November 16, 2023 – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries seeks expressions of interest from 5-8 representatives from academic and research libraries across the country to serve a two-year term on the inaugural Library Publishing Community Engagement Team. This is an opportunity to connect and share knowledge with colleagues across the country who work in the area of library journal publishing or hosting. Applicants should work in a Canadian academic library or post-secondary institution, have a strong interest and/or position responsibilities in the areas of scholarly communications and journal publishing, and be able to commit 5-10 hours per month to advancing the work of the Team.
Background
Over 40 Canadian post-secondary institutions provide publishing or hosting services to their communities to support the creation, dissemination, and curation of scholarly works. Collectively, libraries in Canada support more than 700 scholarly and student publications, offering a variety of services. Providing support for these practitioners in their work is crucial to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Canada’s not-for-profit journal publishing sector. In 2022, the Library Publishing Coalition established a Canadian Community Development Working Group which consulted broadly with practitioners and stakeholders. A key recommendation of the Working Group was the formation of a community engagement team to support Canadian library publishing practitioners in their functional roles, and to grow Canadian expertise and capacity in this area.
CARL is pleased to provide a space for this community to flourish alongside its recently formed steering committees for the CARL Canadian Bibliometrics and Research Impact Community of Practice and the CARL Canadian Repositories Community of Practice, and in accordance with CARL’s commitment to strengthening library-based open access publishing and forward-looking publishing processes. The Library Publishing Community Engagement Team will coordinate activities, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities for practitioners, liaise with aligned organizations and groups, and support the creation of shared documentation and practices. More information about the responsibilities of the Library Publishing Community Engagement Team can be found in the Terms of Reference.
Instructions
To apply, please send a brief statement outlining your interest in serving on this LP Community Engagement Team and your experience in the area of library publishing and scholarly communications to Elizabeth Kalbfleisch, Project Officer, no later than Friday, December 14.
Members will be selected by Sonya Betz and Kevin Stranack (past members of the LPC Canadian Community Development Working Group), and Elizabeth Kalbfleisch, with the goal of ensuring diversity of members (e.g. institutional size and location; knowledge, experience and/or responsibilities related to library publishing; career stage, etc.). Applications are invited from any academic institution, with a minimum of three members being drawn from CARL institutions.
