II. [...] : D. University presses can continue to play a critical role in publishing
1. Presses are beginning to change, but most still lack critical resources and capabilities
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Most of the presses we consulted are attuned to the problems described by provosts and librarians, and are trying to re-establish and reinforce their value to their universities. Our survey found that almost all presses aspire to align their publishing programs at least somewhat with the strengths of their parent universities, with the larger presses more in favor of this strategy and the smaller ones somewhat less[31]. By reflecting the parent’s academic strengths, the press can draw on the expertise of faculty and departments across the organization, develop scale and specialization that comes with tighter focus, and enhance the brand of the school and extend awareness of its influence in a particular academic field. Many in the university press world attribute this focused strategy to Frank Urbanowski, the long-time director of MIT Press. He is credited with redirecting MIT’s editorial program away from a large number of subject areas with shallow representation and toward a highly focused set of disciplines that mostly matched MIT’s academic contours. A press leader argued that university presses should move more toward the local interests: “university presses have a broad mission – to be stewards of scholarship [and serve the] public good. They used to have a specific mission – to act as the showcase for the research of their particular university [and serve the] institutional good. University presses have drifted away from this second mission and we need to get back to it.â€
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The director of a large press said, “The real priority is to align the press with the research centers of the university and to raise the profile of university research outside the university community. In this way we can return to the founding mission of the university press – to disseminate the scholarship of the university and strengthen the university’s reputation.†A press director at a small press told us, “We have a lot of interesting initiatives on campus such as a lab for interdisciplinary research in a variety of disciplines including nanotechnology, entrepreneurship, bioscience, and the environment, and we are trying to figure out what publishing could come from these.†Another director said, “We need to reflect better our university’s own intellectual ambition.â€
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The question often arises of how presses can align themselves more closely with their host institutions’ without becoming “vanity publishers.†This will be a difficult challenge to overcome as there is considerable concern and inertia pertaining to this question. Clearly they should strive to publish the best work in the fields in which they have programs. One way is by aligning their programs with the strengths of their universities, as MIT Press has done, so that these goals are compatible. Another is by using local faculty as editors and reviewers, offering them an opportunity to help build publishing centers of excellence in their subject areas. Another is by offering publishing services (possibly in collaboration with libraries and/or academic computing) to departments and research centers that wish to disseminate their intellectual output in new formats. For example, presses could help faculty and students develop program-related websites, preprint sites, or other complements to traditional peer-reviewed publications.
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We found numerous examples of presses that are actively redesigning their editorial programs to reflect local academic priorities. A medium-sized press is planning to start new branded journals in public policy and veterinary science, areas that the press has not published in before but which are strengths of the parent institution. A large press is starting a new list in regional environmental studies—again, a leading program at its university. It is also defining templates, standards and procedures for faculty-initiated digital projects of various types, including critical editions, encyclopedias and other reference materials, interactive databases, and multimedia works. Another press director joined his president on a trip to China to consider publishing opportunities together.
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Likewise, most press directors understand the need to shift to electronic publishing. Several spoke of developing “new infrastructure to support different kinds of publishingâ€. “The future of university presses is electronic,†said the director of a medium-sized press. “We need to think of new delivery models for university press content that will be content-deep and navigation-rich.†Some are considering what it will mean to remake the scholarly monograph in an online environment, enabling readers to access layers of documentary evidence and supplementary analysis. For example, OSO has already demonstrated the value of converting footnotes to web-enabled reference links[32]. In the Gutenberg-e project, Columbia University Press and the American Historical Association explored the possibility of linking electronic monographs to secondary scholarship and underlying primary sources[33]. Another more recent example of the kind of innovative scholarly publishing that technology could enable is a 2006 book called Gamer Theory by the media and cultural studies scholar McKenzie Wark. In partnership with the Institute for the Future of the Book, Prof. Wark has published a “networked†book draft that allows readers to add blog-like comments in virtual marginalia, to which Prof. Wark occasionally responds. He has integrated some of the critiques and commentary on the site into the print version of the book, published by Harvard University Press[34]. Far more than just a digital copy of the text, the online book became the meeting-site of an ongoing scholarly conversation that both precedes and follows the official publication of the print edition. These examples are by no means proven models (in fact, Gutenberg-e highlighted some of the challenges of reinventing the monograph), but they are illustrative efforts at experimentation.
