From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:29:35 -0600

This is a very exciting development, reminiscent in some ways of the
Gutenberg-e Project, but since that project (funded by Mellon) turned
out to be unsustainable using a subscription-based model and the only
revenue-generating model mentioned for Anvil Academic in the
InsideHigherEd story is subscription-based (which is hardly a "new"
model), one wonders what really new models the project supporters have
in mind developing--and how such models would be compatible with
operating under CC licenses if they are to eschew "institutional
subsidies, author subventions, and revenue from sales of printed
books." Perhaps someone associated with the project could enlighten
us?

Sandy Thatcher


> From: Sean Andrews <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:42:57 -0600
>
> Following from this morning's story in IHE on this new NITLE/CLIR
> initiative called ANVIL
>
> http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/13/anvil-academic-aims-provide-platform-digital-scholarship
>
> http://www.nitle.org/help/anvil.php
>
> I thought this might be of interest to members of the list.  The
> release below can be accessed on NITLE's website here:
>
> http://www.nitle.org/live/news/195-clir-and-nitle-to-launch-digital-academic
>
> February 13, 2012
>
> Organizations partner to form Anvil Academic, a digital publisher for
> the humanities. Anvil will focus on publishing new forms of
> scholarship that cannot be adequately conveyed in the traditional
> monograph.
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> (Washington, D.C. and Georgetown, Texas) The Council on Library and
> Information Resources (CLIR) and the National Institute for Technology
> in Liberal Education (NITLE) announce the formation of Anvil Academic,
> a digital publisher for the humanities. Anvil will focus on publishing
> new forms of scholarship that cannot be adequately conveyed in the
> traditional monograph.
>
> "Increasingly, research in the humanities is dependent on large data
> sets and involves sophisticated algorithms and visualizations in the
> execution of that research and in the construction of the products of
> scholarship. Anvil will capture the environment in which this research
> is conducted: a linked ecology of scholarly expression, data, and
> tools of analysis that will over time become itself a place for new
> knowledge discovery," said CLIR President Chuck Henry.
>
> Works published through Anvil will be available through Creative
> Commons licenses on the Web and as apps on portable devices. The title
> production system will be developed jointly by NITLE and CLIR for use
> by other institutions, each of which would have the opportunity to
> publish under its own imprint. It is expected that Anvil will publish
> its first title in late 2012.
>
> All of Anvil's scholarly works will conform to the standards and
> protocols articulated by the Digital Public Library of America; Anvil
> will also work closely with the technical requirements of Europeana
> and Open Access Publishing in the European Network (OAPEN) guidelines.
>
> "We will be developing not only new technological paradigms, but new
> paradigms for defining and evaluating credible scholarly discourse,
> and we will be thoroughly documenting, in as open a fashion as
> possible, our process, our progress, our thinking, and our vision,"
> said Henry.
>
> "An important part of the Anvil experiment will be developing and
> testing new revenue models," said NITLE Executive Director Joey King.
> "Our current models, which rely heavily on institutional subsidies,
> author subventions, and revenue from sales of printed books, are not
> proving to be sustainable. With Anvil, we intend to explore
> alternative paths to sustainability as rigorously as we explore new
> publishing models."
>
> The program received startup funding from the Brown Foundation, Inc.,
> in Houston, Texas. Stanford University, the University of Virginia,
> Washington University in St. Louis, Bryn Mawr College, Amherst
> College, Middlebury College, and Southwestern University will also
> provide funds and staffing. Anvil Academic Publishing will work
> closely with innovative programs developed by the University of
> Michigan, especially MPublishing, and draw on Johns Hopkins
> University's exemplary experience with digital humanities project
> development.
>
> NITLE and CLIR will enlist additional publishers, scholarly societies,
> librarians, administrators, and faculty from member schools to
> participate in planning and developing Anvil-forged college and
> university publishing enterprises. Publishers or collaborators who are
> interested in collaborating in this effort should contact Anvil
> Editor-in-Chief Fred Moody ([log in to unmask]).
>
> Anvil's Board of Directors includes

[SNIP]

> ###
>
> About the Council on Library and Information Resources
>
> CLIR is an independent, nonprofit organization that forges strategies
> to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in
> collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities
> of higher learning. (clir.org)
>
> About the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education
>
> The National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education helps
> liberal arts colleges integrate inquiry, pedagogy, and technology.
> Established in 2001 with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
> NITLE is the key organization for liberal arts institutions seeking to
> use technology strategically to advance the liberal-arts mission.