Tuesday, May 22, 10-11:00am
Room: Memorial Hall
Presenters: Thomas Hickerson, Libraries & Cultural Resources, University of Calgary; Brian Scrivener, University of Calgary Press; Guylaine Beaudry, Concordia University Library; Geoffrey Little, Concordia University Press
Description: As more university libraries and university presses become organizationally aligned, library and press directors are looking for ways to move beyond simple administrative alignment to a shared mission and synergistic integration. Libraries and presses are both committed to supporting the full cycle of research and scholarly exchange as part of the academic mission of their universities. Libraries, however, bring a unique and longstanding commitment to open access that doesn’t typically line up with the business model of most presses. This session looks at how two research universities—University of Calgary and Concordia University—have created innovative library-press relationships that, in different ways, bring together shared resources and expertise in pursuit of open access publishing. At Calgary, an existing press was reconceived to align more closely with the mission and operations of the library. Vice Provost and University Librarian Tom Hickerson will describe how an integrated vision for support of open access, peer-reviewed publishing informed the restructuring of the Press. University of Calgary Press Director Brian Scrivener will speak to the mechanics of putting vision into action on a daily basis, blending the strategic goals and institutional resources of a university library with the research goals and publishing practices of an open access university press. At Concordia University, a library-based press was developed from the ground up and launched in 2016. Concordia University Press is a non-profit publisher of open access, peer-reviewed books that cross disciplinary boundaries and propel scholarly inquiry into new areas. Vice-Provost, Digital Strategy & University Librarian Guylaine Beaudry and Geoffrey Little, Scholarly Communications Librarian and Press Editor-in-Chief, will speak of the lengthy, deliberate process of establishing a new press: from visioning and needs case, crafting an economic model, leveraging donor, campus, and community support, to implementation.