Anyone familiar with modern publishing practices recognizes the impossible deadlines under which editors must work, which all too often lead to imperfect publications. Possibly today's academic community would be better served if authors were to follow the example of Hastings Rashdall, the great 19th century English scholar, who spent 11 years preparing his multi-volume history of medieval universities -- a work of such power and insight that it laid the foundation for the study of higher education in the English-speaking world.
By contrast, Graduate and Continuing Education for Community College Leaders: What it Means Today is both too ambitious in its plan and too fragmented in its discussion to have the kind of lasting impact of Rashdall's history. If the objective of academic publication is the promotion of meaningful, long-term dialogue within the community of scholars, it may be time to abandon ensemble scholarship and return to the less hurried, but more thorough approach of an earlier era.
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