Author: Cheryl

Open Access Part 2

A few weeks ago I wrote about open access. Upon further reflection, what I did not address are defunct journals; I only looked at active ones. It’s quite a project to find defunct journals, much less whether they are available online. However, these journals also deserve mention as it is not just the current journals that contribute to our scholarly history.

I decided to do a little digging. My search was minimal and I know I did not find all of them, so please let me know of others. While some of these journals may be forgotten, if we can find them in print that can lead to advocating for making the content available.

I started by searching WorldCat. I used “archives” and “library” as keywords and limited to serials, which yielded nearly 4,000 results. I found a subject heading for Archives–Periodicals, which brought the number down to about 2,600. Of course, many were not archival scholarly journals but here’s a few that I found:

Available online:
The Archivist (Public Archives of Canada): https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/publications/archivist-magazine/index-e.html
The Canadian Archivist: http://archivists.ca/content/canadian-archivist

Available in print:
Pennsylvania Archives
Archives (British Records Association)
Ms. Archivist

This exercise allowed me to find current journals I wasn’t aware of, including African Journal of Library, Archives, and Information Science, Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, The Indian Archives, and Journal of the South African Society of Archivists (now added to the Journals list).

I’d love to hear about other journals that are no longer in print or are not open access. Perhaps if we identify these, we can figure out ways to advocate to make them available online.

CFP: Practical Technology for Archives

[from the A&A listserv]

Practical Technology for Archives is an open-access, peer-reviewed, electronic journal focused on the practical application of technology to address challenges encountered in working with archives. Our goal is to provide a timely resource, published semi-annually, that addresses issues of interest to practitioners, and to foster community interaction through monitored comments. Submissions may be full articles, brief tips and techniques, AV tutorials, reviews (tools, software, books), or post-grant technical reports. Please visit practicaltechnologyforarchives.org for more information.

The editorial board of Practical Technology for Archives is calling for proposals/abstracts for Issue no.5 (2015:Winter).

The submission timeline is as follows:
Proposals due: September 25
Selections made: October 9
1st drafts due: November 6
Draft reviews: November 20
Revisions due: December 4
Publication: December 18

Submissions should be sent to:
Practical Technology for Archives
Randall Miles
Managing Editor
rm527@cornell.edu

Publishing Events at SAA in Cleveland

Next week I hope to see you in Cleveland! I am always happy to chat with anyone who has article ideas or questions about publishing. You’ll find me wandering around, hanging out at the Bookstore, the Write Away! Breakfast, and the Let’s Do Lunch “Archives for Libraries.” I’ll resume regular posts after SAA.

It was my attendance at a Write Away! Breakfast in 2011 where I started to get to know SAA staff and others involved with publishing. I had a taste of publishing having just co-authored my first article for Archival Outlook about taking the ACA exam (also published in the ACA newsletter). I had recently become a peer-reviewer for Provenance. Most importantly, I started to realize my passion for publishing.

Conversations at and after that first breakfast led to connecting with others to submit a program proposal about publishing (unaccepted, unfortunately). Continuing that conversation led to an appointment to the SAA Publications Board. That led me to gain invaluable knowledge of how publishing works, meet amazing people, and receive wonderful opportunities. Since then, I compiled and wrote an introduction for the SAA Sampler: Archival Advocacy and am now writing the third edition of the Archival Fundamental Series book on Reference and Access.

Networking doesn’t guarantee publication, of course, but it definitely helps you find other people who are interested, who can advise, and who can support you as you enter the world of publishing. You just never know when an opportunity will arise!

Here are events that you can attend:

Bookstore: 8-5:30 Wed, 7-5:30 Thur-Fri, 7:30-10am Sat. Meeting Room 19.

New members, students, and First-Timers are encouraged to meet in the Networking Cafe/Bookstore from 8-8:45 Thur.

Let’s Do Lunch (brown bag; registration required, email Anne Hartman at ahartman [at] archivists.org, in the subject line, indicate: “American Archivist Discussion Group” OR “Archives in Libraries Discussion Group”): 12:15-1:30 Thur. (Note: I don’t know if there are seats left)

Bookstore, Toast to Authors: 2:45-3 Thur. Join in hoisting a glass of lemonade to those who have contributed to SAA publications — journal, magazine, books, modules, and case studies—in the past year.

Write Away! Breakfast: 7:30-8:15 Fri. An informal discussion with Publications Editor Chris Prom, The American Archivist Editor Greg Hunter and Reviews Editor Amy Cooper Cary, and SAA staff Teresa Brinati and Anne Hartman on how you can contribute to the professional literature.

