Past Forum Info

November 11, 2022

2023 Library Publishing Forum Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsors of the Library Publishing Forum demonstrate their commitment to the emerging community of library publishers, including their many affiliates and partners. By becoming a sponsor, you will reach a highly influential, international audience of potential new partners and clients.

The 2023 Library Publishing Forum will be a virtual event held May 8–11 on Zoom. (Exact days/hours are still to be determined but it is expected that Forum sessions will take place between noon and 5 p.m. Eastern time.) Virtual events allow us to reach a greater number of attendees over a broad range of international locations.

Sponsorship dollars help to fund the costs associated with hosting the conference. This year we are pleased to offer two sponsorship levels. See the full descriptions below. 

To participate: Email contact@librarypublishing.org to get started.

Forum Supporter

Amount: $500 and above

Benefits:

  • A logo/link on the Forum website and acknowledgement as a Forum Supporter
  • A logo/link on the Forum’s Sched.com site and acknowledgement as a Forum Supporter
  • Slide featuring logo and short blurb (see example) to be included in a slideshow that will rotate on presentation screen in Zoom room before the keynotes and presentations 
  • Acknowledgement of sponsorship via the LPC Twitter account in the weeks leading up to the Forum (includes creation of a graphic with logo and blurb; tagging of appropriate Twitter handles)
  • One complimentary Forum registration

Forum Sponsor

Amount: $1,000 and above

Benefits:

 

About the Forum

The Library Publishing Forum is an annual conference bringing together representatives from libraries engaged in (or considering) publishing initiatives to define and address major questions and challenges; to identify and document collaborative opportunities; and to strengthen and promote this community of practice. The Forum includes representatives from a broad, international spectrum of academic library backgrounds, as well as groups that collaborate with libraries to publish scholarly works, including publishing vendors, university presses, and scholars. The Forum is sponsored by the Library Publishing Coalition, but you do not need to be a member of the LPC to attend.

Code of Conduct

All participation in the Virtual Library Publishing Forum is subject to the Library Publishing Coalition’s Code of Conduct.

November 11, 2022

Program and Call for Proposals 2023

The Call for Proposals for the 2023 Library Publishing Forum is closed.

Program

Monday, May 8

12:00 p.m. to 1 p.m. | Keynote address by Dorothea Salo, Distinguished Teaching Faculty III in the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Information School
She Can’t Say That, Can She? [video]

1 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. | Break

1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
FULL SESSION
A Continuum of Library Publishing in Music: First-time Musical Score Publishing to Establishing a Music Label [video]
Anita Walz, Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Virginia Tech; Kindred Grey, OER and Graphic Design Specialist, Virginia Tech; Derek Shapiro, Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music, Virginia Tech; Jonathan Caldwell, Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Conducting, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Kathleen DeLaurenti, Director of the Peabody Institute of the Arthur Friedheim Music Library, Johns Hopkins University

PANEL
Law Library Faculty Publication Services [video]
Liz Parker, Publication Services Librarian, Legal Research Center, University of San Diego School of Law; Sasha Nunez, Research Assistant, Legal Research Center, University of San Diego School of Law

The Pittsburgh Novel: An Interactive Bibliography 3 Years in the Making [video] [slides]
Angel Peterson, Open Publishing Production Specialist, Penn State University

Turning Gray Literature into Gold [video]
Zoe Wake Hyde, Community Development Manager for Humanities Commons, Michigan State University

2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. | Break

2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
ACTIVE SESSION
Let’s Chat! How Do You Support Student Journals to be Sustainable and Ongoing? [materials]
Kristin Hoffmann, Research & Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western University; Emily Carlisle-Johnston, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western University; Noah Churchill-Baird, MLIS Student, Western University

FULL SESSION
A Model for Diversifying and Expanding Digital Publishing: Brown University Library’s National Endowment for the Humanities Institute [video]
Allison Levy, Director, Brown University Digital Publications; Cosette Bruhns Alonso, Contemporary Publishing Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Libraries & Penn Press (LPC DEI Committee Member, 2022-2024); Emily Lynell Edwards, Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities and Educational Technologist, St. Francis College; Warren Harding, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Diversity in Digital Publishing, Brown University; Ashley Robertson Preston, Assistant Professor of History, Howard University

3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. | Break

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Get to know your keynotes!, led by Jason Boczar
A relaxed opportunity after the first day of the 2023 Library Publishing Forum to converse with our keynote speakers Dorothea Salo and Deborah Poff. This will be an informal session to ask questions, start conversations, and discuss topics related to library publishing and the expertise of this year’s keynotes.

