Past Forum Info

LPForum 2019 Vancouver
October 11, 2018

Opening the Classroom: Publishing Open Educational Resources (preconference)

Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2019 (7:30am-5:00pm) Location: Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC Co-sponsors: BCcampus and Open Textbook Network Registration: US$25 for morning workshop, US$10 for afternoon mini-conference

About

#LPForum19

As the use of OERs continues to grow throughout the academy, this preconference will address the growing need for distinctive practices for developing, supporting, and hosting OERs as part of library publishing. The morning will consist of a hands-on textbook publishing workshop (planned in collaboration with the Open Textbook Network), and the afternoon will include panels and presentations (planned in collaboration with BCcampus).

Schedule

7:30 AM – 8:00 AM: Breakfast
8:00 AM – 11:30 AM: Open Textbook Publishing Workshop
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM: Lunch break (on your own)
1:00 – 5:00 PM: Practices and Possibilities (mini-conference)

Registration

**Registration for the preconference is now closed.**

Morning workshop: US$25 registration fee (limit 50 participants, includes breakfast and AM coffee/snack break)
Update, March 15: The morning textbook publishing workshop is full. To be added to the waitlist for this workshop, email contact@librarypublishing.org.

Afternoon mini-conference: US$10 registration fee (limit 100 participants, includes PM coffee/snack break)

Registration for the morning and afternoon sessions is separate; attendees can register for just one session or both. The registration deadline is April 19.

Register

Program

Breakfast (7:30 AM – 8:00 AM)

Morning: Open Textbook Publishing Workshop (8:00 AM – 11:30 AM)

In this hands-on workshop, you will learn effective project management for supporting open textbook publishing. Working at tables with experienced open textbook project managers, attendees will develop strategies for setting expectations with authors, guiding textbook development, creating project timelines, and supporting editing, design and production based on local capacity. Prior to the workshop, some preliminary work will be required to establish a shared understanding of open textbooks.

Instructor: Karen Lauritsen, Open Textbook Network
Table facilitators: Karen Bjork, Portland State University; Michelle Brailey, University of Alberta; Corinne Guimont, Virginia Tech; Inba Kehoe, University of Victoria; Mark Konecny, University of Cincinnati; Amanda Larson, Penn State University; Carla Myers, Miami University; Anita Walz, Virginia Tech

Lunch Break (11:30 AM – 1:00 PM)

Afternoon: Practices and Possibilities (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM)

In this series of presentations, you will engage with OER publishing from a programmatic and community perspective. Presenters will share their experiences developing and maintaining OER publishing programs, identify opportunities to collaborate and learn from OER stakeholders, and recommend future directions for the OER publishing community. Through activities and discussions, attendees will leave with practical next steps for their own programs, whether those programs are well-established, brand new, or merely in the conceptual stage.

Opening Remarks (1:00 PM – 1:15 PM)

Full Session (1:15 PM – 2:30 PM)

The Library as OER Publisher: Now What, Pandora? [video1][video2]
Karen Meijer-Kline, Kwantlen Polytechnic University; Caroline Daniels, Kwantlen Polytechnic University; Stephanie Savage, University of British Columbia; Leonora Crema, University of British Columbia; Lucas Wright, University of British Columbia

Today libraries are seeking new creative partnerships with faculty in open textbook and OER creation. This workshop will review two case studies at libraries that do not yet have established open textbook publishing programs.

At Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the Library started small with an internal open education grant to test the concept of ‘Library as Open Publisher’. Based on that small success, they followed by extending the service through an expanded granting opportunity with the library taking on publishing projects in larger and various capacities. At University of British Columbia, the Library used faculty subgrants to explore what open publishing partnerships are possible, followed by program assessment with both faculty and students. Both libraries based their projects on the BCcampus Pressbooks platform, and found that services, once offered, evolved in unexpected ways. Just when we think we’ve sussed it, has the open textbook morphed into new entities not yet imagined?

In this changing landscape, what are we seeing and how do we recommend starting up these services? What will be our capacity to sustain them? What strategies accelerate or hinder progress? Rounding off the session, a learning technologist will shed light on what else might be in Pandora’s box that we will need to consider in a library-led publishing program. What new tools will instructors pull out of the box in 2020?

If your library had no new resources, could you pull off an open publishing program? What 15% of resources that you currently have at your disposal could be directed towards it? (Participants will be invited to engage in a “15% Solutions” Liberating Structure activity.)

