Libraries as Publishers:
Current and Best
Practices
Rebecca Kennison
Association of Southeastern
Research Libraries Spring Meeting
Charleston, South Carolina
April 11, 2012
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Trends in Academia
• Digital innovation in all disciplines
• Increased awareness concerning
intellectual property
• Reconsideration of academic reward
system while still embracing traditional
modes
• Rethinking peer review, credentialing
• Global collaboration and sharing
• Need for robust data management
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
The Challenge
“[C]ollege and university librarians no
longer can rely on their stakeholders’
belief in their importance. Rather,
they must demonstrate their value.”
— Association of College and Research Libraries, The Value of
Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and
Report, September 2010
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Addressing the Needs
•
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•
•
•
Digital repositories, data repositories
Digitization
Digital collections, digital projects
Virtual research environments
Information commons
In-person and online workshops,
seminars, outreach (including social
media), educational materials
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Columbia University Libraries/Information Services
Vice President
for Information Services
and University Librarian
James Neal
Associate Vice President
for Finance, Administration,
and Human Resources
Kristine Kavanaugh
Associate University Librarian
for Bibliographic Services
and Collection Development
Robert Wolven
Associate Vice President
for Digital Programs
and Technology Services
Robert Cartolano
Associate University Librarian
for Collections and Services
Damon Jaggars
Libraries Digital Program Division
Director
Stephen Davis
Center for Digital Research and Scholarship
Director
Rebecca Kennison
Libraries Information Technology Office
Director
TBD
Preservation and Digital Conversion Division
Director
Janet Gertz
Copyright Advisory Office
Director
Kenneth Crews
Center for New Media Teaching and Learning
Executive Director
Frank Moretti
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“Critical, Difficult Decisions”
• Reallocating funds to support
publishing
• Committing to new staff skills
• Investing in senior program leaders
• Aligning publishing services with
mission
• Understanding publishing needs
• Leveraging press partnerships
From: Foreword of Final Research Report: Library
Publishing Services: Strategies for Success (March
2012)
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Columbia University Libraries/Information Services
Vice President
for Information Services
and University Librarian
James Neal
Associate Vice President
for Finance, Administration,
and Human Resources
Kristine Kavanaugh
Associate University Librarian
for Bibliographic Services
and Collection Development
Robert Wolven
Associate Vice President
for Digital Programs
and Technology Services
Robert Cartolano
Associate University Librarian
for Collections and Services
Damon Jaggars
Libraries Digital Program Division
Director
Stephen Davis
Center for Digital Research and Scholarship
Director
Rebecca Kennison
Libraries Information Technology Office
Director
TBD
Preservation and Digital Conversion Division
Director
Janet Gertz
Copyright Advisory Office
Director
Kenneth Crews
Center for New Media Teaching and Learning
Executive Director
Frank Moretti
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Our Goal at CDRS
Address the ongoing evolution of
researchers’ and scholars’ needs as
new technologies, policies, and
systems of knowledge support arise
Stay out ahead of Jim Neal
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Center for Digital Research and Scholarship
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Staffing
• Full-time staff: 15
– Cf. 2.4 FTE (ARL), 0.9 FTE Oberlin
• Part-time permanent staff: 2
• Interns (unpaid): 1-3 per semester
• Work-study students: 2-4, when we can
get them
• Funding: 85%-90% institutional; 10%15% revenue; grants, fees, donations,
etc.
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
CDRS: What We Do
• Scholarly Communication
Program
• Research repository
• Collaboration services
• Conferences and video
services
• Experiments, pilots,
prototypes
– First of kind, not one of
a kind
• University press
partnerships
• Journals
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
CDRS: What We Do
• Scholarly Communication
Program
• Research repository
• Collaboration services
• Conferences and video
services
• Experiments, pilots,
prototypes
– First of kind, not one of
a kind
• University press
partnerships
• Journals
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Scholarly Communication
Program
• Information about
issues (e.g., NIH,
NSF, ETDs)
• Coordination of OA
resolutions
• Administration of
Columbia OA
Publication Fund
• Research Without
Borders speaker
series
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Research Repository
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Publications Management
Application
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Collaboration
Wikischolars
Alfresco
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Conferences
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•
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•
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Caste & Contemporary India
Cities in Revolt: The DutchAmerican Atlantic, ca. 16501815
Columbia Undergraduate
Science Journal Symposium
Comic New York
The Digital Middle Ages
Fragile Families Summer Data
Workshop
International Symposium on
Design and Practice of
Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil
Structures
NEH Summer Institute
Women in Silent Film
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Online Reference Project
http://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu
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Companion Web Site
http://davidcopperfield.columbia.edu
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Press Hosting Partnership
http://www.ciaonet.org/
http://www.gutenberge.org/
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Press Book Partnership
http://dangerouscitizens.columbia.edu
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Columbia-Based Journals
• 90+ (and more all the time)
– Columbia, Barnard, Teachers College, Union