Tuesday, May 9

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
ACTIVE SESSION
A Toolkit for Disability Equity in Scholarly Communications [video]
Karen Stoll Farrell, Head of Scholarly Communication, Indiana University – Bloomington; Simon Holt, Head of Central Strategies, Content Acquisition at Elsevier; Erin Osborne-Martin, Associate Director, Strategic Analytics at Wiley; Sylvia Hunter, Marketing Manager at Inera
NOTE: Because attendance for this session is capped at 40, attendees must “purchase” a free ticket when registering in Eventbrite.

PANEL
A Fresh Take on JATS: Book Reviews as a Simple, Immediate, and Accessible Gateway to Full-Text Publishing
Matthew Vaughn, Open Publishing Librarian, Indiana University; Richard Higgins,  Software Engineer, Indiana University

Curing Law Review Link Rot with DOIs [video]
Valeri Craigle, Head of Technical Services, James E. Faust Law Library, University of Utah

Thoth: Open and Trusted Metadata for Open Access Books and Book Chapters [video] [slides]
Rupert Gatti, Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge

1:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. | Break

1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
ACTIVE SESSION
Collaborative Administration of DIY Publishing Tools [video]
Corinne Guimont, Digital Scholarship Coordinator, Virginia Tech; Caitlin Bean, Publishing Services Specialist, Virginia Tech; Anita Walz, Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Virginia Tech

FULL SESSION
Consortium Models for Open Education Resource Publishing [video]
John D. Morgenstern, Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian, Emory University; Jeff Gallant, Program Director, Affordable Learning Georgia; Ellan Jenkinson, Member Engagement & Training Librarian, Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries; BJ Robinson, Director, University of North Georgia Press; Yang Wu, Open Education Resources Librarian, Clemson University

2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. | Break

2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
PANEL
Listening to Our Community: What Does DEI in Library Publishing Look Like to You? [video]
Shannon Kipphut-Smith, Scholarly Communications Liaison, Rice University

The Gender Gap in Job Status and Career Development of Chinese Publishing Practitioners [video]
Yawen Li, School of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Normal University

Reintroducing the Ethical Framework for Library Publishing, V2.0 [video]
Joshua Neds-Fox, Coordinator for Library Publishing, Wayne State University Library System

FULL SESSION
Building a Publishing Platform Crosswalk: A Documentation Month Case Study [video]
Corinne Guimont, Digital Scholarship Coordinator, Virginia Tech; Cheryl E. Ball, Independent Consultant; Matthew Vaughn, Indiana University

3:45 to 4:00 p.m. | Break

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Let your heart sing!, led by Lucinda Johnston [slides]
A social time following the day’s main presentations during which you’ll be guided through some creative arts activities to help you decompress from the day’s activities and prepare for the morrow. (No actual singing required! But do bring to the session pens/pencils/pastels/paints … and paper, or any other artsy/crafty materials that you will feel comfortable working with.)

Lucinda Johnston (MLIS, MTA) is Liaison Instructional Librarian at the University of Alberta, and also a Certified Music Therapist. She contributes regularly to staff and student health and wellness initiatives at the U of A.

