LPC Blog

The Library Publishing Coalition Blog is used to share news and updates about the LPC and the Library Publishing Forum, to draw attention to items of interest to the community, and to publish informal commentaries by LPC members and friends.

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January 12, 2021

The state of the field: An excerpt from the 2021 Library Publishing Directory

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As much as we love the searchable online interface for the Library Publishing Directory, it doesn’t include the introduction found in the print, PDF, and EPUB versions. Each year, the Directory‘s introduction includes a ‘state of the field’ based on that year’s data that highlights trends and new developments in library publishing as reported by the programs that contribute their information. To make it easier to find, we are republishing that portion of the introduction here. This year’s introduction was written by Janet Swatscheno, Ellen Dubinsky, Perry Collins, Ian Harmon, and Laura Miller with an assist from me. Enjoy!

THE 2021 LIBRARY PUBLISHING LANDSCAPE

The yearly Library Publishing Directory provides insights into library publishing activities, allowing us to consider how the field has evolved, prevalent current practice, and possible future directions. While we discuss trends below—often in comparison to prior years—please note that the number and composition of the dataset of Directory listings changes yearly; thus a strict comparison year to year is not possible. Further complicating any analysis of the data are changes to the survey itself. We do try to update the survey as changes in technology and publishing platforms emerge. The  Directory Committee routinely evaluates the data model to ensure that it best reflects the library publishing field. Many of the survey questions remain the same year to year and new questions are periodically added. This year’s collaboration with LibPub SIG and the resultant focus on the international community of library publishers prompted the addition of a question about languages used in publications and added additional types of library publisher (public library and consortium).

We also point out that the survey was distributed in August 2020, over 6 months after the COVID-19 outbreak and the ensuing disruption of “business as usual.” We did not attempt to incorporate any questions related to the pandemic and how or if it has affected library publishing activities. This is an area that should be considered in future editions of the Directory. 

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January 12, 2021

The 2021 Library Publishing Directory is now available!

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The Library Publishing Coalition is pleased to announce the publication of the 2021 Library Publishing Directory! This year’s print,  PDF, and EPUB versions of the Library Publishing Directory highlight the publishing activities of 136 academic and research libraries. The openly available and searchable online directory includes 151 entries.

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.

The 2021 Directory reflects a pilot partnership with the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Library Publishing Special Interest Group (LibPub SIG), and includes international entries, translated by IFLA LibPub SIG members. Libraries who chose to complete the full survey appear in the print, PDF, and EPUB versions of the Directory. All entries appear in the online version. IFLA’s LibPub SIG will also create a first-of-its-kind online database of global library publishing initiatives.

Publication of the 2021 Directory was overseen by the LPC’s Directory Committee:

The Library Publishing Coalition Directory Committee

Janet Swatscheno, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chair
Perry Collins, University of Florida
Ellen Dubinsky, University of Arizona
Ian Harmon, West Virginia University
Laura Miller, Florida State University

IFLA Special Interest Group on Library Publishing Subcommittee

Grace Liu (Canada)
Ann Okerson (USA)

SAVE THE DATE:
Join us for the virtual 2021 Library Publishing Forum, May 10-14!

Library Publishing Coalition Quarterly Update
December 3, 2020

LPC Quarterly Update

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Check out our latest Quarterly Update! It includes:

  • Community News
    • Nominations for Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing
    • NEW: Publishing Practice Awards
    • Announcing the recipients of the 2020 LPC Award for Exemplary Service
    • LPC Peer Mentorship Program: 2020 Update
    • Our commitment to anti-racism
    • New members and new strategic affiliates
  • Library Publishing Forum
    • Call for proposals now open
  • LPC Research
    • Updates from the Library Publishing Workflows Project
  • Featured Resource
    • Research Interests Match Program

Read the Update

December 2, 2020

LPC Peer Mentorship Program Update and 2021 Signups

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It’s time to reflect on the 2020 Peer Mentorship Program and to kick off participation for 2021! The 2020 cohort was special because we tried something new: Rather than having specific mentor and mentee roles, the focus was on peer mentor relationships. Keep reading to learn about how it went, and how to get involved with the next cohort.

The 2020 Cohort – Peer Mentorship in an Unprecedented Time

In 2020, the Library Publishing Coalition Professional Development Committee continued the LPC Peer Mentorship Program after a successful pilot launch in 2019. The goals for the Mentorship Program are twofold: to orient participants to the LPC, encouraging them to build relationships and get involved; and to facilitate professional mentorship around library publishing.

Activities of the program included a virtual getting-to-know you meeting to kick things off, continuing with monthly calls and email correspondence between peer pairs. Participants were provided with a list of suggested questions to help start their mentor/mentee relationship and were then encouraged to continue the discussions in whatever direction was most desirable for the partners. 

Unfortunately, the pandemic prevented pairs from meeting in person at the Library Publishing Forum as planned, but an opportunity for a casual meetup in the form of the Peer Mentorship-around took place at the first-ever virtual Forum. During the “-around” participants had a chance to reflect on the Mentorship Program and chat about unexpected aspects of shifting to an online environment for, well, everything. We regretted not getting to see participants in person, but it was nice to check in while enjoying our favorite end-of-day beverage.  

