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.

LPC AUPresses Cross-Pollination Waiver Recipients banner image
August 29, 2018

Seeing each other: Reflections on library/press cross-pollination

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For our 2018 conferences, the Library Publishing Coalition and the Association of University Presses collaborated on a Cross-Pollination Registration Waiver Program. The program sent two AUPresses members to the Library Publishing Forum and two LPC members to the AUPresses Annual Meeting. Each of the recipients was asked to write a reflection on their experience and on opportunities for libraries and presses to work together towards our shared goals. This post is by Sarah Hare, Indiana University.  Read the whole series. 

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“In my experience, press partners often bring an important understanding of workload and fiscal responsibility to these projects while librarians bring a passion for open access and experimentation.”

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Why cross-pollinate?

In 2016, Charles Watkinson wrote “Why Marriage Matters: A North American Perspective on Press/Library Partnerships,” which presented a compelling argument for why presses and libraries, as “natural allies in the quest to create a more equitable scholarly publishing system,” should pursue “long-term, deeply embedded partnerships” (p. 342). The article also proposed a taxonomy for understanding library/press relationships and cited noteworthy models for collaboration beyond the “press reports to library” arrangement.

I believe that Watkinson’s recommendations for embracing library/press partnerships in order to better serve the institution both entities are embedded within have only become more relevant. Thinking strategically and realistically about shared library/press work has become imperative at my own institution, Indiana University Bloomington.

In 2012, IU Provost Lauren Robel created the Office of Scholarly Publishing (OSP). The OSP is a partnership between Indiana University Press and IU Libraries’ Scholarly Communication Department. The OSP aims to harness disparate publishing resources and strategically pool expertise in order to transform scholarly publishing at IU. This often happens by:

  • Serving IU faculty and students through journal publishing, open access book publishing, and course material publishing
  • Moving conversations on publishing innovations forward at IU, including discussion on experimental peer review, course material affordability, hybrid OA models, open-source infrastructure, and new modes of scholarship (for example, 3-D object and multimedia integration)
  • Educating the next generation of scholars, both through supporting the creation of student publishing projects and creating programming and hands-on experiences for students interested in publishing, open access, and scholarly career paths

This work requires a shared understanding and committed collaboration from library/press partners. Thus, in addition to learning more about what presses are doing operationally, I applied to the AUPresses/LPC cross-pollination registration waiver program to answer larger questions I had about press values and the university press community’s interests. I also wanted to learn about how others approach library/press collaboration, work toward truly seeing each other, understand the values and ethics of the other partner, and maintain a fruitful relationship through the constant change and innovation inherent in scholarly publishing work today. (more…)

LPC AUPresses Cross-Pollination Waiver Recipients banner image
August 28, 2018

Advancing shared goals: Reflections on press/library partnerships

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For our 2018 conferences, the Library Publishing Coalition and the Association of University Presses collaborated on a Cross-Pollination Registration Waiver Program. The program sent two AUPresses members to the Library Publishing Forum and two LPC members to the AUPresses Annual Meeting. Each of the recipients was asked to write a reflection on their experience and on opportunities for libraries and presses to work together towards our shared goals. This post is by James Ayers, University of New Mexico Press.  Read the whole series. 

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“Perhaps my greatest takeaway was that libraries often fail to see their university’s press as an asset in the accomplishment of their goals, and presses often fail to see how a relationship with their university’s library could help to advance their own mission.”

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In March of this year, the University of New Mexico Press entered into an administrative reporting relationship with the University of New Mexico’s College of Libraries. Because this new relationship created opportunities for collaborations between the press and the library—especially where publishing initiatives are concerned—I became interested in developing a better understanding of what university libraries are pursuing in terms of publishing and how they are accomplishing these goals. The Library Publishing Forum seemed an excellent opportunity to learn firsthand what publishing initiatives were of interest to university libraries and how they were pursuing these aims. My hope was to find avenues by which a library-press relationship might either facilitate the accomplishment of existing publishing goals or create new, shared goals.