Whether your library’s open textbook / OER program is longstanding or just getting started, we promise a lively and engaging discussion that will leave you with many practical tips and a few puzzles unsolved.

Break (2:30 PM – 3:00 PM)

Presentations (3:00 PM – 4:45 PM)
If You Build It, Will They Come? Faculty Preferences for Textbook Publishing Programs [video]
Jessica Kirschner, Virginia Commonwealth University

What do faculty look for when publishing textbooks? While marketing the launch of a new affordable textbook publishing program at Texas Tech University Libraries, most faculty we spoke to expressed interest. But this engagement did not translate to submissions for our initial call for proposals.  Since the outline of services and the values that drive our program—affordability, locality, and customizability—did not attract a pilot group, we decided to survey our faculty about which factors they value in a textbook publishing program. With these results in hand, we could shape a publishing program which was guided by these drivers but also had features which would enable it to be competitive with other textbook publishers for our faculty’s patronage.

This presentation will review the results of our survey: what features do faculty prefer when searching for a publisher for their textbook? What features would they value in a textbook publishing program being created in the library? Factors queried about include print vs digital, author retaining copyright, peer review, speed of publication, customizability, and availability of supplementary materials, as well as the value of locality and publisher prestige.

Advancing Open and Affordability: University Presses, Libraries, and Textbooks
Annie Johnson, Temple University

The textbook landscape is changing. Since 1978, the average cost of undergraduate textbooks has increased 810% or 3x the inflation rate. In response to this development, many colleges and universities have begun to make textbook affordability a priority on their campuses, encouraging faculty to use no or low-cost materials instead of expensive commercial textbooks.

University presses are part of the solution when it comes to the challenge of high textbook costs. Presses that publish textbooks generally make it a point to create affordable versions for students. However, while university presses are increasingly experimenting with open access book publishing, involvement in publishing open textbooks has been limited. Why is this? Could university presses and libraries work together to publish high-quality open textbooks? This presentation will report on a survey of university presses about attitudes towards and involvement with the publication of open textbooks. It will explore how open textbooks published by presses are similar to and different from open textbooks published by libraries. Finally, the presenter will give examples of press/library partnerships around the publication of open textbooks and offer ideas for how more of these collaborations might work in the future.

Open Content Deserves Open Platforms: Principles & Practices for a Publicly-Owned Publishing Infrastructure [video] [slides]
Steel Wagstaff, Educational Client Manager, Pressbooks; Allison Brown, Digital Publishing Services Manager, SUNY Geneseo; Lillian Hogendoorn, Program Coordinator, eCampusOntario; Amanda Wentworth, OER Publishing Coordinator, SUNY Geneseo

Many publishers are pivoting from selling expensive textbooks to selling expensive courseware (often wrapped around OER content). Changes in their product offerings are often accompanied by marketing campaigns touting personalized learning, inclusive access, and all-in-one subscription models. While library publishers have made important strides in displacing proprietary content with openly-licensed alternatives, fewer inroads have been made in regard to courseware and the platforms used to create it.

In this 60-minute session, we will present our vision of a publicly-owned, open-source publishing infrastructure capable of producing media-rich, interactive, openly licensed books and other educational material. We will present seven guiding principles for publishing platforms that we want to build and use:

  1. Publicly owned: Is open-source & uses open-source components
  2. Plays well with others: Uses broadly-accepted standards
  3. Lets users come & go freely: Allows for easy import/export of content & data
  4. Can be adapted to local needs: Allows content to be cloned/remixed
  5. Helps learners accomplish their goals: Includes interactive components
  6. Is inclusive & participatory: Is accessible, easy to use, and includes web annotation
  7. Is demonstrably efficacious: Permits ethical, learner-centered analytics

Presenters will describe recent investment by SUNY system and eCampusOntario to build a more robust open publishing infrastructure (using Pressbooks and other tools) and how this work aligns with the mission of their library publishing programs. We will explore questions of responsibility (Who funds this work? Who should govern these platforms?), maintenance (Who takes care of the system? Who takes care of the content?), and collaboration (How do diverse institutions work together in pursuit of common goals? How do we know that what build will meet the needs of communities outside our own?).

Closing (4:45 PM)

Planning Committee

Sonya Betz, University of Alberta (chair)
Lauri Aesoph, BCcampus
Jonathan Bull, Valparaiso University
Amanda Coolidge, BCcampus
Karen Lauritsen, Open Textbook Network
Matt Ruen, Grand Valley State University
Melanie Schlosser, Library Publishing Coalition

Preconference Sponsors

Contact

Email contact@librarypublishing.org with questions.

