April 13, 2020
LPC Resources Roundup: Journal Best Practices Checklist
By Melanie Schlosser
The Library Publishing Coalition Research Committee is pleased to announce the release of the Library Publishing Research Agenda. The agenda offers exploratory overviews of six topics of importance to library publishers: Assessment, Labor, Accessibility, Non-traditional Research Outputs, Peer Review, and Partnerships. The document is divided into sections corresponding to each of these topics, which include brief descriptions of the topics, potential research questions, and a list of relevant resources.
The research agenda is offered as a starting point for individuals interested in learning about and conducting research related to library publishing, and aligns with the LPC Research Committee’s mission to promote research that can provide an evidence base to inform best practices for library publishers.
We encourage the members of the library publishing community to use this document in a variety of ways, including purposes aimed at both research and practice. The research questions in each section can be used to develop research projects that investigate general trends in library publishing, or as a means of examining current practices and policies within one’s own institution. The relevant resources listed may be used as a starting point for individuals simply interested in learning more about aspects of library publishing, regardless of whether they are interested in conducting research in that area.
This document is by no means comprehensive, and many highly important topics have been left unaddressed, including diversity, equity, and inclusion; resource allocation; and sustainability. Our hope is that the document will be a living one, and that it will continue to develop and evolve to address these and other areas of importance to library publishing programs. Hence, we hope that this document can serve as a foundation to which the community can contribute and that these contributions can be incorporated into future versions of the research agenda.
The Library Publishing Research Agenda can be accessed in PDF (generously hosted by Purdue University Libraries) and in HTML. As with all LPC publications, the Research Agenda is released under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, and we encourage others to share and adapt it as widely as possible. Questions and comments about this document can be emailed to contact@librarypublishing.org.
The Library Publishing Research Agenda was created by the Library Publishing Coalition Research Committee: Nicky Agate, Jennifer Beamer, Elizabeth Bedford, Jason Boczar, Karen Bjork, Corinne Guimont, Ian Harmon, Matthew Hunter, Annie Johnson, Sarah Wipperman, Vanessa Gabler (Board liaison); Melanie Schlosser (Educopia Institute). Production: Nancy Adams (copyediting) and Hannah Ballard (design). Educopia Institute.
With thanks to the Library Publishing Coalition community for its input, the LPC Professional Development Committee is now releasing the final version of the Library Publishing Competencies. This document provides a broad list of skills and knowledge useful in the development and provision of publishing services in libraries.
The Competencies is organized into three sections: publishing (the work libraries do to publish content), program development and management (the work involved in creating, managing, and sustaining a publishing program), and teaching and consulting (reflecting both the consulting work libraries do with publishing partners and their larger educational mission around publishing on campus).
Library publishing is a fast-changing discipline that requires library publishers to engage with an environment of continual learning and research in order to keep up to date on publishing practices. Due to this fast pace, a collection of guidelines and competencies to support and educate library publishers is a valuable asset, especially when roles or programs are newly formed, in early stages, or in transition.
We encourage the community to use this document in many ways, both in their library publishing career and for program development. For example, library publishers may reference the Competencies when creating or seeking out professional development. Or, they may use the document to identify skills needed for new or transitioning positions. Though no one position can encompass all of these competencies, this broad list can help programs think about positions in context and identify which skills are essential to the work being performed. Finally, we encourage individual library publishers to use the competencies to identify both their strengths and areas in which they are interested in growing.
The Library Publishing Competencies can be accessed in PDF (generously hosted by Purdue University Libraries) and in HTML. As with all LPC publications, the Competencies is released under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, and we encourage others to share and adapt it as widely as possible. Questions and comments about this document can be emailed to contact@librarypublishing.org.
The LPC Professional Development Committee created this document as part of their mission to provide professional development for those in the LPC membership and in the larger community of library publishers. Created by: Allison Brown, Emily Cole, Adrian Ho, Amanda Hurford, Melanie Kowalski, Ally Laird, Jessica Lange, Devin Soper, Carrye Syma; Ted Polley and Christine Fruin (Board liaisons); Melanie Schlosser (LPC staff). Production: Nancy Adams (copyediting) and Hannah Ballard (design). Educopia Institute.
The LPC Board seeks applications for the Library Publishing Curriculum Editorial Board. Created in partnership with the Educopia Institute as part of a project generously funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Library Publishing Curriculum is moving to its permanent home as an ongoing program of the LPC. Under the leadership of the Curriculum’s new Editor-in-Chief (EIC), Cheryl E. Ball (Wayne State University), the editorial board will identify maintenance and development needs for the Curriculum, oversee (and occasionally perform) that work, and promote the wide adoption and use of the Curriculum. The editorial board will consist of nine volunteer members, working under the guidance of the EIC and reporting to the LPC Board.
