Member News & Announcements, December IO 2024
Grants & Awards
University Press Week: OUP Opens New Award Program
Oxford University Press, Voting Member, News Announcement, November 13, 2024
As our regular readers know, this is University Press Week, a promotional program of the Association of University Presses, the intent of which, as the association puts it, is “to celebrate and raise awareness of the work that university presses do every day.”
Today (November 13), midway through the 13th annual iteration of the “AUPresses'” program, we have news from Oxford University Press (OUP) that it’s setting up a new, annual prize for early-career researchers in the humanities and social sciences who are looking to publish their first books.
Publications
Nonprofit Annual Reviews launches Katina Magazine for librarians, publishers, and vendors
Annual Reviews, Voting Member, Press Release, November 12, 2024
Nonprofit organization Annual Reviews is pleased to announce the launch of Katina, a new digital publication that addresses the value of librarians to academia and wider society and elevates their role as trusted stewards of knowledge.
Named after Katina Strauch, the visionary founder of the Charleston Conference, it is written by and for the international community of librarians and is also of special interest to publishers and vendors. The content is easy to understand, engaging, informative, and accurate. During the inaugural year of publication (2025), all Katina content will be accessible without restriction. Annual Reviews is exploring approaches to ensure that Katina will remain open in subsequent years.
National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wolters Kluwer release Consensus Responsibility and Guardianship Report
Wolters Kluwer, Voting Member, News Announcement, November 13, 2024
Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services, announces that the National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NSLC) and Wolters Kluwer have released the “Consensus, Responsibility, and Guardianship — Ten Questions on Global Research Integrity” Report during the 2024 World Laureates Forum which was successfully held in Shanghai, China on October 25 - 27.
The annual forum serves as a pivotal platform for high-level dialogue within the global scientific arena. The report was released at the Mobius Forum, where over twenty leading scientists and researchers engaged in in-depth discussion on the theme Reshaping Scientific Publishing for Excellence.
Partnerships
University of Toronto Press Expands Campus Representation Services with New Partnership with Hopkins Press
Project Muse/Johns Hopkins, Voting/L.S.A. Member, News Announcement, November 26, 2024
University of Toronto Press (UTP), Canada’s largest university press and leading academic publisher, is proud to announce a new partnership with Hopkins Press, one of the largest university presses in the United States. This collaboration marks a significant expansion of UTP’s campus representation services, offering an expanded catalogue of highly esteemed course materials to North American college and university students and faculty.
UTP has a long history of serving scholarly and professional societies with publishing and sales services, as well as supporting book publishers into North American higher education with distribution services. The new partnership with Hopkins Press marks an expansion to also offer representation for international publishers. As the first publisher to partner with UTP in this area, UTP’s sales team will now represent Hopkins Press titles alongside its own when visiting US and Canadian campuses virtually and in person. .
Emerald and Masader announce partnership to expand academic resource access in Oman
Emerald Group, Voting Member, News Announcement, November 19, 2024
This collaboration, effective as of September 1, 2024, will empower academic professionals and researchers across Oman with access to Emerald’s comprehensive digital resources, which include a vast collection of eJournals and eBooks in critical fields such as business, management, civil engineering, social sciences, economics, and more.
Through Masader’s extensive library network, this partnership will foster academic growth and support Oman’s higher education institutions by providing access to high-quality, peer-reviewed content that strengthens research and learning initiatives.
AI Metadata Assistant Preview Initiated for All Alma Customers
Ex Libris, Inc., Voting Member, News Announcement, November 17, 2024
Ex Libris™, part of Clarivate™, is excited to announce that all Alma™ customers can now access and test the AI Metadata Assistant to aid library catalogers in their work and save them time. Available through the Alma November feature release, a preview of the AI tool is integrated into the Alma Metadata Editor and generates metadata suggestions helping catalogers in creating and enhancing bibliographic records.
The AI Metadata Assistant uses a Large Language Model generative AI to process information about a library resource and suggest relevant metadata. This workflow combines AI capabilities with the librarian’s expertise to balance efficiency and accuracy. Currently in the first phase of development, the AI Metadata Assistant supports MARC 21 records in English, using Library of Congress authorities. Plans are to support more languages and vocabularies in future phases.