July 10, 2018

Owned by the Academy: A Preconference on Open Source Publishing Software

Date: Monday, May 21, 2018 (full day) Location: Wilson Library, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Registration: $50 (limit 100) Hashtags: #OwnedByTheAcademy, #LPForum18

About

This full-day workshop will give attendees an opportunity to learn more about the landscape of open source publishing software and associated service providers, and give platform developers the opportunity to interact with each other and with the community.

Contact Melanie Schlosser for more information.

Registration

Registration for this event is now closed.

Featured Platforms

Most of the formal program for the day will consist of presentations and hands-on sessions by a selected set of open source publishing platforms, including:

Program

The program can also be accessed at https://ownedbytheacademy.sched.com. Sessions marked with   will be livestreamed via LPC’s Twitter account.

Directions to Wilson Library

Please refer to the Campus Map for all directions.

From The Graduate Hotel:

  • Walking: 20-30 minutes.
    • Walk West on Washington Ave. The Graduate Hotel is on the “East Bank” of Campus.
    • Cross the river on the upper pedestrian level of the bridge.
    • Once you’re on the “West Bank” of campus, turn left to head south to Wilson Library.
  • Campus Shuttle: The “University Ave Circulator” has a stop at Northrop Mall on Washington Avenue (West of the Hotel). Take that to the Carlson stop on the West Bank. Please check the schedule as the buses will be running less frequently during the May Intersession.
  • Light Rail: The Green Line Light Rail has an East Bank stop in front of the Graduate Hotel. If you take the Westbound train to the West Bank stop, stay on the street/rail line level and walk back east along Washington Ave. towards Blegen Hall. At Blegen Hall, there will be a set of outdoor stairs leading up to the Plaza level. As you emerge from the stairs, continue straight (heading south) towards Wilson Library.
  • Nice Ride: Go to the bike rack at the “McNamara Center” and bike along the walking directions. There is a rack on the West side of Wilson Library where you can return your bike. Plan your route here: https://secure.niceridemn.org/map/ Single rides are charged at $3 per half hour from the time the bike leaves the station. A 24 Hour pass is $6 for unlimited 30 min rides.

If you’re driving:

Wilson Library’s Address is: 309 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455

The best place to park is in the 21st Avenue Ramp which is across the street from campus. Wilson Library is set back off 4th street (which you cross to get from the ramp to the library) in between the Carlson School of Management and the Rarig Theater.

Call for Showcase Session Participants

*This call is now closed.*

We are pleased to issue an open call for participants for a showcase session that will allow attendees to learn more about the broader ecosystem of open source publishing software. This hour-long, mid-day plenary session will be structured like a poster or exhibit session. Each participating organization will have a space to display materials and demonstrate their platform, tool, or service. Attendees will be encouraged to interact with as many participating organizations as they wish.

Showcase session participants will be selected by the preconference planning group based on fit with event goals and available space. Participants are expected to register for and attend the full preconference, and are encouraged to attend the Library Publishing Forum as well.

We especially invite representation from:

  • Open source platforms used to publish content online
  • Open source tools related to any stage of the publishing process
  • Service providers working with open source software
  • Organizations focused on creating or sustaining open source publishing software

 

Planning Group

  • Melanie Schlosser, Library Publishing Coalition (Chair)
  • Vanessa Gabler, University of Pittsburgh
  • Justin Gonder, California Digital Library
  • Kevin Hawkins, University of North Texas
  • Emma Molls, University of Minnesota
  • Peter Potter, Virginia Tech
  • Kristen Ratan, Collaborative Knowledge Foundation
  • Kevin Stranack, Simon Fraser University/Public Knowledge Project
  • Rebecca Welzenbach, University of Michigan

 

Promotional image for preconference

May 18, 2018

Keynote: Disabilité! Accessibilité! Diversité!: Expanding the Cultural Framework for Library Publishing

Keynote speaker: Catherine Kudlick, Professor of History and Director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, San Francisco State University

Catherine Kudlick photographBio: After two decades at the University of California, Davis, Catherine Kudlick became Professor of History and Director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University in 2012. She has published a number of books and articles in disability history, including Reflections: the Life and Writings of a Young Blind Woman in Postrevolutionary France and “Disability History: Why We Need Another Other” in the American Historical Review. She oversaw completion of Paul Longmore’s posthumously published book, Telethons: Spectacle, Disability, and the Business of Charity. She is co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Disability History with Michael Rembis and Kim Nielsen. As director of the Longmore Institute, she directed the public history exhibit “Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights” and co-hosts Superfest International Disability Film Festival. She has been active in electronic accessibility initiatives, first at UC Davis and more recently in public advocacy.

