University Library Scholarly Publishing Office, Annual report on Goals, FY 2000-01

In its first year of existence, SPO has developed considerably, despite not meeting all of its (perhaps over-ambitious) goals. Its successes are nonethess marked, considering the staffing picture remains incomplete. The hiring of a SPO programmer was finished in March; we are currently advertising for an interface designer.

Our focus in the first year has been on the development of tools and methods, with development work concentrating on using Quark and Quark Avenue, Logictran's rtf2xml converter, and Apache's Cocoon. We have also worked on assembling a body of content, established agreements with several journals, and are in discussions with several more. The most recent additions are Michigan Feminist Studies and Post-Identity, a journal in cultural studies from the University of Detroit-Mercy. Work for the ACLS History eBook project has also begun, with some test files received and experimentation with delivery underway. The books for the History eBook backfile have begun to arrive and to be processed for scanning. The year has also been productive in terms of staff development and education. Staff members have attended training workshops in XSLT and XML tools for publishing, as well as building connections with other academic electronic publishing enterprises around the country.

The transitional work from Digital Library Program Development continued to occupy SPO staff in 2000-2001. Following the completion of the conversion and implementation of the MoA4 volumes, Maria Bonn spent considerable time analyzing and compiling a handbook detailing the methods and costs of the project, as well as attending to several financial issues and loose threads from the project. Sheppard and Rosenblum brought to completion and monitored several of the small bibliographic publishing projects that they had begun in DLPD.

Although some work has been done in promoting our services and capabilities on campus, we did fall behind in this area this year; at the end of the year, however, we released the SPO web site and we are working with the library's graphic designer on a brochure. We also lagged in planning further development of our management systems -- partly because of not having a formal programmer in place and partly because there has not yet been a real demand for these services. This work will continue to be a priority in the coming year.

1 Program building

1.1 Build understanding of the needs and concerns of campus publishers by conducting an environmental study, including

Compile list of scholarly publishers on Campus (including content, frequency of publication, etc.)
Contact editors- introduce ourselves, get information from editors on their current tools, processes, their interests in e-publishing, their needs in this area, their concerns -- perhaps a formal survey?
Analysis and summary of survey information

	Timeline:	October-March
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum with assistance of hourly worker, and input from Bonn
	Status:	Compiled list of about 55 publishers. Survey was been sent out to Humanities journal editors. Response was dismally low. We continue, however, to meet and talk, as opportunity arises, with a number of campus editors, informing them about our services and discussing their concerns. Much more work will go on in this area in the next year.

1.2 Work with OVPR/Rackham to promote moving subsidized journals to electronic publication

	Timeline:	Ongoing
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	Although no specific activity has gone on in this area, a meeting was held with Earl Lewis, Dean of Rackham to discuss the publishing initiative.

1.3 Possible meeting of university libraries engaged in publishing efforts in their first two years of operation with no more than 5 FTE to talk about sharing tools, information, purpose.

	Timeline:	To be determined. Possible first meeting at midwinter ALA.
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	DLF sponsored a meeting of several academic publishing enterprises (staff from: NYU Press, Cornell's Project Euclid, University of Chicago Press, IATH at UVA, CDL, Columbia's EPIC and UM) held at NYU in May. Attendees were enthusiastic about the opportunity to meet and share information,expertise, and anxieties.

1.4 Bring in or visit with staff of Highwire and Project Muse in order to learn from their experience and understand their aims.

	Timeline:	To be determined. Possibly in conjunction with All things Digital. Aim for a speaker by March.
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	No activity in this area, but staff did attend talk by Highwire representative at Rackham event on digital publishing.

1.5 Communicate with and educate library staff about purpose of SPO and its services

develop website (in tandem with development of DLI site)
brochure and paper information (December)
hold information meetings with library staff (reference staff, collection development staff, PR dept, Health Services, Media Union esp librarians or departments who might have more contact with faculty.) February-March

	Timeline:	Ongoing with milestones as noted
	Responsibility:	All staff, coordinated by Bonn
	Status:	Web site has been releases. Brochure is currently in development. Bonn has met with Wanda Monroe to discuss PR possibilities. Bonn has also met with Senior Managers and with Special Collections to discuss the publishing initiative.

