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  • 1.  temporary free access to Libraries: Culture, History, and Society

    Posted Feb 10, 2022 03:33 PM
    Hi friends --
     
    Library History Round Table's scholarly journal, Libraries: Culture, History, and Society (LCHS) is migrating to a new platform, the Scholarly Publishing Collective. Going forward, all issues of the journal will appear on our https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/libraries. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-linkindex="0">Scholarly Publishing Collective site.
    At the present time, you can preview the new site AND access all content free. As part of the site's initial launch and testing, issues of LCHS will be open access until March 31. After that date, access will revert to the usual subscription terms. Members of LHRT will continue to receive free access as part of their round table membership, so if you're not currently an ALA/LHRT member, now is a great time tohttps://www.ala.org/rt/join-lhrt. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-linkindex="1"> join!
     
    We welcome your thoughts, questions, and concerns, especially concerning accessibility, functionality, and desired enhancements. There will be aspects of the new platform that won't be under our control, but we can and will advocate for improvements as the site launches.

    Our hope in sharing our content with you is that you will see the types of material we've published so far and think of us as a potential outlet for future work. We also want to provide a window of opportunity for people who are interested in the history of libraries/librarianship, but can't afford to join LHRT or subscribe to our publication.

    Wishing you well --

    Bernadette Lear
    Co-Editor, Libraries: Culture, History, and Society


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    Bernadette Lear
    Librarian
    Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg Library
    She/Her/Hers,Ms.
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  • 2.  RE: temporary free access to Libraries: Culture, History, and Society

    Posted Feb 11, 2022 03:32 PM
    I'm bothered that as we ask other scholarly journals to be made available open access, we don't make all our library scholarly journals, especially ALA journals, open access.

    Emily Bergman
    Campus Librarian
    The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Southern California campuses.



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: temporary free access to Libraries: Culture, History, and Society

    Posted Feb 12, 2022 07:05 AM
    Agreed, OA would be a desirable goal. As with other OA publications, the problem is financial. If we move away from the reader-pays model (which is often library-pays-on-behalf-of-reader), then we are looking at an author-pays model (unless and until some funder steps in with money). I doubt that very many authors who contribute to LCHS could come up with $1000 or $2000 to pay the necessary APC fee, if the journal moved right now to author-pays OA. Someone has to defray the cost of editing, production and dissemination. It's a dilemma around equity: the reader-pays model risks excluding some readers, and the author-pays model risks excluding some authors. LCHS is not exactly an ALA journal: I believe it has been published by Penn State's press up to now. Only the largest university presses as of now seem to have the cash backing to experiment with read + publish transformative models, without raising costs through the roof. And I doubt that ALA has the funds to cover APC cost (without raising dues).

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    Steven Sowards
    Assoc Director for Colls
    Michigan State Univ Libraries
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: temporary free access to Libraries: Culture, History, and Society

    Posted Feb 12, 2022 01:25 PM
    Hello Emily and Steven --

    Many thanks for your interest in LCHS.  Without sounding defensive, I'd like to share some context that might help others understand why LHRT's journal isn't open access at the present time. As Steven indicated, it's a much-desired goal, but given LHRT's current corps of volunteers and our current financial arrangements with ALA, it doesn't seem feasible right now.

    With fewer than 500 members, the Library History Round Table is one of ALA's smallest round tables -- so small, in fact, that the membership targets articulated in ALA's "Forward Together" strategic plan could have eliminated us entirely. Though we're blessed with hardworking volunteers, their numbers are small, and quite a few are already doing double- or triple duty. We receive no subsidies from ALA and our main source of income is our membership dues. Our entire annual budget is less than $8,000/year and we have to pay ALA for a lot of the administrative services it provides us, including 10% annual overhead, banking fees, conference equipment rental, and other operating expenses.  I can't speak for other round tables, but I would bet ALA's financial policies go a long way toward explaining why LHRT is one of few that produces a scholarly journal. Those who would point to ACRL, RUSA, and other divisions who publish open-access periodicals should bear in mind that those entities have different financial arrangements with ALA and much-larger memberships.

    As Steven pointed out, the labor involved in producing a journal costs someone, something. LHRT members already donate significant labor as editorial board members, peer-reviewers, and authors -- but it takes a lot more than that to establish, maintain, and move forward with a scholarly journal.  When Eric and I began the behind-the-scenes work to establish LCHS in 2015, we recognized that (as practitioners with no experience in starting a journal, and no administrative leave or graduate student support for our editorial roles), we'd need professional help to produce the high-quality publication we aspired to. Penn State Press's staff were *invaluable* in assisting us with the setup of a peer-review system; the setup of a website;  and designing the journal's layout and other aspects of its look and tone. They continue to be invaluable in proofreading and formatting each article; ensuring that LCHS is published both in print and online; getting our publication indexed in databases that are important for our field; and much more.  I can't speak for Eric, but knowing my own workload, I could not have produced our first volume by Spring 2017, nor could I have produced 5 years of issues on-time (especially during a global pandemic!) if I'd had to take on more of the production and maintenance work that the Press handles for us. Of particular note, a recent survey of LHRT members and frequent feedback we continue to receive from them is that the paper copies that they receive in the mail is one of the most valuable benefits the round table offers. Believe it or not, a tangible item is highly appreciated in our Zoom-weary world. There's no way Eric and I could manage subscriptions, mailings, claims, and all the other things that go along with a print publication.

    For what it's worth, Eric and I partnered with a university press because such non-profits provide a lot of added value to editors for a relatively low cost to users.  All LHRT members receive free copies/online access to LCHS. Non-members can receive both print and online for $71/year.  Institutional print + online costs just $223/year. Furthermore, volume 1, issue 1, always has been open access to provide potential authors with accessible examples of what we publish. Gold OA is an option. Further, it must be said that LHRT does its part to provide free intellectual content and opportunities to non-members through its blog, LHRT News and Notes,

    Please understand that I'm not trying to shut down conversations about open access.  It's something that I've been thinking about each and every year since we began, and I would go that route if the economics and labor were at hand. As things stand currently, university presses provide an important service --  enabling small communities like ours to have a much wider reach than we probably would if we tried to go it alone.

    Bernadette  :)
    Co-Editor, Libraries: Culture, History, and Society


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    Bernadette Lear
    Librarian
    Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg Library
    She/Her/Hers,Ms.
    ------------------------------

    Original Message