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University presses have begun to act on their stated intentions. “We are moving at last, to the digital warehouse route,†said one director, who was planning a digital warehouse (i.e. a place to store electronic versions and export them to reselling platforms) as a preliminary step toward electronic publishing. Another director sketched a plan to “journalize†his press’s annual monograph publications by licensing electronic access to libraries via subscription, much as Springer has done though its eBooks collections on its SpringerLink platform. Yale University Press and Columbia University Press have recently announced agreements with ebrary for technology platform hosting that will allow them to market electronic versions of their monographs[35].
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There is once again widespread hope that electronic dissemination, done effectively, could revitalize the monograph. Press directors spoke of the desire to deliver scholarly content in the format that researchers are looking for so that it remains part of the research and teaching “workflowâ€[36]. Putting monographs in electronic form can increase accessibility and enable publishers to market content in different forms, such as leasing (the model Google Book Search said it was contemplating[37]), or selling access to chapters or chunks of text in addition to full volumes. Electronic monograph products could also be sold in price tiers that segment the market in a way that is not possible with print. With the low marginal costs of delivering access to electronic resources, publishers may be able to reach new customers or sell different access options to different packages of content[38]. Finally, in the long term electronic dissemination could reduce costs by enabling presses to reduce print costs, potentially eliminating print runs for niche-oriented books and offering these only via print-on-demand.
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Not everyone is enthusiastic about these possibilities. Librarians may worry about extending the leasing model to monographs. Some publishers argue for the enduring worth of the sustained argument that the scholarly monograph represents. “The monograph program is the heart and soul of the press,†said the director of a large press. “Books serve a different role than journals. They act as change agents, uniting disciplines and making bridges between subjects. They form the basis for a more general conversation and more galvanizing work.†The fear is that when scholarly books are “chunked†into smaller segments, the long argument form will disappear. We would argue that authors should continue to produce book-length arguments, but must accept that readers will not always read them end-to-end.
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Moreover, earlier attempts to foray into eBooks have been disappointing. What will be different this time? One issue seems to be that making this transition in a truly meaningful way requires new capabilities and infrastructure, but presses still lack a number of elements required for this strategy to succeed. First, most still do not have a business model for electronic content (other than journals). Second, they lack the technological infrastructure and tools. Third, they need ways to conduct market research and strategies to market content online. Fourth, most lack the funds to build or buy this technological infrastructure or the skills to develop and implement an electronic marketing and distribution strategy. And because scholars and tenure committees in many fields, especially in the humanities, still resist electronic-only publication (which is not viewed as carrying the same prestige as print publication), presses will probably have to operate both print and electronic programs during a transitional period. But a renewed wave of investment from commercial publishers and reader manufacturers suggests that the time may now be more ripe for eBooks to take root, provided publishers can develop models that meet the needs of customers.
2. Presses possess unique skills and assets
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The next question we explored with our interviewees is what university presses can bring to the table in a new world of university publishing. What are they good at, and will that continue to matter?
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First and foremost, they excel at credentialing scholarship (bearing in mind that there are many fields and types of scholarship, in the humanities at least, which are not adequately covered by the existing arrangements). In a world where anyone can publish anything online, the role of identifying what is important and worth reading will remain critical[39]. This is particularly true of book length arguments (monographs), but is also true for journal literature at a large minority of the presses. Presses have developed networks of reviewers and detailed processes, refined through years of experience, for the purpose of selecting content[40]. While peer review has detractors, the fact that universities have relied upon this system for tenure and promotion decision for decades shows how strong and valuable it is. Presses also help to develop and improve scholarly work through the editorial process – organizing, refining, and sharpening arguments. This refinement is often based on a dialogue with the academic community (including peer reviewers) about what will make the work better, as well as the deep disciplinary knowledge and editorial skills that subject editors bring to the process. Through these processes they have developed brands associated with particular disciplines, which add value to the materials they publish (and, we would argue, their host institutions). Finally, many presses have strong regional publishing programs. These are particularly important for state universities, as they provide one bridge between the institution and the constituency it serves.
