Global Initiatives in Scholarly Electronic Publishing Colin Steele Emeritus Fellow, ANU
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Global Initiatives in Scholarly Electronic Publishing Colin SteeleEmeritus Fellow, ANU
Quotes for University Presses • “University Printing Presses exist … for the purpose of producing books that no-one can read”, Microcosmographia Academica 1908 • “A university press exists to publish as many good scholarly books as possible short of bankruptcy”, Director Harvard UP, 1947
US University Press Facts • Sales of university press hardcovers decline 2.8% from January 2003 to January 2004 • Print runs decline dramatically from 3,000 copies per monograph in the 1960s to less than 700 by 2000 • Global figures for a social science and humanities monograph estimated at 350 copies. But how many are remaindered and do authors care?
Tragedy of the Commons • Cornell comment that the model of scholarly publishing can be reduced in economic terms to a tragedy of the commons • Individual interests of publishers, libraries and scholars are in conflict with what is in the best interest of the public good • Creative Commons – Lessig’s new book available free on the Net. Free books on the Net sell more copies!
Need to Define Scholarly Publishing • Need to make distinction between research monographs and teaching and learning text books/ electronic one stop shops • In research need to define publication as research repositories cover much non-textual material, eg databases, data archives ranging from astronomy to cross cultural studies • Multi media web publishing provides new opportunities
Crisis in Monograph Publishing • Nonetheless the monograph is still the key indicator for promotion and tenure but difficulty for young scholars in getting first book published • Professor Blaise Cronin “Mickey Mouse and Milton” Learned Publishing April 2004 – analysis of major US universities tenure committees and the importance of the monograph
American Council of Learned Societies • Closure or decline of many traditional university presses • Perceived preference by publishers for inter-disciplinary books or “hot topics” – gay, cultural studies • Publishing by university press of general books, eg cookbooks • New models however are emerging
New Monograph Trends • Books will essentially be deconstructed in the digital age • Books and chapters indexed and abstracted and full text searchable • Aggregated monograph subscription packages • Implications for textual continuity and walk in scholar
OUP 2 • Subject home pages – religion, philosophy, political science, economics and finance • 700 complete and fully searchable texts • 200 titles added each year • Most works have key word metadata and chapter abstracts – available to be perused freely but only subscribers view full text • User issues, subscription issues and permanence
Darnton • Professor Robert Darnton in 1999 as AHA President suggested “a program for reviving monographs” in order to overcome the crisis in production of scholarly monographs • Books undergo a rigorous academic review process and already have won major awards • Different business plan to ACLS e-Book project
ACLS 2 • Initiative of eight learned societies and select university presses • 800 titles on the list, 250 books added annually • Available through subscribing libraries • Advisory Board, half eminent scholars, half head librarians • Already winning major prizes for history books, eg zoom images and links to external websites
Regier 2002 • “Universities may find that a more honest way to track the cost of publications would be to fund them up front, publish them electronically and publish them free” • W G Regier, Director University of Illinois Press, 10 September 2002 • Library input/output analogies of scholarly materaial
California eScholarship • Scholar uploads paper to eScholarship repository in MS Word – automatically posted in pdf for downloading as required globally • 400 titles available globally free of charge • 12,500 downloads per week • Paper either remains working paper or peer review process undergone • If passes is published individually or in collected volume. Economic decision on print.
ANU E-Prints 2003 • 2000 documents lodged without sustained campaign of advocacy • 219,306 pdf downloads: science, Asian studies and law predominate. Top article in science - 1765 downloads • Top countries without spiders Oz/USA 62%. Top countries with spiders 80% USA/Oz • Better mechanisms for ANU Guild Publishing distribution
Types of Asian Content • See ANU E-Prints under “Asian” and also “Asian Studies” • 2004 entries include “Post-crisis export performance in Thailand”; “Cultivated landscapes of the south west Pacific”; and “HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea” • MA Thesis on Iran in top 10 for 2003
ANU E Press • Funded by Professor Chubb in January 2003, over three year period with primary aim to distribute research output in social sciences and humanities • Return to original ? concept of University Press – promoting only output of ANU researchers • To publish original electronic monograph publications by scholars, particularly younger ones. • Still relatively low profile and therefore need for increased visibility on campus
ANU E Press 2 • Funded by Vice Chancellor over three year period with primary aim to distribute research output in social sciences and humanities especially monographs • Return to original ? concept of University Press – promoting only output of ANU (younger) researchers • Library ‘inputs’ research material to the university for institutional “ public good “ • Press / IR’s ‘output’ research material for the university in similar pattern and have ‘Library business model’.
Monash University E-Press 2 • Goals: advancement of scholarly communication by reducing costs of and barriers to access • Providing a more direct link between readers and writers of scholarly material • Promotion of Monash University’s research, teaching and intellectual capital • Concentration on serials initially
Paradise Imagined, Lost or Regained? • New models of scholarly communication and publication • Publication costs at front end not back end • Scholars retain distribution rights and provide to university infrastructure services • Research grant proposals allocate funds to disseminate research/ARC • Global open access debate
Conclusion: Umberto Eco • “We live for books, a sweet mission in this world dominated in this world by disorder and decay”, Umberto Eco Name of the Rose
