From: Tristan C Collier <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:17:26 +0000
Thanks for your invitation to comment on Library Advisory Boards.
We at Cambridge Journals, (the subsidiary of Cambridge University
Press), have had a library advisory panel for a number of years. We've
found that our panel is a hugely useful resource, particularly for
formulating pricing models and for development strategy for Cambridge
Journals Online (CJO). With the launch of online products and
Cambridge Books Online (CBO), we have now introduced several books
colleagues to our panel and they too have found it very useful,
particularly in terms of ebook pricing models.
Our panel is divided into a wider global network of librarians who are
consulted by phone or internet, and a smaller group of librarians who
get together twice a year for face to face meetings. One of these
physical meetings is usually held before the UKSG Conference in the UK
and the other is often conducted where one of the panel members is
based, which helps us to gather the views of panel members who might
not be able to travel to us. Previous destinations have included
Barcelona, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Cambridge. We usually try to
include interesting visits during these trips, for example we went to
the Black Diamond Library in Copenhagen and we had an exclusive tour
of Emmanuel College Library in Cambridge (Emmanuel is the alma mater
of John Harvard and other Puritans). The smaller library panel is
made up of regular members who come from across Europe, with less
frequent appearances by librarians from Asia and North America.
Unfortunately, as a university press, we don't have the resources to
fly large numbers of people long-haul.
The more formal elements of the meeting usually follow a structure of
presentations by Press staff followed by question and answer sessions
and discussion. The subjects discussed are almost always informed by
the technical or publishing developments which are underway at the
time of the meeting. In recent years, because of the pace of list
expansion at Cambridge, some conversations have also revolved around
the journals which are new to Cambridge. The days always conclude
with an evening meal and less formal conversation.
It is probably worth noting that the panel is as much about
relationship building as it is about consultation. Some of our panel
members have been with us for a long time, and we value both their
opinions and their company at events.
I hope this helps with your research. Please let us know if you have
any further questions.
Kind regards
Tristan
__________________________________________
Tristan Collier
Library Marketing, Journals
Cambridge University Press
University Printing House
Cambridge, CB2 8BS
England, UK
http://www.journals.cambridge.org
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