Inside Iowa State
September 22, 2000
Austin: ISU Press merger beneficial to faculty
By Linda Charles
The Aug. 31 merger of ISU Press
with Blackwell Science will benefit faculty by providing
financial assistance with publication costs and better
promotion and distribution of scholarly works, Al Austin,
chair of the ISU Press Board, told the Faculty Senate at the
Sept. 12 meeting.
Blackwell Science is an independent scientific and technical publisher and the world's largest publisher for academic and professional societies. With its resources, Blackwell Science can promote faculty publications extensively, Austin said. Profits from the merger ($2.2 million) have been placed in an endowment that is expected to provide $110,000 annually to support scholarly publishing activities.
The merger continues a relation-ship ISU Press and Blackwell Science formed over several years, working together in veterinary, agriculture and other publishing areas.
Blackwell Science has begun sprucing up the ISU Press building and providing resources to support the publishing program, Austin said. He assured senators the publishing company plans to remain in the Ames area and hopes to make it a major distribution site.
A yet-to-be-formed Publication Endowment Committee will establish the criteria for receiving funds (which will be distributed through the Provost's Office) and review projects. Austin asked the senate to nominate members for the committee.
The endowment will help provide funds to publish scholarly and artistic works in an appropriate medium, Austin said, allaying fears of some senators that only books would qualify for funding. Austin added it would be up to the committee to decide what an "appropriate medium" would be, but mentioned publication on the Internet.
More on the senate meeting may be found online at www.iastate.edu/news/today/2000/sep/senate.html.
The next senate meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in 260 Scheman.
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