 

May 11, 2018

Lunchtime Conversation: Making scholarly communications and the research environment more open, inclusive, and equitable (ACRL Research Agenda)

Tuesday, May 22, 12:15-1:15pm
Room: Minnesota Room

Presenter: Nancy Maron, BlueSky to BluePrint

The ACRL wants your help in identifying actionable steps that academic librarians can take to accelerate the transition to and build capacity for more open, inclusive, and equitable systems of scholarship. Rebecca Kennison and Nancy Maron have been hired by ACRL to undertake this work, working closely with their Research and Scholarly Environment Committee.

The project (see full description) involves community consultation, to be sure that we understand the priorities of many different types of people involved in scholarly communications.

This study will result in a report to be published in 2019 that captures effective current practices and outlines new directions for research and investigation to accelerate the transition to more open, inclusive, and equitable systems of scholarship.

Please join Nancy Maron for a roundtable discussion to learn more about the project and to be sure we address the issues you care most about.

May 3, 2018

Principles and pragmatism: Navigating the choppy waters of library publishing infrastructure (LPC Membership Meeting)

Wednesday, May 23, 8:30-9:30am
Room: Memorial Hall

Recent events have highlighted both our community’s reliance on commercial partners to provide infrastructure and our initiative in building platforms of our own. Both approaches involve a complex weighing of benefits, challenges, and compromises. During this discussion-based meeting, we will share our strategies for navigating these waters and identify ways that we – as individual programs and as a profession – can help ensure successful outcomes for both approaches.

All LPC members and Forum attendees are welcome to join in the discussion!

May 1, 2018

Reception

Tuesday, May 22, 6:00-8:00pm
Weisman Art Museum
333 E River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Directions

The Weisman is an 11 minute walk from the Graduate Hotel. From the hotel’s main doors, head right (west) along Washington Avenue. Cross Washington Avenue at Harvard Street and continue west on Washington until you come to Church Street. When you’ve gotten this far, follow the sidewalk to the left to head toward Coffman Union. (You will be about a story above street level if you stay left.) The Weisman is the bright shiny silver building directly to the west of the Union.

If you need help arranging alternative transportation to the reception, please email contact@librarypublishing.org.

Program

There will be two rounds of informal lightning talks during the reception – a sponsor showcase and an LPC committees and task forces showcase. Remarks will begin around 6:30pm.

Galleries

As a special bonus for Forum attendees, the Weisman galleries, including the Prince from Minneapolis exhibit, will be open and available to Reception attendees. Be sure to wear your Forum badge, and leave any bulky bags or backpacks at the hotel.

Food and drink

The reception will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres, and each registered Forum attendee will receive two drink tickets.

 

April 11, 2018

Full Session: Taking the Leap: Experiences Planning and Implementing a Migration to OJS 3

Tuesday, May 23, 4:00-5:00pm
Room: Heritage Gallery

Presenters: Sarah Hare, Indiana University; Emma Molls, University of Minnesota; University of Minnesota; Ted Polley, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Description: The Public Knowledge Project announced the release of Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3 in August 2016. In addition to a more streamlined interface OJS 3 offers important functionality, including more flexible roles, new plugins, and even the ability to operationalize XML-first publishing.

However, almost two years after the official release, several library publishers have not yet migrated to the newest version of OJS. In addition to the technical support needed to successfully plan and execute the migration, implementation often involves extensive outreach to editors on system changes and new functionality.

At the same time, library publishers that do decide to migrate often work in isolation, asking colleagues on listservs, Github, or other online forums for advice or information about their experience migrating. There are no formal community-developed outreach materials for library publishers to share communally and implement locally.

This session will present three case studies for the transition to OJS 3. One case study, from the University of Minnesota, will explore the migration from bepress to OJS 3. Two others, from Indiana University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, will explore migrating a multi-site instance from OJS 2 to OJS 3. Each case study will be grounded in information about the library publishing program, timeline, size of the department, and level of technical support available.

