Forum

March 19, 2021

Full Session: The Power of No: Building a Sustainable Publishing Program

Day/Time: Wednesday, May 12, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM

Presenters

Karen Bjork, Portland State University
Johanna Meetz, The Ohio State University

Description

We are passionate about our work, and it can be difficult to say “no.” Each project also has the potential to move our program or initiative forward. However, sometimes saying “no” is the more strategic choice; particularly now that Libraries are facing additional budgetary and staffing constraints due to COVID-19 pandemic.

In this session, the panelists will facilitate a collaborative conversation about how saying “no” can be difficult, and what happens when limited resources (staff or budgetary) mean you can’t say “yes” anymore. We will focus on publishing programs that are ready to make a transition from saying “yes” to all (or most) publishing opportunities to being more selective and saying “no” using a business plan for library publishing as a model (McCready, K.; Molls, E. Developing a Business Plan for a Library Publishing Program. Publications 2018, 6, 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/publications6040042).

As initiatives grow and evolve, it becomes increasingly important to evaluate new projects in the context of ongoing commitments and capacity to take on additional work. Making these kinds of choices allows us to maintain the program’s sustainability.

The session leaders will provide real-life scenarios where they have said “no” to projects, the reasons why, and the consequences (if any) of saying “no.” We have a group discussion around:

The pros and cons of different solutions that might allow some flexibility as resources are running low
Convincing other stakeholders that saying “no” is necessary
Choosing to say “no” when you’d really like to say “yes,” as well as the joy that can be found in saying “no” to something that you’re happy to turn down
Overcoming the difficulties of saying “no, we can’t keep working together,” to a longtime partner
The challenges of juggling other non-publishing related duties, such as traditional scholarly communication librarianship responsibilities

March 19, 2021

Full Session: Advancing Library Publishing Infrastructure: An Update on the Next Gen Library Publishing (NGLP) project

Day/Time: Wednesday, May 12, 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM

Moderator

Catherine Mitchell (CDL)

Presenters

Paul Walk (COAR)
Katherine Skinner (Educopia)
Zach Davis (Cast Iron Coding)
Kristen Ratan (Stratos)

Description

Following the “Next Gen Library Publishing (NGLP) Infrastructure” workshop at LP Forum 2020, which focused on community requirements gathering, this session will provide an update on the NGLP project’s substantial progress in the past year and offer attendees another opportunity to engage directly with this effort to develop community-led, values-based, flexible open infrastructure to support the growing publishing and repository needs of the library community.

The project update will focus on the following deliverables:

A values & principles framework for the evaluation of vendors and technology partners
A new catalog of open source tools and platforms available for scholarly publishing
Two ambitious technology development projects to fill gaps and share data between existing open source platforms (Janeway, OJS and DSpace) for more robust, multi-stakeholder library publishing
The establishment of mission-aligned service providers to host and manage this open infrastructure for library publishers

Attendees will have the opportunity to participate through polls throughout the presentations.

March 19, 2021

Full Session: WordPress Wizardry: Building Publications in WordPress

Day/Time: Tuesday, May 11, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM

Presenters

Laureen Boutang, University of Minnesota Libraries
John Barneson, University of Minnesota Libraries
Shane Nackerud, University of Minnesota Libraries
Emma Molls, University of Minnesota Libraries

Description

University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing creates and maintains WordPress sites for law publications, journals, and scholarly websites. We’ll walk through our process of building a WordPress publication, and how we decide when WordPress is the right tool for the job. We’ll describe the work and tools associated with WordPress: hosting and maintenance, plug-ins and security issues, design and build work, analytics and what additional work is required of the journal’s staff. Using our WordPress-based journals and sites as examples we’ll highlight how different tools and designs have been implemented. 20-30 minutes of the presentation time will be allocated to Q&A from attendees. Our developer will be on the call, so please bring detailed questions, and we can demonstrate portions of the work live as needed.