Wednesday, May 10

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
ACTIVE SESSION
Book Usage Metric Sharing and Use Guardrails: Developing Ethical Principles and System Requirements to Protect Reader Privacy and Automate Multi-Publisher and Platform OA Book Usage Data Exchange and Aggregation [video]
Ursula Rabar, OA Book Usage Data Trust Community Manager, OPERAS (Open Scholarly Communication in the European Research Area for Social Sciences and Humanities)

PANEL
Stronger Together: The Growth of Open Access Library Hosting in Scotland [video]
Rebecca Wojturska, Open Access Publishing Officer, University of Edinburgh

Canada’s Library Publishers: Low-Key Load-Bearing [video]
Mike Nason, Open Scholarship & Publishing Librarian, UNB Libraries; Sonya Betz, Head, Library Publishing and Digital Production Services, University of Alberta; Emma Uhl, Publishing Support Specialist, Public Knowledge Project

Scottish Universities Press: Collaborating across Scotland to Develop a Library-Led Open Access Press [video]
Dominique Walker, Publishing Officer, Scottish Universities Press

1:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. | Break

1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
PANEL
Staffing and Services in Library Publishing Programs: A Data-Driven Report
Johanna Meetz, Publishing & Repository Services Librarian, Ohio State University; Jeff Story, Senior Software Engineer, Intel Corporation

Creating a Publishing Preservation Policy [video]
Corinne Guimont, Digital Scholarship Coordinator, Virginia Tech

Connecting Institutional Repositories and University Presses to Open and Preserve Humanities and Social Sciences Scholarship [video]
Annie Johnson, Associate University Librarian, University of Delaware; Alicia Pucci, Scholarly Communications Associate, Temple University

FULL SESSION
New Data Sharing Mandates and the Role of Academic Libraries [video]
Michael Casp, J&J Editorial; Emma Molls, Publishing Services Librarian, University of Minnesota Libraries; Sarah Lippincott, Head of Community Engagement, Dryad; Alberto Pepe, Authorea

2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. | Break

2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
FULL SESSION
Practice What You Preach: A Conversation about Transparent Publishing with the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education [video]
Kristina Clement, Editor in Chief of the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (Student Outreach & Sponsored Programs Librarian, Kennesaw State University; Hilary Baribeau, Managing Editor of the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (Scholarly Communication Librarian at-Large); Casey McCoy-Simmons, author of “OER State Policy Discourse: Adding Equity to the Cost Savings Conversation” from the first issue of the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (PhD Candidate in Higher Education at the University of Denver); (Moderator) Chelsee Dickson, Associate Editor for Innovative Practices, Columns, & Reviews for the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (Scholarly Communications Librarian, Kennesaw State University)

PANEL
Academy Owned Scholarly Publishing at the Big Ten Academic Alliance [video]
Kate McCready, BTAA Visiting Program Officer for Academy Owned Scholarly Publishing, Big Ten Academic Alliance + University of Minnesota Libraries

The Role of Library Publishing in Making Non-Traditional Research Outputs Count [video]
Christie Hurrell, Director, Lab NEXT, University of Calgary; Robyn Hall, Scholarly Communications Librarian, MacEwan University

Ethics, Epistemology, and Scholarly Communication: How Epistemic Injustice Emerges throughout the Scholarly Communication Lifecycle [video] [slides]
Emily Cox, Collections & Research Librarian for Humanities, Social Sciences, & Digital Media, NC State University

3:45 to 4:00 p.m. | Break

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sacred Ecology – Embodied Presence & The Miracle of Breath, led by Rheanna Chen [slides]
A cozy and nourishing time following the day’s main presentations during which you’ll be guided through some somatic breath and bodywork to pause and explore your inner and outer landscape. A safe space to explore and share together as we disconnect from the noise and reconnect to presence. Come as you are. 

Rheanna Chen is a yoga and mindfulness practitioner the last 17 years. Combined with her studies in plants, ecology and regenerative food systems, she is most fascinated by their impact on the human experience. Her joy is sharing everyday, simple tools to increase awareness for individual and collective healing and transformation.

Thursday, May 11

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Keynote address by Deborah Poff, retired Professor of Philosophy and Senior Academic Administrator
The State of Play in Current Major Forms of Deception in Publishing: Predatory Publishing, Paper Mills and ChatGPT [video] [Five questions]

1:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. | Break

1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
PANEL
When Does Your OER Program Become a Library Publishing Program? [video]
Stephanie Western, OER Program Manager, Utah State University Libraries; Becky Thoms, Head of Digital Initiatives, Utah State University Libraries; Erica Finch, Scholarly Communications Librarian, Utah State University Libraries