In addition to presenting our process for completing the migration, we will share tangible outreach materials with participants. These include communication templates, training outlines, videos, and wikis created to support journal editors transition to OJS 3. The session will also present obstacles to success, which we hope will prompt a discussion about how to improve others’ planning process and eventually build community around this topic.

April 11, 2018

Full Session: What OA Policy Administrators, I.R. Managers, and Scholarly Communication Officers Want from Publishers

Tuesday, May 23, 4:00-5:00pm
Room: Memorial Hall

Presenters: John G. Dove, Paloma & Associates; David Scherer, Carnegie-Mellon University; Barbara DeFelice, Dartmouth College; Jonathan Bull, Valparaiso University

Description: What do librarians involved with scholarly communication programs, such as open repositories and author rights consultation, want from Subscription Journals? What do they want from Open Access Journals? Here’s your chance to make your wishes known!

We will break into three working groups to come up with three lists:
What should subscription journals agree not to do if they claim to support Libraries?
What would friendly practices and policies for supporting open repositories, author rights, and open and public access policies look like from subscription journals?
What can Open Access journals do to be more Library friendly?

Grist for this mill:
http://goo.gl/VjTbo5
https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1657
https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/16699/18181

April 11, 2018

Panel: Discovery

Wednesday, May 23, 4:00-5:00pm
Room: Ski-U-Mah Room

On Adding Platforms to Improve Sustainability: The Case for the Minimal Journal

Kerri O’Connell and Alexander Gil Fuentes, Columbia University

Description: Library publishing programs extend significant value to the scholars on their campuses through service-based partnerships in which the particular needs of individual publications and their editors may be uniquely accommodated. Especially for programs with dedicated library IT personnel and a preference for open-source platforms, the idiosyncratic needs of scholars and their scholarship may be attended through platform selection and customization—but such programs mature at a cost. The accretion of “technical debt,” attributable to platform multiplicity and bespoke solutions, when combined with robust approaches to online security and software patching, creates negative downstream consequences as staff time becomes increasingly allocated to maintenance tasks over new project builds. Many successful projects and publications result from this high-touch approach, but are there less resource-intensive approaches available over time? And how might one assess and tack toward such solutions?

In an attempt to mitigate against the future costs to maintain software customizations made to legacy publishing platforms, program staff at Columbia University Libraries have begun to examine our current offerings and the extent to which peer review and submission management software is necessary for each of our partners. Our goal is to identify editors who may not have a need for elaborate publication management and editorial workflows and to provide them with a lightweight alternative. With an eye toward sustainability, scalability, and reduced overhead around future platform maintenance and upgrades, we have begun to formalize discussions with current and prospective editorial partners: How extensively are the editors of this journal using the platform(s) provided to them? Is the perpetual availability of a content management system necessary for the publication of each journal’s content? Are there alternative workflows and software solutions that the library’s digital scholarship group can offer to scholars who require only minimal infrastructure to publish online?

To accommodate editors who fit into this category of minimal publication needs, we are experimenting with new options for journal publishing that will not rely on our standard toolset (WordPress and Open Journal Systems), but will instead leverage static site generation in order to share scholarly outputs. This panel will explore the project requirements, assessment frameworks, and service implications of this additional platform offering.

 

Strategies to Improve Visibility and Reuse of Library-Published Journals

Marianne Reed, University of Kansas Libraries

Description: Library-published journals all need visibility in order to survive and thrive. Visibility increases the journal’s standing in the scholarly community and attracts readers, submissions, reviewers, and editors. It’s especially important for niche journals or those that are just launching to take steps to make sure that journal content reaches as wide an audience as possible. The success and visibility of library-published journals also enhances the prestige of the library publishing program and encourages more journals to publish with the library.

My presentation will outline the practical steps that the University of Kansas Libraries’ Digital Publishing Services and our editors have taken together to successfully increase the visibility of our journals and their content. Our strategies include making almost all of our journals open access, with machine-readable Creative Commons licenses added wherever possible; adding back issues to the journal website; providing DOIs for journal articles through CrossRef; adding journals and article metadata to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); encouraging editors/authors to talk about the journal/articles at their discipline’s conferences and on discussion lists; putting policies on sharing in the SHERPA/RoMEO database of publisher policies; advising editors about working with aggregators, as well as more unusual methods such as providing a venue for editor-hosted meetings of reviewers and other members of the scholarly community in that discipline.

