2009 TAA Conference Sponsors
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Sponsor the 2009
TAA Conference for only $200!
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BTAA People: A. Jane Birch, Tara Gray
A. Jane Birch, Brigham Young University, and Tara Gray, New Mexico State University, will be presenting two sessions at the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD Network) Conference, October 22-25 in Reno, Nevada.
"Ten Ways to Let Your Database Do Your Work For You", will demonstrate the ten ways a database can be used by faculty developers -- and will help participants identify and clarify the data needs and solutions of their own centers. "Facilitating Scholarly Writing Circles That Work," will present proven strategies that help scholars improve their writing and increase their productivity by a factor of four.
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TAA Membership Renewal Coupon Expires December 31, 2008
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Please take a minute to fill out the 2008 TAA Member Survey
Your answers will help us shape future member benefits!
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TAA launches Fall Teleconference Series
TAA has launched its members-only Fall Teleconference Series.
- "Make Your Book Better & Your Online Sales Bigger with Online Feedback Tools" (listen to recording)
- "How to Craft a Winning Textbook Proposal" (Oct. 9)
- "Scholarly Writing: Strengthening Your Literature Review" (Oct. 17)
- "Scholarly Publishing: Finding Support Through Peer Mentoring" (Nov. 11)
- "How to Proactively Market Your Textbook" (Nov. 20)
Learn more about these teleconferences at http://www.taaonline.net/TAATeleconferences/schedule.html
Sign up for one or more Fall teleconferences
Don't have your member username and password? Email Kim Pawlak
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Subscribe to TAA Listservs
Subscribe to one or both of TAA's Listservs, one on textbook authoring and one on academic authoring.
Subscribe to the Textbook Authoring Listserv by sending an email to TAATextbookAuthoring-on@mail-list.com
Subscribe to the Academic Authoring Listserv by sending an email to TAAAcademicAuthoring-on@mail-list.com
You can switch to the Digest version of the Textbook Authoring Listserv, in which you receive only one email message per week with all that week's posts contained within it, by sending an email to TAATextbookAuthoring-switch@mail-list.com
once you have been subscribed.
To switch to the Digest version of the Academic Authoring Listserv, send an email to TAAAcademicAuthoring-switch@mail-list.com once you have been subscribed.
After you are subscribed to the Textbook Authoring Listserv, send messages to TAATextbookAuthoring@mail-list.com
After you are subscribed to the Academic Authoring Listserv, send messages to TAAAcademicAuthoring@mail-list.com
Read the archives for both Listservs here
If you have any questions, please email Kim Pawlak
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Greetings!
TAA members Andrew Johnson and Stephen Bohnenblust have started TAA's first chapter at Minnesota State University, Mankato. More than 30 faculty have joined their chapter, named "TAA Alpha Chapter at MSU, Mankato", so far.
Bohnenblust, director of the Center for Excellence in Scholarship and Research (CESR) at MSU-Mankato, will serve as the initial Chapter Chair. Johnson, professor of holistic education in the Department of Special Education at MSU, Mankato, will be assisting Bohnenblust with the new chapter.
Bohnenblust said that he decided to start a TAA Chapter as a way to enhance his university's newly formed writing group for faculty interested in writing textbooks. "Most textbook authors know very little about textbook publishing," he said. "They know their content areas, but don't know what questions to ask when it comes to publishing. TAA has so many resources available for textbook authors."
At MSU, Mankato (a non-Research 1 university) textbooks are considered a valuable scholarly activity, said Bohnenblust: "Textbook authoring fits well with what we are trying to encourage among our faculty. We feel that TAA's many resources combined with what we can offer, will provide us with the opportunity to get more of our faculty members interested in textbook authoring."
Bohnenblust said he plans to direct his chapter members to TAA's various benefits, including articles, news, listservs, teleconferences and workshops. "TAA has a number of different resources that I think will be valuable to our chapter members," he said. "I would guess we would tap into a large number of them. One of our members asked me a question recently about coauthoring and I was able to pull up an article on that topic from the 2008 Conference and share it with him. I'm hoping that eventually members will go to the TAA website and look things like this up themselves."
