Levine-Clark, Michael, "Self Publishing and the Academic Library," invited, Self Pub 2.0 Preconference, Charleston Conference, Charleston, S.C., November 6, 2013. Part of a panel on "Vendor Services and Self Publishing."

1. Self-Published Books and the
Academic Library
Self Pub 2.0
Charleston Conference
November 6, 2013
Michael Levine-Clark
Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and
Collections Services
University of Denver Libraries
michael.levine-clark@du.edu

2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/callumscott2/280532292/

3. Libraries rely on other experts to vet
content for us
•
•
•
•
Peer review process
Publishers
Approval vendors
Ebook aggregators
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scaar/6094281864/

4. How radically will the scholarly
book publishing landscape change
in the next five years?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29750062@N06/6061940391/

5. Explosion of Self Publishing
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
American Self Published
(ISBN)
250,000
North American Scholarly
(YBP)
200,000
150,000
American Book
Production (BISAC)
100,000
50,000
0
2007
2011
2012

6. How do libraries provide access to self-published
books? Or do we?

7. Peer Review of Self-Published Books
• Unlikely for most selfpublished material
• Identify after the fact?
– Reviews
– Citations
– Klout
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturewise/1174298274/

8. How Do Librarians Determine Quality?
• Traditionally publisher determines quality
• How do librarians and our vendors identify
quality without the help of publishers?
– Institutional affiliation? (but what about writers
outside the academy?)
– Author name? (but what about un-established
authors?)
– And what about bad books by known authors?
• Or authors writing outside area of expertise?

9. How do we find that archaeology title while
eliminating the holocaust denial book?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scaar/6094281864/

10. Thank You
Michael Levine-Clark
michael.levine-clark@du.edu