Theological, Jewish Theological
• Faculty-run
– e.g., Journal of Philosophy, Scholar & Feminist Online,
Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements
• Grad student-run
– e.g., Columbia Law Review, Journal of International
Affairs, Union Seminary Quarterly Review
• Undergrad-run
– e.g., Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Journals Services
• Platform software hosting, updates, enhancements
– Open Journal Systems
– WordPress
– Blogs and wikis
• Consultation
– Digitization of print back issues
– Copyright, licensing, author agreements
– Open access and other business models
•
•
•
•
ISSN acquisition, domain registration
Print on demand
Custom quote: design, content migration
Workshops on journal publishing best practices
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Process
Initial
Conversation
Launch
Design +
Ongoing
Discussion
Requirements
Gathering
Master Service
Agreement
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Tiered Service Model
•
•
•
•
•
•
Barebones (free)
Basic (free)
Simple (custom quote)
Simple + design (custom quote)
Extended (custom quote)
Premier (custom quote)
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Journals Currently Hosting
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Columbia Business Law Review
Columbia Journal of European
Law
Columbia Journal of Race and
Law
Columbia Journal of
Transnational Law
Columbia Undergraduate
Science Journal
Consilience: The Journal of
Sustainable Development
Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic
Movements
Union Seminary Quarterly
Review
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Journals in Development
• Athena Center for Leadership Studies
Journal (Title TBD)
• Columbia Journal of Asian Law
• Columbia Journal of Gender and Law
• Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts
• Columbia Social Work Review
• Morningside Review (formerly Journal of
the Undergraduate Writing Program)
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Journals in Development
• Athena Center for Leadership Studies
Journal (Title TBD)
• Columbia Journal of Asian Law
• Columbia Journal of Gender and Law
• Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts
• Columbia Social Work Review
• Morningside Review (formerly Journal
of the Undergraduate Writing Program)
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Journals in Discussion
• Columbia University Partnership for
International Development (CUPID)
• Cultural Formations
• Current Musicology
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Journals in Discussion
• Columbia University Partnership for
International Development (CUPID)
• Cultural Formations
• Current Musicology
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
The Mysterious Case
of the Missing Editors
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Awaaz: The Voice of South Asia
Explorations in Anthropological Research
Journal of Construction Safety Research
Journal of Industrial Workplace Education
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
“Traditional” Journal
• Faculty project
– Approached by “predatory”
OA publisher
– Discussed other OA publishers
– Decided instead to go with us
• Open access (CC BY-NCND)
• Article-processing charges
• OJS for peer review,
hosting
• Vendor for copyediting,
XML/PDF, deposit to
PubMed Central, print on
demand
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Challenges
• OJS itself
• Libraries’ finance department ill-equipped
to invoice, take credit card payments
• Editor expectations vs. realities
– Copyediting, peer review system
• Vendor workflow and OJS integration
• PubMed Central’s shifting requirements
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Traditional + Companion
http://cssaame.dukejournals
.org/
http://cssaame.com/
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Traditional + Companion
http://cssaame.dukejournals
.org/
http://www.cssaamejour
nal.org/
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“Journal”
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Un-Journal
“As a salon-styled forum, with
both online and on-campus
elements for students at
the Middle Eastern, South
Asian and African Studies
Department at Columbia
University, Baraza will not
content itself with
disciplinary or geographic
borders nor limit itself to
well-established genres of
academic and popular
discourse.”
- The Editorial Collective
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Strategies for Growth
• “If you build it, they will come”
• Marketing/outreach
– In person, print, Web, e-mail, social media
• Partners
– Faculty, administrators, library colleagues
• Strategic selection, targeted content
– Focus on existing areas of institutional strength, centers
of excellence
– Committed project partnerships
– Proposals for new journals, conferences
• “Teach them to fish”
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Challenges (Internal)
• Service mission vs. cost recovery
• Scalability
– Need for more template-driven set-up vs. desire for
more customization
• Resource balancing
– Timelines difficult to predict when dependent on
partners
– Multiple simultaneous projects
• Editor turnover, training
• Engagement of library staff (esp. liaisons)
• Clear key performance indictors, metrics for
success
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Challenges (External)
• Collaboration with other library-based publishing
operations
– Different business models (e.g., Cornell)
– Different institutional foci (e.g., Purdue)
– Incompatible publishing platforms (e.g., Bepress)
• Lack of innovation of presses, societies
– Business model does not encourage experimentation
– Libraries seen as cash cows, not service partners
– “Better the devil you know …”
• Conservative nature of academia
– Hiring, tenure, and promotion based on “exclusion”
– Library staff often resistant to new support models
– BUT “The times they are a-changin’”!
CDRS.COLUMBIA.EDU
Opportunities
• Talk is cheap – but that’s a good thing!
– Workshops for students, faculty
– Regularly scheduled conversations with
colleagues to share experiences, challenges
• Collective development
– Metrics for success
– Repository of policies, tools, templates, code
– Centralized location for videos, tutorials, and
other resources
• Openness to/eagerness for collaboration
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Questions? Comments?
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