Bohnenblust's department is paying for the chapter memberships. "Most of our chapter members and prospective chapter members don't know about TAA," he said. "It is more difficult to get people to buy into something they aren't familiar with. So we decided to give them all a trial membership. It was relatively easy and inexpensive to do it that way."
A TAA Chapter can be started with a minimum of 15 members, and those members can include existing TAA members. New TAA Chapter members pay the same dues as any new TAA member, $30. TAA Chapters must designate a Chapter Chair who is responsible for communicating with TAA headquarters about the chapter. For taking on that role, the Chapter Chair receives a free annual membership. Each TAA Chapter receives the following benefits:
- A start-up grant of $500 to cover the cost of purchasing a library of textbook and academic authoring resource materials, and conducting a chapter recruitment event, such as a recruitment breakfast, lunch, or wine and cheese party.
- A chapter website linked to the main TAA website.
- A chapter listserv to be used for communicating among chapter members.
- Administrative support from TAA headquarters (TAA headquarters staff will process all chapter memberships and send renewal notices to chapter members).
- All the benefits of a TAA membership for each chapter member, including a monthly print newsletter, bi-monthly email News Alerts, access to the members-only areas of the TAA website, discounts on editing services and legal fees, and more.
- 20 percent of each chapter member's dues returned each year. The Chair must send an annual report detailing how these funds are used.
- Chapters with 30 or more members receive one free TAA workshop of their choice (valued at $5,000) per membership year. TAA will send the Chapter Chair a voucher for a free TAA Workshop once chapter membership reaches 30 members. Each year, the Chapter membership must be at least 30 members to qualify for the free workshop.
- Two customized teleconferences per year on topics of the chapter's choice, held during the chapter's regularly scheduled meeting time.
If you're ready to start a TAA Chapter or have any questions, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Kim Pawlak
Associate Executive Director
kim.pawlak@taaonline.net
(608) 687-3106
(507) 459-1363 cell
www.TAAonline.net
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TAA seeks applications for Council of Fellows
TAA is seeking applications and nominations for candidates for membership in the association's Council of Fellows. TAA's Council of Fellows members are distinguished authors who have a long record of successful and diverse publication as a textbook author, an academic author, or both. Candidates should be authors whose textbooks or academic articles or books have established their presence in their field.
Council of Fellows members are chosen
by a TAA Selection Committee based on a set of criteria which includes their level of participation in TAA activities; teaching excellence; quality and quantity of textbooks (if textbook authors); and quality and quantity of professional journal articles, monographs and edited books (if academic authors). A full set of criteria is enclosed.
New Council of Fellows members are inducted at the association's annual conference, at which time they receive a special engraved medallion and lifetime membership in TAA.
TAA's current Council of Fellows are Michael Sullivan, Lee Mountain, Everette E. Dennis, Mike Keedy, Franklin H. Silverman and Karl J. Smith, inducted in 1999; Thomas L. Wheelen and William R. Pasewark, inducted in 2000; Karen Hess, D. Stanley Eitzen and J. David Hunger, inducted in 2001; Charles D. Holland, inducted in 2002; Patrick G. McKeown, inducted in 2003; and Karen C. Timberlake and Marilyn T. "Winkie" Fordney inducted in 2005.
Applications must include documentation in support of the Council of Fellows criteria. Send your application and documentation to TAA, P.O. Box 76477, St. Petersburg, FL 33734-6477. Questions? Contact TAA headquarters at TextandAcademicAuthors@taaonline.net
The deadline for application to the TAA Council of Fellows is November 30, 2008. New members will be inducted at the 2009 TAA Conference in San Antonio, Texas, June 25-27.
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Featured Member
Author uses simple concepts to present literacy innovations
Andrew Johnson
By Kim Seidel
Education author Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D., worked for nine years in the public schools as a first, second, fifth and sixth grade teacher and as a gifted education coordinator before moving into higher education. He credits his ability to maintain the perspective of a second grade teacher with his writing and teaching success.
"I love teaching and education," he said. "I'll always be a second grade teacher. This perspective helps me in teaching my graduate and undergraduate courses. It also helps me in my writing."
