Open Journal Systems Project or

The UB Libraries as Publisher:

Information and Roles

for Liaison Librarians

Charles Lyons

Library Liaison Summit

December 11, 2012

•Why: Are there compelling reasons why the UB Libraries should provide publishing services?•What publishing services can we realistically provide to our campus?•How could we pull this off?

UB Libraries as Publisher?

What Exactly Am I Talking About?

The Goals of this Initiative: Support and Make OA Publishing Easier

1. Provide a platform on which UB scholars (students, faculty and staff) can publish peer-reviewed, open-access, online journals.

2. Provide services (support, training, consultation) related to open access publishing.

What Have We Done So far?

•Implemented OJS and put up UB Libraries Today.•Identifying opportunities.•Creating an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).•New web page launching shortly.

Journals @UB

•Platform: Open Journal Systems (OJS)

•Open source, open access publishing platform

Why Or (Why Not)?

• There seems to be demand.

• Increase the library’s relevance.

• Fits in the library’s mission.

• The crisis in publishing.

Why We Should Do It?

Why We Should NOT Do It?

• Lack of resources: time, funding.

• Lack of expertise: publishing knowledge.

• Sustainability concerns.

What Types of Publishing Are Libraries Doing?

•75% of ARL’s currently have or are interested in offering publishing services.•Most publish (host) from 1 and 6 journals.•Most are less than three years old.•Most use the Open Journal Systems (OJS)

platform (D-Space, BE Press are others).•2.4 FTE working on publishing.

Keeping Up With the Joneses

Publishers versus Libraries:Where Do Library Publishers Fit?

Publisher:Hiring, firing, funding

SubscriptionTraditionalEstablished

Library:Greater GoodOpen Access

InnovativeSpecialized/niche

Student journals.

Type of Publications

Conference proceedings.

Type of Publications

Departmental journals.

Type of Publications

Association journals.

Type of Publications

Regional and locally focused journals

Type of Publications

What Publishing Services Could We Offer?

Them: journal editors / owners control the content of the publication, including editorial workflow, soliciting submissions, managing peer review, publication schedules, correspondence with authors, reviewers.

Us: the UB Libraries could provide…

Who Does What,Where to Draw the Lines

•Help launching a new journal.•Free server space / storage.•Assistance setting up the journal up in OJS.•Maintenance and updating of OJS.•Training / assistance with using OJS.•Design and formatting assistance.

Services We Could Provide

• Help transferring a print journal online.• Help transferring an existing e-journal to

the OJS platform.• Digitization of back files.

Services We Could Provide

•Applying for ISSN’s.•Assigning article DOI’s.•Search references of articles for DOI’s.•Getting the journal and articles indexed in

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).•Getting journal indexed in other article

databases.

Services We Could Provide

Services We Could Provide

•Assistance with copyright issues.•Assistance with print-on-demand

services.• Long-term sustainable preservation of

the journal’s content.

How Can We Make This Happen?

•Library budget reallocations•Institutional support•Grant support•Revenue streams•Training•Collaboration: SUNY Press, IT, SUNY’s•Making do with what we got…

Where Could the Resources Come From to Pull This Off?

•Expertise: what skills can you (are you willing to) contribute?•Identifying opportunities: publications / people that might be interested.•Promotion: raising awareness.•Feedback: this will have to be a group effort!

Roles for You

Thanks!

Questions?