Posts by Nancy Adams

June 22, 2021

Publishing Practice Award: University of Texas at Arlington Libraries – Mavs Open Press

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Growing Together: Implementing Accessibility Practices into OER Workflows

by Michelle Reed, Assistant Professor and Head of the Scholarly Commons, University Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (@LibrariansReed); Brittany Griffiths, Publishing Specialist, UTA Libraries; Alexandra Pirkle, Editorial Services Coordinator, UTA Libraries, Katie Willeford, Interim Directory of OER and Learning Resources Librarian (@utalibraries)

Mavs Open Press, operated by the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries (UTA Libraries), offers no-cost services for UTA faculty, staff, and students who wish to openly publish their scholarship. The Libraries’ program provides human and technological resources that empower our communities to create or adapt open educational resources (OER). Course materials published by Mavs Open Press are openly licensed using Creative Commons licenses to allow for revision and reuse and are offered in various digital formats free of charge.

Mavs Open Press has proactively addressed accessibility and inclusion in our work through our OER training program, implementation of accessibility checks throughout the publishing process, and development of an accessibility statement and workflow. The Applied Fluid Mechanics Lab Manual was the first grant-funded OER published by Mavs Open Press and was instrumental in informing how accessibility is integrated into OER publishing at UTA.

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June 22, 2021

Announcing the 2021 Publishing Practice Award Recipients

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The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) is excited to announce the recipients of the 2021 Publishing Practice Awards! Congratulations to the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries – Mavs Open Press for exemplary work in the category of Accessibility, and to the University of Cape Town Libraries for exemplary work in the category of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Publishing Practice Award sealThe Publishing Practice Awards are designed to recognize and raise awareness of effective and sustainable library publishing practices. They highlight library publishing programs that exemplify concepts advanced in LPC’s An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing and in LPC’s Values statement. While a representative publication is acknowledged, the focus of these awards is not on the publication’s content, but rather on the process of publishing the piece. The inaugural award categories for 2021 are Accessibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

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June 21, 2021

2021 Library Publishing Forum videos and slides

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Did you miss a session at the virtual 2021 Library Publishing Forum? Maybe want to see one again? Here’s your chance!

We’ve been busy in the past few weeks gathering videos, slides, etc., from our second virtual Forum and linking to them from the Forum page on our website.  Though not all sessions are available, an incredible number are, so this is a great time to watch.

Our thanks to presenters for allowing us to share and to all attendees and presenters for making this a successful online event!

June 15, 2021

Call for applications for 2021-2023 LPC Fellowship Program

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We’re excited to announce a call for applications for the third round of the LPC Fellowship Program. The fellowship program is intended to broaden access to library publishing to underrepresented groups, to develop research capacity in the field, and to bring new voices into the LPC community. This round of the fellowship program is centered around research, and it is aimed at library publishers who are interested in learning to do research that advances the field of library publishing. Fellowship benefits and responsibilities are scoped accordingly. Fellowships span 2 years, beginning in October 2021 and ending in September 2023. Up to two fellows will be selected. Applications are due by Monday, August 9, 2021.

LPC Fellows receive numerous benefits, including access to LPC member resources, travel support to attend the Library Publishing Forum each year of the fellowship, mentorship, and regular meetings with LPC staff and leadership. To support their research activities, this round of fellows will be provided with targeted mentorship relationships and professional development and peer support around research through LPC’s Research Committee.

Fellows are expected to undertake a research project in the field of library publishing, which they will work on throughout their fellowship. Applicants are not expected to have a research project in mind or experience doing research prior to starting the program. Fellows will serve as members of the LPC Research Committee, where they will both contribute to and benefit from that committee’s work. Fellows will write 2 to 3 blog posts per year for the LPC blog (previous posts can be found in the Fellows Journal category on the blog) and present at the 2022 and 2023 Library Publishing Forums. For more details about the fellowship, visit the program webpage or email contact@librarypublishing.org. 