Johnson, professor and chair of the Department of Special Education at Mankato State University (MSU) in Minnesota, recently completed his sixth book, Teaching and Writing: Research-based strategies for teachers, tutors, parents and paraprofessionals (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008), which is due out any day. "This is one of those magical books that fell together," he said. "It only took me about four months to write it."
Johnson's purpose for writing the book evolved during the writing process. "Originally, I wanted to create a handbook that my undergraduate students could use as a guide in tutoring students in reading," said Johnson. "I wanted to provide simple descriptions of research-based strategies that they could put into practice immediately."
In addition, he selected strategies that could be implemented without having to acquire additional books, packages or other instructional materials. Johnson's goal was that students and others using the book would only need paper, pencil, books, creativity, imagination and a desire to help students.
"As I began writing this handbook, I realized that this would also be of use to parents who want to help their children at home, and paraprofessionals who are often put in tutoring roles," Johnson said. He also started to see a use in the strategies for classroom teachers. "Thus, this tutoring guide expanded slightly," he said. "It is designed for parents, teachers, paraprofessionals and others who want to help children develop their full literacy potential."
Read entire article
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Read other Featured Member Profiles
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Listen to recording of TAA Teleconference on online feedback tools for authors
TAA members can now listen to a recording of the September 25th TAA Teleconference "Make Your Book Better and Sales Bigger With Online Feedback Tools" presented by David Brake, founder and CEO of Content Connections: Click here
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TAA Teleconference
"How to Craft a Winning Textbook Proposal"
Thursday, October 9th, 12-1 p.m. central time
Presented by Mary Ellen Lepionka, Higher Education Developmental Editor, and Founder of Atlantic Path Publishing.
Most publishing houses have similar proprietary forms for prospective authors to use in drafting a book proposal. Those forms do not explain, however, the underlying needs and expectations of the publishers or editorial boards that will review your prospectus and decide whether to offer you a textbook contract. This teleconference is designed to explain those needs and expectations and to answer your questions about getting a publisher.
First, how can you be sure you are ready to write your proposal? What steps can you take to be ready? What should you include-and not include--in your prospectus? How can you best showcase your credibility, market savvy, competitive edge, content organization, and authorial voice and style? What are some hallmarks of winning proposals? When and to whom should you send your package? How can you be sure you are sending it to the right places? What is the likelihood that your proposal will be accepted?
About the Presenter
Mary Ellen Lepionka is a developmental editor in higher education and has worked with many major textbook publishers, such as Allyn & Bacon, Prentice Hall, McGraw-Hill, Wiley, Houghton Mifflin, Sage, and others. She is also the founder of Atlantic Path Publishing in Gloucester, MA, and author of Writing and Developing Your College Textbook, second edition (2008) and Writing and Developing College Textbook Supplements (2005). Mary Ellen is a proud member and sponsor of the Text and Academic Authors Association.
Sign up for this teleconference
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or email kim.pawlak@taaonline.net
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Sign up for TAA teleconference on how to strengthen a literature review
Dr. Sonja Foss, a professor of communication at the University of Colorado, and Dr. William Waters, coordinator of composition, director of the Writing Center, and assistant professor in the English Department at Northwest Missouri State University, will present a TAA teleconference on Friday, October 17 from 12-1 p.m. central time entitled "Scholarly Writing: Strengthening Your Literature Review".
Sign up
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Authors Asking Q&A
Q: "I'm shopping a project around to a number of different publishers, but I'm having trouble figuring out exactly why I should choose one publisher over another, should more than one of them be interested. Assuming that each publisher makes approximately the same offer, and that my project fits in well with each publisher's list, what other factors should I take into consideration? Does anyone have any personal experience (or warnings) that they would like to share? I'm particularly interested in hearing about people's experiences with Cengage (formerly Thomson Brooks/Cole), Freeman, and Wiley, in the science/math college textbook divisions. It would also be very helpful to have any advice regarding questions I could ask of the editors to determine which publisher would be best to work with."
A: Rebecca Plante, PhD, Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Ithaca College:
"I don't have any specific knowledge of the science/math text market, but I have some general ideas.