April 11, 2018

Panel: Intersections of Library Publishing and Pedagogy

Wednesday, May 23, 2:30-3:30pm
Room: Heritage Gallery

Expanding Scholarly Communication Instruction for the Next Generation of LIS Leaders: Building an Open Educational Resource to Support the Work of Scholarly Communication

Maria Bonn, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Description: Librarians have become a major stakeholder in the open education movement. However, many of the courses in which we are taught our craft are still bound by traditional commercial texts. The open, collaborative nature of OER lends them a unique ability to support community-driven learning and sharing, making them an ideal venue for introducing new learners to a dynamic, aspirational field like scholarly communication. Librarians from three institutions – Kansas, Illinois, and NC State – are developing an OER for training librarians and other learners about what scholarly communication librarianship is and what it has the potential to be. This presentation describes our work developing a collaborative, community-driven, dynamic OER for introducing students and practitioners to scholarly communication.

Publishing Literacy in the For-Credit Classroom: Assessing Indiana University Journal of Undergraduate Research Student Editors

Sarah Hare, Indiana University

Description: Library publishers are in a unique position to educate undergraduate students on publishing and scholarly communication concepts. In addition to being experts in ethical publishing practices and open access funding models, library publishers often offer a publishing platform that is open to everyone affiliated with their institution, including undergraduate students.

In Fall 2017, the Scholarly Communication Librarian at Indiana University took undergraduate outreach a step further by developing a one-credit hour course for the student editorial board of the Indiana University Journal of Undergraduate Research (IUJUR). The course attempted to balance practical fundamentals—for example, learning OJS and evaluating submissions using IUJUR-specific rubrics—with larger concepts, including understanding and critiquing various peer review models, comprehending the value of open access, and grappling with ethical dilemmas.

This session will discuss how including undergraduates in library publishing outreach efforts can promote a publishing program while also furthering the library’s information literacy goals (ACRL, 2015) and the institution’s student retention ambitions (Council on Undergraduate Research, 2017). It will also describe the readings, case studies, and discussion prompts used throughout the course. While not every librarian will be able to create a for-credit course, these active-learning materials are modular and can easily be integrated into other outreach endeavors.

Finally, the session will discuss the instrument used to assess student learning. The presentation will build upon other work on assessing undergraduate publishing literacy and student confidence before and after library outreach (Weiner & Watkinson, 2014) to present formative and summative assessment strategies participants can adopt.

Beta Testing an Open Access Monograph Publishing Lab: Brainstorm Books at UCSB Library

Sherri L. Barnes, University of California, Santa Barbara; Eileen A. Fradenburg Joy, Punctum Books

Description: Sherri L. Barnes, University of California, Santa Barbara; Eileen A. Fradenburg Joy, Punctum BooksBrainstorm Books, an imprint of open access (OA) academic publisher punctum books, was launched in 2017 by University of California, Santa Barbara’s Literature and the Mind program. The unusual cohort responsible for the production of the first Brainstorm titles included: nine UCSB undergraduates; two PhD students; an English professor; a scholar-publisher; a scholarly communication librarian; and a data librarian. UCSB Library, an advocate for advancing transformative, no-fees OA publishing, interdisciplinary research, and collaboration, hosted the experimental publishing lab in its Interdisciplinary Research Collaboratory. In the two-quarter seminar / workshop-style lab, students with no prior publishing experience worked in teams to undertake the copyediting, proofreading, source verification, typesetting, and graphic design of three scholarly books written by non-UC authors. In addition to navigating and learning library systems, style manuals, and Adobe Creative Suite software, to help students better understand the business, legal, and related practical challenges of academic publishing as a “content industry,” students were also offered mini-tutorials on: (a) the history of the OA movement; (b) the history of the book; (c) the state of the art and the business of contemporary academic publishing; (d) the history of copyright and intellectual property; and (e) disputes and trends within particular information industries.

University-based open access book publishing, as a symbiotic creative collaboration between students, faculty, librarians, authors, and a publisher with shared interests yet different skills and resources, is an easily adaptable model that serves multiple purposes: (a) to provide a university-based OA publishing option for scholars who want a high-quality editorial and design experience, which places a premium on the author’s vision, and values experimentation and accessibility; (b) to present an alternative career path for PhDs interested in working in public, mission-driven scholarly communications; and (c) to provide undergraduates with an interdisciplinary, experiential, and skills-based experience.