LPC News

December 19, 2018

CFP open for IFLA midterm meeting on library publishing

Library publishers around the world (but especially in western Europe), check out this call for proposals! The new IFLA Special Interest Group (SIG) on Library Publishing is sponsoring a mid-term event in Dublin, Ireland in February, hosted by LPC member Dublin Business School. Please note that proposals are due by January 15th!

IFLA Special Interest Group (SIG) on Library Publishing
2019 Midterm Meeting

Thursday February 28^th – Friday March 1^st 2019
Dublin Business School, Dublin, Ireland

Call for Participation

THEME:  Mentoring and Education for Excellence in Library Publishing: An International Knowledge Exchange

Aim

Library publishing (including new-model university presses housed in libraries) is in its infancy in many countries around the world.  The IFLA SIG aims to bring together experienced practitioners and would-be publishers to share information and advance this exciting field of endeavor. New and emerging library publishers will gain insight into the experiences and practices of established presses, and all attendees will learn from new and innovative approaches. The presentations from both sides and the ensuing discussions will advance the excellence and sustainability of library publishing ventures

The aim of the event is to bring together a broad spectrum of publishing programs, to exchange knowledge, and to foster networks and mentoring relationships among library publishers at all stages, also highlighting the important role that the Library Publishing Coalition plays in this regard.

The SIG meeting also invites participation by library schools and others engaged in efforts to educate the next generation of library publishers.  (more…)

December 13, 2018

LPC/Open Textbook Network webinar exchange

To lead into our joint preconference to the Library Publishing Forum (Opening the Classroom: Publishing Open Educational Resources, 5/8/19), the Library Publishing Coalition and the Open Textbook Network are organizing a webinar “exchange”! LPC is hosting a webinar for its members on the OTN’s Publishing Cooperative, and OTN is holding a series of three webinars for its membership on OER publishing from a strategic perspective. As part of the exchange, members of both communities are invited to attend all four webinars!

LPC webinar

Figuring it out together: Building foundational knowledge for OER publishing

Date: February 6th, 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific
Presenters: Karen Lauritsen, managing director, Open Textbook Network; Karen Bjork, head of digital initiatives at Portland State University; Carla Myers, assistant librarian and coordinator of scholarly communications for the Miami University Libraries

Details

OTN webinar series: Building an open textbook publishing program

Should you publish?

Date: January 23rd, 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific
Presenter: John W. Warren, George Washington University

How should you publish?

Date: February 20th, 3pm Eastern/12pm Pacific
Presenter: Kevin Hawkins, University of North Texas

Implementing a publishing program

Date: March 14th, 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific
Presenter: Inba Kehoe, University of Victoria

Details

October 4, 2018

LPC joins the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communication (C4DISC)

The LPC is proud to be a founding member of the new Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications, or C4DISC. We join nine other professional associations in the scholarly publishing sphere in releasing a Joint Statement of Principles to demonstrate the commitment of participating organizations to promoting involvement, innovation, and expanded access to leadership opportunities that maximize engagement across identity groups and professional levels.

The other founding members of C4DISC are the Association of University Presses, Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, Canadian Association of Learned Journals, Council of Science Editors, International Society of Managing and Technical Editors, NASIG, Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, UKSG, and the Society for Scholarly Publishing.

AUPresses, NASIG, OASPA, and SSP are also LPC strategic affiliates, and we are excited to have this opportunity to work together in a new way to advance our shared values. Stay tuned for more information on LPC’s involvement in C4DISC!

Read the full press release.

August 23, 2018

LPC welcomes a new strategic affiliate: The Open Textbook Network

The Library Publishing Coalition is delighted to welcome the Open Textbook Network (OTN) as a new strategic affiliate! A statement from OTN:

“The Open Textbook Network is excited to announce it is now a Library Publishing Coalition Strategic Affiliates Program Partner. We look forward to working together to support open education publishing initiatives in libraries across the nation. As a community of open education leaders, we are committed to supporting one another in developing skills, processes and best practices in open education.”

And a statement from LPC on the new relationship:

“Open education publishing is a substantial and growing component of library publishing, and one that is a natural fit for libraries’ support for education affordability and deep engagement with the educational missions of their parent institutions. We are very excited to partner with the Open Textbook Network to support both of our communities, particularly in the areas of best practices and professional development related to open education publishing.”

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.

August 14, 2018

Report from the LPC DOAJ Task Force: New resources to support library publishers

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a nonprofit online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals (and is a strategic affiliate of the LPC). To be indexed in the DOAJ directory, journals need to meet the rigorous DOAJ selection criteria. Securing inclusion for a journal in the DOAJ is evidence of a commitment to quality, peer-reviewed, open access scholarly publishing practices. However, the process for application and inclusion in the DOAJ is complex and sometimes lengthy, and a 2014 criteria update (and subsequent removal of journals from the index) has caused some consternation among publishers.

In order to better support the indexing of LPC members’ journals, LPC recently partnered with  DOAJ on a task force.This group was charged with identifying barriers to library-published journals being indexed in the Directory and proposing ways that LPC could support this crucial work. Over the last year, the task force focused its efforts in the following areas:  

Investigation

The group started by surveying LPC members about their experiences with DOAJ and by reviewing a list (provided by DOAJ) of journals affiliated with LPC member institutions that had applied for inclusion in the index. Some of the major takeaways:

• As of September 2017, 90 journals published by LPC member institutions had been accepted into the DOAJ, 50 had been rejected by the DOAJ, and 20 journals were pending or in progress to be indexed in the DOAJ. It is important to note here that not all journals affiliated with an LPC member institution are necessarily published by the library, and one benefit of this approach was helping member identify journals on their campuses that may benefit from library support.
• When applying for DOAJ indexing, 21% of members found the application process fairly easy and 58% found the process either somewhat difficult or very difficult to complete. Specific pain points included licensing and copyright considerations (e.g. Creative Commons licenses), reporting policies and statements about the quality and transparency of the journal using the DOAJ’s preferred frameworks/language, and the time taken both to complete the lengthy application and to receive feedback from the DOAJ.
• When asked how the LPC can support members with DOAJ applications, 76% of respondents were in favor of developing guides, running webinars and having a central LPC expert contact, and 11% were interested in one-on-one mentoring during the application process.

Based on this investigation, the task force moved on to the second phase of its work: devising ways to support LPC members in getting indexed.

DOAJ application guide

Based on the survey results, the group decided that the most effective way to support library publishers in their work with DOAJ would be to create a freely-available written resource they could draw on when preparing an application. After two intensive trainings with the DOAJ liaison and multiple rounds of writing and revision, the task force is very excited to announce the release of:

• How-To Guide for Library Publishers: Directory of Open Access Journals Application

The guide walks library publishers through the DOAJ application process step-by-step, and includes explanations of commonly misunderstood questions and information specific to library publishing. (more…)