SPEC Kit 343: Library Support for Faculty/Researcher Publishing · 15
educate faculty on recognizing predatory publishers,
support creation of open educational resources, and
assist faculty with the development of open access
textbooks. Public access mandates beyond the NIH
mandate are also likely in the near future therefore,
libraries should, commenters stated, lead initiatives at
their institutions to educate faculty on how to comply
with these mandates and provide resources for the
hosting of publications and data subject to public ac-
cess or other funder mandates.
This survey polled ARL libraries on current pub-
lishing workflow support, but respondents added
in the comments ways in which libraries can, in the
future, provide better and more visible support.
Libraries should seek out opportunities to serve in
cooperative roles with faculty in the research and
publishing process, including serving as co-PIs on
grants and co-editors on books and other works.
Other comments suggest that the concept of em-
bedded librarianship should extend beyond faculty
teaching to faculty research. One respondent noted
that libraries should find “the natural places where
libraries interface with the research workflow” and
develop “new place where libraries can add value to
the research workflow.” The areas of data manage-
ment and copyright management were also identified
as important areas for future library support. Finally,
library management of researcher identities or pro-
files was identified as an important area of future
support of faculty publishing.
Although the purpose of this survey was to cap-
ture data on the many ways that libraries support
faculty publishing before publication, the library as
publisher was noted by several respondents as an
important future role for academic libraries. Although
lack of funding to support the role of publisher was
recognized, providing journal publishing infrastruc-
ture and hosting of alternative publishing venues
were noted as services libraries should consider pro-
viding in the future. Greater collaboration with aca-
demic or university presses was also highlighted as a
means of providing these services in the future.
In Conclusion
A quick review of the “what else would you like to
tell us” comments provides an excellent summation
of the survey results. It is clear that libraries are in-
creasingly supporting faculty publication through a
combination of new library services, intra-institutional
collaboration, and as publishers of academic content.
Responsibility for supporting academic publishing
is distributed through the institutions and through
the libraries, and with some strategic offering of ser-
vices libraries may play a role in bringing these scat-
tered threads together into a more cohesive and useful
whole. The key campus partner in this endeavour will
be the Research Office. In many cases these offices are
struggling to meet the needs of faculty and researchers
and would welcome collaboration with the library.
It is also clear that provision of additional services
is not an option with current resources. Several librar-
ies have plans for future services, but cannot stretch
their liaison services any further. Libraries also lack
funds to hire data managers, copyright specialists,
and scholarly communications librarians to provide
these crucial services. Collaboration with other sup-
port services on campus will be critical for those who
want to dip their toe into the waters, but can’t afford
to dive.
Library publishers include traditional university
presses that are managed by the library along with
library digital imprints and open access monographs.
Libraries continue to promote open access publishing
while progress is being made, the absence of insti-
tutional mandates to participate in or support open
access results in relatively slow uptake. Through insti-
tutional repositories libraries make academic content
available to the public, including content published in
alternative formats, digital presentations and research
data. The need for publication of alternative formats is
an emerging trend, and libraries are well positioned
to fill this need.
educate faculty on recognizing predatory publishers,
support creation of open educational resources, and
assist faculty with the development of open access
textbooks. Public access mandates beyond the NIH
mandate are also likely in the near future therefore,
libraries should, commenters stated, lead initiatives at
their institutions to educate faculty on how to comply
with these mandates and provide resources for the
hosting of publications and data subject to public ac-
cess or other funder mandates.
This survey polled ARL libraries on current pub-
lishing workflow support, but respondents added
in the comments ways in which libraries can, in the
future, provide better and more visible support.
Libraries should seek out opportunities to serve in
cooperative roles with faculty in the research and
publishing process, including serving as co-PIs on
grants and co-editors on books and other works.
Other comments suggest that the concept of em-
bedded librarianship should extend beyond faculty
teaching to faculty research. One respondent noted
that libraries should find “the natural places where
libraries interface with the research workflow” and
develop “new place where libraries can add value to
the research workflow.” The areas of data manage-
ment and copyright management were also identified
as important areas for future library support. Finally,
library management of researcher identities or pro-
files was identified as an important area of future
support of faculty publishing.
Although the purpose of this survey was to cap-
ture data on the many ways that libraries support
faculty publishing before publication, the library as
publisher was noted by several respondents as an
important future role for academic libraries. Although
lack of funding to support the role of publisher was
recognized, providing journal publishing infrastruc-
ture and hosting of alternative publishing venues
were noted as services libraries should consider pro-
viding in the future. Greater collaboration with aca-
demic or university presses was also highlighted as a
means of providing these services in the future.
In Conclusion
A quick review of the “what else would you like to
tell us” comments provides an excellent summation
of the survey results. It is clear that libraries are in-
creasingly supporting faculty publication through a
combination of new library services, intra-institutional
collaboration, and as publishers of academic content.
Responsibility for supporting academic publishing
is distributed through the institutions and through
the libraries, and with some strategic offering of ser-
vices libraries may play a role in bringing these scat-
tered threads together into a more cohesive and useful
whole. The key campus partner in this endeavour will
be the Research Office. In many cases these offices are
struggling to meet the needs of faculty and researchers
and would welcome collaboration with the library.
It is also clear that provision of additional services
is not an option with current resources. Several librar-
ies have plans for future services, but cannot stretch
their liaison services any further. Libraries also lack
funds to hire data managers, copyright specialists,
and scholarly communications librarians to provide
these crucial services. Collaboration with other sup-
port services on campus will be critical for those who
want to dip their toe into the waters, but can’t afford
to dive.
Library publishers include traditional university
presses that are managed by the library along with
library digital imprints and open access monographs.
Libraries continue to promote open access publishing
while progress is being made, the absence of insti-
tutional mandates to participate in or support open
access results in relatively slow uptake. Through insti-
tutional repositories libraries make academic content
available to the public, including content published in
alternative formats, digital presentations and research
data. The need for publication of alternative formats is
an emerging trend, and libraries are well positioned
to fill this need.