After the Forum, mentors were encouraged to fill out a mid-year survey to assess the program and provide feedback. We got some great insights on how to make the program even better for future cohorts. More on that below.

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December 1, 2020

Laureen Boutang and Willa Tavernier receive the 2020 LPC Award for Exemplary Service

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On behalf of the LPC Board, we are delighted to announce that the recipients of the 2020 LPC Award for Exemplary Service are Laureen Boutang, Publishing Services Coordinator at the University of Minnesota, and Willa Tavernier, Open Scholarship Resident and Visiting Assistant Librarian at Indiana University Bloomington. The Award recognizes substantial contributions by an LPC community member to advancing the mission, vision, and values of the Library Publishing Coalition. The Board determined that two awards were warranted this year in recognition of the enormous contributions made and leadership demonstrated by these nominees in two programmatic areas that emerged as critical for LPC in 2020. 

Laureen Boutang
Laureen Boutang

Laureen Boutang was nominated for the award for her steady leadership of the Program Committee and the success of quickly transitioning the 2020 Forum from an in-person to a virtual form in only 6 weeks. In 2018, Laureen also served as a dedicated and efficient host liaison for the 2018 Forum in Minneapolis. Now that her term on the Program Committee has ended, Laureen has continued her dedication to service to LPC by volunteering to chair the new Publishing Practice Award Committee, which is gearing up to launch its first call for applications.  Laureen shares: “Serving as a part of the LPC community inspires me and motivates me every day. I’m so pleased to receive this Award because it means that my contributions have had a similar, positive impact on those around me.”

Willa Tavernier
Willa Tavernier

Willa Tavernier was nominated for her commitment to and efforts for the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. Her organizing and collaborating to prepare LPC’s Anti-Racist statement and subsequent Anti-Racism Community Call were essential to LPC’s acknowledgment of its responsibility to the current cultural moment. As stated by one of Willa’s nominators, “Willa’s advocacy efforts have improved awareness among LPC members (mostly white people) of our role in upholding white supremacy, holding our feet to the fire, and helping us face uncomfortable truths while also guiding us to think and talk about concrete actions we can take to begin to fix these problems.”

On receiving word of receipt of this year’s service award, Willa shares: “I am honored to be recognized by my peers and humbled that it was in large part to working with the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.  As an immigrant from a small island, coming from an entirely different and very homogenous background and needing to find my way in U.S. society and institutions, this award is especially meaningful to me. I think we can all commit to doing the work necessary to see things from the perspectives of underserved/underrepresented groups.  I advocate for the Library Publishing Coalition to make anti-racism, equity, and inclusion foundational principles of its work, and to spearhead transformational change in library publishing.  I believe that the many unique and talented people in our community can make that happen.”

Laureen and Willa will each receive a complimentary registration to this year’s Library Publishing Forum and a $50 gift card. They will also be recognized at the Forum.

Please join us in congratulating Laureen and Willa.

On behalf of the LPC Board,

Jody Bailey, President
Christine Fruin, President-Elect
Scott Warren, Treasurer
Jessica Kirschner, Secretary
Karen Bjork
Vanessa Gabler
Sarah Hare
Ally Laird
Emma Molls
Melanie Schlosser, ex officio

Fellows Journal. Logo for the Library Publishing Coalition. Background image features bokeh lights in blues and greens.
November 19, 2020

OER, Accessibility, and STEM: An Interview with Anita Walz

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The Fellows Journal is a forum for the current Library Publishing Coalition fellows to share their experiences and raise topics for discussion within the community. Learn more about the Fellowship Program. 

Introduction

Photo of Anita Walz
Anita Walz, Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Virginia Tech

Talea: Anita, you and I started having regular conversations as part of the mentorship that LPC organized for fellows. You’ve been

working for some time now on publishing open textbooks at Virginia Tech but we talked early on about the evolution you all have had when it comes to the accessibility of your OER. I thought it would be interesting to talk through some of the changes you have made, especially when it comes to making STEM textbooks accessible to students.

I’ll preface this by saying that accessibility has proven to be an especially sticky issue for STEM and OER. Complex STEM notation doesn’t translate well to screen readers unless it’s appropriately coded. When publishing workflows involve conversions between file types, all of this becomes still more complex—and PDFs, which are common in the OER publishing ecosystem, are notorious for dealing poorly with STEM notation. The Australian Disability Clearinghouse and Rebus Community discuss some of these issues for anyone who would like to read more.

 

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November 17, 2020

Apply for the LPC Publishing Practice Awards

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The Library Publishing Coalition is excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for the first annual Publishing Practice Awards. These awards are designed to recognize and raise awareness of effective and sustainable library publishing practices.

The Publishing Practice Awards will highlight library publishing programs that exemplify concepts advanced in the LPC’s An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing and/or in the LPC’s Values statement. While a representative publication must be submitted, the focus of these awards is not on publication content but on the process of publishing the piece. The inaugural award categories are: Accessibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

Publishing programs do not need to be affiliated with an LPC member institution to be eligible. The deadline for applying is January 25, 2021.

