EDITOR'S NOTES
Taking Library Publishing to the Next Level
by Dick Kaser
Libraries have a long history as publishers. Back in the day, monastic scribes literally penned the volumes that were then chained to reading desks. Today’s digital publishing technologies make it possible for every library to own a press. The opportunities are endless, and the output doesn’t always have to be a book.
In her article on H5P, Laura Harris, online learning librarian at SUNY–Oswego, talks about how she used H5P’s publishing tools to create and publish literacy instruction widgets—and how you can too.
Rachel Evans, digital media specialist at the University of Georgia’s Alexander Campbell King Law Library, recounts the 30-some year publishing history of the library’s newsletter, currently known as Amicus Briefs.
And in the EDTECH section, alumni from Ridgewood Community High School tell how they digitized the school’s entire collection of yearbooks, ostensibly to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first graduating class, but ended up with an archive of local history documenting a half century.
Kim Gile (community reference librarian at Kansas City Public Library) and Monika Sengul-Jones (Wikipedian-in-residence at OCLC) share their conversation about what it’s like to hold a public event for locals to enrich or publish Wikipedia articles about their area. In this case, the event focused on documenting Kansas City’s jazz.
With institutional repositories on the rise and academic institutions increasing publishing preprints and OA data collections, columnist Terence Huwe writes about how such endeavors may turn out to be full-fledged publishing programs, complete with revenue streams.
For today’s libraries, publishing opportunities abound. While the articles in this issue represent a few case studies and best practices, I truly hope they will inspire more.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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