[eIFLoa] Fwd: New SPARC Guide and Online Community Aid Library-University Press Collaboration

[Iryna Kuchma]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jennifer McLennan <jennifer at arl.org>
Subject: New SPARC Guide and Online Community Aid Library-University Press
Collaboration


For immediate release
January 22, 2009

For more information, contact:
Jennifer McLennan
(202) 296-2296
jennifer at arl.org

New SPARC Guide and Online Community Aid Library-University Press
Collaboration
Free Resource Offers Practical Help with Setting Up Successful Campus
Publishing Partnerships

Washington, DC -- January 22, 2009 -- SPARC (the Scholarly
Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) today released
Campus-based Publishing Partnerships: A guide to critical issues,
by Raym Crow. The guide is the core of a new Web site, the
Campus-based Publishing Resource Center, designed by a panel of
advisors from the library and university press communities to
support successful publishing partnerships.

Campus publishing partnerships can offer universities greater
control over the intellectual products that they help create. But
to fully realize this potential, partnerships need to evolve from
ad hoc working alliances to stable, long-term collaborations.
SPARC's guide will help partnering organizations to:

.  Establish practical governance and administrative structures;

.  Identify funding models that accommodate the different
financial objectives of libraries and presses;

.  Define objectives that advance the missions of both the
library and of the press, without disrupting the broader
objectives of either; and

.  Demonstrate the value of the collaboration to university
administrators.

Campus-based Publishing Partnerships will help libraries,
presses, and other campus units to structure successful
partnerships---and to recognize when collaboration is not the
right course of action. The guide reviews current library-press
initiatives, describes the potential benefits of partnerships,
and provides an overview of the financial and operating criteria
for launching and sustaining a successful collaboration. It
provides practical guidance on structuring a publishing
partnership, including case studies that illustrate key concepts.

"This is a moment of great opportunity for academic publishing
and for university presses, in particular," said Laura Cerruti,
Director of Digital Content Development for the University of
California Press. "SPARC's efforts to survey those in the
trenches -- librarians, university press publishers, and other
active campus publishing entities -- have resulted in an
invaluable resource for those who are just beginning to tap into
their campus's publishing needs and priorities. It gives them a
head start, if you will."

"It's clear that university publishing needs to respond to the
changes in our economic and technological environments to meet
the needs of our scholars," added Maria Bonn, director of the
University of Michigan Scholarly Publishing Office. "Partnerships
allow us to bring our collective expertise to bear on the
challenge of creating an affordable publishing system. More
universities will be looking to forge such partnerships in the
future, and resources like those provided by the Campus-based
Publishing Resource Center will be of great value in that
process."

"While the missions of libraries and presses differ," said
Heather Joseph, executive director of SPARC, "both entities
recognize the growing need to address fundamental problems in
scholarly publishing and to understand the interdependence of
their organizations. By developing this resource, we hope to
drive a shared exploration of new, innovative, sustainable
publishing models."

SPARC is releasing Campus-based Publishing Partnerships in
conjunction with the launch of the new Web-based "Campus-based
Publishing Resource Center" at
http://www.arl.org/sparc/partnering. The resource center
currently features case studies, a bibliography, and a listserv
as well as the SPARC guide. In cooperation with its editorial
board, the site will be expanded to include FAQs, sample planning
documents, an index of collaborative initiatives, and other
content suggested by the community.

The editorial board includes:

.    Patrick Alexander, Penn State University Press
.    Maria Bonn, University of Michigan Library
.    Laura Cerruti, University of California Press
.    Raym Crow, SPARC
.    Teresa Ehling, Cornell University Libraries
.    Mike Furlough, Penn State University Libraries
.    Karen Hill, University of Michigan Press
.    Rebecca Kennison, Columbia University
.    Monica McCormick, New York University
.    Catherine Mitchell, California Digital Library
.    Managing Editor: Jennifer McLennan, SPARC

SPARC's Campus-based Publishing Partnerships: A critical guide
and Campus-based Publishing Resource Center are free online at
http://www.arl.org/sparc/partnering.

###


Jennifer McLennan
Director of Communications
SPARC
(The Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition)
http://www.arl.org/sparc
jennifer at arl.org