1.6 Analysis and education of staff about issues like copyright, authentication & access, and other issues that editors are likely to ask about (as determined though conversations and environmental study)

	Timeline:	Ongoing
	Responsibility:	All staff, coordinated by Bonn
	Status:	Staff members have attended sessions in the Electronic Humanist series sponsored by the Institute for the Humanities, the SI Copyright symposium and talks sponsored by Rackham on publishing.

2 Content building

2.1 Communicate with and educate faculty, particularly faculty editors, about purpose of SPO and its services.

announce our services
set up meetings with editors
create demonstration, showing examples of current publications (MQR, Phil Imp, TMR) and services
set up mailing list for editors to announce new services or make general announcements
develop training materials on using software needed/stylesheets, etc.

	Timeline:	Ongoing
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Bonn
	Status:	Bonn talked to about 20 Humanities journal editors at a session sponsored by the Institute for the Humanities. Much work remains to be done in getting the word out on campus about SPO's mission and services.

2.2 Support for the Philosopher's Imprint

2.2.1 Create Web environment , searchable text and desired display

Get feedback on Word Style Sheets
Finalize Quark.dtd
Build mapping script to transform content to textclass.dtd
Transform Dear Self to textclass.dtd
Develop web template

	Timeline:	by end of November
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Programmer
	Status:	Done.

2.2.2 Provide continuing data transformation support

Copy editing: formatting/checking layout of text in Word template
Data transformation
Template management
Get feedback on and modify if necessary templates and Quark.dtd as necessary

	Timeline:	Ongoing
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Interface Specialist, Programmer as needed
	Status:	Done. Three articles are now on-line.

2.3 Support for The Medieval Review

Move TMR from mail robot submission to journal management system
Facilitate moving TMR to text class to resolve outstanding issues about URLs and tag set.

	Timeline:	by end of November
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum
	Status:	Done.

2.4 Support for the Michigan Quarterly Review

2.4.1 Develop on-line system for current publication

Train staff on SPO tools and methods necessary for on-line publication
Explore methods for digitizing artwork
Establish relationship with Sans Serif to minimize duplicative effort
Develop web environment

	Timeline:	September-February, first issue on-line June
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Interface Specialist
	Status:	All in process

2.4.2 Digitize backfile

Obtain and convert available electronic files and implement in on-line system (October-December)
Locate funding for conversion of print files (November-December)
Plan and schedule imaging and OCR of backfile

	Timeline:	Milestones as noted. Backfile conversion complete by end of year.
	Responsibility:	Conversion of existing electronic files coordinated by Rosenblum, other conversion activities coordinated by Bonn.
	Status:	Done. Scanned volumes are not yet online. Fully encoded electronic files are on-line in development, release pending approval from MQR.

2.5 Work on publication opportunities with Slavic Department

2.5.1 Digitize and put Cross Currents on-line.

Resolve copyright issues (October-November)
Digitize and OCR page images (December-February)
Additional indexing and encoding (March-April)
On-line implementation (May)

	Timeline:	October-May with milestones as noted
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum coordinates, Interface Specialist
	Status:	Cross Currents has been scanned and is currently being qc-ed. OCR is scheduled upon completion of QC. Additional indexing will take place later in the summer.

2.5.2 Explore on-line publication of other publications of the Slavic Department.

	Timeline:	Ongoing
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum
	Status:	Rosenblum has been exploring possibility of digitizing Slavic monograph series. While no formal agreements have been reached, interest remains high.

2.6 Support for 4DP2

Assist in completion and submission of proposal to CoE. Work on data transformations and system building as directions and content emerges.

	Timeline:	Dependent on Media Union staff and CoE
	Responsibility:	Bonn for proposal, others to be determined as project takes shape.
	Status:	Proposal went forward and was greeted with interest by CoE administration. Currently awaiting funding to move forward.

