*Michigan Publishing collaborates to launch Lever Press; *An International Coalition of Author Advocacy Challenges Publishing Contracts; *OCLC signs agreements with leading publishers worldwide; *Library Readers Borrow Record Numbers of eBooks and Audiobooks in 2015; *Seven Publishers Will Make an ORCID ID a Requirement For Publication; Springer Nature Reaches ORCID Milestone; *100-Year Digital Archive (4,500 issues, 500,000 Pages) of Aviation Week & Space Technology Now Available Online; *Descriptions of 10,000+ Brazilian Chapbooks in Library of Congress Collection Now Available Online; and *HighWire joins CHORUS, supports publishers’ efforts to facilitate public access to federally funded research plus more library and publishing news from a variety of sources.
Michigan Publishing collaborates to launch Lever Press
Michigan Publishing, the publishing division of the University of Michigan Library, will launch a new open-access book-publishing imprint, Lever Press, in collaboration with Amherst College Press and the Oberlin Group, a consortium of 80 libraries in America’s top liberal arts colleges. Lever Press will publish digital-native titles distinguished by three key features: editorial alignment with the mission and ethos of liberal arts colleges; a “platinum” approach to open access in which the pledging institutions rather than authors pay all publishing costs; and digitally native production processes designed to support innovative projects that go “beyond the book.”
An International Coalition of Author Advocacy Challenges Publishing Contracts
Porter Anderson Media reports that “dated today, 5th January, the Authors Guild’s open letter to the Association of American Publishers leads the loudest call yet for contract reform in publishing’s relations with authors.
This is a coordinated campaign being mounted by the world’s key author-advocacy organisations.
The letter’s signatories include the UK’s Society of Authors, the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Irish Writers Union, along with a host of more than two dozen writer-advocacy organisations from Europe, Africa, Australia, North America.
OCLC signs agreements with leading publishers worldwide
Library Technology Guides reports that “OCLC has signed agreements with leading publishers to add metadata for books, e-books, journals, databases and other materials that will make their content discoverable through WorldCat Discovery Services…”
Library Readers Borrow Record Numbers of eBooks and Audiobooks in 2015
Library Technology Guides also notes that ” according to OverDrive 2015 was a banner year for libraries with record numbers of readers turning to their local library to borrow and download popular eBooks and audiobooks… They report “that in 2015 readers borrowed more than 169 million digital books. This is an increase of 24 percent over 2014 with a notable surge in audiobooks usage, which achieved a faster growth rate than eBook library borrowing…”
Seven Publishers Will Make an ORCID ID a Requirement For Publication; Springer Nature Reaches ORCID Milestone
According to infoDOCKET “a group of seven publishers today announced that, during 2016, they will begin requiring authors to use an ORCID identifier (iD) during the publication process. The American Geophysical Union (AGU), eLife, EMBO, Hindawi, the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) will join the Royal Society – which already (as of January 1, 2016) requires its authors to include iDs at submission – in making this commitment…”
100-Year Digital Archive (4,500 issues, 500,000 Pages) of Aviation Week & Space Technology Now Available Online
infoDOCKET also reports that “Aviation Week & Space Technology launched its 100-year digital archive today in collaboration with Boeing, the sponsor of the archive. Both companies trace their roots to 1916.
The archive includes 4,500 issues and nearly 500,000 pages of articles, photos and advertising. It can be seen at archive.aviationweek.com…”
Descriptions of 10,000+ Brazilian Chapbooks in Library of Congress Collection Now Available Online
In addition, infoDOCKET notes that the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is providing the “opportunity to discover 10,000 plus titles in the American Folklife Center’s Literatura de cordel Brazilian chapbook collection (AFC 1970/002)! The Library of Congress holds one of the world’s largest collections of literatura de cordel – Brazilian chapbooks — published from 1930 to date…”
HighWire joins CHORUS, supports publishers’ efforts to facilitate public access to federally funded research
KnowledgeSpeak reports that “HighWire Press, Inc. has announced its participation as an affiliate member of CHORUS (Clearing House for the Open Research of the United States). A not-for-profit membership organisation, CHORUS’ goal is to help publishers comply with mandates from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and to streamline access to the best available version of federally funded research articles, using CrossRef Funding Data and other open technology integrations…”
More library and publishing news from a variety of sources
The German National Library of Science and Technology features new name, website and corporate design;
Penguin Random House Exits Self-Publishing Biz, Sells Author Solutions to Private Equity Firm
ProQuest SIPX Recognized as a Way to Reduce Adoption Barriers to OER Content;
Springer Nature hits milestone of 200,000 ORCID identifiers;
Gale Brings Interactive Science Products to Libraries;
Ex Libris cloud solutions to power four libraries in the UC Davis library system;
Bibliotheca to Showcase Four Gold Products from LibraryWorks 2016 Modern Library Awards at ALA Midwinter;
Cornell University Library to implement Kuali Open Library Environment;
Taylor & Francis and the National Institute for Materials Science announce new publishing partnership;