University of Illinois Library Launches Open-Access Digital Publishing Network
The
University of Illinois Library has launched a digital publishing initiative,
the Illinois Open Publishing Network, with its first work – a new English
translation of a memoir of Claude Monet.
“Claude
Monet: The Water Lilies” was first published in 1928 by Georges Clemenceau, the
former French prime minister and a friend of Monet. Bruce Michelson, a U. of I.
professor emeritus of English, produced the new translation of the memoir – as
well as translations of three essays on art by Clemenceau, included as
appendices. He agreed to publish it online as a pilot project for the Illinois
Open Publishing Network, and as the first publication of Windsor & Downs
Press, the primary imprint of the network.
“This
is a way in which somebody with more than 30 years on the clock can participate
in a new direction as an academic,” Michelson said.
“Libraries
have to fulfill their mission in new ways,” he said, noting that students can
do much of their research online without ever visiting a library. “We’ve got to
rethink in fundamental ways what we’re doing. This is an experiment in that
direction.”
The
publishing network is a network of open-access scholarly publications and
publishing infrastructure and resources. It is the result of the first year and
a half of a research initiative, Publishing without Walls, funded by a
four-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Publishing Without Walls
connects scholars to new ways of producing open-access, digital publications
through tools and workshops. It is also conducting a two-year research study to
examine how scholarly publishing is changing in the digital age. It is a
collaborative effort of the Library, the School of Information Sciences, the
Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities and the department of African
American studies.
“We’re
really trying to build a new model for scholarly communications – what it means
for libraries to do this work so we’re not just at the end of a life cycle,
collecting and maintaining materials, but also helping scholars create
materials, too,” said Harriett Green, the English and digital humanities
librarian and the interim head of the Library’s Scholarly Communication and
Publishing unit.
Some
digital projects published on the network will incorporate video, interactive
images and other multimedia functions, Green said. The digital version of
Michelson’s book has hyperlinks to sources in the footnotes and embedded
illustrations that can be enlarged.
“It’s
really useful when you’re talking about the Monet water lily paintings, which
are the size of a wall,” Michelson said of the embedded images. “You can put a
better replica in high resolution or high definition online than you can see in
an art book.”
“There
are many different ways we can start linking Bruce’s work to others’ work on
Monet or Clemenceau. His scholarship will be so much more accessible,” Green
said.
“We
like to think of ourselves on a spectrum. How does the digital mode of
publication complement the traditional publication, which is still necessary
for peer review and tenure?” she said.
A
survey of scholars in the humanities showed many are concerned about using
online publications because they are not as accepted for the tenure review
process, said Janet Swatscheno, a visiting digital publishing specialist.
“A
lot of people interested in working with us are past tenure and willing to be
more experimental,” Swatscheno said. “Properly representing their scholarship
is what’s important to them.”
Green
said the staff of the Publishing Without Walls initiative is trying to guide
scholars on ways to show the impact of digital publications for purposes of
tenure review, and on talking with colleagues and tenure committees about how
to evaluate such publications in ways similar to looking at traditionally
published articles or books.
Michelson
said online publishing initiatives such as the Illinois Open Publishing Network
must also establish a level of trust and confidence among scholars through
outside peer review, careful proofing of galleys and similar types of vetting.
“They
need to establish a level of quality and care close to what’s represented by
academic books,” he said.
Green
said the Illinois Open Publishing Network staff has been developing a workflow
for submitting, editing and peer review of articles. The network is
experimenting with the Comment Press tool that allows a scholar to post a draft
of an article and peers to make comments. The software platform Open Journal
Systems, which it uses for publishing journals, has an editorial workflow built
in, providing for peer review and editorial review.
Publishing
without Walls is working with both the Illinois Program for Research in the
Humanities and the African American studies department on multimedia projects,
including an interactive textbook on black studies, Green said. It also will
soon begin publishing Media-N,
a journal on new media artworks edited by Kevin Hamilton, an Illinois art and
design professor and the associate dean for Fine and Applied Arts.
The
initiative is also establishing relationships with university presses,
including the University of Illinois Press.
“We’re
really emphasizing the open-access policy and encouraging faculty to share in
open-access repositories,” Green said.
Details about the project | https://iopn.library.illinois.edu/
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan & Co
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