Indexing of Student Journals: Barriers and Opportunities for Discoverability [video] [slides]
Mariya Maistrovskaya, Digital Publishing Librarian, University of Toronto Libraries

Going Wayback: Digitally Preserving a Defunct Student Journal [video] [slides] [speaker notes]
Noah Churchill-Baird, MLIS Student, Western University; Kristin Hoffmann, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western University; Emily Carlisle-Johnston, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western University

FULL SESSION
Making Beautiful Books and Articles: Lowering the Costs of Open Access and OER Publishing via Automated Typesetting  [video] [slides]
Dione Mentis, Coko Foundation COO; Christina Tromp, Ketida Project Manager; Julie Blanc, Paged.js Developer; Julien Taquet, Paged.js Developer; Karen Lauritsen, Open Education Network, Publishing Director

2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. | Break

2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
ACTIVE SESSION
Discovering, Using, and Getting Involved with the Library Publishing Curriculum
John W. Warren, Director and Associate Professor, Publishing, MPS in Publishing, George Washington University; Johanna Meetz, Publishing & Repository Services Librarian, Assistant Professor, Ohio State University

PANEL
Metadata for Everyone: Identifying Metadata Quality Issues across Cultures [video] [slides]
Julie Shi, Digital Preservation Librarian, Scholars Portal

Puppies as a Veneer for Cheering Genocide: How Should a Press React When an Accepted Manuscript is Problematic?
Abram Shalom Himelstein, Editor-in-Chief, University of New Orleans Press; Chelsey Shannon, Editor, University of New Orleans Press

3:45 to 4:00 p.m. | Break

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Collaborative Meaning-Making Happy Hour, led by Melanie Schlosser
To wrap up the 2023 Library Publishing Forum, we will have an informal social hour to discuss sessions that resonated with us. Whether it was a particular keynote or individual presentation, let’s talk about what’s happening in Library Publishing and where we can go from here. Bring your favorite beverage (and snacks!) and join the conversation.

November 10, 2022

Registration 2023

Registration Information

The registration fee for the 2023 Library Publishing Forum is $25 USD. We do not want cost to be a barrier to attendance, so a hardship waiver is available for those who need it–just select the “Fee Waived” ticket option when registering.

All sessions will be held via Zoom and hosted by the Library Publishing Coalition.

When your registration in Eventbrite is completed, you should be prompted to create/log in to your Sched.com account. (If not, check your email for a link to Sched.) You will need a Sched account to see the full program for this virtual event, including abstracts, and to receive further information about the sessions, including links to the daily Zoom sessions. Full information about the program and links to sessions will be available only through your Sched account.

TIP: If you already have a Sched.com account, be sure to use the same email and name to register so the synching works properly.

Register for the 2023 Library Publishing Forum

May 11, 2022

Labor Panel

Pittsburgh has a long, fraught labor history with recent revitalization that has impacted our library community. Four local experts who have worked on labor issues in libraries will gather on stage to share their views and experiences, touching on major subjects like vocational awe, invisible labor, and collective action. These issues resonate with library publishing workers across institutions and contexts; we will explore what we in the library publishing community can learn from organized labor and inspire each other to work collectively to effect change in our discipline, and to look to each other for support and solidarity.

May 10, 2022

Keynote: Janne Pölönen

Helsinki Initiative of Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication

Janne Pölönen

The Helsinki Initiative on Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication (www.helsinki-initiative.org) was launched in 2019 to foster an environment that values multilingual scholarly communication, science communication and open access to scholarly publications in all languages. The Initiative has three main goals:

  1. to promote multilingual dissemination of research knowledge withing and beyond academia
  2. to ensure sustainable open access transition of non-profit scholarly publishers who make publishing in different languages possible
  3. to promote language diversity and multilingualism in research assessment and funding systems

In this talk I will discuss different approaches to multilingualism and go through some of its main challenges. I will specifically explore how multilingual scientific knowledge benefits of science and society, why we need to protect national language journals and book publishers – the very infrastructure making multilingual publishing possible, and why it is important to recognize and reward high quality research published and communicated in all languages.

