2025

March 24, 2025

Panel Session: Exploring ways to increase global participation in a diamond open access journal: the case of the Special Issue at JLSC

Day/time: Monday, May 5, 4:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT

Presenters:

Janet Catterall (she/they), Senior Project Officer, Open Access Australasia
Shenmeng Xu (she/her) Librarian for Scholarly Communications Digital Lab, Vanderbilt University
Andrea Quinn, Law Librarian for Digital Initiatives and Research Services, Emory University School of Law
Frances Andreu (she/her), Scholarly Communications Librarian, Rochester Institute of Technology
Janaynne Carvalho do Amaral (she/her), Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Samir Hachani, Professor, School of Library Sciences-University of Algiers
Eleanor Colla, University of Melbourne

Description: The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication (JLSC) is a diamond open access (OA) journal founded in 2012 and published by Iowa State University Press continuously in annual general issues. JLSC pursues a global authorship and readership.

JLSC is publishing a Special Issue (SI) Open Access: Diverse Experiences and Expectations. The impetus was twofold: to commemorate and evaluate 10 years of OA since JLSC’s original 2014 Bottlenecks in the Open-Access System: Voices from Around the Globe, and to respond to a 2023 internal report which identified that not only were the vast majority of JLSC’s submissions coming from the US, but also the rejection rate for submissions coming from non Northern/Western countries was proportionally much higher. Submissions from the Global South* were few and most were rejected and only 1% of JLSC’s peer reviewers came from these countries. Despite a stated interest in “diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarly communication, including such areas as anti-racism, anti-oppression, and decolonization” (https://www.iastatedigitalpress.com/jlsc/site/about/), manuscripts from the US, Canada and Europe remain predominant, and work continues to determine why. This SI aims to advance themes of diversity and inclusion highlighted in the 2014 publication by expanding topics, authorship, editorship, and peer review – to present the “diverse experiences” of “voices from around the globe.” (JLSC, 2014.)

We propose a panel of members of the 2024 Special Issue Working Group- who represent four geographic areas and multiple educational and cultural backgrounds- to discuss our approach to the following issues in implementing the SI:

● Expanding the voices and themes represented in the original.
● Crafting an explicitly inclusive call for abstracts
● Designing a fair, representative selection process.
● Recruiting diverse perspectives and experiences among our guest editors.
● Increasing diversity of our reviewers to match the increased diversity of manuscripts
● Engaging audience experience in a concluding discussion of the limitations of our approach and ways to improve outcomes.

We hope this panel will generate conversation and provide insights to assist others in increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in their publishing initiatives.

* The authors recognise that the term “Global South” is problematic as it is not a geographical designation but one based on access to wealth and political power. The origin of the term lies in European and US institutions and structures, and it has been used to create a hierarchy among countries. In using the term, we reject negative connotations and are aware that many countries in the South are increasingly at par with rich Northern countries. We use the term here to denote those countries not traditionally included in the current model of scholarly publishing still dominated by Europe and the US.

March 24, 2025

Active Session: Managing relationships through boundaries: A library publishing discussion

Day/time: Monday, May 5, 2025, 4:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT

Cap: 40 attendees

Presenters:

Erin Jerome, Library Publishing & Institutional Repository Librarian, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Anne Cong-Huyen, Research & Engagement Librarian for Humanities & Social Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara
Esther Jackson, Scholarly Communication Technologies Librarian, Columbia University
Kathryn Pope, Digital Repository Manager, Columbia University

Description: “Boundaries are good for everyone.” Veronica Arrellano Douglass

This session, facilitated by librarians and library staff supporting digital publishing programs within academic libraries, discusses the role of labor, relationships, and care in the provisioning of services to our academic communities through the frameworks of Human-Centered Leadership (HCL) and Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT). By their nature, library publishing programs may be small, run by staff supporting many other library programs, and are often competing for inter-libraries development resources and technical support. Boundaries are an essential communication mechanism and management tool used to maintain healthy relationships, safeguard against staff burnout, and protect space needed for program and service growth.

The session facilitators will reflect on the importance of boundaries, defined within RCT as “a place of growth and productivity rather than restriction and separation,” for establishing and maintaining manageable publishing programs with respectful constraints that center the needs of the people involved: academic staff, students (graduate and undergraduate), and faculty. (Schwartz 39)

After prepared comments, attendees will join facilitated breakout rooms to discuss their experiences with boundary-setting.

Works Cited

Arrellano, Veronica. “Boundaries as Meeting Places.” Presentation. CALM 2023 Conference.

