ResourceShelf: Publishing: "University Presses Face Watershed Moment in Explosion of E-Book Options"

Publishing: "University Presses Face Watershed Moment in Explosion of E-Book Options"

January 12, 2011 17:51

From an Article by Jennifer Howard in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

University presses want to get e-books into libraries and make those books readily discoverable by scholars, but many presses lack the technical resources to pull it off easily. As recently as last fall, they didn't have many noncommercial options if they wanted outside help.

But soon they'll have at least four collective nonprofit or academically affiliated options to pick from. Large-scale e-book platforms organized by JSTOR, Project MUSE, Oxford University Press, and a consortium led by several midsize presses are all on the verge of going live.

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These undertakings have been in the exploratory stages for a while, but the last few days have seen a rush of announcements. JSTOR, the subscription-driven service that provides access to scholarly-journal content, unveiled its plans for "Books at JSTOR" at the midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, held in San Diego this week. Then Oxford University Press made public its plans for a new e-book platform called University Press Scholarship Online, or USPO. It's modeled on its Oxford Scholarship Online program, which provides subscription access to Oxford monographs.

Much More in the Complete Article by Jennifer Howard

UPDATE: More From Jennifer Howard: "Cambridge U. Press to Join the E-Book Distribution Race"

See Also: "For Love of Longform" by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

See Also: E-Books: More Info About JSTOR's Just Announced "Books at JSTOR" Program Now Available

See Also: Oxford University Press Announces Major New Online Platform For Cross-University Press Monograph Content (Hat Tip and Thanks: Sue Polanka, No Shelf Required)