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Presses also have experience evaluating demand for a product, setting a price, making production decisions accordingly, risking their capital to back up those decisions, and extracting from the marketplace enough revenue to sustain the publishing process. This experience is very relevant in an electronic world, where universities have invested vast amounts of money in creating online resources with little attention to how they will be used and by whom. Moreover, presses collectively possess deep knowledge about the size and characteristics of the markets for scholarship in nearly every discipline. This expertise is valuable in deciding how resources should be allocated to address the needs of these markets, whether for print or electronic resources.
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Presses are also good at getting what they publish out to the market. They have relationships with wholesalers and retailers, including online ones such as Amazon, with the ability to reach a global audience. They have accumulated extensive experience in marketing – i.e. drawing attention to the books they publish through publicity and promotion, with special attention to increasing dissemination within the academic community. They also have a great deal of experience in managing their intellectual property to balance their goals of maximizing exposure while protecting copyright and their ability to sustain the enterprise.
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It is worth reiterating that print will likely be a preferred technology for cover-to-cover reading for some time to come; many people will continue to derive pleasure from building a library of books that represent their interests. Traditional production skills, such as designing book jackets and managing distribution of print copies, will continue to be needed, even if this ceases to be the primary format in which content is read. Moreover, book marketing and distribution will continue to be very important to reaching markets that do not have access to large aggregated electronic offerings, which are chiefly targeted to academic libraries.
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Publishing consultant Joseph Esposito provides a useful summary of what presses have to offer. He writes, “[Presses] make an investment in a book or journal, which then starts an entire process. It is a complex process; it took many decades to evolve, it takes years to learn, and it requires talent to master…â€[41] This is an important reminder that the craft of publishing is not to be undervalued, and, if effectively abandoned by universities, would be extremely difficult to rebuild. Finally, presses have an existing base of networks and scholarship that offers enormous potential as a foundation for building a platform for disseminating research.
3. Collaborations between the press and library can create value
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There are natural partnerships between the press and library due to their complementary skills and assets (see Appendix B for a detailed description of the strengths and weaknesses of each). One librarian commented that “Press/library collaborations must be interactive, nimble, pushing the window on new forms of scholarship – creating new knowledge using technologies, and reinventing business models.†James Neal, university librarian at Columbia, offers a thoughtful perspective on this topic in his paper “Symbiosis or Alienation: Advancing the University Press/Research Library Relationship Through Electronic Scholarly Communication[42].â€
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Since the mid-1990s, there have been several noteworthy press/library collaborations aiming to develop infrastructure, products, tools, and services. Some examples include Project Muse at Johns Hopkins, Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO), and the development of the Encyclopedia of North Carolina, which was published by the University of North Carolina Press with financial support and image licensing expertise from the UNC Library, and will likely be published online through a partnership of the press and the library. “We [the library and press] worked together well on a project [The Encyclopedia of North Carolina]. This was a good collaboration. I think what we need to do is figure out the line between building special collections ourselves with tools to make them more accessible, and creating editorial layers that filter that content. The former is what we do well. The latter is what presses do well. How can we work together to build on these mutual strengths?â€
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At Penn State, the press director now reports into the library, which has enabled several areas of collaboration through a newly established Office of Digital and Scholarly Publishing. A joint imprint of the press and the library, Metalmark Books, is republishing select books from the library’s Pennsylvania history collections. A monograph series, Penn State Romance Studies, was launched via a collaboration between the press, library, and several academic departments. Both series are available free online (with the technology and hosting provided by the library) and for purchase in print (via print-on-demand). The library’s digitization unit is converting PSU Press backlist titles, which will enable the press to move more of its titles into this “National Academies Press†model[43]. And DPubS, an open-source electronic publishing platform, which was developed by the Cornell Library in partnership with the Pennsylvania State University Libraries and Press, is being updated to support the online publication of this and other material[44].
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These collaborations face many difficulties, especially without high level support, and we came across a number that were less successful. These challenges stem from their disconnected leadership structures and the different cultures reflecting the ways each face their respective markets. One librarian stated, “We [presses and libraries] need to articulate a vision of a new system of scholarly communication, and then we need to do some experiments together that illustrate what is possible. In order to do this, we need to get the administration to pay attention. But most provosts do not have a scholarly communication agenda, and if the university’s attitude toward presses doesn’t change, this collaborative vision among presses, and between presses and libraries, will never work.â€
Posted by kimballs on August 9, 2007
Tags: Uncategorized
i think the "specialization to survive" mantra is the right focus strategy for university publishers..