“Office Hours” in the Exhibit Hall: 12:30-1:45 Fri. An opportunity to chat with The American Archivist Editor Greg Hunter, Publications Editor Chris Prom, and Dictionary Working Group Chair Rosemary Pleva Flynn.

Open Access

I received a request to discuss “the fact that so many archives journals are not available to many archivists because they do not eventually become open access” (thank you for submitting a topic!). This is a challenging topic, not just in archives journals but scholarly publishing in all fields.

In 2014, I finished a two-year project to put the back issues of Provenance and Georgia Archive online. This was in progress when I became Editor in 2012 and went back several years (see my article in Archival Outlook for details and history). Since both went online and including the 2013 special issue on advocacy, there have been about 30,000 downloads/views of articles and full issues. The numbers are gratifying and indicate that archivists desired, and use, this resource. Archivaria went online in 2006, American Archivist in 2007, and AA published “Open-Access Publishing and Transforming of the American Archivist Online” in 2011. This article has a great overview of the complexities and definitions of open access. And Hathi Trust has some content available.

In particular, I want to briefly comment on point 5 (p. 487). With Provenance, we paid to digitize the back issues. Though not an exorbitant amount, it was a factor. We were very lucky and I’m eternally grateful to Kennesaw State University, who agreed to host the journal free of charge through their digital commons. Costs are not just hosting (annual subscription with Bepress), but also design of the interface, which they also didn’t charge us for. Academic institutions are often in the best place to provide this service, which means that small, non-profit, and/or non-academic affiliated institutions have an extra challenge to figure out open access.

Lastly, there are the costs of human labor to initiate as well as sustain the journal. I can’t say how many hours Kennesaw staff put in, and though I didn’t track closely I estimate I put in at least 300 hours (volunteer) to get the journals online. As noted in my AO article, this was contact with the vendor, quality control on all the files, and creating metadata. I spent a lot of time correcting skewed pages, cropping, and saving individual articles for better access. At over 600 PDF files and thousands of pages, it took several months. Though both journals have been available for more than a year, I still make behind-the-scenes tweaks (and correcting spelling errors) on a regular basis and am continually learning how to navigate the system. It’s been a great experience and I’m glad to have the opportunity, but it definitely takes time and commitment. It was more than 10 years from when it was first proposed by a previous editor until completed last year.

The submitted question prompted me to go through the list I compiled and do an unscientific analysis. Having never explored these journals with the specific point to see if back issues were available, I am surprised, and pleased, at how many provide access to back issues. However, I did not go through to see specific dates of embargoes, therefore I don’t know precisely the amount of access. The above question didn’t provide specific examples of what he/she was looking for, so if I’ve overlooked something let me know.

Several new journals purposely opted for open access: Archive Journal, Archival Practice, Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, Journal of Western Archives, Practical Technology for Archives, The Reading Room: A Journal for Special Collections, and SLIS Connecting. Others created an online platform for back and current issues (see list, and let me know if any journals are missing), and just this past June IASA made their journal and bulletin available. The majority provide access to back issues, though often recent issues are embargoed. I found that The Moving Image is available in JSTOR, recent issues of Archives and Manuscripts is available through Taylor & Francis, though one has to have a subscription to access those databases. Archives and Records and COMMA (both international journals) are pay or subscription only. Some journals restrict access as a member benefit; if one pays to belong to an organization, access to the journal is one of the perks. Academic archivists and students are more likely to have access to some or all of these through their institutions, but that leaves out non-academics. That is an unfortunate, and detrimental, example of the digital divide within our profession. I wish I had suggestions on how to reconcile that.

I agree, having all content, especially back issues, is a resource we all desire and can benefit from. Reading literature helps us grow as archivists and have a deeper knowledge of our profession. I do understand the business side of it too. What I don’t agree with are the companies or journals, like Elsevier, that ask authors to pay to have their content open access, and it seems to be a trend in science journals (read an explanation in Nature). In my opinion, that’s unethical and goes against the purpose of scholarship. As we are in the business of providing access to information, I’m glad that (to my knowledge) library and archives journals are not likely to go that route.

Publishing, in general, is in transition in our digital age. It has been for a while and in my opinion I think it will be some time, if ever, before it settles down. E-books, self-publishing, open access journals, institutional repositories, and so forth are transforming the options to disseminate information. I do hope that more journals provide open access to back issues, and someday current, and that we continue our practices of sharing information.

