skills & training for library publishing

library publishing servicesskills, characteristics, & culture

Shana KimballHead, Publishing Services, Outreach, & Strategic [email protected] | @shanakimball

May 5, 2011Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success IMLS WorkshopAtlanta, GA

Thursday, May 5, 2011

mailto:[email protected]


1. library publishing services @ michigan

2. my professional dev in library publishing

3. my librarian colleagues on skills & training

4. characteristics & culture in library publishing


a suite of imprints and services dedicated to publishing and preserving the scholarly record


A brief history of publishing at the University of Michigan from the beginning of time to the present:

1858: UM publishes first book with university imprint (on asteroids)1930: University of Michigan Press1993: Mosaic Web Browser1993-present: All hell breaks loose2000: Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library 2004: Deep Blue (IR)2009: Copyright OfficeMarch 2009: UM Press reports within Librarylate 2009: MPublishing; AUL for Publishing hired


the piece I’ll talk about today

[2000-2010]


journal publishingdigital scholarly projectsfor-fee hosting servicesreprint program & POD

support for new model publishing

library publishing services @ michigan


my professional development in library publishing


#alt-ac


anecdata

my librarian colleagues (and me) on skills & training


If you attended library school, how did it help prepare you to work in library publishing?

“Many of the areas I explored in library school have application in publishing, notably user interface design and assessment, project management, metadata standards and their application, and mark-up languages and their application. In addition, it's been helpful to understand how libraries think about managing their acquisitions and their purchasing workflows.”

“It gave me context for the crisis in scholarly communication, for understanding that certain information services don't work in a market, for understanding the ontology of documents and text, for an understanding of cataloging, and for some technology skills.”

“It shaped the way I thought about information, period. Accessibility, preservation, copyright, representing it, managing large amounts of it, all of that. I just had not thought about these things before. ... Library school DID NOT expose me to anything specific about the publishing industry, or how publishing is done, nor did it really train me in the specific standards and tools that are relevant (like ePub).”


Besides formal education, what professional development experiences helped train you for your work as a library publishing professional?

Conference & professional meeting attendance

Involvement in professional service (TEI Consortium, journal service, conference committees)

Participating in panels, giving talks, writing articles

Monitoring professional discussions online (blogs, list-servs, Twitter)

Ongoing conversations with scholars, other publishing professionals, librarians


In your view, would it be possible to retrain existing staff, or is hiring new talent the only way to create a publishing program?

retraining is totally possible

(given real support to do so)


What might be the core elements in a syllabus on library-based publishing?

scholarly publishing 101 -- the ecosystem, its history and current dynamics

rights & permission in the digital age

creating & preserving digital content

practicum in working with scholars across the disciplines

digital publishing concepts and tools

content discovery and attention aggregation

project management

publishing business models & and funding options

publishing in/and the library -- how does our work relate to that of the rest of the library?

standards-based web design & dev

usability & information architecture

social media & online communities in higher ed

new product & service design

graphic design for print publishing


How would you characterize the needed skill sets for library publishing professionals?

interest in information access, preservation, copyright

familiarity with metadata standards, text markup, project management, information design, usability, assessment

comfort with interacting & negotiating with faculty

flexibility & creativity in assembling existing tools and skills

high degree of attention to emerging publishing opportunities & ability to locate those in an academic context

awareness of traditional publishing values and processes

ability to work collaboratively across diverse skill sets and backgrounds


characteristics & culture in library publishing


Learn by doing


Take on new projects that will stretchyour existing skill sets



(without too much growing pain)



(without too much growing pain)

(with partners who are willing to learn with you)


Take small risks that make sense


Develop partnerships that capitalize on complementary skill sets


How can we use what we're doing here over there?


Learn from the community


Share the Results


publishing.umich.edu


#pubcamp?


thank you!

[email protected]@shanakimball




skills & training for library publishing

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