It is important to communicate research results to international expert audiences according to the best practices and traditions of each discipline. However, if research is communicated exclusively in English, academia risks not fully meeting all its missions and responsibilities toward society. In addition to international excellence, science policy calls for Responsible Research and Innovation and Open Science. Broad access to scientific knowledge and interaction between science and society is possible only if research is communicated and used in multiple languages.

The application of globally and locally produced knowledge requires critical discussion and dialogue between the scientific community familiar with the local conditions and different actors within society. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a widespread need for multilingual communication, not only between researchers, but also to reach decision-makers, professionals and citizens. To cope with grand challenges and to meet sustainable development goals, we need both globalized and localized research communicated in languages and formats suited for the diverse audiences.

Especially in the social sciences and humanities, important part of research is contextualised, creating a need for original research in the main languages of researchers and citizens who are affected by this research. A study of users of open access journals on the Finnish Journal.fi platform shows that articles in national languages (in this case Finnish and Swedish) are vital for reaching important users of research both within and beyond academia.

The national journals and book publishers across Europe play a vital role in the scholarly ecosystem by providing to the research communities outlets for publishing and critically discussing research results in researchers’ and citizens’ main languages. Peer-reviewed journals and books are mainly published in the local languages by small-scale non-profit publishers such as learned societies or research institutions, relying on voluntary work.

Translation services based on artificial intelligence technologies are part of the solution for facilitating multilingual access to scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, action plan to promote and implement multilingualism needs also to address how to secure a sustainable open access transition of journals publishing locally relevant research and developing scientific terminology in the different languages.

Because assessments steer research through distribution of resources, rewards, and merits, language biases in assessment can compromise equal opportunities for individual researchers and institutions. Intended or unintended language priorities in assessment may lead to systemic undervaluation of SSH research compared to STEM fields in funding, and endanger locally relevant research and knowledge transfer beyond academia.

Ideally, language is a non-issue in assessment. In practice, assessment criteria and methods are often far from language-neutral, and this is an issue with research metrics as well as expert-assessment. Researchers should be able to trust that high-quality research is valued regardless of publishing languages, and that they can make a career and have funding even if they spend time on writing to policy-makers, professionals or general public, or act as editors or reviewers for local language journals.

The long-term goal of the Helsinki Initiative is to ensure the continued availability and vitality of high-quality research published in all languages needed across the world for effective communication of research knowledge within and beyond academia.

References:

Helsinki Initiative on Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication (2019). Helsinki: Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, Committee for Public Information, Finnish Association for Scholarly Publishing, Universities Norway & European Network for Research Evaluation in the Social Sciences and the Humanities. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7887059

Kulczycki, E., Engels, T. & Pölönen, J. (2022). Multilingualism of social sciences. In Engels, T. & Kulczycki, E. (eds.), Handbook on research assessment in the social sciences, Edward Elgar Publishing, 350-366. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800372559.00031

Pölönen, J., Kulczycki, E., Mustajoki, H. & Røeggen, V. (2021). Multilingualism is integral to accessibility and should be part of European research assessment reform. LSE Impact Blog, December 7th, 2021. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2021/12/07/multilingualism-is-integral-to-accessibility-and-should-be-part-of-european-research-assessment-reform/

Pölönen, J., Syrjämäki, S., Nygård, A.-J. & Hammarfelt, B. (2021). Who Are the Users of National Open Access Journals? The case of Finnish Journal.fi platform. Learned Publishing, 34(4), 585-592. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1405

 

March 10, 2022

Plenary: NGLP: Building in the Open, Building Together

Day/Time: Thursday, May 26,  4:00pm – 5:00pm

Presenters

  • Katherine Skinner, NGLP
  • Dave Pcolar, NGLP
  • Kate Herman, NGLP

Description

Now in its third year, The Next Generation Library Publishing (NGLP) project has completed the first phase of development of its two open source components and has implemented those components in a series of pilots and projects that demonstrate the modularity and interoperability of NGLP’s approach to addressing gaps in current open source infrastructure for library publishing.