- Is there a publisher particularly known as the place to go to for books on [your specialty/subject here]? For example, if adopters know Wiley as a great source of books on X, your book would be more easily part of the adopter's search.
- I've found that book publishing is about relationships as much as it is about my ideas or trying to reach students. It has been much easier to work with, gripe to, take feedback from, and learn from the editors with whom I was able to develop a connection - same sense of humor, age contemporaries, similar backgrounds - something to start the relationship on a good foot. If things were otherwise equal, is there an editor whom you think you'd enjoy working with and would be able to be honest with about the labor of actually bringing the proposal to fruition?
- Another thing to consider is what sort of marketing/publicity the publisher will coordinate. How did earlier, possibly similar texts fare in terms of sales? What aspects are handled in house vs. freelanced (eg, cover design, back cover copy writing)? A question to pose - that may not apply to your subject - would be what kind of market the publisher would see for your text - A to D-level - based on size of potential market (an intro text in a widely taught discipline would be A-level, and so forth). Does this correspond with your perception or the reality of potential market? If there are illustrations, graphs, charts and/or CDs, software, etc. - how will the costs & design for these things be handled?"
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Authors Asking Q&A
Q: "What is an 'author's questionnaire'?"
A: Mary Ellen Lepionka, Atlantic Path Publishing:
"An Author's Questionnaire usually comes from the marketing department to develop leads for reviewers of, contributors to, and especially adopters of your text. Suggest fill it in as completely as possible to make your contacts, colleagues, affiliations, and achievements known to the people who will attempt to market and sell your title. Also include any press--news articles about you (and keep sending them). List your upcoming opportunities to promote your book, such as guest lectures, keynote addresses, interviews in the broadcast media, academic conventions, teleseminars or webinars, etc.
Ideally you would have a marketing plan of your own to include--what you intend to do to help get the word out about your book and win adoptions. For example, you could include the forthcoming title in your email signature, blog about it, add it to your web site, ask colleagues to try it out, discuss it on Technorati or Linked In (or whatever other web 2.0 organizations you have joined, e.g., Facebook), and include it in your bio whenever you publish an article.
The marketing dept. needs all the help it can get. It is a common misconception that publishers invest heavily in marketing and promotion. The truth is that even the largest have certain systems in place to do only so much with the many products they field each year. They also do not cover the whole universe of potential adopters because sales forces focus on certain territories where they have done well in the past. Competition among large publishers to control adoptions in their territories is pretty intense. Your book will be in the company's catalog, which will go out to their customers and to leads from your Author's Questionnaire, and information about adopting your book will go out in an email campaign to only a percentage of the people who actually teach that course. To achieve its full potential, in other words, your book will need not only your Author's Questionnaire. It will need you."
A: Scott Harr, Department of Criminal Justice, Concordia University St. Paul:
Maybe different publishers have different jargon or meanings (or uses) for such, but when I'm asked for these from my publisher it's mostly used for marketing purposes since we write our own 'about the author' section. I try to be thorough, maybe erring on providing more than less, then let them decide what they want to use. Typical questions include degree earned, schools attended, courses taught, publications, etc. Questionnaires can also ask about the book (what's new or special about it, etc). Most of all, I never exagerate or, obviously, say anything not factual. Always amazes me when people do, especially in this day and age of easy confirmation at the touch of the www. My only real 'hint' is once you do one, save it for the next time so you don't have to redo something that can be quite time consuming.
A: Rebecca Plante, PhD, Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Ithaca College:
"When I've done author's questionnaires, I too err on the side of being more thorough. The marketing team at one of my publishers is small, but the (back)list is small as well, so they can do their job very well if I give them the benefit of my knowledge of my market. My work is interdisciplinary, which is problematic sometimes, and I try to be extensive in giving ideas about who might adopt, how to pitch the work, what the key features of my books are. I absolutely keep old copies of these documents to (hopefully) use in the future! I've also had undergrad research assistants help me cull the Internet to determine who's teaching relevant courses so that I can provide that information - 'Dr. So and So teaches human sexuality at XY College' - possibly along with relevant syllabi."
