Topic description
Despite the popularity and benefits of library publishing services, there have been few studies that explore the relationship between library publishing services and the larger scholarly publishing ecosystem. These studies would help libraries lay the groundwork to engage in scenario planning for library publishing services and help answer questions such as “Who is the service for?” and “How can library publishers develop partnerships to support equity, diversity, and inclusion?”
One natural partner for library publishing programs is a university press. Indeed, a growing number of presses now report within libraries. In a blog post on The Scholarly Kitchen, Joe Esposito explored what is meant when talking about “partnerships” and “collaborations” between libraries and university presses, writing “It’s taken for granted that publishers, at least academic ones, and libraries have a great deal in common and that putting them together organizationally will yield multiple benefits—cost savings, say, or new products and services or even an entirely new business model” (Esposito, 2013). Charles Watkinson has argued that the success of library and press partnerships is proportionally related to their degree of organizational integration: “the deep partnership required to truly unleash the power of the complementary skills and infrastructure that exist in university presses and academic libraries can only develop when press and library staff are collocated and share a common vision. Only in such ‘marriages’ can resources be gifted and received, uncertain futures explored without risk, and the cultural differences between the partners truly appreciated and valued” (Watkinson, 2016). One aspect of this research agenda is to look at the relationship between libraries and university presses and to examine whether developing such a relationship can not only create a richer source of knowledge but also lead to more sustainable publishing models.
Beyond partnerships with university presses, library publishing programs often partner with learned societies and organizations, other university units/departments, and cultural heritage organizations to publish journals, white papers, and other forms of open scholarship. Despite a growing body of literature on library publishing and university press partnerships, little research has been done on how these other common partnerships advance the aims of library publishing programs, how they contribute directly to the parent university’s core mission, or how they model a more inclusive and diverse approach to mission-driven publishing.
Research questions
- What constitutes a “partnership”?
- How do existing library publishing partnerships perpetuate inequalities within the academic publishing ecosystem?
- What ways can library publishers work more intentionally with communities that have been historically underrepresented in traditional academic forms of communication (eg. journals and university press monographs)?
- How can library publishers and their partners more equitably represent current research outputs from historically marginalized communities within traditional academic forms of communication (eg. journals and university press monographs) or through non-traditional forms of scholarship?
Relevant resources
Adema, J. and Moore S. A. (2018). Collectivity and collaboration: imagining new forms of communality to create resilience in scholar-led publishing. Insights, 31 (2018). http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.399
Campbell, Caroline et. al. “Optimizing Library Services — How Libraries Can Encourage Diversity and Inclusivity Through e-Collections and Publisher Collaboration” Against the Grain 33 (3). https://www.charleston-hub.com/2021/07/optimizing-library-services-how-libraries-can-encourage-diversity-and-inclusivity-through-e-collections-and-publisher-collaboration/
Inefuku, H. (2021). A Platform is Not Enough: Examining the Relationship Between Library Publishing and Scholars of Color. Commonplace, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.21428/6ffd8432.22686a0c