The conversation with Alexandra Elbakyan intends to explore the Sci-Hub phenomenon and the core motives that initiated Sci-Hub. Accordingly, Sci-Hub is an open science project that has gone viral and is driven by people who pursue knowledge. The core idea behind the Sci-Hub is very simple: people should have access to knowledge without any…

One of the many challenges that content creators and repository administrators are both struggling with in this "born digital" information environment is the "ownership" of content. After several years of engaging directly with researchers across their campus and providing seminars on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy,…

This article presents an interview with Joel McIntosh, the publisher at Prufrock Press, whose publications reach more than 50,000 individuals and libraries. McIntosh started Prufrock in 1988 with a vision of making a powerful difference in the lives of gifted and talented children by striving to provide quality materials and cutting-edge research…

The authors--drawing on their varied experiences as authors and publishers of a journal and several book series--provide a historical review and consideration of peer review in publishing. They find that scholarly peer review, from the question of signed reviews to the practices of digital publications, is in the midst of change, but that at the…

In these times of financial crisis, much of the discussion about scholarly publishing has focused on budgets, the switch to electronic formats, and the future of the monograph. Throughout, however, university presses have continued to bring out important scholarship that is the mainstay of academe. "The Chronicle Review" asked a group of editors…

Outlines briefly the process by which the Fluxus community coalesced. Recounts the birthing of Something Else Press, Inc., and the transformation of aspects of the press' objectives into Printed Editions. Discusses the parallel concerns shared by Something Else Press and Fluxus publication activities as well as their divergent agendas and…

Differing perspectives of reference collection development librarians and publishers are presented for the following topics: fairness of pricing trends; best/worst ways to communicate about new reference titles; deciding which sources should be published; impact of electronic materials on reference services; deciding on/selecting formats; and…

Presents an interview with Richard Jackson, editor and publisher, now head of Richard Jackson Books. Explains how the editor got into the business, his own memories of childhood reading, how he views ambition, how he markets books, what he thinks of the current state of children's literature, and what he sees as the role of the editor. (TB)

Argues that traditional bridges between the literary culture and publishing culture have increasingly weakened in past decade. The publishing culture has become like that of big business, marked by effort to standardize product, distribution, and consumer, and the advent of bookstore chains has put into practice the mass-merchandising system.…

Outlines several provisions of the new copyright law that make securing copyright more convenient and reduce the risk of an author losing copyright protections through technical errors. (GT)

Explains that the international picture book seems to be increasingly popular in the United States and that publishers are perceiving coproduction as a way to reach the retail market at a price they can afford. (DF)

Discusses new directions in university press publishing (publication of fiction, poetry, art, photography, museum catalogs, regional material) and cites reasons for changes taking place (presses occupy unique position in academic world and book publishing industry, publication of scholarly books requires financing by sources in addition to book…

Includes annotations of six of the most beautifully illustrated, well-written, recently published books from Venezuela that are written in Spanish. (DF)

This article discusses the importance of association publications to libraries and describes how libraries can identify and obtain these publications for their collections. Advantages of association publications (breadth, timeliness, expertise, cost savings), directories and listings, and how to obtain elusive publications are highlighted. (EJS)

Examination of the relationship among librarians, independent scholarly publishers, and scholars as natural partners in the creation and dissemination of knowledge highlights traditional functions and the disruption of the relationship caused by new technologies of electronic publishing and information networks. Ways of dealing constructively with…