ARL: "Press and Library Directors Summit Report and Slides Available"

ARL has released "Press and Library Directors Summit Report and Slides Available."

Here's an excerpt:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) hosted the second meeting of press and library directors with reporting relationships (P2L2) in San Francisco, California, on June 20, 2018. The P2L2 Summit focused on shared practices, projects, shared opportunities and challenges, open access sustainability, and the provosts’ value of the P2L relationship.

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"Monographs on the Move?: A View on ‘Decoupling’ and Other Prospects"

Andrew Lockett has published "Monographs on the Move?: A View on 'Decoupling' and Other Prospects" in Insights.

Here's an excerpt:

In the context of the recent debate about the movement towards a monographs mandate for the UK, this opinion piece considers the logic of ‘decoupling’ that underlies it. It also looks at the real opportunities to improve on the current extraordinarily durable high-price system for publishing long-form research. Thinking around decoupled monograph publishing has positioned academic authors as the individual consumers of diverse publishing services (a wide array of which are fast emerging) in the face of significant scholarly caution. Furthermore, a danger of renewed market dominance by price-makers in an open access environment remains, with the risk of inequitable outcomes that may mirror problems that have arisen in journals. Opportunities may also arise for new local initiatives, especially collective and community-based publishing, with academic libraries likely to be in the middle of a fast-changing and contested environment for publishing monographs.

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"Embracing Change: The MIT Press and the Future of University-based Publishing"

Amy Brand has published "Embracing Change: The MIT Press and the Future of University-based Publishing" in Learned Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

This article provides a high-level overview of current strategic priorities and objectives at the MIT Press, focused mainly on the book side of the house.

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"Announcing LSE Press—A New Open Access Publishing Platform for the Social Sciences"

Kieran Booluck has published "Announcing LSE Press—A New Open Access Publishing Platform for the Social Sciences" in LSE Impact of Social Sciences.

Here's an excerpt:

In addition to journals, LSE Press intends to publish a range of book publications, including more traditional research monographs, short-form monographs, and even textbooks. Again, offering authors viable open access routes to publication is of increased importance here, in response to a changing policy environment and the announcement by HEFCE—now Research England—that future Research Excellence Framework assessments will extend open access requirements to include books as well as journals.

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"Engaging and Supporting a University Press Scholarly Community"

Megan Taylor and Kathrine S. H. Jensen have published "Engaging and Supporting a University Press Scholarly Community" in Publications.

Here's an excerpt:

In this paper we explore how the development of The University of Huddersfield Press, a publisher of open access scholarly journals and monographs, has enabled the sharing of research with a wider online audience. We situate the development of the Press within a wider research environment and growing community of New University Presses (NUPs) where there is an increasing demand for demonstrating research impact, which drives the need for improved analysis and reporting of impact data, a task that often falls within the remit of library and academic support services. We detail the benefits of the University Press Manager role in terms of ensuring professional service that delivers consistency and sustainability. We go on to outline the experiences of engaging with different online spaces and detail the extensive support for student authors. We argue that in order for the Press to support building a strong and engaged scholarly community and provide new spaces for emerging research, continued investment in both platform development and infrastructure is required.

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UW Press Joins UW Libraries

https://uwpressblog.com/2018/02/21/uw-press-joins-uw-libraries/

Keywords: University of Washington Press, University of Washington Libraries

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"The Surge in New University Presses and Academic-Led Publishing: An Overview of a Changing Publishing Ecology in the UK"

Janneke Adema and Graham Stone have published "The Surge in New University Presses and Academic-Led Publishing: An Overview of a Changing Publishing Ecology in the UK" in LIBER Quarterly.

Here's an excerpt:

This article outlines the rise and development of New University Presses and Academic-Led Presses in the UK or publishing for the UK market. Based on the Jisc research project, Changing publishing ecologies: a landscape study of new university presses and academic-led publishing, commonalities between these two types of presses are identified to better assess their future needs and requirements. Based on this analysis, the article argues for the development of a publishing toolkit, for further research into the creation of a typology of presses and publishing initiatives, and for support with community building to help these initiatives grow and develop further, whilst promoting a more diverse publishing ecology.

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"Publisher Revenue for Trade Books Up 10.2% in November 2016"

AAP has released "Publisher Revenue for Trade Books Up 10.2% in November 2016."

Here's an excerpt:

Professional Publishing was down 21.1% From Jan. – Nov. 2016 vs. the same time in 2015. These categories include business, medical, law, scientific and technical books. University presses were down 2.5% for the 11 months.

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University of Hawai’i Awarded $90,000 Humanities Open Book Program Grant

The University of Hawai'i has received a $90,000 Humanities Open Book Program grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the University of Hawai‘i a $90,000 grant to digitize 100 out-of-print University of Hawai‘i Press books for open access.