Eligibility

Candidates should be:

  • Currently employed in a library that is not a member of the Library Publishing Coalition
  • Able to dedicate 1 to 2 hours per week to the fellowship throughout the 2 years
  • Interested in developing research skills
  • Able to attend meetings during North American business hours

Selection Process

Fellows will be selected by the Board based on the following criteria:

  • Strong candidates will have professional responsibilities related to library publishing in their current position, which could include running a publishing program or developing a new program. 
  • Strong candidates will have a demonstrated commitment to professional development in library publishing or scholarly communication. Candidates who are interested in sharing the knowledge and experience they gain during their fellowship with other professional communities will be prioritized.
  • Strong candidates will bring new perspectives to the LPC community. Candidates from underrepresented groups or regions that do not yet have professional communities related to library publishing will be especially competitive. 
  • Fellows will be expected to communicate with the LPC community through writing and presenting. Strong communication skills are required. 

Applications are due Monday, August 9, 2021, and all applicants will be notified by September 30th. Applications will include:

  • An application form (demographic info, etc.)
  • A C.V.
  • A writing sample
  • A letter of support from library dean or supervisor (as appropriate)

Learn more and apply at: https://librarypublishing.org/get-involved/lpc-fellowship-program/

June 14, 2021

LPC welcomes a new member: the University of Oklahoma

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Please join us in welcoming the University of Oklahoma as a new member of the Library Publishing Coalition. The voting rep is Jen Waller, jenwaller@ou.edu.

A statement from the University of Oklahoma:

University of Oklahoma (OU) Libraries offers journal hosting for faculty-driven, open access publications. Their scholarly publishing services team – Jen Waller, Nicholas Wojcik, Sara Huber, and Catherine Byrd – works with OU-affiliated stakeholders to create new journals or migrate existing journals to their library-hosted OJS platform. OU Libraries provides a suite of services to seven (very soon to be nine) journals and are committed to hosting journals that cover diverse, unique, and underrepresented fields and topics. The team also works on OER publishing and supporting OU’s institutional repository, SHAREOK.

June 10, 2021

LPC welcomes a new strategic affiliate: ARL

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The Library Publishing Coalition is delighted to welcome the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) as a new strategic affiliate!

About ARL:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise; advances diversity, equity, and inclusion; and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.

Strategic affiliates are peer membership associations who have a focal area in scholarly communications and substantial engagement with libraries, publishers, or both. See our list of strategic affiliates or learn more about the program.

LPC Strategic Affiliates icon

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May 18, 2021

Transitions: First Year as Faculty

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Transitions is an occasional series where community members reflect on the things they have learned while moving from one institution to another or one role to another. 

By Laura Miller, Florida State University

As I am writing this post, I am about three weeks away from my one-year anniversary as a full-time library faculty member at Florida State University. I transitioned into my current role as Visiting Open Publishing Librarian from a Graduate Assistantship in May 2020. Like many other early-twenty-somethings, I found myself starting my first full-time job remotely due to the pandemic. I am fortunate that my new role was housed in the same department as my assistantship, and that I even report to the same supervisor. Being able to see familiar faces on Zoom and Teams has made the transition from part-time to full-time much easier. Despite having the comforts of familiar colleagues at an institution I’ve called home since 2014, the jump from part-time to full-time and student worker to faculty has not been without its challenges.

As a GA, I worked on a number of open access publishing and scholarly communications projects. Being able to see projects through which I had contributed to or laid the groundwork for in previous years was one of the most gratifying aspects of my transition to Open Publishing Librarian. I’m able to troubleshoot technical issues for journals that were just developing when I was a GA, and I have published revised editions of a textbook I assisted with two years ago. With the added hours in my work week, I am able to pay greater attention to accessibility and refine publishing workflows that were ad hoc before my publishing-dedicated position was created. This more strategic and directed approach to library publishing culminated in the formation of Florida State Open Publishing (FSOP) last Fall which brought my office’s publishing, hosting, and consulting services under one cohesive initiative.  (more…)