March 19, 2021

Full Session: Promoting justice-forward language in publications: Policies and actions at your press

Day/Time: Tuesday, May 11, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM

Presenters

Press 1: Sarah Muncy, University of Cincinnati Press, Managing Editor; Liz Scarpelli, University of Cincinnati Press, Director
Press 2: Amanda Krause, University of Arizona Press, Editorial, Design, and Production Manager; Kristen Buckles, University of Arizona Press, Editor-in-Chief
Press 3: Kristen Elias Rowley, Editor in Chief, The Ohio State University Press

Description

Recognizing and adjusting language to be inclusive and justice-forward in publications is not a small task nor one that should be taken lightly. In many cases, it is not solely an issue of terminology, though that certainly plays a part, but a concern regarding general tone—how non-White groups or other minorities are discussed and in what context. Antiquated and offensive terminology and descriptions representing whitewashed views of minority populations and historical events may not be immediately obvious, nor easy to spot initially—they can be found in scholarly as well as regional manuscripts. Knowing how to recognize errors and create a game plan to edit and promote justice-forward publications can seem daunting and difficult to make into tangible, actionable steps.

Solutions and game plans for justice-forward language are rooted in the workflow process. This is a group concern and one that involves a publisher policy and culture; not one dictated to a particular department or based on an individual editor’s ability to spot racially charged language. The panel will involve a pair of presenters from 3 presses who will discuss how to move the dialogue from abstract language to specific tasks and methods publishers can take and how to address push back from authors which can lead to production delays and problems from author relations to poor reviews. The discussions will be rooted in real-world case studies that highlight the concerns, where in the process the concerns were identified, and how (and if) the concerns were resolved, as well as workflow changes to educate and encourage authors to write inclusively and internal procedures to help the press manage these manuscripts. In a Q&A, panel attendees will be invited to share their own experiences as a part of creating sustainable workflows which promote inclusive publications and open space for continual learning at the press and between the press and authors.

March 19, 2021

Full Session: Transition Partnerships: How Library Publishing Services Can Support Society Publishing Transitions to Open Access Self-Sufficiency

Day/Time: Monday, May 10, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM

Presenters:

David Scherer, Carnegie Mellon University
Rikk Mulligan, Carnegie Mellon University
Ryan Splenda, Carnegie Mellon University

Description:

As more library publishing services become operational, academics and their professional societies will be presented with a wider array of publishers and publishing models from which to choose. While these new options and relationships offer more opportunities, they also present challenges, particularly when journal operations transition from one publication model to another. A successful transition in publishing models and systems requires both an understanding of the publication pipeline from submission to the minting of the DOI and the activities that may be involved in each step in-between, including peer review, revision, and copyediting through typesetting and publication.

In December 2020, the International Association of Conflict Management (IACM) society journal, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research (NCMR) transitioned from the Wiley Online Library to become an Open Access and Open Science journal hosted by the Carnegie Mellon University Library Publishing Service (CMU LPS).

2020 was a period of great transition and education for the editorial staff of NCMR, the IACM board of directors, and the CMU LPS. As part of the transition, NCMR’s editorial staff had to learn and adopt the work provided by their former publisher, including several managerial and production processes and activities. Beyond its transition from subscription to Open Science and Open Access, the journal also shifted from the Wiley technical infrastructure to that supported by CMU LPS, and between two different DOI registering authorities.

This presentation will describe the steps taken by the CMU LPS to inform, educate, and enable NCMR to transition toward becoming a fully open access and self-sufficient journal. Attendees can expect to hear how the IACM approached CMU LPS, what materials, training, and additional support aided the journal’s managerial staff in their move to managing all aspects of journal production, and the way in which the DOIs were handled between CrossRef and DataCite.

March 19, 2021

Full Session: Working through the Pain: How Library Publishers are Learning from Workflow Documentation

Day/Time: Monday, May 10, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM

Presenters

Jennifer Beamer, Claremont Colleges Library
Sonya Betz, University of Alberta Library
Brandon Locke, Educopia Institute
Joshua Neds-Fox, Wayne State University Libraries

Description

Library Publishing Workflows (LPW) is an IMLS-funded research project of Educopia Institute, Library Publishing Coalition, and 12 partner libraries to investigate, synchronize, and model a range of library publishing workflows. Through the first year and a half of the project, library publishers conducted interviews with Educopia Institute staff regarding their workflows and pain points, reviewed multiple forms of documentation stemming from the interviews, and participated in several focused group discussions.

