Day/time: May 8, 2023, 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT
Title: Let’s Chat! How Do You Support Student Journals to be Sustainable and Ongoing?
Presenters:
- Kristin Hoffmann, Research & Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western University
- Emily Carlisle-Johnston, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western University
- Noah Churchill-Baird, MLIS Student, Western University
Description: Many library publishers host and publish student journals, and maintaining consistent operations for student journals is a common challenge. Student journals can surface and quickly disappear. Cohorts of students may emerge to form new editorial teams and revive defunct or ceased student journals. We have experienced these waves of student journal publishing at Western Libraries, and we know that these patterns are not unique to our publishing program. Many of us experience the same cycle of precarious student journal publications, so let’s talk about it.
This session will be a two-part facilitated discussion. In the first part, we will provide a space for those involved with library publishing to discuss the specific challenges facing student journal publishing, through breakout rooms and a collaborative document. We seek to encourage collaboration among library publishers and discuss ways to support more sustainable practices and long-term planning among student journals.
In the second part, we will offer a transition template document that library publishers can use with student journals. We created this document to better support the transition process from one editorial team to the next. Student editors can customize and fit it to the unique needs of their journals. We will share this transition document along with guiding questions to help library publishers consider what this solution looks like in practice for librarians and students.
Thinking critically about how library publishers can better support stable student journal leadership has direct implications for the development of our publishing services. The many benefits of student journal publishing for students involved should be strategically supported by library publishers to ensure that these opportunities are available to future students.