The modern world's understanding of American university press has long been shaped by university-press books. American university-press books are good international advertisements for the universities whose logos grace their spines. The growth of transnational scholarship and the expansion of digital communications networks are converging in ways…

When the news broke in the "New York Times" in August 2009 that Yale University Press had decided to remove twelve Danish cartoon images of the prophet Mohammed from "The Cartoons That Shook the World," a forthcoming book by Brandeis political scientist Jytte Klausen, the author felt that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)…

University presses are more likely to give voice to stories that might not otherwise be told, such as those involving minority perspectives. But opportunities are shrinking. As extensions of their parent schools, academic presses rarely reap profits, experts say. Many rely on school subsidies to survive. Factor in substantial budget cuts to…

In this interview Charles Henry, publisher of the Rice University Press (RUP), discusses RUP's rebirth as a fully digital university press. Henry addresses the circumstances that led to this decision, and he further outlines the RUP business model whereby the press will publish its own titles--both digitally and in print-on-demand--while…

Presents a selection of books on African Americans or racial issues that have been issued by U.S.-based university presses within the part year, noting that the nation's university presses are a major source of books on issues concerning racial relations (though blacks have only a token presence on their editorial boards). (SM)

The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the country. As a nonprofit organization with its primary concern its contribution to scholarship, the press can invest time on projects it deems worthy even though some might take decades to complete. (MLW)

Financial problems are causing many university presses to close down their publication of scholarly books and articles. (HS)

Historical information on university presses and their problems are considered. University presses in the United States have their roots in 15th century England when the Oxford University Press was established in 1478. The first U.S. press to use the term "university press" was Cornell University; the press operated from 1869 until it…

Founded in 1966 at Florida State University by Louis Shores, the quarterly Journal of Library History moved to the University of Texas at Austin in 1976 and continues to be published by the University of Texas Press. It was renamed Libraries & Culture in 1988. While there has been some continuity in the Florida and Texas years, during the…

Explores how budget cuts for libraries, university presses, journals, and the arts have combined to threaten the infrastructure on which professors and students depend. Includes sidebars on Appalachian State University's library, the Stanford and State University of New York (SUNY) presses, and the University of Iowa's history department. (EV)

After a painful period of belt tightening and learning to pay more attention to the financial side of publishing, university presses have emerged as bigger, healthier, more diverse, and more interesting. They are publishing and selling more books than ever, in greater variety. Some fear publication of pure scholarship is endangered. (MSE)

A frustrated author recounts his own experiences and those of others in dealing with publishers. He concludes that academic publishers prefer exchanging ideas and academic gossip with authors to the basics of business, letting the books sell themselves to a captive audience of academic libraries. (MSE)

Economic pressures in the publishing industry are causing faculty to write shorter books. The authors want their books to be readable, and publishers want to reduce costs and make the books affordable for a wider audience, including students. Brief but broad surveys, short introductory primers, quick biographies, and books with very basic themes…

Columbia University Press's current and future solvency rests on a complex balance of reference, scholarly, and trade titles as well as an innovative collaboration with the library to help guarantee the house's preeminence in the academic community. The Press's strategic approach is described. (Author)

Highlighting changes in the work of people within the university, this book presents nine essays that examine the effects of desktop publishing and electronic publishing on professors and students, librarians, and those who work at university presses and in publication departments. Essays in the book are: (1) "Introduction: The Promise of Desktop…