At the forum I had the chance to attend a variety of panels that highlighted many of the questions I wanted to explore, and I was also able to make some valuable connections with library staff from other institutions and discuss topics of interest to us both. Much of my time at the Library Publishing Forum was spent learning about library publishers’ “in the weeds” experiences, and it was very illuminating to hear about the problems they encountered and the solutions they realized. It was incredibly valuable to see some of the specific projects library publishers have begun or completed, and I made my observations with an eye toward how a library-press relationship might be beneficial to both departments. (more…)

August 23, 2018

LPC welcomes a new strategic affiliate: The Open Textbook Network

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Open Textbook Network logo

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.

LPC Strategic Affiliates icon

August 14, 2018

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

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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:

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…)

LPC Strategic Plan 2018-2023 Now Available
August 10, 2018

LPC’s new strategic plan

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The LPC is excited to release our very first strategic plan! The result of more than a year of work by the Board and the community, the plan will guide the organization’s efforts over the next five years. It will focus our work in three goal areas:

  • Promulgate best practices in library publishing
  • Strengthen the community of library publishers
  • Act as a focal point and a force multiplier for library publishing

Each of the three goals encompasses a variety of objectives and action items, many of which represent work already underway in the community. Working on the plan uncovered areas for growth and identified new pathways for the LPC, while also happily confirming that the organization was already headed in many of the right directions. Rather than a course change, this plan gives us the opportunity to articulate our goals and to further align our efforts towards reaching them.

The plan will be used by the Board, the standing committees, and the staff to plan our work and evaluate the results. We will also use it to report out to the community on progress towards our shared goals.

Read the Strategic Plan (PDF)

Library publishing curriculum policy module available
August 7, 2018

Library Publishing Curriculum: Policy module released

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We are very excited to announce the release of the fourth module of openly licensed curriculum materials created as part of the ‘Developing a Curriculum to Advance Library-Based Publishing‘ project. The Policy Module covers how library publishers develop policies that guide specific areas of their work. In this initial release, it is focused on policies related to copyright, diversity, and digital preservation, and guidance on creating legal agreements. The module was created by Sara Benson, Harriet Green, Merinda Kaye Hensley, and Janet Swatscheno (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library); and Katherine Skinner and Melanie Schlosser (Educopia Institute).  

The Policy Module joins three other modules published by Educopia Institute and the Library Publishing Coalition this year: Content, Impact, and Sustainability. Each module contains an introduction plus 4-7 “units” that address topics of interest. Each unit includes the following components: a narrative, a slideshow with talking notes, activities for use in a physical or virtual classroom for workshops and courses. A fifth module will be released in 2019. Titled “Introduction,” it is being developed by the project’s advisory board, and provides helpful background and synthesis for learners and instructors.

Workshop opportunities

A set of pilot workshops (virtual and in-person) are already underway. An ongoing list and registration information for these workshops is maintained by the project team and is available here.

In-person workshops: We will be holding a pair of in-person pilot workshops for the Sustainability and Content Modules at the 2018 Digital Library Federation Forum in Henderson, Nevada in October.  Learn more and apply (deadline August 24).

Virtual workshops: Registration for the Impact virtual workshop is now full, but look for announcements about more virtual workshops this fall.

More about the curriculum

The Library Publishing Curriculum is a suite of synchronous and asynchronous professional development offerings for librarians that are open and free under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license for anyone to offer or adapt. Each module has been authored by field experts, and each is roughly the equivalent of a 12 hour “course.”

