorship practices and our relationships to ourselves and our colleagues as authors.” This, to me, seems like a very ambitious statement, especially so because it is predicated off of what the implications of digital authorship may be- a topic which on the surface seems to have only a tenuous association with the idea of relationships with our peers in any capacity. Fitzpatrick realizes the scholarly discussions surrounding authorship are mostly theory based; that there has been no actual framework intentionally put in place to change the notions of authorship. …show more content…
However, she doesn’t actually explain how academic authorship has actually evolved …show more content…
However, there are several things that bother me about her notions of the future of digital authorship. Firstly, Katherine Fitzpatrick stated in the beginning of her essay that new frameworks of authorship have all been based on theory for the past forty years. It seems to me that what she has suggested is mostly theoretical and catered to other intellectuals as well. Her ideas are well thought out, but it troubles me that her tone shifted from one offering semi-tangible ideas and speculations, to one that is obtuse and