Elections for the Library Publishing Coalition Board open today and will continue through Friday, March 1st. Instructions for voting will be sent to each member institution’s voting representative. The candidates are:
- Jennifer Beamer, The Claremont Colleges Library
- Karen Bjork, Portland State University
- Christine Fruin, American Theological Library Association
- Sarah Hare, Indiana University
- Annie Johnson, Temple University
- Mark Konecny, University of Cincinnati
Each candidate has provided a brief biography and an election statement:
Jennifer Beamer, The Claremont Colleges Library
Bio: In 2014, I received my Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. While going to library school I was the Institutional Repository Manager and Education Specialist, responsible for helping faculty with open access publishing on our DSpace platform. Upon graduating, I started as a reference and instruction librarian in the social sciences disciplines, and in June 2016 I became the Digital Initiatives and Information Technologies Librarian, responsible for assisting with scholarly communication and digitizing materials for our open access digital publishing programs. In May 2018, I began my current position at the Claremont Colleges Library as the Scholarly Communications Coordinator (Librarian), where I lead efforts to educate our seven college campuses in publishing their work in open access journals and the repository. I also advise on copyright and author rights. Another important part of my work is open education, encouraging faculty to adopt, adapt, and publish open educational resources. My professional interests include repository infrastructure, open access publishing, and open educational resources. Prior to my career as a librarian, I obtained a Master of Science at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Statement: I was very lucky to have benefited from the LPC community as a new librarian at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As one of the initial contributing members of LPC, the University of Hawaii at Manoa had many strong LPC members, including my mentor Beth Tillinghast. Whenever I have had a question or needed advice about library publishing, the LPC community has always been helpful in their responses. What I have learned from the LPC community is not only knowledge about “how to do things,” but also about the strength and commitment of likeminded community members to open access. I feel fortunate to have received knowledgeable advice that has furthered my professional development on many occasions. I have also been privileged to collaborate with many LPC community members both locally and virtually. Thus, my interest to serve on the LPC Board stems from a wish to give back to the community. I hope to have the opportunity to become a member of the Board to represent the interests of the LPC membership in its endeavor to realize a “scholarly publishing landscape that is open, inclusive, and sustainable” by providing membership with education, professional development and networking opportunities.
Karen Bjork, Portland State University
Bio: Karen Bjork is the Head of Digital Initiatives at Portland State University (PSU) Library. She manages the institutional repository, PDXScholar, and leads the University’s open access textbook publishing initiative, PDXOpen. Since inception, PDXOpen has produced twenty open access textbooks. Karen has been actively involved in the Library Publishing Coalition since 2017 and is currently serving on the Research Committee.
Statement: I am seeking an opportunity to further serve the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) community and participate in the LPC’s efforts to promote scholarly research. The support from the LPC has been crucial in the advancement of Portland State University (PSU) Library’s publishing services. I oversee the operation of PDXScholar, the University repository that provides online access to student and faculty scholarship, hosts conferences, and supports and publishes open access journals. Since 2013, I have worked with PSU faculty to publish open access textbooks designed specifically for the courses that they teach. The initiative, PDXOpen, has provided me with the opportunity to work closely with the Open Textbook Network, LPC Strategic affiliate, to advance a community of practice around open access textbook publishing.
I currently serve as a member of the LPC Research Committee. As a member of the committee, I have worked to foster collaboration and increase the engagement of librarians whose focus is to research and present about library publishing. As a Board Member, I would like to explore and foster innovative strategies to accelerate library publishing across universities and provide professional support for librarians looking to advance their publishing services. Expanding our community is critical to shaping the scholarly communication landscape, keeping costs low for students and researchers, and facilitating access to information.
Christine Fruin, American Theological Library Association
Bio: As an attorney and a librarian, I have worked for more than a decade in academic libraries promoting access to and use of diverse collections through utilization of fair use, open access, and responsible licensing. Recently, I began working for a non-profit library association where one of my primary responsibilities is directing our open access publishing program, which publishes scholarly monographs as well as publishes and hosts peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings.
Statement: In my career as a scholarly communications professional, I have witnessed the emergence and evolution of library based publishing alongside the growth of open access, which has led me to become more engaged in those fields. I have served as an editor with the Directory of Open Access Journals, on a service team facilitating the production and publication of open access journals, and now direct an association’s small open access press. I wish to serve on the Board of the Library Publishing Coalition as a means of further engaging with library professionals interested in revolutionizing the scholarly publishing infrastructure and to assist in guiding LPC’s work to provide library publishing programs with the education, skills and tools to do so. Further, as a staff member of a non-profit library consortium and library membership organization that not only hosts its own open access publishing program but also supports the library publishing activities of our members, I represent a unique perspective that on the LPC Board and as well as a growing area of library publishing.
Sarah Hare, Indiana University
Bio: Sarah Hare (formerly Crissinger) is currently the Scholarly Communication Librarian at Indiana University Bloomington. In this role, Sarah collaborates with subject librarians and Indiana University Press to inform the campus community of open access issues. Sarah collaborates with other Scholarly Communication department staff to oversee an institutional repository, a journal publishing program, and the implementation of a recently-approved open access policy. Before moving to Bloomington, Sarah was an Information Literacy Librarian at Davidson College, where she led two Open Educational Resource (OER) incentive programs. She earned her Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015.
