Day/Time: Wednesday, May 18, 2:45pm – 3:45pm
Our first publishing project: Lessons learned about ourselves and our work
Presenters
- Donna Langille, Community Engagement and Open Education Librarian, University of British Columbia Okanagan
- Amanda Brobbel, Senior Manager, Writing & Language Learning Services, University of British Columbia Okanagan
Description
In summer 2021, while our campus was still fully remote, two library employees (one a writing center director, the other a community engagement and open education librarian) were asked to collaborate with a team of researchers (faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students), who were setting out to bring fresh life to an institutionally supported press. Building on the press’s previous focus on social justice, EDI, and community collaboration, the press sought new collaborations with community, the library, and the writing centre to centre Open Access and accessibility of multimodal materials.
Through this talk we would like to highlight some of our significant learning moments as partners in the iterative process of developing the press’s new Open Access directions/foundations. First, we would like to feature how the lead researcher established a working environment that centred care and support for the team. This process helped us, a librarian and writing centre director, feel included as partners on the editorial team rather than ancillary service providers.
A second lesson is largely a result of the first: both of us expanded our vision of our own work. The press, which is committed to supporting multiple modalities of knowledge creation and community engaged-research, caused us to consider aspects of our own intersected and supported non-traditional formats of scholarship including but not limited to podcasting, digital exhibits, ceremony, and graphic novels. As a result, taking the time to explore and collect information was integral to this project. The student editorial assistants, with support from the rest of the editorial team, were instrumental in writing environmental scans on many aspects of the project which informed the mission, values, and commitments of the press.
Finally, we experienced working on a project that centered social justice in its mission and values. From author agreements to open access licensing, the press centred Indigenous knowledges and consistently considered its relationality to the Indigenous peoples and their territory on which the press is situated.
Identifying Smaller Publishers with Values-Aligned Practices through Library Partnership Certification
Presenters
- Rachel Caldwell, Scholarly Communication Librarian, University of Tennessee
- Robin N. Sinn, Director of Collections and Open Strategies, Iowa State University
Description
Library presses and publishing programs have experts with skills and infrastructure to support discoverability and metadata creation that many smaller publishers lack. Many of these publishers, including both academic-owned publishers in low- and middle-income countries and many independent scholarly/learned society publishers, are at the same time concerned about visibility, transitioning to open access, and their future as an independent publishing organization. There is a definite need for technological expertise among smaller independent publishers. Library presses could reach out to such publishers and provide support with infrastructure, metadata, and other aspects of discoverability and preservation, but how can libraries and presses identify publishers with similar values who would be strong partners?
The Library Partnership (LP) certification is one approach; it updates and improves the former Publishers Acting as Partners with Public Institutions (PAPPI) evaluation system. LP certification includes a rubric that scores publishers’ practices in four areas: Access, Rights, Community, and Discoverability. Publishers earn credits or points for each practice that meets library values. Similar to LEED certification for architecture, LP certification determines how well a publisher’s practices align with professional values of librarianship. For library presses, LP certification scores can help identify strong potential publishing partners that need support with metadata, discoverability, preservation, and so on. Entering into such partnerships may help libraries meet goals related to supporting and maintaining a diverse publishing ecosystem and encouraging openness.
Presenters will introduce the LP certification rubric, discuss the scores earned by several publishers selected in a sample, and suggest potential next steps a library press might consider with each publisher in the sample. Presenters encourage and invite questions and ideas on the rubric criteria, the overall utility to library presses, the strengths and limitations of a scoring system, and the possibilities and challenges in actualizing such a certification.
Critique of “Transformative” Reasons
Presenters
- Brianne Selman, University of Winnipeg
Description
This session will summarize some of the major categories of the critiques of “transformative” agreements. Perspectives that critique negotiation approaches, the continued bundling of costs into large agreements, market concentrations, decline in scholarly standards, analysis of whether OA goals are even being met by TAs, as well as major equity and diversity concerns will be summarized and discussed.