Highly desired qualifications include:
It is not necessary for candidates to possess robust experience in all the above areas, but they should be able to demonstrate experience with at least one or two. While service on most LPC working groups is limited to staff at member institutions, a limited number of editorial board spots will be open to non-members. All interested individuals are encouraged to apply.
Members will serve three-year terms, which can be renewed once. Members who want to serve more than two consecutive terms must reapply. Estimated time commitment will be 5–6 hours a month, unless a member decides to take on additional writing/revision responsibilities.
Identifying work needed: The editorial board will be responsible for identifying gaps and opportunities in the curriculum, including new units, updates or adaptations of existing units (e.g., adapting the copyright unit for another country’s copyright landscape), translations, and other projects that will increase the currency, utility, and breadth of the curriculum.
Recruiting and guiding project participants: The editorial board will recruit project participants and guide them through their project work; these individuals would work with the editorial board to devise and implement major revisions or additions to the curriculum.
Authoring/updating curriculum content: For small projects, the editorial board may decide to undertake the work itself, rather than recruiting project participants.
Identifying resources for curriculum development: For projects the editorial board wants to undertake that will require outside funding or other resources, the group will work with the EIC and LPC’s Board to identify potential funding sources and apply for grants.
Ensuring high quality content: The editorial board will ensure that existing content is still useful and relevant, and that new content developed meets project goals and quality expectations.
Curriculum promotion: The editorial board is responsible for promoting new and revised content, and encouraging adoption of the curriculum in a variety of settings.
Applicants should submit a one-page statement outlining your qualifications and a CV by May 22nd to Nancy Adams at contact@librarypublishing.org. Nominations will also be accepted at that email address until May 10, after which nominees will be invited to submit materials until the deadline. LPC’s Board will review candidates at its June meeting and select the new editorial board, which will start July 1, 2020.
The nine-member Library Publishing Coalition Board oversees the governance, organizational structure, bylaws, and the review and direction of the membership of the Library Publishing Coalition. We have three newly elected Board members, with terms running from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2023:
They will join the returning Board members:
Many thanks to our outgoing Board members Kate McCready, Catherine Mitchell, and Ted Polley for their service!
Elections for the Library Publishing Coalition Board open today and will continue through Friday, February 28. Instructions for voting will be sent to each member institution’s voting representative. The candidates are:
Each candidate has provided a brief biography and an election statement:
The Library Publishing Coalition is pleased to announce publication of the 2020 Library Publishing Directory! This year’s Library Publishing Directory highlights the publishing activities of 153 academic and research libraries, and is openly available in PDF and EPUB formats as well as via a searchable online directory.
The Directory illustrates the many ways in which libraries are actively transforming and advancing scholarly communications in partnership with scholars, students, university presses, and others. Each year, the Directory’s introduction presents a ‘state of the field’ based on that year’s data, which we also publish in a related blog posting.
You may notice some differences in the 2020 Directory. These emerged from ongoing work to evaluate the data model and survey collection process, to help ensure the information presented in the Directory accurately reflects the current state of the field and will be useful to a variety of users. Changes for this year include:
Publication of the 2020 Directory was overseen by the LPC’s Directory Committee:
We want to acknowledge and thank Purdue University Libraries, Purdue University Press, and Bookmasters for their support for the publication of the Directory since the inaugural 2014 edition. This is Purdue’s final year as the publisher of the Directory, and we are grateful for their support as we established the Directory and created an ongoing program of annual publications. Look for an announcement about the new Directory publisher later in 2020!
Check out our latest Quarterly Update! It includes:
A belated welcome to our newest member: Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar. Welcome, colleagues!
Professional communities can provide many levels of support as you develop open publishing projects and programs. In this info session, facilitated by Amy Hofer, Coordinator, Statewide Open Education Library Services at Open Oregon Educational Resources, you will have the opportunity to learn about three communities that support open publishing practitioners: the Library Publishing Coalition, the Open Textbook Network, and the Rebus Community. Conversation will focus on organizational similarities and differences, new programs to support publishing, approaches to community work. The webinar will be especially helpful to LPC members interested in Open Educational Resource (OER) publishing support.
Presenters:
This webinar takes place at 2 PM EST/ 11 AM PST on January 23, 2020. The session will be recorded and captioned to share later.
Call-in number: 669 900 6833
Participant PIN: 776 101 789