As participation in library publishing grows, the development of a strong evidence base to inform best practices and demonstrate impact is essential. To encourage research and theoretical work about library publishing services, the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) gives an annual Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing. The award recognizes significant and timely contributions to library publishing theory and practice.
The LPC Research Committee is delighted to announce that this year’s award recipient is Daniel G. Tracy for his article, “Libraries as Content Producers: How Library Publishing Services Address the Reading Experience.” The work is an excellent discussion of an important and timely issue. With the growing interest in nascent open source publishing platforms, this research on how library publishers can design for and respond to readers’ experiences is important. Daniel’s article provides a snapshot of current practices and a baseline for future activities for library publishers to assess and improve the experience for readers of their publications. A statement from Daniel on the award:
I am honored to be selected for the Library Publishing Coalition Award for Outstanding Research. LPC is playing an important role in fostering conversation and forward momentum among library publishing programs, and I have admired its efforts in this area. The research that led to this article was motivated by a desire to see more public conversations of users of library publications and publishing platforms feed back into design. Libraries have a strong tradition of studying users of information systems, and events like the Library Publishing Forum are great opportunities to move that work forward in relation to new and evolving publishing programs.
Daniel’s work will be formally recognized at the 2018 Library Publishing Forum in Minneapolis, MN. He will receive a cash award of $250, travel support to attend the Forum, and an opportunity to share his work with the community.
Laurie Taylor, Brian Keith, Chelsea Dinsmore, and Meredith Morris-Babb received an honorable mention for their work on the ARL SPEC kit, Libraries, Presses, and Publishing. (SPEC Kit 357). Association of Research Libraries. November 2017. https://doi.org/10.29242/spec.357