07/13/2006
CONTACT: Jennifer Evans
PHONE: 713-348-6777
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RICE UNIVERSITY PRESS REBORN AS NATION'S FIRST FULLY DIGITAL ACADEMIC
PRESS

As money-strapped university presses shut down nationwide, Rice
University is turning to technology to bring its press back to life as
the first fully digital university press in the United States. 

Using the open-source e-publishing platform Connexions, Rice University
Press is returning from a decade-long hiatus to explore models of
peer-reviewed scholarship for the 21st century. The technology offers
authors a way to use multimedia -- audio files, live hyperlinks or
moving images -- to craft dynamic scholarly arguments, and to publish
on-demand original works in fields of study that are increasingly
constrained by print publishing. 

"Rice University Press is using Rice's strength in technology to
innovatively overcome increasingly common obstacles to publication of
scholarly works," Rice University President David Leebron said. "The
nation's first fully digital academic press provides not only a solution
for scholars -- particularly those in the humanities -- who are limited
by the dearth of university presses, but also a venue for publishing
multimedia essays, articles, books and scholarly narratives." 

Charles Henry, Rice University vice provost, university librarian and
publisher of Rice University Press during the startup phase, said, "Our
decision to revive Rice's press as a digital enterprise is based on both
economics and on new ways of thinking about scholarly publishing. On the
one hand, university presses are losing money at unprecedented rates,
and technology offers us ways to decrease production costs and provide
nearly ubiquitous delivery system, the Internet. We avoid costs
associated with backlogs, large inventories and unsold physical volumes,
and we greatly speed the editorial process. 

"We don't have a precise figure for our startup costs yet, but it's safe
to say our startup costs and annual operating expenses will be at least
10 times less than what we'd expect to pay if we were using a
traditional publishing model," Henry said. 

The digital press will operate just as a traditional press, up to a
point. Manuscripts will be solicited, reviewed, edited and resubmitted
for final approval by an editorial board of prominent scholars. But
rather than waiting for months for a printer to make a bound book, Rice
University Press's digital files will instead be run through Connexions
for automatic formatting, indexing and population with high-resolution
images, audio and video and Web links. 

"We don't print anything," Henry explained. "It will go online as a Rice
University Press publication in a matter of days and be available for
sale as a digital book." 

Users will be able to view the content online for free or purchase a
copy of the book for download through the Rice University Press Web
site. Alternatively, thanks to Connexions' partnership with on-demand
printer QOOP, users will be able to order printed books if they want, in
every style from softbound black-and-white on inexpensive paper to
leather-bound full-color hardbacks on high-gloss paper. 

"As with a traditional press, our publications will be peer-reviewed,
professionally vetted and very high quality," Henry said. "But the
choice to have a printed copy will be up to the customer." 

Authors published by Rice University Press will retain the copyrights
for their works, in accordance with Connexions' licensing agreement with
Creative Commons. Additionally, because Connexions is open-source,
authors will be able to update or amend their work, easily creating a
revised edition of their book. W. Joseph King, executive director of
Connexions and co-director of the Rice University Press project, said,
"Connexions' mission is to support open education in all forms,
including the publication of original scholarly works. We believe that
Connexions has the ability to change the university press at Rice and in
general." 

In the coming months, Rice University Press will name its board of
directors and appoint an editorial board in one or two academic
disciplines that are especially constrained by the current print model.
Over time, Rice University Press will focus on: 

1. Putting out original scholarly work in fields particularly impacted
by the high costs and distribution models of the printed book. One such
field is art history, in which printing costs are exceptionally high.
Over the years, many university presses have slashed the number of art
history titles, severely limiting younger scholars' prospects of
publication, Henry said. Rice University Press has identified art
history as a field that would benefit immediately and therefore it will
be the press's first area of major effort. 

2. Fostering new models of scholarship: With the rise of digital
environments, scholars are increasingly attempting to write book-length
studies that use new media -- images, video, audio and Web links -- as
part of their arguments. Rice University Press will easily accommodate
these new forms of scholarship, Henry said. 

3. Providing more affordable publishing for scholarly societies and
centers: Often disciplinary societies and smaller centers, especially in
the humanities, publish annual reports, reflections on their field of
study or original research resulting from grants. For smaller
organizations, the printing costs of these publications are prohibitive.
Rice University Press will partner with organizations to provide more
affordable publishing. 

4. Partnering with large university presses: In the wake of rising
production costs and overhead, many university presses have closed or
reduced the number of titles they publish, especially in the humanities
and social sciences. As a result many peer-reviewed, high quality books
are waiting on backlog. Rice University Press will work with selected
university publishers to inexpensively publish approved works. Henry
said two major university presses have already expressed an interest in
working with Rice University Press to reduce backlogged titles. Rice
University Press plans to partner with these and other presses to
produce such works as dual publications. 

"Technological innovations suffuse academia, but institutional
innovation often seems more challenging. The initiative to resuscitate
Rice University Press as a fully digital university press is thus doubly
exciting," said Steve Wheatley, vice president of the American Council
of Learned Societies, an umbrella organization of 70 scholarly societies
in the humanities and social sciences. "It is particularly encouraging
to note that the revived press will give special attention to
scholarship that is born digital. Equally commendable -- and perhaps
even more important -- is the commitment of the university to support
this initiative at this crucial phase for scholarly publishing."