Who is Qualified to Publish?

As I have conversations with archivists, I’ve repeatedly heard variations of this question and comments: am I qualified? who will be interested in what I write? others know more than I do so who will read my writing? I’m not sure I have anything to say. Many people, including me, have these thoughts. In graduate school, we read numerous articles and books and see those authors as authorities. In return, it’s hard to see ourselves as an authority, therefore develop an insecurity that we are not qualified.

Restricting authors to an idea of “qualifications” discourages writers. Instead, I prefer the question: do I want to publish? There are variables, such as tenure-track positions having a writing requirement. But if one truly has the ambition to write, I say go for it.

When I was in library school and even into my PhD program, I did not expect to become a published author, much less an editor. However, once I started, I found myself enjoying it. As a tenure-track archivist, I am required to publish to achieve tenure. I, too, questioned whether or not I was “qualified.” Because peer-reviewers read articles without knowing the author(s), they evaluate based not on the author’s qualifications or prior writing experience, but instead based on how well one constructs an argument and supports it. (more about peer-review in a future post)

I encourage anyone to submit for publication. While I of course solicit for Provenance, I suggest authors review the various journals (see list) to find one that best suits their topic. Especially, review previously published articles to see if theirs fits within the scope of the journal. There are an increasing amount of journals, therefore an increasing amount of opportunities to write.

The qualified question most often comes from students or newer professionals. My response is that without new voices, the literature can get stale or repetitive. Publishing should be ongoing conversations about a variety of topics, as well as a platform for new ideas. Our profession continually evolves and as such, so should the literature. So try to not think of whether or not you are qualified, but why you want to publish and how your ideas/experiences can benefit other archivists.

Thank you!

Thank you!

I’m very pleased with the responses about starting this blog. It’s clear to me that many need and want a resource about publishing.

I want to make sure to meet your needs. To do that, I need your help. Please send me your questions and suggestions for topics. I have several future post topics in mind already, but I truly want this to be a conversation. Ideas so far include advice for students and new professionals, who is qualified to write, how to know where to submit an article, the peer-review process, and citations. These ideas come from questions I’ve received or my personal observations and conversations. That’s a start, but it’s your involvement that will make this a helpful resource.

I can be reached at ccoest [at] gmail.com or submit a topic. I look forward to hearing from you!

What to Write About?

What to Write About?

As Provenance Editor, I occasionally receive questions about whether or not a certain topic would be of interest to the journal. I always say yes. Personally, I vacillate between having no topics or too many ideas of what I want to write about.

We are in a profession that enjoys engaging in discussion about procedures, theories, activities, and anything else related to archives. At times, it’s harder to have these discussions in written form, especially when (in the journal world) it can take up to a year to be published and not all articles are accepted for publication. And even though we’re a relatively small profession, it is challenging to keep up with all the literature.

So how to decide what to write? Besides being asked about specific topics, potential authors ask me that as well. My responses include:

  • what did you not learn in library/archives school that you wish you had?
  • what do you want to know more about?
  • what have you read that you disagreed with?
  • what are you interested in?
  • what gaps in the literature have you noticed?
  • what are projects or processes that you believe others can benefit from?

Though topics largely come from authors’ ideas, readers are also important. I frequently hear archivists mention they would like more articles about practical applications. Then again, I have conversations about the theories as well. There is no one answer, but many questions to consider.

When I read an article or book, hear about a project, questions often come to mind, and these questions can lead to writing ideas. For example, SAA President Kathleen Roe created A Year of Living Dangerously for Archives to encourage archivists to step up advocacy. In 1977, Georgia Archive dedicated an issue to the “activist archivist.” What has changed in nearly 40 years? Is there a difference between “activist” and “advocate”? How did we get to where we are? It’s not all about the past, but also of the present and future. I found Timothy Arnold and Walker Sampson’s “Preserving the Voices of Revolution: Examining the Creation and Preservation of a Subject-Centered Collection of Tweets from the Eighteen Days in Egypt” (American Archivist, Fall/Winter 2014) both interesting and practical. Questions that occurred to me are: Would their process work for me? Have other institutions tried their approach? Have patrons yet used these for research?

It is those questions that can lead to future article topics. As mentioned, it’s hard to keep up and that can make it even harder to write. But the ideas are out there. To decide what to write, just sit down and make notes or write about a topic. Do some research to see how much is already out there. Write about what hasn’t been addressed much, or add to ongoing conversations. There is no end to potential topics.