The project is part of the Humanities Open Book Program, a joint initiative between the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). . . .

Beginning in 2018, the digitized titles will be hosted on a custom open-access portal where readers will be able to download them in EPUB and PDF formats. A print-on-demand option will also be offered for select titles.

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Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L)

ARL has released Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L).

Here's an excerpt:

P2L explored how these separate components of the scholarly communications ecosystem (e.g., libraries and publishers) might move beyond relationships often established for administrative convenience and think together, leveraging the skills and strengths of their distinctive enterprises to move toward a unified system of publication, dissemination, access, and preservation that better serves both the host institution and the wider world of scholarship. P2L was an important first step toward a shared action agenda for university presses and academic libraries that supports and updates traditional approaches to scholarly publishing, broader scholarly communication through established and emerging channels and practices, and digital scholarship services for faculty and students. This shared action agenda also must seek to adapt to the new challenges of the digital environment in commitments such as the preservation of the scholarly record.

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"Publisher Revenues Up 1.6% to $1.05 Billion in May"

AAP has released "Publisher Revenues Up 1.6% to $1.05 Billion in May."

Here's an excerpt:

Professional Publishing was down 28.5% in May 2016 vs. May 2015. These categories include business, medical, law, scientific and technical books. University presses were up 4.4%. Year to date, professional books are down year-to-date, and university presses are flat.

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"New University Presses in the UK: Accessing a Mission"

Andrew Lockett and Lara Speicher have published "New University Presses in the UK: Accessing a Mission" in Learned Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

In the space of just a year, five new university presses were launched in the UK. Although very different in size and stages of development, all but one were launched first and foremost as open access presses, based in or supported by their university's library. Why should there have been such a significant flurry of activity in such a short space of time, and what can the stated objectives and activities of these presses tell us about the current UK scholarly publishing environment? To answer some of those questions, this article looks back to the original mission of the founding university presses, examines the policy and funding environments in which the new presses are operating, looks at overseas developments in recent years for comparison, and concludes with a review of the challenges these young presses face as well as the benefits all university presses, but particularly open access ones, can confer to their institutions.

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"Why Marriage Matters: A North American Perspective on Press/Library Partnerships"

Charles Watkinson has published "Why Marriage Matters: A North American Perspective on Press/Library Partnerships" in Learned Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

Key points

  • Around 30% of campus-based members of the Association of American University Presses now report to libraries, more than double the number 5 years ago.
  • Beyond reporting relationships, physical collocation and joint strategic planning characterize the most integrated press/library partnerships.
  • The main mutual advantages of deep press/library collaboration are economic efficiency, greater relevance to parent institutions, and an increased capacity to engage with the changing needs of authors in the digital age.
  • There is emerging interest in collaboration at scale among libraries and presses that may extend the impact of press/library collaboration beyond single institutions.

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"Making OA Monographs Happen: Library-Press Collaboration at the University of Ottawa, Canada"

Tony Horava has published "Making OA Monographs Happen: Library-Press Collaboration at the University of Ottawa, Canada" in Insights: The UKSG Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

At the University of Ottawa, Canada, the UO Press and the UO Library have developed a strategic partnership to publish and disseminate selected new monographs as gold open access (OA). Starting in 2013, the Library agreed to fund three books at C$10,000 per book (a total of C$30,000 per year) in order to remove barriers to accessing scholarship and to align with scholarly communication goals of the University. In 2015 this agreement was renewed for another three years and the funding was increased to cover four books (a total of C$40,000 per year). Ten titles have so far been published under this model. The data reveals that there have been 12,629 downloads as well as 16,584 page views of these titles, as of September 2015. There have been over 4,700 copies (print and EPUB) sold in spite of the free availability of the PDF version.

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"The Institution as E-Textbook Publisher"

Andrew Barker has published "The Institution as E-Textbook Publisher" in Insights: the UKSG Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

Providing students with sufficient copies of core textbooks is an increasing challenge in an age of ever higher fees, economic realities and heightened student expectations regarding provision of library resources. This article outlines the partnership between the University of Liverpool Library and Liverpool University Press (LUP), which has progressed from the creation of a library advisory board to the co-creation of two bespoke and open access (OA) e-textbooks as part of a Jisc-funded project. It tells the story of why we have gone down this route at Liverpool and what we hope to gain from the creation of these e-textbooks.

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"The OA Interviews: Alison Mudditt, Director, University of California Press"

Richard Poynder has published "The OA Interviews: Alison Mudditt, Director, University of California Press" in Open and Shut? in which Mudditt discusses the UC Press' Collabra and Luminos open access programs.

