Partnerships in Agricultural Publications: University of Florida's Marston Science Library and the Florida State Horticultural Society

Abstract

A partnership forged between the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida and the Florida State Horticultural Society (FSHS) advances access to current and historical publications of the society and exemplifies an opportunity for agricultural librarians. The Public Knowledge Project's Open Journal System (OJS) was developed by librarians at Simon Fraser and Stanford universities to offer free, web-based publication software that promotes open access to journals and supports editorial workflow and publication needs. Collaborations among libraries and content creators that utilize open source tools like OJS are especially beneficial for agricultural organizations with limited financial and staffing resources. This paper examines the current state of library publishing partnerships with external organizations through analysis of survey data collected by the authors, and shares lessons learned from an example partnership. In this example librarians contributed their expertise in peer-review publishing, intellectual property rights, and institutional repositories to develop a customized online journal site using OJS for FSHS in a manner that reflects the publication workflow of the society. Customized features include branding, peer review, member subscription, full-text indexing, and access to archived issues. Trainings on OJS and digital publication service empower subject-area librarians to serve as points of contact for additional collaborations. Utilizing OJS in partnerships between libraries and content creators enhances the relevancy of the library and subject-area librarians while promoting greater access to agricultural information.

A Team Approach: Library Publishing Partnerships with Scholarly Societies

“…Society leaders decided to explore additional hosting of archival content on Florida Online Journals. Metadata of archival issues were expanded and corrected prior to publishing with the library (Stapleton, Fruin, Shorey, Taylor, & Dinsmore, 2017). Full-text search capabilities of the OJS software were favorably received; the society website now directs patrons to the library publishing platform for access to archives.…”

“…Administrative directors for the libraries and the external organization sign the MOU in addition to the publication editors. Journal publishing set-up and maintenance can require a substantial time commitment, depending on journal needs and existing expertise (Newton, Cunningham, & O'Connell, 2014;Stapleton et al, 2017). The journal publishing program at the UF Libraries provides examples of collaborations between academic libraries and external learned societies, with direct connections to scholars from the library's institution.…”