A: Sheila Curran Bernard, author of Documentary Storytelling and Archival Storytelling:
In my experience with Focal Press, it's a sales & marketing tool -- a brief questionnaire seeking information for the publisher about you and your book and your professional memberships and such -- your thoughts on possible places the book might find an audience, including professional associations, annual meetings, specialized schools or areas of study, that sort of thing."
Here's an example of an Author's Questionnaire provided by Focal Press:
AUTHOR QUESTIONNAIRE
Your name:
Title of your forthcoming book:
1. What professional magazines do you read regularly?
2. What websites, online forums or blogs do you visit regularly?
3. Please list all professional organization or association memberships.
4. What conferences will you attend in the next 12 months? Please spell out any acronyms and provide web site information if possible.
5. Please provide dates of professional speaking engagements, along with contact details of organizers and topics to be covered.
6. Please list any training or teaching you will be leading in the next 12 months. This may be at a university, corporation or conference. What are the topics covered and please provide any contact details of organizers.
7. Very often corporations purchase large quantities of books for training or giveaways. Please list any organization, with which you have a relationship, that would potentially be interested in buying copies of your book at a reduced rate in bulk. Include a contact details (including a name) and how they could potentially use your book.
Please keep us up to date on your speaking and teaching schedule. We can provide you with copies of your book to include in the price of registration or sell. We will also provide you with fliers or cards promoting your book.
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How, why, to research your textbook market
By Kim Seidel
Because having a market for your idea is one of the most important criteria for publishing your textbook, it is important to research your textbook's "market promise" before contacting a publisher, said Mary Ellen Lepionka, author of Writing and Developing Your College Textbook, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Guide to Textbook Authorship and Higher Education Publishing (Atlantic Path Publishing, 2008). A textbook's market promise, she said, "is a clearly identifiable audience for your textbook, such as all undergraduates taking organic chemistry."
"By spending time researching the market for your textbook, you will be able to identify your customers' wants and needs; make useful contacts; learn what to tell a publisher about your book; appreciate the marketplace challenges your book will face; become a market savvy author -- which will not fail to impress the publisher; and last but not least, your research will help you commit - or not - to your project," said Lepionka, also founder of Atlantic Path Publishing (www.atlanticpathpublishing.com) based in Gloucester, Mass.
The larger the audience for your textbook, the better, she said: "A large market has many potential customers among faculty members, whose course assignments give them control over a large number of textbook adoptions. Thus, large markets are the most competitive and the most lucrative for publishers and authors."
The largest markets today are for introductory textbooks, said Lepionka: "Despite rumors of market saturation there is usually room for a new introductory text in any field. The reason is that a good intro - one that your students can read and like and learn from, that covers adequately material you regard as important, and that is revised often enough to remain current - is hard to find."
To learn about the market for your text idea, she said, do your homework. Make it your business to know about potential publisher's products. Before contacting a publisher about your manuscript, acquire and study the publisher's catalogue of books in your field, she said. Order examination copies of any books that seem like the one you want to write or are in the same market.
"Do not be concerned if the publisher already has a similar book or one that is pitched to the same audience," Lepionka said. "Large houses, especially in this era of corporate mergers, often have several directly competing titles that are marketed successfully in successive copyright years."
In addition, study other companies' textbooks intended for your book's course. "Those books are real competition, and your publisher will want to know how your textbook will attract market share away from competitors' titles," she said.
Publishers' websites are the best sources of information about external competition, Lepionka said. You can find them directly or via online publisher directories. Other online sources for learning about textbook markets, she said, include:
The higher education division of the Association of American Publishers: www.publishers.org (click "Higher Education" in the right sidebar).
A source of textbook reviews is Monument Information Resource (MIR), which provides (free to faculty members) detailed market information on leading college textbooks: www.facultyonline.com.
Higher education directories, which be used to locate colleges and departments where your course is taught, such as U.S. University, by State: www.utexas.edu/world/univ/state. Survey their course syllabi, especially at top schools for your subject.
The National Association of College Stores (NACS), which publishes industry information on college textbook markets: www.nacs.org/public/research/higher_ed_retail.asp.
