Organizer: Virginia J. Shih, University of California, Berkeley, USA Discussants: Jeffrey Hadler, University of California, Berkeley, USA; William P. Tuchrello, Independent Scholar, USA; Erik van Aert, Independent Scholar, Netherlands; Gregory H. Green, Cornell University, USA; James Simon, Independent Scholar, USA; Christopher A. Miller, , USA Providing digital access to Southeast Asian resources for research and teaching is today more challenging than ever. Leaving aside the fact that the volume of print materials published on Southeast Asia in Western and vernacular languages continues to increase at a time when libraries are facing diminishing acquisitions budgets and staff reductions, since the late 1990s the business of digitization, electronic publishing and information dissemination has grown exponentially. Three distinct trends are discernible: first, there is an increasing demand for digitizing existing print resources to enhance public access; second, there is a wholly new emphasis on electronic publishing over paper and microfilm formats in the academic world; and third, we are seeing the emergence of a growing body of “born-digital” data and texts. The significance of these developments to Southeast Asian Studies is far-reaching. The aim of this roundtable, therefore, is to survey the changing landscape of digitization and electronic publishing with a view to taking stock of the increasing demand for digital access to a wide range of Southeast Asian resources. In the context of this dialogue, we aim to explore the opportunity for international collaboration for the purpose of developing an economically viable and sustainable cooperative model for expanding and enhancing access to electronic resources on Southeast Asia.
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