Gale Partners with Scholarly iQ to Enhance COUNTER Reporting Capabilities
Scholarly iQ, Voting Member, Press Release, November 15, 2024
Scholarly iQ, a long standing leader in usage analytics services, is excited to announce a new partnership with Gale, an innovative provider of research and educational resources. This collaboration will enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of COUNTER reporting for Gale’s library and institutional customers worldwide through an upgrade to the COUNTER 5.1 standard, with 5.1 usage reports back to January 2023.
As academic institutions continue to seek transparency and accountability in their resource usage, the integration of COUNTER-compliant reporting through Gale and Scholarly iQ will empower libraries to gain deeper insights into their digital resource utilization. This partnership will facilitate streamlined data collection and reporting, enabling institutions to make informed decisions about their collections and investments.
PLOS Partners with CLOCKSS to Safeguard its Journals: A Milestone in Open-Access Preservation
Public Library of Science (PLOS), Voting Member, News Announcement, November 7, 2024
PLOS (Public Library of Science) has played a pivotal role in advancing open-access publishing, promoting the goal of making scientific knowledge freely available to all. By eliminating barriers to access, PLOS has enabled researchers, scholars, and the public to engage with important research without the hindrance of paywalls. This commitment has significantly contributed to the democratization of scientific knowledge and has facilitated the rapid sharing of crucial information.
As we navigate the digital age, the landscape of academic and scientific publishing has transformed. The convenience of digital formats allows for quicker dissemination and wider access to scholarly work, but this shift also presents challenges. Unlike traditional print media, digital content faces risks such as technological obsolescence, data corruption, platform closures, and natural disasters.
Infrastructure & Platforms
Taylor & Francis Unveils Free Digital Hub for the Medical Devices Community
Taylor & Francis Group, Voting Member, News Announcement, November 4, 2024
Taylor & Francis has announced the launch of a free digital hub, providing the medical devices community with news, research developments and insights, all in one place. Medical Devices Zone brings together a diverse range of eBooks, reports, interviews and journal articles to help streamline the clinical implementation of innovative medical devices.
Medical Devices Zone has been developed in partnership with the journal Expert Review of Medical Devices, a forum for comprehensive research from world-leading researchers in the field. By combining the latest peer-reviewed research with regular news reporting, Medical Devices Zone aims to deliver a trusted source of knowledge for medical device users, clinicians and patients.
Industry Leadership
Natalie Waters appointed Associate Dean, Research & Scholarship
McGill University, L.S.A. Consortia Member (CRKN), News Announcement, November 12, 2024
Natalie Waters has been leading the Research and Scholarship team on an interim basis over the last year. Waters will continue to oversee programs that enhance the research activities of the McGill community including Scholarly Communications, Copyright, and Research Data Management, and provide strategic leadership for the Macdonald Campus Library, Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering, as well as the Osler Library of the History of Medicine.
Previously, she served as Head Librarian for both the Schulich Library and the Macdonald Campus Library, where she managed library services across the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. During the extensive restoration of the Macdonald-Stewart Library building, Natalie guided the Schulich Library team through a period of significant transition, ensuring consistent, high-quality support for the McGill community. She played a pivotal role in reopening and relocating services to the restored building, effectively re-establishing the library as a central resource for students and faculty alike.
Open Access, Open Science
Library, Museums and Press launches Pressbooks
University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press, Voting Member, Featured Article, November 22, 2024
The UD Library, Museums and Press is excited to announce the launch of University of Delaware Pressbooks, a new user-friendly Open Educational Resources (OER) content publishing system designed to support UD faculty in creating dynamic, high-quality open resources and textbooks that can replace the traditional high-cost of course materials.
The new University of Delaware Pressbooks aims to further reduce financial barriers in the classroom by equipping faculty with an innovative, self-directed, Canvas-compatible publishing platform to create original, free, open educational resources that can be shared and adapted to fit the needs of all Blue Hens. “Authoring OER is a great way for faculty to expand their pedagogy and bring students into the conversation around knowledge creation,” said Annie Johnson, associate University librarian for Publishing, Preservation, Research and Digital Access.