This dynamic, extensible, multimedia curriculum is intended to empower librarians to meet local demands to launch and/or enhance scholarly publishing activities. This project is a partnership of Educopia, LPC, the Public Knowledge Project, NASIG, and BlueSky to BluePrint, generously funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Curriculum editors: Sarah Lippincott, Independent Scholarly Communications and Digital Scholarship Consultant; Melanie Schlosser, Educopia Institute; Katherine Skinner, Educopia Institute; Hannah Ballard, Educopia Institute; Nancy Maron, BlueSky to BluePrint

August 6, 2018

Library Publishing Curriculum pilot workshops at the DLF Forum

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The Developing A Curriculum to Advance Library-Based Publishing project, generously funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, is hosting a pair of in-person workshops at at this year’s Digital Library Federation Forum based on the Content and Sustainability modules of the curriculum. Both full-day workshops will take place on Sunday, October 14 (the day before the Forum) at the M Resort just outside of Las Vegas, NV. Each workshop is limited to 20 participants, to be selected through a brief application process. We also have three diversity scholarships available for attendees (see below). While the workshops are affiliated with and will complement the Digital Library Federation Forum, please note that you do not have to attend the Forum to participate in the workshops or to receive a scholarship.

Registration fee: $100

Workshop descriptions

Library Publishing Curriculum: Content

The Content workshop will cover how library publishers attract, select, edit, manage, and disseminate content. Attendees will learn how to recruit partners and select content for their program, and how to incorporate diverse voices into each part of the publication process. The workshop will also share information on common production workflows, identifying the resources and staff skills needed to support various editorial strategies and content types.

Instructor: Matt Ruen, Grand Valley State University

Library Publishing Curriculum: Sustainability

The Sustainability workshop will focus on how library publishing endeavors can establish longevity and find long-term success. Attendees will learn how to build support with key stakeholders and communities, both internally (library staff) and externally (e.g., University Press), and how to undertake digital preservation to prolong the lifespan of digital publications.

Instructor: Lisa Schiff, California Digital Library

(more…)

August 3, 2018

LPC welcomes a new member: University of Ottawa

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The Library Publishing Coalition is delighted to welcome a new member: University of Ottawa! A statement from uOttawa:

The University of Ottawa Library recognizes the importance of supporting scholarly communication initiatives and increasing the visibility of academic research. To this end, we offer hosting services using OJS to increase access to journals produced by the uOttawa community and to encourage the creation of new ones. We currently have 12 open access peer-reviewed faculty, student and society journals on our platform and we continue to grow our services. uOttawa Library is also responsible for our IR where we publish graduate ETDs, honors theses, and faculty publications. We are pleased to be a new Library Publishing Coalition member and look forward to engaging with the library publishing community to enhance our publishing efforts and share best practices.

University of Ottawa beneath an icon with a columned building

August 1, 2018

Reflection on research: The relevance of information behavior studies to the work of library publishing

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This is a guest post by Dan Tracy, the 2018 recipient of the Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing. LPC’s Research Committee asked Dan to write a post for the blog to highlight his research and inspire others in the community to investigate topics of interest to our growing field.

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“Experimentation in online publishing that would not translate well to pdf is still a good thing…but my suspicion is that the really interesting innovation in digital scholarly publishing is not going to come in modifying legacy formats that people still find useful.”

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When the LPC Research Committee notified me that they had chosen my article on user studies in the context of library publishing programs for its annual award, I was delighted and honored. When I began my master’s degree in LIS, one thing that stuck early on was the disciplinary emphasis on understanding the information needs, preferences, and behaviors of different populations as a key element of service design. This concept was (and continues to be, from my ongoing experience with the program as a librarian) probably the foundational concept of one of the required courses at University of Illinois MS-LIS program (which I took with Professor Kathryn LaBarre), and it is a touchstone I come back to in all the work that I do now.

The research that led to this article stems back to a couple of experiences during my first years as a librarian, but the most important was attending the inaugural Library Publishing Forum in 2014. It was an exciting, groundbreaking event, but one that left me with one nagging question: where were the users, by which I mean the readers, of our publications in our design of these services? They were oddly absent from the program and discussion. (I’ll note that I heard more people raising these issues in the second and third forums.) Don’t get me wrong: libraries had and have a lot to do as they build up publishing services, so there is justification in spending a lot of time talking about relationships with authors, models for sustainability, and other key issues that were very much on the agenda. However, in talking about why libraries might have something to offer in publishing, a key theme for the inaugural conference, why not emphasize our tradition of investigation into how and why people use our resources as a strength in delivering publications to users? (more…)