In this panel conversation, library publishers will share how the experience of developing workflow documentation and discussing pain points and gaps as a community has impacted their programs. Panelists will present the varied insights into their practice that participation in the project has revealed, including ah-ha moments made possible by in-depth workflow interviews and documentation reviews, ideas generated in community conversations around shared platforms, and discussions about pain points and gaps.

We will also invite participants to share their own experiences from similar documentation projects, including LPC’s Documentation Month (Feb 2021).

October 5, 2020

LPForum 2021

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 2021 Library Publishing Forum will be a virtual conference. We are excited to be able to share Forum programming with the library publishing community as travel and large gatherings are impossible.

#LPforum21
May 10–14 | 12:00 PM to 5 PM Eastern Time

March 26, 2020

LPForum 2020

For the first time in 2020, we will hold the Forum virtually. We are excited to be able to share Forum programming with the library publishing community at a time when travel and large gatherings are impossible, while extending our ongoing thanks to the University of Massachusetts Medical School for their work as the host of our planned in-person conference.

#LPForum20
May 4-8 | noon to 5 PM Eastern Time

March 11, 2020

Full Session: Making Digital Monographs: Rethinking Relationships and Collaborative Models

Day: Wednesday, May 6, 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Room: TBD

Presenters: Allison Levy, Brown University; Sarah McKee, Emory University; Sara Sikes, University of Connecticut

Description: Over the past decade, the scholarly community has created a remarkable, and often overwhelming, array of digital tools, publishing platforms, and models for open access funding and distribution. Humanities and social sciences scholars are increasingly eager to take advantage of these developments to explore new digital expressions, and potentially new audiences, for their monographs. But the production of digital monographs presents a unique challenge, as workflows, peer review standards, and even basic vocabulary are just beginning to evolve. Moreover, authors often require new kinds of support from their home institutions, particularly through libraries and digital scholarship centers, to realize their project visions. This session brings together authors and digital scholarship professionals to share their stories of collaboration in publishing digital monographs of all stripes—from enhanced open access editions of conventional print books to born-digital interactive scholarly works. How did these works come into being? Why were the authors committed to digital publication? What support did their home institutions provide? When and how did publishers enter the picture? What challenges emerged during the editorial and production processes, and how were they resolved? How can we encourage a shared vocabulary for these digital publications among the wider scholarly communications community? The session focuses less on demonstrating the case studies themselves and more on the ways in which various stakeholders collaborated to fully realize the project/author’s vision. Audience members will be invited to share their own stories, including challenges and questions arising with their own digital publications or works in progress.

March 10, 2020

Panel: The Learning Curve: Scholarly Communication and Student Journals

Day: Tuesday, May 5, 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Room: TBD

Leveraging Library Expertise for Student Journal Success: A project to increase the impact and value of UBC undergraduate student journals

Presenters: Stephanie Savage, University of British Columbia; Gavin Hayes, University of British Columbia

Description: At the University of British Columbia undergraduate research is a growing area of interest both for students and the institution. While UBC is actively supporting increased opportunities for undergraduate research, this interest has yet to extend to student publications. Despite the value of undergraduate journals and the central role they can play in the research process, there is little formalized support available to them and most rely on varying levels of financial and mentoring support from their affiliated departments. This presentation will outline a small grant-funded project to provide services and support for undergraduate student journals on campus as one initiative to engage undergraduates in the research process.

To begin we will summarize the four main objectives that we entered into the project with:

To conduct an environmental scan of the student journal landscape
To manage and grow a community of practice for student journal editorial staff
To provide targeted professional development opportunities for student journal staff
To encourage journals to adopt practices and policies that will enhance sustainability in the face of high turnover rates among journal staff

We will then outline how we operationalized each of these objectives throughout the course of the project. Specifically, we will speak to the identification and outreach strategies we employed when contacting journals and will share the results of the data we collected, including the results of a survey we distributed to student journal editors asking them to share their workflows and potential areas for professional development opportunities. Additionally we will point participants to the resources we have created for the student journals and our plans to facilitate better communication and knowledge sharing among them.

We will also speak to some of the challenges of doing this work, including the difficulty of engaging students, who are often busy and hard to schedule in-person events with, and the impact of high turnover on a sustained outreach campaign.