CFP: NEA and Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

reposted from the A&A listserv:

The New England Archivists (NEA) is working in collaboration with the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies (JCAS) to publish original articles on the topic of 19th-century photography collections and techniques. The JCAS will select submissions for a special issue to be published online in conjunction with the NEA Fall 2015 Meeting focusing on 19th-century photography to be held in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 7, 2015.

Authors should submit original works of recent research on:
— the history of 19th-century photography collections
— management and descriptive projects involving these materials
— the use of 19th-century photo collections by researchers, artists,
and staff in interesting projects and performances.

Original works by students, archivists, librarians, researchers, and artists will be accepted and reviewed according to the parameters set by the JCAS. See the JCASwebsite for criteria guidelines and information on the submission process (elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/). For more information on the Fall 2015 NEA Meeting, visit the NEA website (newenglandarchivists.org/Fall-2015).

DEADLINES:
August 1: Submissions due | peer reviews begin
September 15: Peer review ends | revisions begin
October 15: Revisions end
November 7: Publication and NEA Fall 2015 Meeting

For more information, please contact JCAS Managing Editor, Michael Lotstein at email.jcas@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

New England Archivists
Communications Committee

CFP: Archives and Manuscripts

reposted from A&A listserv:

Archives and Manuscripts is inviting submissions of up to 5,000 words for publication in late 2015 or 2016.

Aims and Scope
Archives and Manuscripts is the professional and scholarly journal of the Australian Society of Archivists Inc., publishing refereed articles, reviews, and information about the theory and practice of archives and recordkeeping in Australasia and around the world. Its target audiences are archivists and other recordkeeping professionals, the academic community, and all involved in the study and interpretation of archives.

Archives and Manuscripts is the leading peer-reviewed archival journal published in the Australasian region and has been published continuously since 1955. Over the past 60 years, Archives and Manuscripts has published hundreds of articles by archival and recordkeeping academics, researchers, practitioners, students and theorists. In recent years, the journal has published articles on:

  • developments in Web 2.0 and the impact of these technologies on archival and recordkeeping work
  • developments in archival data visualization
  • developments in metadata and electronic recordkeeping systems
  • the management of emails as electronic records
  • audio-visual archives
  • the history of recordkeeping formats
  • the role of archives and records in Aboriginal communities
  • personal recordkeeping and literary archives
  • the application of records continnum theory to emerging social media
  • developments and case studies in recordkeeping in the Asia-Pacific region
  • the community records of marginalised groups in society
  • the implications of collections sector convergence for archives
  • developments in archival jurisdictions around the world including South Africa, Sweden and Canada.

Emerging Writers Award
If you are an emerging writer, another benefit of submitting your article to Archives and Manuscripts is that you will be eligible to win the journal’s annual Emerging Writers Award (value AUD $1,000). To be eligible to win this award, authors must have their article accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed section of the journal and be an emerging writer who:

  • is currently enrolled in a graduate program or within 3 years after the date of graduation, and/or
  • has previously published fewer than 5 peer-reviewed articles in an archives/recordkeeping journal.

Further information, including guidelines and style requirements for prospective authors and submission deadlines, is available on the journal’s webpage (http://www.archivists.org.au/learning-publications/archives-and-manuscripts/guidelines-for-authors) or by contacting the General Editor, Sebastian Gurciullo (journaleditor@archivists.org.au).

CFP: RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage

Reposted from the A&A listserv:

30th Anniversary Issue of RBM

As some of you may know, Spring 2016 is the 30th anniversary of RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, & Cultural Heritage (formerly Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarianship). To commemorate this important milestone, we are working to produce a very special issue of the journal:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The idea for this issue came out of the editorial board’s desire to support a more open-access model for the online version of the journal, while still staying true to our roots in the physical material. Therefore, we’d like to make this a special theme issue, and we’re actively soliciting submissions on the broadly-defined topic of “the digital vs. the physical”. We’ll be sending out this call for submissions to all of the allied fields that RBM represents, and we hope to see submissions from rare books, manuscripts, archives, museums…and YOU!

The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2015.

Please send manuscripts directly to me at jsheehan@grolierclub.org.

Don’t be afraid to “think outside the box”. It can be a research article, an essay, a haiku, a cartoon, artwork—you name it! Just make it new, and make it thought-provoking.

To supplement the print version, and to continue playing with the “digital vs. print” theme, we will consider selecting additional submitted content for the web page of the journal.

Jennifer K. Sheehan, Ph.D.
Editor, RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, & Cultural Heritage