Sarah’s research centers on several scholarly communication topics, including library publishing, Open Educational Resources (OER), and open access outreach to undergraduate students. She has written for In the Library with the Leadpipe, College and Research Libraries, and Library Trends. Sarah also regularly teaches a one-credit hour course on Academic Editing and Publishing to IU undergraduate students as well as an Introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) Library Juice Academy course to library and information professionals in the U.S. and Canada. Find examples of Sarah’s work at https://sarahecrissinger.com/ or on Twitter @sarahehare.
Statement: As a representative of a member institution with a large journal publishing program (Indiana University Bloomington), I am committed to furthering the Library Publishing Coalition’s mission to help library publishers work collaboratively to develop best practices and share expertise. Serving as a board member would enable me to learn from my peers while giving back to a community that has invested in my professional growth and development. I’m particularly interested in how the LPC can better serve and include nascent and developing programs, communicate openly about balancing innovation with sustainability and limited resources, and effectively inform LIS students of professional opportunities related to library publishing.
In addition to these areas of broader interest, my professional expertise lies in Open Educational Resources (OER) and I’m excited about the possibility of helping the LPC develop additional services and programming in this emerging area of library publishing. I have become more involved in the LPC since joining IU in May 2017, serving on the 2018 Library Publishing Forum Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee, presenting at the 2018 Forum, participating in the LPC/Association of University Presses cross-pollination scholarship program, sharing documentation in the LPC Shared Documentation Portal, and blogging about these experiences publicly on the LPC blog. As a board member, I would draw on these experiences and my resulting knowledge of the various needs and goals of library publisher and Press colleagues.
Annie Johnson, Temple University
Bio: Annie Johnson is the Library Publishing and Scholarly Communications Specialist at Temple University Libraries and Temple University Press. In this position, she oversees a number of initiatives within the Libraries to make faculty and student scholarship openly available, including the journal publishing program, the open access publishing fund, and the institutional repository. Most recently, Annie has helped to launch North Broad Press, a joint publishing project between the Libraries and the Press. Annie is passionate about educating
faculty, staff, and students about open access, open education, copyright and fair use, digital publishing, and research impact. She is a 2018 SPARC Open Education Leadership Fellow.
Statement: I have been involved with the Library Publishing Coalition since 2016 and am currently the Chair of the LPC Research Committee. I am interested in serving on the board because I enjoy being part of this vibrant community and I strongly believe in the LPC’s vision of a scholarly publishing landscape that is open, inclusive, and sustainable. As a board member, I would support the creation and
promotion of an LPC research agenda in order to encourage more research into understudied topics in library publishing. I would also
help with outreach to the university press community, as I view university presses as important partners and collaborators.
Mark Konecny, University of Cincinnati
Bio: Dr. Mark Konecny is the Scholarly Communications Publishing Coordinator at the University of Cincinnati Press. He is active in promotion of accessibility, digital scholarship and open access publishing. He works with issues concerning digital technology and its application in academic projects, implementing technology in the classroom, and acting as the liaison between the library and academic departments. At the University of Cincinnati, he has worked closely with the University of Cincinnati Press and is the head of the Cincinnati Library Publishing Service which provides faculty, staff, and students with the opportunity to publish and promote their scholarly output on digital platforms housed in the library. He is an Affordable Learning Ambassador coordinating OhioLINK’s Open Textbook Network awareness and advocacy initiatives regarding open educational resources (OER) and open textbooks as part of the OhioLINK and Ohio Department of Higher Education affordable learning initiatives for higher education. He is the series editor of Experiment, a scholarly art history journal and has experience negotiating copyright and image right issues. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Philosophy from Texas A&M University, a Ph.D. in Russian Art History, and a Master’s degree in Management of Library and Information Science from the University of Southern California. He is also the Associate Director the Institute of Modern Russian Culture, a unique collection of twentieth century books, art, and cultural artifacts, located in Blue Lagoon, California. He has organized exhibitions of rare books and photographs in the United States, Europe, and Russia.
Statement: As a board member of the Library Publishing Coalition, I want to promote open source publishing that is sustainable and offers low barrier to access/use. I would like to foster cooperative relationships between library publishers and university presses to empower university communities to produce high quality digital educational resources and research reports that can be shared locally and accessed worldwide. I support the mission of LPC to encourage technological innovation in production and dissemination of scholarship. I see the role of LPC in challenging traditional publishing practices by disrupting current business models as a means of bringing academic publishing into the digital age, as well as, increasing access to scholarship by presenting opportunities for libraries to leverage their services and expertise to advocate for, and bring about, positive change. It is important to use our coalition’s platform to widen the discussion of global social justice through advocacy for open access publication of research and data. Given my experience in international academia, I am especially interested in expanding relationships which the LPC is fostering with international partners. I would like to have the opportunity to promote and promulgate new ways to achieve the desired goals of promoting affordable, open access teaching materials to students by helping faculty develop resources and explore new methods for presenting materials to their classes. Given the discussions of Plan S and other open access initiatives worldwide, I believe that the LPC should take a leadership role in advocacy and production of scholarship by institutions and libraries.