I.
Do we need
to analyze the existing market in Library science journals? Andrea and Anita have both raised this
question. The reasons for doing so fall
into two categories: 1) Determining
need—are
quality articles going unpublished for lack of an outlet; does the
world need
another library journal? And 2) Identifying the competition as a way to
help us
define the scope of our proposed journal.
My view:
I’m not inclined
to spend a great deal of time on this task (at least at the beginning)
for the
following reasons. One of the reasons
the journal was proposed at all was as an experiment in alternative
open-access
publication. The rhetoric in the
Library community (I’m thinking of Dan Greenstein among others right
now) is
that academics need to develop new models of scholarly publishing as
sustainable alternatives to typical journal publishing.
I think this notion is problematic, but
that, if anyone can pull it off, it ought to be librarians. As a group, academic librarians should be
uniquely well-informed about the publishing crisis; especially
supportive of
innovative alternatives; and less reluctant to publish in
non-traditional
venues. Ideally the journal would
attract authors who would otherwise seek to publish in established, but
expensive titles (of which librarianship has a surfeit).
Assessing the size of the pool of
publishable articles isn’t that relevant in this scenario.
I think the greatest benefit
of this analysis would be in helping
us define the scope of the new journal.
In this regard, my preference would be to describe our ideal
journal
first and then see how it might be adapted to have the greatest chance
of
success in the market.
What are your thoughts?
II. How do we imagine this journal.
Even if we decide to analyze the
market as our one of our first steps, I think we need to be clear about
what we
are looking for. What follows are some
of the questions/topics I think we need to answer.
It is my hope that you will add to this list, both now and later
as we learn more. As you will see, some
of these questions are broadly conceptual, others focus on mechanical
details. Obviously I’ve thought more
about some parts of this than others.
The questions/topics also fall into two main categories. The journal itself, and its organizational
structure.
The Journal:
What
is its
scope? Should it be open to all aspects of
librarianship and information science; or just topics relevant to
academic
libraries; or should it be even more focused than that?
What
do we
call it?
What
kinds of
pieces will it contain? Peer-reviewed
articles only? Book reviews?
Review Essays? Opinion
pieces? Technology reviews? Letters?
Advertising?
How do we define an issue?
Should we just say 3+ articles makes an issue?
Should we encourage theme issues? I
know of one journal which invites applications from guest
editors who then build an issue around a particular theme of their
choice. This might be an interesting model
to
consider.
What
kind of
publication schedule should we set? Quarterly,
twice a
year? Is the publication of discrete
issues even necessary in an electronic environment.
What if we post articles as ready and simply
bundle each batch of 3-4 articles as an
issue? (I’m not recommending this, but we should consider the
possibility.)
What
are the
steps in producing an issue of a journal from the receipt of an article
to
its publication.
How long from start to finish?
How
can we
get the journal indexed in relevant A&I bibliographies?
Should
we
offer a TOC notification service to interested readers?
We
will need
to design a “look”.
Organization:
What
staff
positions does the journal need?
Which
of them
(if any) should receive compensation (e.g. salary, release time)?
Does
the
journal need an editorial/advisory board?
Does
LAUC
need a Publications Committee?
Where
does
decision-making authority lie?
How
long
should an editor serve? Indefinitely
or for a fixed, renewable term?
3 years? 5 years?
Must
the
editor be a LAUC member?
What
are our expectations for institutional
support
from the library where an editor works? From
LAUC? Could LAUC fund a graduate
assistant and/or
release time for the editor? Should
we expect that a host library will
offer this level of support if it agrees to host the journal? Should we expect that the journal seek grant
support?
What
other
funding/support options can we explore (e.g. grants, institutional
partners)?
III
First
Steps:
I
am
arranging for space on the web where I can post drafts and working
documents..
Interview journal editors and publishers. (Of course we have to decide what we need to ask first.)
Market analysis (Again, we have to decide what we need to know first)
Investigate e-scholarship. We need to learn exactly what support they offer journals, what their technology can and cannot do; what they would expect of LAUC.
Make what preliminary decisions we can about
the journal.
Begin to rough out a work-flow chart for the
journal.