Read the following article on the American Textbook Council (ATC) website: www.historytextbooks.org/publish.htm.
Other ways to conduct your own market research, said Lepionka, include:
- Browsing through textbooks at your university's campus store.
- Checking out textbooks at Amazon or other online retailers.
- Asking your published colleagues.
- Writing a blog or starting an online discussion group as a forum for developing your textbook.
- Visiting websites of professional organizations and publications in your field. Survey their indexes for information and contacts you can use.
- Visiting the Chronicle of Higher Education at www.chronicle.com and Inside Higher Education at www.insidehighered.com. Textbook authors should know the latest news, developments and trends in their subject area. A prospective publisher will want to know how your textbook will reflect these developments and trends.
"Also, critically survey sites that serve as advocates for textbook authors, such as TAA's," said Lepionka.
Kim Seidel is a freelance writer who lives and works in Onalaska, Wis.
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TAA 2009 Texty, McGuffey Award nomination deadline Oct. 15
The deadline for nominating textbooks for a 2009 Textbook Excellence Award or McGuffey Longevity Award is Oct. 15.
Textbook Excellence Awards (or "Textys") recognize current textbooks and learning materials that demonstrate excellence based on four criteria: interesting and informative; well organized and well prepared; up to date and appealing; and teachability. McGuffey Longevity Awards (or "McGuffeys") recognize textbooks and learning materials whose excellence has been demonstrated over time.
Texty and McGuffey entries must be officially nominated by publishers, but authors can ask publishers to nominate their book. Authors do not need to be members of TAA. The nomination fee for each book is $300.
Download Nomination PDF forms for 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards: click here
The deadline for sending nomination forms and fees for the 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards is October 15, 2008. The deadline to receive the books for judging purposes is November 15, 2008. These deadlines are flexible according to publication dates. Contact TAA headquarters if you need more time: (727) 563-0020 or e-mail.
Read about TAA's 2008 Texty and McGuffey Award winners: Click here
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TAA seeking judges for 2009 Texty, McGuffey Awards
TAA is seeking judges for its 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards. Judges must be published authors in one of the eight award categories: math, stats; communication/education/ performing arts/visual arts; language/literature; computer science/engineering; physical sciences; life sciences; humanities/social sciences; and accounting/business/economic/management.
Entries are judged by no fewer than three but usually five judges. Judges who have a directly competing work are asked to sit out. Judges are asked to rank entries on a 1-5 scale in these criteria: interesting and informative; well organized and well prepared; up to date and appealing; teachability. In addition, judges are asked to describe strengths and special features that contribute to each work. Judges also are asked to describe weaknesses. In event of a tie on the rankings, these open-ended comments can assist the chief judge for each category in making a decision. The open-ended comments are made available to nominated authors, without judges being identified.
Download Judge Application Form (PDF): click here
For more information about serving as a judge for the 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards, contact Janet Tucker, TAA's Managing Director, at (727) 563-0020 or e-mail.
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Industry News
Institutional repositories give professors direct way to 'get research to the right people'
by Kim Seidel
Missouri University of Science & Technology (Missouri S&T) launched a digital institutional repository (IR) called "Scholars' Mine" in spring 2007 as a way to present a collection of the university's academic output. An IR gives professors and faculty an effective way to present their research work over the Internet in a controlled and scholarly manner, said Amanda Piegza, Scholars' Mine's head librarian.
Scholars' Mine is accessible anywhere in the world for free through the web at scholarsmine.edu. The university's goal for Scholars' Mine is for it to eventually contain thousands of scholarly articles, theses/dissertations, white papers, technical reports, patent information and other materials highlighting and displaying the research work of Missouri S&T's faculty and students.
"Scholars' Mine helps to ensure a cohesive and consistent presentation of research done at the university," says Piegza. "All research is gathered into one location and data is attributed to each item that can be fed out to places like Google Scholar."
Faculty members benefit from IRs in many ways, she said: "Most notably, they have better dissemination of their works." Research studies have shown that when academic authors' works are available openly, rather than solely in subscription-based journals, it can lead to higher citation rates and more funding for future research, she said.
