1. [Insert Something Thoughtful Here]
17 March 2016
University Press Redux
Peter Berkery

2. About AAUP 139 Members Founded in 1937 8 staff
94 US, with university affiliation
18 US, with other institutional affiliation
11 Canadian (Anglophone)
16 International
Founded in 1937
8 staff
Members must meet eligibility criteria:
Peer Review
Commitment to Mission
Indicia Publishing Program Has Critical Mass
I’ve visited over 90 so far

3. What Does a Typical AAUP Member Press Look Like?
Trick question -- there is no typical member!
Varies by:
Size
Publishing “Mix”
Public or Private
“system” presses
Funding Mechanisms & Expectations
UPdom in the throes of transformative change
“That’s not how it is at my press!”

4. What’s Our Publishing “Mix”
Academic Monographs
“By scholars, for scholars”
Crossover Monographs
Series & Edited Volumes
Journals
Regional
Cultural and natural history
Literature
Especially in translation
Poetry
Textbooks

5. So, Do AAUP Members Have Anything in Common?
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
Editorial Board
Commitment to “mission”

6. AAUP Members Also Have Some Common Challenges …
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
Applying Peer Review in New Contexts
New Forms of Scholarship
New Technologies

7. … And Some Common Opportunities
AAUP’s New Strategic Plan
Research Initiatives
Largely Mellon Funded
Intended to Build Capabilities Around:
Consortial Activity
Bringing UP Scholarship to the Open Web
Increasing Our Global Focus

8. Tactics from AAUP’s Strategic Plan: A (Selective) Baker’s Half Dozen
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
Rationalize membership structure
International sub rights solution
Infrastructure: new website & member collaboration hub
Research, research, research

9. The UP Research/Grant “Agenda”
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 Platform (U Minnesota Press)
Networked Monographs Infrastructure (NYU Press)
Understanding Monograph Costs
Digitizing Backlists
UPScope

10. AAUP Seeks a More Global Network of University Presses
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

11. What Felt Familiar … UPs Have Advantages vs Commercial Publishers:
We enjoy a presumption of quality
We can build relationships
Commitment to Quality
Desire to Add (and Show) Value – to Institutions, Societies, and the Community
New conversation for some UPs
How are US UPs engaging?
Find Your Niche
List specialization
Institutional Alignment
Library Sales Tanking
No silver bullet
Experiments:
D2C
Guerilla marketing, esp for course adoptions

12. … and What Felt Different?
Does Publishing Own Faculty = Vanity Press?
How does publishing as a service square with a UP’s inherent quality control function?
Is OA the enemy of print?
But really unanswered questions not differences
Less divergence than one might assume
In fact, possible that, from divergent starting points, we are moving toward a convergence?
Broadest possible dissemination
Of the highest quality scholarship
In order to advance research, expand the mind, and elevate the human condition