As NGLP shifts to piloting new service models via our project partners (California Digital Library, Janeway, and Longleaf Services), we return to why we chose to build modular, content-agnostic components to address community-identified gaps in the library publishing ecosystem. NGLP Product Manager, Dave Pcolar, will discuss the guiding principles of the development phase: building for flexibility and scalability with a diverse set of publishing needs in mind. NGLP co-principal investigator Katherine Skinner will then report on the ongoing work of developing a business framework to support this and similar projects that seek to build service layers on top of widely-adopted and trusted open-source platforms like OJS, Janeway, and DSpace, and explore how values-aligned service providers might better support the underlying technologies that provide the backbone for their service provision. In folding these two conversations together, this presentation will highlight not only what NGLP has accomplished in the past two years, but what it was built for: securing more robust, sustainable, and values-driven infrastructure for library publishers.

March 10, 2022

Panel: PT2-230

Day/Time: Thursday, May 26, 2:30pm – 3:30pm

Making Open Access Books Work: A Library-Press Partnership Perspective

Presenters

  • Emma Vecellio, Library Relations Manager, Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library

Description

With the amount of open scholarly publications increasing, it is critical to understand the infrastructure supporting the dissemination and ingestion of open access monographs in particular. The University of Michigan Library and University of Michigan Press have been working to establish better discovery of open content with partner libraries as the press continues to develop its Fund to Mission open access monograph model. This session will provide an overview of the workflows around open content using the University of Michigan as an example and will reflect on best practices and takeaways for attendees.

The Challenge of Disseminating Metadata on Library Published, Open-Access Books

Presenters

  • Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, co-director, punctum books; COPIM (Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs)

Description

This presentation will delve into the challenges open-access book publishers face with the current metadata supply chain, as well as attempts to address these challenges. It uses the case of Thoth, an open-metadata dissemination service currently under development as part of the Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project, to discuss some of the strategies scholar-led publishers and university presses are devising to amplify the discoverability of their books. Open access disrupts established book distribution channels because of its (1) orientation away from a sales process measured by units sold or licensed, (2) need for different kinds of metadata such as DOIs, which have yet to be implemented consistently across the supply chain, and (3) the emergence of a large number of new open-access content platforms that require a variety of metadata formats for deposit. Library publishers who seek to widen the discoverability of their books need to know about the current state and direction of the book supply chain, metadata standards used beyond the library, and workflows bottlenecks when working with data intermediaries. The goal of the presentation is first, to help library publishers learn more about the book metadata supply chain, and second, to prompt a discussion of whether emerging data intermediaries are adequately addressing the specific needs of library publishers.

March 10, 2022

Panel: PT-230

Day/Time: Thursday, May 26, 2:30pm – 3:30pm

Student Journal Forum: From a local event to a Canada-wide movement

Presenters

  • Mariya Maistrovskaya, University of Toronto Libraries
  • Sarah Severson, University of Alberta Library

Description

Student Journal Forum started as an in-person half-day event at the University of Toronto in 2015. It was piloted by a cross-departmental group of librarians who came together to help connect a diverse group of student editors to publishing resources, best practices and to each other.

Seven years later, this annual event has grown into a Canada-wide virtual gathering. The shift to online during the COVID-19 pandemic was a key catalyst to open up the forum to students to connect remotely, and for the event to be jointly organized by multiple libraries across Canada.

The nature of the Forum has evolved as well. From its inaugural focus on the delivery of faculty and librarian-led lecture-style literacy sessions to students, it moved to student-centred, peer-led and participatory learning sessions. In 2022, for the first time, the Forum featured an open Call for Proposals to let students take the lead on the content they wanted to talk about.

Finally, the Forum helped establish and strengthen the connections between different Canadian libraries that offer student journal publishing support. This network continues to operate throughout the year, beyond the annual event, in the form of offering open virtual workshops for student editors and sharing useful publishing resources. In this presentation, we will reflect on the evolution of the Student Journal Forum, its successes and challenges, and explore potential future directions in which libraries could support student journal publishing.