Call for Applications

Fellows Journal. Logo for the Library Publishing Coalition. Background image features bokeh lights in blues and greens.
November 12, 2020

Thinking Politically About Scholarly Infrastructure

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The Fellows Journal is a forum for the current Library Publishing Coalition fellows to share their experiences and raise topics for discussion within the community. Learn more about the Fellowship Program. 

Maybe it’s not all that surprising that I’ve come to think about ScholComm in terms similar to US politics. Right now, as I draft this blog post, we are just a handful of days away from the 2020 election and in January 2020, as the next (and hopefully different) president will be inaugurated, I will be compiling my tenure application. It’s been like this from the start. I was hired in February 2016, when the Republican Party presidential primaries were beginning, which was the same month I joined Twitter to better follow both politics and librarianship. Sometimes we get what we ask for.

Twitter has been invaluable for keeping up with the latest ScholComm developments through conference live-tweets, article and policy announcements, and candid conversation between relevant figures in the field. I remember reading the first Plan S announcement tweet from cOAlition-S in 2018, and in fact the Library Publishing Coalition blipped onto my radar from #LPForum19 tweets. Using Twitter has also made me excruciatingly aware of the shape of our political fights, pushed me further leftward, and as I mentioned, caused me to think about ScholComm and politics through a similar framing. Here’s an example of how that can play out.

Tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Representative, NY-14. "Fracking is bad, actually."
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1314018453192409102

 

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Library Publishing Workflows. Educopia Institute. Library Publishing Coalition. Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.
November 10, 2020

Library Publishing Pain Points – Sources of Chronic Pain Points

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post in our Library Publishing Pain Points series, featuring reflections from our Library Publishing Workflows partners on the challenges they face in implementing, running, and sustaining their library publishing workflows.

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Brandon Locke, Library Publishing Workflows Project Manager

Over the past few months, we have published a blog series on pain points from our cohort of library publishers. Our amazing library partners have written about the challenges of quality control with distributed editorial and production teams, the difficulties of funding a non-commercial, scholar-led open access publishing program, the strains of scaling up a program while continuing to keep promises and meet expectations, and the work required to maintain and troubleshoot aging infrastructure. We want to supplement these thoughtful and in-depth pieces with some high-level information about the sources of frustration we identified in the first year of our project.

Time-consuming manual work

Unsurprisingly, the steps in journal workflows that require staff time and attention were the most common pain points mentioned. These manual processes make it difficult to scale up publishing programs or maintain regular publishing schedules. Publishers who typeset and layout articles in-house unanimously identified that work as a pain point. Typesetting and layout are often tedious (especially when working with equations or other types of special formatting), difficult to get correct, and not supported by platforms, requiring library staff to export, use a different piece of software, and re-upload. Several partners also identified quality control and the correction of partially automated processes as time-consuming pain points. Quality control issues occurred at all stages of the workflow, including correcting batch upload spreadsheets, DOI assignments, format conversions, and preservation.

Staffing

Our partners brought up an array of pain points regarding staffing, including inadequate number of staff, training of new personnel, and difficulties replacing or maintaining production when people leave. Staffing is, of course, closely related to the first issue of time-consuming manual work, because a larger number of employees allow for more of that work to be done effectively. Fewer dedicated staff also mean that publishers are less able to provide customized support to journals, including (but not limited to) software development. Most of the library workers we interviewed had library duties outside of publishing, meaning that it could be challenging to balance their work, particularly when publishing work may come in large batches. Several programs also mentioned that much of the work and institutional knowledge relied heavily on only one or two people, so the impact of that employee leaving, especially unexpectedly, could have a catastrophic impact on the program.

Lack of control over publishing process

Library publishing is a necessarily collaborative process that relies heavily on journal editors, authors, vendors, publishing platform(s), and library personnel. Many of our partners reported pain points that stemmed from the inability of the library to control the process, workflow, and timeline of the journals they are publishing. Our partners reported many workflow differences between the journals they publish, often depending on the journal’s field, policies, and editor preferences. These issues are especially prevalent in library publishing, as many of their journals that have been established elsewhere and come with preexisting norms and processes. High levels of journal autonomy mean that it can be difficult for library publishers to institute changes to workflows, or normalize processes across their different journals. In addition to this, many of our partners noted that because articles often come in large batches (sometimes as issues, or sometimes because the academic calendar impacts editors’ available time), it can be difficult to handle such irregular workloads.

Conclusions

We saw an abundance of social issues in these pain points conversations. Communicating with staff members and editors, managing the expectations of editors and authors, and training staff and editors were all significant factors in mitigating pain points. While I had expected a mix of social, technical, and financial pain points to arise, our conversations made clear how closely those three aspects are tied together. This is not an area where much can be automated, so the technology only works as well as the people who maintain it, oversee its use, and fill in for its inadequacy. Library workers are only able to perform this step to the extent that libraries are adequately staffed and time is carved out for them to do the hands-on work and communicate with the other stakeholders.