From: Rory Litwin <rlitwin_at_earthlink.net>
COLLDV-L readers,
Library Juice Press is a new publishing company that I founded in
2006. (I am a reference and collection development librarian at the
University of Minnesota, Duluth, and an ALA Councilor.) We specialize
in books about issues in libraries from a social, political, or
philosophical point of view. Topics of interest to us range from
library philosophy, information policy, library activism, media
studies, to library history.
One definite area of interest is issues in collection development
arising from trends in the publishing industry. The last twenty years
have seen conglomeration in the industry that has led to an imbalance
of power in favor of the small number of companies that dominate sales
and a new emphasis on profit margins. Their influence on the review
stream and on publishers' lists has been a topic of discussion. More
recently the rise of niche publishing and longer periods in print as
made possible by print-on-demand technology have begun to affect
publishing and collection development in ways that have yet to be
sorted out.
I would like to share an open invitation to collection development
librarians to submit book proposals or manuscripts that deal with
these issues, especially from a progressive or Left perspective.
We have one book currently in print in this area, but it is a
reference book: Alternative Publishers of Books in North America, 6th
Edition. It has a preface by former ALA President Nancy Kranich that
discusses the importance of the alternative press in collection
development, in light of media consolidation:
http://libraryjuicepress.com/apbna-preface.php
A couple of other readings, unfortunately a bit dated, along the lines
of what we are interested in:
"All the book reviews fit to print: Tolerance of the conservatively
correct, Part I," by Edward S. Herman
http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/april99herman.htm
"The other 90%: What your MLS didn't teach you," by Byron Anderson
(compiler of the reference book mentioned above)
http://libr.org/juice/issues/vol3/LJ_3.17.html#18
"Politically controversial monographs," by Charles Willett
http://libr.org/pl/4_Willett.html
I am very interested in publishing an up-to-date monograph in this
area, and would love to hear from COLLDV-L readers on it.
Thanks,
Rory Litwin
Received on Tue Jun 12 2007 - 00:42:47 EDT