Using Open Access Publishing to Promote Undergraduate Research

Presenters

  • Brett Say, Director of Honor Research Programs, University of Pittsburgh Honors College
  • Angel Zheng, Undergraduate Student, University of Pittsburgh Honors College
  • Corey Schultz, Undergraduate Student, University of Pittsburgh Honors College
  • Samantha Kirschman, Undergraduate Student, University of Pittsburgh Honors College

Description

This presentation provides a case study, from an academic department’s perspective, that details how university libraries can help departments develop training programs and interdisciplinary policies that support the development of undergraduate student journals. The Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review (PUR) provides undergraduate students an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, online forum to publish research and creative scholarship. Sponsored by the University Honors College, and supported by the University of Pittsburgh’s open access journal publishing program, the PUR strives to build an integrative community of undergraduate scholars and showcase student work done under the mentorship of faculty mentors.

Since university libraries often have access to systems and resources academic departments do not, as well as a strong knowledge of these systems, this presentation will outline the ways university libraries can provide unique value to academic departments that want to develop open access student journals. The presentation outlines three distinguishing features university libraries can consider when helping departments develop undergraduate journals – An interdisciplinary knowledge of publishing standards, a student peer review training process, and centralized support structure for journal administration.

The presentation utilizes the PUR journal as a case study for developing a new journal or expanding an established student journal. A history of the library and Honors College collaboration is outlined, and presenters will provide advice on potential obstacles libraries and academic departments might face when trying to establish a similar and provide a suggested outline for journal policy development.

March 10, 2022

Full Session: Maturing Our Program: Criteria for Selection, Content Advisories, and Celebrating Great Work

Day/Time: Thursday, May 26,  11:30am – 12:30pm

Presenters

  • Laurie Taylor, University of Florida
  • Perry Collins, University of Florida
  • Chelsea Johnston, University of Florida
  • Tracy MacKay-Ratliff, University of Florida

Description

The LibraryPress@UF started in 2016. Since then, we have been working to mature our program and publish. In 2021, we are set to release a dozen publications (books in print and online, textbooks, and digital scholarship),i in addition to our 20 continuously publishing journals. We follow feminist situated perspective and grounded theory, working to mature program supports through evidence-based and experience-based practices to develop right-sized program operations that best support us and our readers, users, and authors/editors/creators. In following this approach, we often release program supports at the point of need. In this presentation, we will share stories on those points of need and the results, which include:

  • An updated selection criteria, to explicitly prioritize works that promote inclusion and justice by highlighting overlooked or marginalized experiences and perspectives
  • A name change policy, implemented for our publications and for theses and dissertations at UF
  • Our first content advisory, and how we came to publish a book (even as digital-only) that required one
  • Our books this year, and what each has taught us about publishing, including African American Studies: 50 Years at the University of Florida and Delivering Cuba through the Mail: Cuba’s Presence in Non-Cuban Postage Stamps and Envelopes

In sharing our stories as mini-cases of our collective stories of library publishing, we seek to enable more rapid and easier maturation for others. We also seek to inspire with stories specifically from African American Studies: 50 Years at the University of Florida.

March 10, 2022

Full Session: Stepping Onto the Platform: Reflections on Michigan Publishing’s Switch to Janeway for OA Journal Publishing

Day/Time: Thursday, May 26,  11:30am – 12:30pm

Presenters

  • Andy Byers, Senior Publishing Technologies Developer, Birkbeck, University of London/Open Library of Humanities
  • Jason Colman, Director, Michigan Publishing Services, University of Michigan Library
  • Mauro Sanchez, Senior Publishing Technologies Developer, Birkbeck, University of London/Open Library of Humanities
  • Lauren Stachew, Senior Digital Publishing Coordinator, Michigan Publishing Services, University of Michigan Library

Description

Michigan Publishing has been publishing open access journals on a home-grown platform called DLXS since the early 2000s. For the last year and a half, Michigan has been in the process of switching its roughly 40 journals from DLXS to Janeway, the open source journals platform developed by a team at the Centre for Technology and Publishing at Birkbeck, University of London. In this presentation, members of the Janeway and Michigan teams will reflect on why we decided to work together, what the partnership has brought for each of us, and how the transition has gone from both technical and editorial points of view. We’ll include a timeline of the steps we took to accomplish it, and the roles that were involved on both teams.

We’ll try to offer some practical takeaways on best practices for other library journal publishers who are thinking about switching to a new platform, and invite discussion with others in our community who have made or are thinking of making similar moves.