Going It Alone: Why University Presses Are Creating Their Own E-Book Collections

Most university presses deliver their e-books to libraries through aggregators. However, in 2019, two university presses, the MIT Press and University of Michigan Press, will launch their own e-book offerings for direct sale to institutions, and other presses are considering following suit. While there are a few university presses who have offered their own e-book products for a number of years, the intensity of discussion within the university press community about “going it alone” is new and deserves further interrogation. This paper summarizes why the MIT Press and University of Michigan Press are taking the bold step of launching their own e-book collections

PDA and the University Press

Patron-driven acquisitions (PDA), also referred to as demand-driven acquisitions (DDA), is a relatively recent development in the management of the book supply chain for academic libraries. In its simplest form, PDA is a just-in-time method, and an accompanying set of operational procedures, for acquiring library materials based on direct or indirect patron input. PDA has significant implications for the economics of publishers. This report surveys the marketplace for university press titles, identifies the share of books being sold to academic libraries, establishes a framework to analyze the impact PDA on university presses, and recommends strategies that scholarly publishers can adopt to address this transformation in one of the industry’s most significant markets.The Andrew W. Mellon Foundatio

Cornell University Library's Publishing Model for Scholarly Literature

Terry Ehling, Director of Electronic Publishing at Cornell University presented the Cornell University Library's approach to Scholarly Publishing on the Web. Using the example of the the Library's innovative publishing software, DPubS (Digital Publishing System), which was developed to deliver Project Euclid (a Mellon Foundation-supported scholarly communications initiative), she showed how Project Euclid provides cost efficient distribution of serial literature in mathematics and statistics, and now DPubS will be enhanced and released as a general-purpose publishing platform for scholarly literature in diverse fields, supporting peer review, extensive administrative functionality, and interoperability with open source repository systems such as Fedora and DSpace. This flexible online publishing tool will aid institutions of higher education and research in managing and distributing the intellectual efforts of scholars and researchers. DPubS v.2 will significantly expand opportunities for affordable and creative scholarly communication

Report of the CUL Task Force on Open Access Publishing Presented to the Cornell University Library Management Team August 9, 2004.

The Task Force on Open Access Publishing was convened by Ross Atkinson in January 2004.The purpose of the Task Force is to study the information available on Open Access publishing and to provide the CUL Library Management Team with a report that addressed specific questions. Alternative publishing models that would offer free and unimpeded access to scholarship promise both a more affordable system for academic institutions and their libraries and a more democratic one for readers and authors. The present Report examines both aspects of the Open Access promise and offers recommendations for CUL's involvement in the arena of Open Access publishing. >>CLARIFICATION: This Report of the Cornell University Library's Task Force on Open Access represents the Task Force's initial examination into the Open Access publishing model and its impact on the Library. On October 7, 2004 the Library Management Team reviewed the report and requested additional analysis, particularly with regard to the underlying economic model from an institutional, rather than library, perspective and more consideration of projected costs and benefits,especially when considered from a multi-institutional or consortial point of view.<

Agenda of Meeting and combined Presentations

This is a collection of the combined presentation which were presented at this conference: (1) Agenda; (2) The Cornell Library and Its Contributions to Open Access by Sarah E. Thomas, C. A. Kroch University Librarian; (3)Cornell University Library's Publishing Model for Scholarly Literature by Terry Ehling, Director of Electronic Publishing at Cornell University; (4) An Overview of the Open Access Movement: National and International by Paul Ginsparg, Physics & Computing and Info. Sci. and Founder of arXiv.org e-Print; (5) Trends in Online Theses and Dissertations: National and International by Gail McMillan, Director, Digital Library and Achives, Virginia Tech; (6)Internet-First University Press and Creating Departmental and College Digital Repositories by J. Robert Cooke, Biol. and Env. Engr.; (7) Demo of Quick Submit Interface for Digital Repository by George Kozak, Digital Library Info. Tech of Cornell Library