Re: Iowa State U. Press Will Become Part of International ScientificPublishing House

["John Cox" <John.E.Cox@btinternet.com>]

What this shows is that the alleged divide between non-profit and
for-profit activities, between society and university presses and
commercial publishers, is not as clear as some simple souls in the library
community imagine.  Blackwell Science has a long and distinguished history
of supporting research by publishing books and journals for learned
societies and universities.  Iowa State U P is in good hands.

But then I always thought the obsession with the 'profit' - i.e. tax -
status of publishers was absurd, and clouded the more important issues of
accessibility, funding, quality control and authentication that we really
ought to concentrate on.  And you don't hear the same obession being
talked about in the rest of the world.

John Cox
John.E.Cox@btinternet.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Date: 19 July 2000 04:34
Subject: Iowa State U. Press Will Become Part of International
ScientificPublishing House


>Not about licensing, but certainly of interest to many readers of
>this list.  An nOkerson
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>This story from The Chronicle of Higher Education
>_________________________________________________________________
>
>  Tuesday, July 18, 2000
>
>  Iowa State U. Press Will Become Part of International
>  Scientific Publishing House
>
>  By SCOTT HELLER
>
>  Iowa State University announced Monday that it is turning over
>  its university press to a commercial business -- raising
>  eyebrows among some scholarly publishers.
>
>  The university has agreed to merge the 66-year-old Iowa State
>  University Press into Blackwell Science, an international
>  scientific and technical publishing company. The press office
>  will remain in Ames, Iowa, and none of its 24 employees will
>  lose their jobs. But the publishing operation will go from
>  nonprofit to commercial when the merger, expected in
>  September, is complete.
>
>  [SNIP SNIP]
>
>  For more than 20 years, neither the university nor the state
>  has provided any financial support to the press, according to
>  Al Austin, the president of the press's board of directors.
>  Iowa State now puts out about 40 titles a year.
>
>  While the press was not in financial straits, having just
>  finished its best year ever, it couldn't count on the
>  university to help it grow and succeed in an increasingly
>  competitive environment, said Mr. Austin. "It was made clear
>  to us by the past three central administrations that the press
>  would have to be a stand-alone operation," said Mr. Austin, a
>  professor of civil and construction engineering.
>
>  As part of the agreement, Blackwell has committed an estimated
>  $2-million to establish an endowment at the university to
>  support faculty publication projects. And some new books will
>  still be published under the Iowa State Press logo. "The
>  I.S.U. Press identity will continue," said Mr. Austin. "It
>  will not disappear."
>_________________________________________________________________
>
>Chronicle subscribers can read this story on the Web at this address:
>http://chronicle.com/daily/2000/07/2000071801n.htm
>
>If you would like to have complete access to The Chronicle's Web
>site, a special subscription offer can be found at:
>
>   http://chronicle.com/4free
>
>Use the code D00CM when ordering.