Schwartz, Harriet. Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education Routledge: New York. (2019)

Marone, Mark. (2024) “How Human-Centered Leadership Helps People Adapt to Change,” Harvard Business Publishing

March 24, 2025

BOAF Session: Enhancing Accessibility in Library Publishing: Challenges, Best Practices, and Sustainability

Day/time: Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT

Presenters:

Valrie Minson (she/her), Associate Dean of Research and Executive Director of LibraryPress@UF, University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries
Tracy E. MacKay-Ratliff (she/her), Director of LibraryPress@UF, University of Florida Smathers Libraries
Kat Nguyen (she/her), Publications Editorial Coordinator, University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries
Ella Terran (she/her), Design and Publishing Assistant for LibraryPress@UF, University of Florida Smathers Libraries

Description: The importance of accessibility in library publishing cannot be understated, as indicative of recent legislative mandates. This proposal outlines a session designed to highlight current accessibility legislation, best practices, challenges, and sustainable solutions within the realm of library presses. The session begins with a concise conversation emphasizing why accessibility matters, its impact on readership, and the role it plays in upholding the values of library publishing.

Following the introductory discussion, participants will be directed into specialized breakout rooms tailored to specific publishing formats and accessibility: Journals, eBooks, and Print Books/Print on Demand. Each breakout room will serve as a collaborative space where attendees can share insights, exchange strategies, and reflect on practical questions such as: What accessibility best practices have you implemented and what challenges did you face? What are the barriers preventing the implementation of desired accessibility practices? What tools (AI or otherwise) do you use to facilitate accessibility? Are the current solutions sustainable long-term, or do they need adaptation?

By fostering dialogue and sharing experiences, this session aims to build a collective understanding of what is achievable, spotlight gaps, and inspire actionable steps to advance accessibility in publishing practices. Participants will leave with a clearer vision of shared challenges and innovations that can be adapted or developed to enhance accessibility in their own work environments.

March 24, 2025

Panel Session: Beyond Diamond: Exploring Dialectical Materialist Open Access

Day/Time: May 5, 2025, 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT

Title: Beyond Diamond: Exploring Dialectical Materialist Open Access

Presenters:

Dave Ghamandi (he/him), Open Publishing Librarian and Managing Editor, Aperio, University of Virginia
Brianne Selman (she/her), Scholarly Communications and Copyright Librarian, University of Winnipeg
Sam Popowich (he/him), Digital Infrastructure Librarian, University of Winnipeg

Description: In this panel presentation, we plan to analyze and demystify open access (OA), and by extension, scholarly communication and library publishing, through a dialectical materialist lens. Dialectical materialism, with its focus on viewing things as interconnected, in constant motion, developmentally, and as they actually exist, encourages us to place greater emphasis on people and processes rather than viewing things in isolation and as unchanging. It is an underutilized framework in the OA and library publishing space. We will begin with a brief explanation of dialectical materialism and three major concepts: (1) use value and exchange value contradiction; (2) commodity fetishism; and (3) the forces of production and relations of production contradiction.

We will then enter into a general discussion where we apply these concepts to OA and library publishing. One goal is to begin testing via conversation how far these concepts can be applied, especially as OA objects are intangible and inexhaustible. To aid in doing so, we’ve ordered these concepts logically and will move back and forth between the abstract concepts and concrete reality to understand each better. We will problematize existing ways of thinking about OA, library publishing, and our relations with each other. To what extent does library publishing reinforce or challenge commodity fetishism? Does OA mystify social dynamics in new ways that hurt workers? Using the three concepts as anchor points will also allow us to explore issues such as epistemic positioning and OA-as-a-gift.

The latter part of the discussion will focus more on library workers and will generate several novel implications for practice. We will do this building on labor discussions from previous Library Publishing Forums and by applying the concept of relations of production more explicitly. By synthesizing all of our concepts, we aim to equip the audience with new ways of understanding the conditions of and strategizing for librarian-publishers.

March 24, 2025

Individual Session: May 5, 1:15-2:15

Day/time: May 5, 2025, 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT

Title: Ensuring diversity in open access databases: the DOAJ Ambassador Programme Review

Presenter: Ivonne Lujano, DOAJ Community Manager & Ambassador, Directory of Open Access Journals

Description: In 2016, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) launched the Ambassador Programme to increase outreach activities and ensure the inclusion of journals produced in the Global South in DOAJ. Ambassadors are volunteers who dedicate their time to outreach activities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They help DOAJ engage with open access communities worldwide to increase open access awareness, understanding of best practices in scholarly publishing, and to raise the number of journals indexed in DOAJ from the Global South. With the Ambassador Programme, DOAJ has sought to ensure the broad participation of the international community and ultimately promote a fairer, more inclusive, global open scholarship ecosystem, as stated in the DOAJ’s strategic goals for 2023-25.

