15 July 2015Peter Berkery

Executive Director

139 Members◦ 95 US, with university affiliation◦ 19 US, with other institutional affiliation◦ 10 Canadian (Anglophone)◦ 15 International

Founded in 1947 8 staff Members must meet eligibility criteria:

◦ Peer review◦ Commitment to Mission◦ Sufficient program size

Initially, attempt to accelerate learning curve

Evolved into comprehensive conversations about the state of UP publishing

Meet with (varies with each visit):◦ Press directors◦ Press staff◦ Administrators◦ Editorial boards◦ Librarians

81 visits on 4 continents so far

Trick question -- there is no typical member! Varies by:

◦ Size◦ Publishing “Mix”◦ Public or Private

“system” presses◦ Funding Mechanisms & Expectations

Academic Monographs◦ “By scholars, for scholars”

Crossover Monographs Series & Edited Volumes Journals Regional

◦ Cultural and natural history Literature

◦ Especially in translation Poetry Textbooks

Some Generalizations:◦ Generally Humanities & Social Sciences◦ Generally Long-form (fka “books”!)◦ Respected for Curating Discipline-specific Lists

Some Absolutes:◦ Editorial Process:

Scrupulous peer review Comparatively extensive editorial & mss

development AAUP membership prerequisite

◦ Commitment to “mission”

Advocacy/Visibility Financial Model Under Stress:

◦ Open Access◦ Channel Disruption◦ Shifting Library Budgets

Scale (or lack thereof):◦ Technology◦ Production◦ Sales & Marketing

Changes in Promotion & Tenure Process Challenges to Peer Review

AAUP’s New Strategic Plan Research Activities

◦ Largely Mellon Funded◦ Intended to Build Capabilities Around:

Consortial activity Bringing UP scholarship to the Open Web

Increasing Our Global Focus

Build membership and foster internal and external collaborations◦Celebrate existing collaborations among members◦Increase outreach to:

international publishers and associations libraries and their organizations scholarly societies like-minded publishers

◦Facilitate scaled collaborations to decrease costs and increase capabilities◦Find points of common interest with like-minded associations

Increase the visibility of our members and their work through engagement with parent institutions, funders, policymakers, and the reading public◦Promote the value of members to the academy and the world◦Equip members to communicate our value to local stakeholders◦Promote increased funding for higher education and research◦Partner with funding organizations to explore new financial models

Conduct research that provides data and analyses to support advocacy and to inform publishing operations and new business models◦Collect, analyze, and disseminate AAUP statistical surveys ◦Facilitate selective environmental scans to identify trends, gaps, and options for new business opportunities and models◦Find and disseminate compelling data points and at-a-glance facts and statistics to advocate for presses

Provide professional development leadership training◦Inventory and affirm best practices◦Promote cross-member education◦Develop programs and services that promote essential skills and leadership development

Web-based discoverability engine◦ nap.edu/academy-scope/

Increase visibility among associations representing Higher Education constituencies

Increase visibility among government agencies responsible for Humanities funding

Expand membership categories International sub rights solution Infrastructure: new website & member

collaboration hub Research, research, research

Recent Mellon Grants – building capabilities:◦ Expand existing distribution business into publishing

services platform (UNC Press)◦ Portal for art & architectural history content (Yale U Press)◦ Peer review for born-digital content (Stanford U Press)◦ Open access digital monographs (U California Press)◦ Mixed-media digital publishing platform (WVU)◦ Manage Monographic Source Materials (U Michigan Press)◦ Iterative Monographs Platoform (U Minnesota Press)◦ Networked Monographs Infrastructure (NYU Press)

Understanding Monograph Costs Digitizing Backlists

Networks of Collaboration◦ Exchange information, ideas, best practices

globally◦ Ex: sharing information on peer review practices

Networks of Advocacy◦ Raise awareness of increasingly global policy

discussions◦ Ex: freedom-to-read, anti-piracy, open access

Networks of Commerce◦ Increase ability to transact business globally◦ Ex: global sub-rights database