2.7 Provide support for electronic publication of dissertations as program develops as needs and directions develop.

	Timeline:	Ongoing, depending on directions determined by Rackham and the Library.
	Responsibility:	Dependent on types of tasks to be determined
	Status:	No activity in this area.

2.8 Work with Library staff to identify publication possibilities within their collections.

	Timeline:	Ongoing
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	There have been several conversations about publishing Special Collections resources. SPO assisted Special Collections with the creation of two Web exhibits, The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia and Joseph Labadie's Gift to Michigan in development, release pending approval from Special Collections). Work is also underway to create an electronic version of the BHL volume on Women in the Early Years at UM.

3 Retrieval System

3.1 Assess needs for modification of textclass retrieval system for journals

	Timeline:	Ongoing with initial analysis and specification in December
	Responsibility:	Interface Specialist, Programmer
	Status:	Staff conducted initial assessment and discussed with DLPS-IR group. As we have implemented MQR there have been several small adjustments that make the system more suitable for journal delivery.

3.2 Apply textclass retrieval system to ACLS monographs when they appear

	Timeline:	Dependent on ACLS timelines
	Responsibility:	All staff as appropriate, working with DLPS
	Status:	No monographs have been received.

3.2.1 Explore and implement XML style sheets/style associated display. Demo with IE5.

	Timeline:	Education and training September-December, implementation dependent on arrival of content, availability of browsers with xml support
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Interface Specialist
	Status:	Experimentation has been underway with Cocoon and associated style sheets applied to demo files from ACLS, as well as for delivering the materials from our own Web site.

3.3 Develop generic, customizable interface/search and display templates

	Timeline:	By end of the year
	Responsibility:	Interface Specialist, Rosenblum
	Status:	Some rudimentary work has been done in this area. Fuller development awaits the hire of an interface designer.

4 Management system and tools

4.1 Develop basic management tool for collection of bibliographic data and submission of completed files.

	Timeline:	July for specification, August for implementation
	Responsibility:	DLPD staff with CS
	Status:	Done. See http://spo.umdl.umich.edu/tools.html.

4.2 Modify journal management system to support issues-based publishing (currently supports only article-based publishing)

	Timeline:	Specifications in February, implementation dependent on programmer hire
	Responsibility:	Interface specialist, Programmer
	Status:	Staff fell behind on this activity. One of the early tasks of the Interface designer will be to develop specifications for this modification.

4.3 Specify system to support peer review process

	Timeline:	Specifications March-April, implementation dependent on programmer hire,
	Responsibility:	Interface specialist, with input from Rosenblum, Bonn, Programmer
	Status:	While this activity did not take place, SPO has begun exploratory work on peer review by analyzing user needs and assessing some commercial systems. An early draft of the report on this work is available. It will be revised and completed in July.

5 Electronic subscription management

5.1 Assess authentication user management system as tool to manage permissions for journal subscribers. Share with editors to garner feedback. Pass feedback on to DLPS staff.

	Timeline:	Internal assessment, November. Work with editors, February and on.
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Bonn
	Status:	Existing system seem sufficient. Awaiting demand for service to test.

5.2 Assess possibilities for charging mechanisms for ACLS and other content

	Timeline:	Initial assessment January then ongoing depending on ACLS timelines
	Responsibility:	Programmer with CS, Interface Specialist, Bonn with contributions from ACLS project staff
	Status:	ACLS has decided to handle all commercial transactions themselves so will not require us to support on-line charging. The next year will see and exploration of SPO's needs in this area.

6 Continue exploratory work on print on demand

6.1 Establish relationship with vendor to produce books from existing digital files (i.e. MoA books).

	Timeline:	by end of December
	Responsibility:	Bonn assisting Preservation staff as needed.
	Status:	Discussions have been held with ACME Bookbinding. Library has decided to develop RFP to solicit vendor responses.