Here's an excerpt:

Collabra's model speaks to publishers, libraries, funders, and researchers who are seeking more cost transparency and greater recognition of the critical role that the academic and scientific community plays in journal publishing. In our model, the people who do the fundamental work of peer-review are recognized for this and are able to decide where to place that value.

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UC Press and the CDL Given a $750,000 Mellon Grant to Develop OA Monograph Publication System

The University of California Press and the California Digital Library have been given a $750,000 grant by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation "to develop a web-based, open source content and workflow management system to support the publication of open access (OA) monographs in the humanities and social sciences."

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The proposed system will increase efficiency and achieve cost reduction by allowing users to manage content and associated workflows from initial authoring through manuscript submission, peer review, and production to final publication of files on the open web, whether via a publishing platform or an institutional repository. The system will streamline production so publishers can redirect resources back into the editorial process and disseminate important scholarship more widely.

During this two-year period, the system will be designed and built to support the new open access models being pursued by UC Press as well as CDL's current publishing programs. Throughout the two-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, UC Press and CDL will engage other university presses and library publishing units to ensure the system will meet the needs of a range of organizations. UC Press and CDL have built in a plan for long-term sustainability to ensure that this resource will continue to serve these communities and will realize its potential to re-invigorate the domain of monographic publishing within the humanities and social sciences.

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"Can Libraries Help Stop this Madness?"

Kevin L. Smith has published "Can Libraries Help Stop this Madness?" in Library Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

If university presses can make a successful transition to less-expensive digital publishing, we should support that transition as fully as we can, but we should withhold funds where the digital product reflects the high prices and other inefficiencies mandated by print.

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"Teaching an Old University Press Publisher New Tricks: Living in the Present and Preparing for the Future of Scholarly Communications"

Patrick H. Alexander has published "Teaching an Old University Press Publisher New Tricks: Living in the Present and Preparing for the Future of Scholarly Communications" in the Journal of Electronic Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

University presses currently exist in the dual worlds of print and digital publishing. Current staffing needs require that they hire personnel with skills and experience that mirror that present duality. Training and maintaining a skilled workforce requires a commitment to flexibility and an openness to the ever-changing nature of scholarly communication. As the scholarly publishing ecosystem continues to evolve, university presses will need to look to a future workforce that has additional training, knowledge, and experience beyond the traditional skills associated with academic publishing, one that fully embraces the realities of a digital world, the habits of new generations of researchers, and the increasing role of technology in scholarly communication. This article looks at what the future might look like, what skills might be required, and how one might prepare for that future.

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Press and Library Collaboration Survey

The AAUP Library Relations Committee has released the Press and Library Collaboration Survey.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The Library Relations Committee of the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) today issued a number of broad conclusions and recommendations for successful collaboration between presses and libraries. These conclusions are the product of extensive surveying and interviews with member institutions of both AAUP and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), conducted through 2012-2013.

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"Rice University Press: Nascentis Fame"

Fred Moody has published "Rice University Press: Nascentis Fame" in the Journal of Electronic Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

Rice University Press (RUP), which began full operation in February 2007, proved a short-lived experiment. After three years of supporting one paid staff position and modest additional funding for contracted book design work, office expenses, and travel, Rice closed the press down as part of a larger, campuswide, budget-cutting effort. Faced with a choice between investing more financial and human capital in its press as a condition for gaining substantial foundation support or opting out of the experiment altogether, university administration chose the latter. Short-lived as the RUP experience was, it nevertheless offers some important lessons for people pondering the future of academic publishing and its inexorable move in a digital direction. There is no question that traditional printed-on-paper publishing is dying out and that it will be replaced by digital academic discourse distributed on a different economic model. There are, however, substantial questions about when and how this paradigm shift will come about, and the Rice University Press story may offer some answers.

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University of Michigan Press Launches Maize Books, a Nontraditional Press with an Open Access Option

The University of Michigan Press has launched Maize Books, which will offer an open access publishing option.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The University of Michigan Press, a unit of Michigan Publishing, is committed to producing and disseminating high-quality scholarship. As part of that commitment, we're proud to announce Maize Books, a new Michigan Publishing imprint. This imprint represents a lean, responsive model for publishing scholarly and creative works. We understand that scholarship can take many forms, and that traditional academic publishers arena't always interested in items that don't fit the typical categories of a "monograph" or a "journal article." . . .

The University of Michigan Press has the tools and the expertise to help you distribute your scholarship, regardless of its form, and we offer methods to make your work discoverable, accessible, and preservable for the long term. In keeping with our mission to explore new forms of scholarly publishing, Maize Books titles will be evaluated by the acquiring editors and Editorial Director of the University of Michigan Press. They will undergo peer review when desirable, including experimental forms of peer review designed to suit the requirements of individual publications.

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