Cambridge sees massive expansion in transformative deals
Cambridge University Press has announced more than a hundred new transformative ‘read-and-publish’ deals with US institutions as part of its strategy of promoting sustainable transition from subscription models. Agreements with consortia including the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, the Midwestern Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS), and Orbis Cascade Alliance, alongside deals with many individual colleges and universities, will see Cambridge raise the number of US institutions with which it has such arrangements from last year’s total of 13 to more than 140. Globally, the Press has agreements with almost 1,000 institutions across 34 countries.
British Book Awards shortlists announced
The shortlists have been announced for the British Book Awards. The six-strong list for the Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year features for the first time Princeton University Press alongside nine-time nominees Bloomsbury Academic and Collins, last year’s winner Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Kogan Page (for the fourth year in a row), and Cambridge University Press. The winner will be announced in a virtual ceremony on 13 May.
Outside the Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year category, recognition of academic publishers was minimal, with only Merrion Press, the trade imprint of the Irish Academic Press, featuring as the small press of the year for the island of Ireland.
New funding and leadership for Open Library of the Humanities
The Open Library of the Humanities has been boosted by the award of a £200,000 grant from the Arcadia fund to the Centre for Technology and Publishing at Birkbeck, University of London, at which OLH is based. The funding will be used to help OLH expand and diversify its revenue sources and to expand the Janeway publishing platform. Meanwhile, Dr Rose Harris-Birtill has been appointed as Acting Director of the Open Library while Professor Martin Eve takes research leave for the first two terms of the next academic year, having led and run the publisher alongside Dr Caroline Edwards since 2013. Harris-Birtill, currently managing editor, will take up her new role on 1 June.
Emerald takes prize for mental health initiatives
Emerald Publishing has been recognised for its efforts to prioritise and increase awareness of mental health at work at the 2021 Inside Out Mental Health Awards. Announced as the winner of the small to medium-sized enterprise category, Emerald was praised for a range of initiatives including training staff as mental health first aiders, running an annual well-bring week, and a ‘Let’s Talk About’ campaign inviting colleagues to discuss mental health and share their stories.
Emerald has also partnered with Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates to publish the latest issue of the open access journal Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives.
Macdonald promoted at Edinburgh
Edinburgh University Press has appointed Carol Macdonald as Interim Head of Editorial (Books), succeeding Nicola Ramsay, who will be taking on the post of CEO at EUP from this summer. Macdonald is currently Senior Commissioning Editor at Edinburgh.
Alastair Horne is a PhD student at the British Library and Bath Spa University.