6.2 Establish method for selectors to request print replacements

	Timeline:	January, dependent on Preservation staff
	Responsibility:	Bonn assisting Preservation staff as needed.
	Status:	This issue has been discussed in CMDC. There is now a small working group resolving several of the issues around Print on Demand.

6.3 Establish method for individuals to request print replacements for library

	Timeline:	February-March, dependent on Preservation staff
	Responsibility:	Bonn assisting Preservation staff as needed.
	Status:	See 6.2

6.4 Establish methods for individuals to be able to purchase print replacements

	Timeline:	February-March, dependent on Preservation staff
	Responsibility:	Bonn assisting Preservation staff as needed.
	Status:	See 6.2

6.5 Move responsibility for reprints to Preservation Dept.

	Timeline:	by end of year
	Responsibility:	Bonn assisting Preservation staff as needed.
	Status:	See 6.2

6.6 Explore issues of branding and marketing reprints.

	Timeline:	ongoing
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	Some discussion has been held on this. Currently we are considering forming a Library advisory group to think through issues of this sort

6.7 Explore need and venues for print services in relation to content published through Library.

	Timeline:	ongoing
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	To be done

7 Support for ACLS

7.1 Specify usage statistics required by ACLS and other publishers.

	Timeline:	Initial assessment March then ongoing depending on ACLS timelines
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum, Bonn, with contributions from ACLS project staff
	Status:	Have worked with DLPS to specify the collection and display of title level statistics. These are currently in development.

7.2 Adapt existing stat mechanisms to meet publisher needs.

	Timeline:	Initial April-May then ongoing depending on ACLS timelines
	Responsibility:	Programmer with CS/HZ, Interface Specialist, Bonn with contributions from ACLS project staff
	Status:	See 7.1

7.3 Design ACLS interface

	Timeline:	Dependent on ACLS timelines
	Responsibility:	Interface Specialist, Bonn with contributions from ACLS project staff
	Status:	Mock-ups have been received from ACLS and will be implemented when the backfile is ready to go on-line.

7.4 Evaluation of ACLS XML

	Timeline:	Dependent on ACLS timelines
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum
	Status:	We have taken a quick look at sample files, but are waiting for more data for real analysis.

7.5 Liaison to DLPS digitization/backfile conversion services

	Timeline:	Dependent on ACLS timelines, probably starting December
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	The first books for the backfile have arrived and been prepped. Scanning is delayed pending formalization of a vendor contract.

8 Transitional goals

8.1 Release Directory of Ethnic Organizations

	Timeline:	ASAP depending on approval from O. Feinstein
	Responsibility:	Bonn, Sheppard
	Status:	First release is done. Currently collecting information for updating directory (updates are coordinated by Chuck Ransom).

8.2 Release Annotated Bibliography of the French Revolution

	Timeline:	Dependent on approval from Skib/Amman
	Responsibility:	Sheppard
	Status:	This project has slowly. SPO has completed the first on-line version but Amman wants to undertake considerable revision and additions before releasing. At the current time we are looking toward a September, 2001 release.

8.3 Complete and release BMP Index

	Timeline:	by January
	Responsibility:	Rosenblum
	Status:	Current version is on-line. Becky Dunkle is looking into resources for supplementing the records with reel numbers.

8.4 Release the Index to the Transcripts of the French Political Trials.

	Timeline:	ASAP depending on approval from Herrada
	Responsibility:	Sheppard
	Status:	Done

8.5 Finish MoA4

Continue management of project until texts are on-line
Analyze cost data and prepare handbook
Prepare final report

	Timeline:	by January 31
	Responsibility:	Bonn
	Status:	Work is done in this area, except for a few clean-up tasks. The final report and handbook were submitted to Mellon in July, 2001.

8.6 Continue as liaison to DLPS for Arts of Citizenship, Making of Ann Arbor and the Saline Historical Photographs project.

	Timeline:	ongoing
	Responsibility:	Bonn, Sheppard
	Status:	AOC process is smoothly in place and low demand. MoAA appears to have gone into hiatus. Saline Historical Photos are digitized and on-line.