A staff of nine , including Piegza and eight part-timers, was hired earlier this year to run Scholars' Mine. Since then, an average of 300 items has been added to the IR each month. "We're working on adding faculty members' prior published works," Piegza said. "But there will always be additions of new faculty publications as well as new theses and dissertations. Since it is an ongoing endeavor, there is no 'finish line.'"
To scholarly authors, the dissemination of research to the right people is extremely important, she said. Grant money, partnerships, potential students, job opportunities and more advantages are gained by others learning about the work being accomplished at the university.
"Because of the advanced method we use, the data held in Scholars' Mine can be fed out in real time to department and faculty websites, as well as center and lab websites," Piegza said. "In this way, the interests of the researchers can be highlighted so that they can show investors, partners and others the kind of research they have done."
Scholars' Mine is open access: Anyone can view all pages. However, some of the links, such as the ones to publisher pages, are not open access. In those cases, a person needs to be affiliated with an institution that has a subscription to the publisher's website to access those links.
Maintaining an IR
When Scholars' Mine was first launched, it had no staff hired specifically to run it, so minimal items were posted. Library staff introduced the idea of developing an IR about five years ago, but the library didn't move forward on the project until some faculty members got interested in the project and contacted the Information Technology (IT) Department.
IT then contacted the library because they had looked into it previously, said Piegza. "IRs are usually a joint effort between a university library and IT department because libraries are generally in charge of IRs and the IT department is essential for programming and other technological reasons," she said. When promoting Scholars' Mine, prototypes were first developed. The chancellor then approved funding for staff positions in the library to do the work, and Scholars' Mine became a reality.
The university decided to create its own IR platform. "It is based in Documentum, but the structure of Scholars' Mine is very 'home-grown' in that many applications and features were coded by IT professionals right here at the university," Piegza said. "However, with this added benefit comes the challenge of having to troubleshoot issues essentially on our own, more labor is involved for library and IT staff, and other issues that come with creating a unique IR."
A second major challenge is what copyright holders allow to be archived on Scholars' Mine, she said: "All former students hold copyright to their theses and dissertations, so we need them to sign an agreement noting that we can post their works online. Getting a hold of alumni from the last 74 years is a bit of a challenge."
In addition, not all publishers allow the university to archive the full text of articles. In those cases, the staff can only link to the publisher's full text versions, not upload the full text themselves, Piegza said.
At Scholars' Mine, there is no extra workload for the authors. Funding was established to create permanent staff positions within the library to enter data for the authors. Staff processes and catalogs the materials and places them in the IR.
Kim Seidel is a freelance writer based in Onalaska, Wis.
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Industry News
McGraw-Hill seeking articles for award recognizing scholarly work on teaching, learning
McGraw-Hill and The Teaching Professor (Magna Publications, Inc.) have joined forces to create an award that recognizes exemplary scholarly work on teaching and learning. The first award with its accompanying stipend of $1,000 will be given at the 2009 Teaching Professor Conference, June 5-7 in Washington, D.C.
To be considered, the piece of scholarly writing must be at least 1,500 words and must have been published after 2006 in a discipline-specific, a cross-disciplinary pedagogical periodical, or a more general higher education publication. The piece of scholarship may address any topic related to college-level teaching and learning. Preference will not be given to a particular kind of scholarship. It may be a research report (quantitative or qualitative), a piece that describes development and/or implementation of a new teaching strategy or assignment, an article that offers advice based on research or experience or both, or an inspirational essay or article that takes a position with respect to an aspect of instruction or a teaching-learning issue. Articles may be nominated by readers or authors.
Submitted articles will be blind reviewed by a panel which will include published authors, editors and faculty familiar with the pedagogical literature. Among a variety of criteria, they will be looking for an article with potential to positively impact the instructional practice of the college teaching community. A complete list of criteria, other award details and submission procedures may be found at: www.teachingprofessor.com/award
Plans are underway to disseminate the winning article at The Teaching Professor Conference, in The Teaching Professor newsletter and beyond.
Submit your scholarly work at: www.teachingprofessor.com/award
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