We reviewed the Ambassador Programme in 2024, collecting quantitative and qualitative data using a survey, focus groups, and structured interviews. Findings showed that the Programme has significantly benefited the DOAJ, the Ambassadors, and the publishers in the regions they represent. In this presentation, we will share some lessons learned from the review.

Title: Creating Inclusive OERs: Weaving Accessibility into Publishing Workflows

Presenters: Karen Meijer (she/her), Scholarly Communication Librarian, Kwantlen Polytechnic University; Amanda Grey (she/her), Open Education Strategist, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Description: In recent years, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has made significant strides in ensuring that the OERs we publish are accessible to most learners. This presentation outlines our efforts, challenges, and strategies to weave accessibility into all stages of our publishing process.

Participants will explore how accessibility considerations are woven into all stages of KPU’s OER publishing workflows. Attendees will learn about KPU’s proactive steps, including creating an explicit accessibility statement, training student assistants, adding accessibility questions to grant applications, and revising project agreements. The presentation will also touch on the use of an accessibility rubric based on WCAG standards to identify common accessibility gaps within OERs. This session will empower participants with practical knowledge, tools, and a deeper understanding of how they can actively address accessibility in their own OER publishing workflows.

Title: Implementing DEIA Training for Editors in a Library Publishing Program

Presenters: Charlotte Roh (she/her), Publications Manager, California Digital Library, University of California; Catherine Mitchell, Director of Publishing, Archives, and Digitization, California Digital Library, University of California; Amanda Karby (she/her), Publications Manager, California Digitial Library, University of California

Description: Established in 2002, eScholarship Publishing is a comprehensive open access publishing program for the University of California (UC) academic community with almost 100 open access journals. eScholarship publications often traverse standard disciplinary boundaries, explore new publishing models, support under-represented voices within the scholarly record, and reach communities and/or professionals in applied fields beyond academia. We believe that supporting a diverse community of scholars and researchers is fundamental to our publishing program, to our academic institution, and to the advancement of knowledge.

In support of these values, the eScholarship team is working to embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in its training materials, starting with a required webinar for all journal editors that provides an overview of major DEIA topics in scholarly publishing. These topics include diversifying editorial boards, staff, author pools, and peer reviewers; implementing inclusive language and style guides; and meeting accessibility standards.

In the process of creating this training webinar for editors, we addressed questions such as
-Who has access to publishing opportunities?
-Who is making the decisions about who can publish and where?
-Who is reviewing publications and determining their worth and relevance to the field?
-Which disciplines and topics are given a voice within the scholarly record?

We used related resources from the Office of Scholarly Communication (OSC) at the University of California, C4DISC , and the Library Publishing Coalition, aligning our training with efforts across the UC system and the broader academic publishing profession.

In this informational session, we will describe our goals for creating and conducting this DEIA webinar for eScholarship journal editors, the level of editorial participation in the training, the opportunities and challenges we have encountered, feedback we have received, and the impact of this program so far.

March 24, 2025

Active Session: Library publishing: We can’t do everything, so should we just quit?

Day/time: May 5, 2025, 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT

Title: Library publishing: We can’t do everything, so should we just quit?

Presenters:

Rachel Molina (she/her), Digital Publishing and Repository Librarian, Indiana University Indianapolis
Olivia MacIsaac (she/her), Research Information Management Librarian, Indiana University Indianapolis
Jere Odell (he/him), Director of the Center for Digital Scholarship, Indiana University Indianapolis

Description: Library budgets and their investments in journal publishing have been under strain. At the same time, journals, policy makers, authors, editors, and funders expect more and more. Linked-data, persistent identifiers (PIDs), XML, accessibility, funding notifications, new formats, glitzy websites – where does it end? Given the demands, what is the least that a library can do to work within the values of the library’s mission without losing professional integrity? How can a library publishing program honor the organization’s intentions to foster and pursue equity for knowledge creators when budgets are tight?

This session proposes a model for assessing a library publishing program’s investment in a non-revenue generating open access journal publishing service. The model may be used to help a library make decisions about when to take on new titles or when to launch new publishing initiatives (e.g., monographs). Likewise, it will serve as a tool to identify journals that may be at risk of losing the library’s services. Tools of this nature may provide useful starting points for discussions between libraries, editors, and administration interested in forming or sustaining scalable university-based publishing initiatives.