[BOAI] Publishing Services a Major Growth Area for Academic Libraries, Suggests New Research Report

[Iryna Kuchma]

[Forwarded message from Jennifer McLennan]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Contact: Charles Watkinson, Director, Purdue University Press, a unit of
Purdue Libraries,
765-494 -8251 or cwatkinson at purdue.edu

IMLS Contact: Mamie Bittner, 202-653-4630 or mbittner at imls.gov

Publishing Services a Major Growth Area for Academic Libraries, Suggests
New Research Report

West Lafayette, IN - Publishing services provided by libraries are
expanding and professionalizing, suggests a new report released for comment
today by SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition,
on behalf of a team of researchers from the libraries of Purdue University,
Georgia
Institute of Technology, and the University of Utah. The report is the
result of a year-long study of library publishing services made possible by
a collaborative planning grant from the federal Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS), with additional support from Berkeley Electronic
Press and Microsoft Research. It is available at http://wp.sparc.arl.org/lps
.

The research included a survey distributed to deans and directors at all
223 institutions that are part of the Association of Research Libraries,
the Oberlin Group, and University Libraries Group, supervised by consultant
October Ivins; three detailed sustainability case studies of library
publishing programs at Purdue, Georgia Tech, and Utah by consultant Raym
Crow; three consultative workshops involving over 120 leaders in the
library publishing community; and a literature review. Together, these
sources paint a picture of the state of library publishing services in the
US and Canada that is unique in breadth and depth of coverage.

Key findings of the project include:

•       Approximately half (55%) of all respondents to the survey indicated
having or developing library publishing services. Interest in such services
varied by institution size, with over three-quarters of ARLs being
interested, compared to 30% of Oberlin Group institutions. Most libraries
with existing programs anticipated increasing the program’s scale or scope
in the next year.

•       About three-quarters of the programs publish between one and six
journals, the majority of which are only distributed electronically and are
less than three-years old. About half of the programs publish conference
proceedings, technical reports, or monographs; most often electronically,
but with some print-on-demand distribution.

•       The vast majority of library publishing programs (almost 90%) were
launched in order to contribute to change in the scholarly publishing
system, supplemented by a variety of other mission-related motivations. The
prevalence of mission-driven rationale aligns with the funding sources
reported for library publishing programs, including library budget
reallocations (97%), temporary funding from the institution (67%), and
grant support (57%). However, many respondents expect a greater percentage
of future publishing program funding to come from service fees, product
revenue, charge-backs, royalties, and other program-generated income.

•       Almost two-thirds of the programs collaborate with one or more
other campus units—including departmental faculty, university press, and
campus computing—and two-thirds collaborate with individuals or
organizations outside of the institution. Over half of the respondents
expect collaborations to increase in the next year.

•       About half of responding institutions centralize management of
their publishing activities within one library unit. The number of staff
allocated to publishing activities is modest—averaging 2.4 FTE for ARLs and
0.9 FTE for Oberlin Group institutions—with older programs typically being
larger. Staff dedicated exclusively to publishing service programs are
relatively rare, with responsibility for such services typically fragmented
across multiple staff members.

•       The perceived relevance of publishing services to the library’s
mission, and the integration of such services into the library’s budget,
helps explain the relative lack of emphasis on sustainability planning. Few
institutions (15%) have a documented sustainability plan for their
publishing services, and only a fifth have evaluated the value or
effectiveness of their publishing services.

•       The most prevalent journal publishing platforms reported were Open
Journal Systems (57%), DSpace (36%), and Berkeley Electronic Press’s
Digital Commons (25%).

According to respondents, the three resources most needed for planning or
operating a library-based publishing service are guides to business issues,
information on publishing platforms, and examples of policy and process
documents.

The report includes a series of recommendations for future development of
library publishing services based on the survey, workshops, case studies,
and literature review. These are centered around developing best practices,
collaborating to create community-based resources, and formalizing skills
and training.

The report is open for comment through the end of the year. A final version
will be issued in early 2012.

About the Project:

The “Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success” research project
was conducted between October 1, 2010, and September 30, 2011 with support
from a Collaborative Planning Grant in the National Leadership Program of
the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The PI is James L. Mullins,
Dean of Libraries at Purdue University, and the co-PIs are Catherine
Murray-Rust, Dean of Libraries, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Joyce
Ogburn, Dean of the J. Willard Marriott Library and University Librarian,
University of Utah.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (http://www.imls.gov) is the
primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and
17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and
museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works
at the national
level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain
heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and
support professional development. Any views, findings, conclusions, or
recommendations expressed in the report do not necessarily represent those
of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Programs & Operations
SPARC
jennifer at arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermclennan
http://www.arl.org/sparc
--------------------------------------
Open Access Week 2011
October 24 - 30
http://www.openaccessweek.org
--------------------------------------
The SPARC Open Access Meeting
March 11 - 13, 2012
Kansas City
http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/11-0726.shtml
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