Interest Group Reports

Collection Evaluation and Development

Ellen Frost, Perkins School of Theology, SMU, Secretary

Members Present

  • Yasmine Abou-El-Kheir, Chicago Theological Seminary
  • Clay-Edward Dixon, Graduate Theological Union
  • Winette Field, William Booth College
  • Ellen Frost, Perkins School of Theology, SMU
  • Stephanie Garrett, Catholic International University
  • David Schmersal, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Absentee Members

  • Liz Leahy, Azusa Pacific Seminary
  • Caitlin Soma, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
  • Lee Webb, Saint Paul School of Theology

Agenda

  1. Plan follow-up webinar to the eBook publisher’s panel (Atla 2023) during 2024/25 academic year
  2. Review of last year’s questions
  3. Ongoing discussion of library needs from publishers

Discussions

Planning for possible webinar

Publishers represented in 2023:

  • Emmaus Academic/St. Paul Center
  • Fortress
  • IVPress
  • Jewish Publication Society (JPS)
  • Westminster John Knox
  • Wipf & Stock

Possible publishers to approach for a CEAD eBook Webinar:

  • Abingdon Press
  • Baker Publishing Group
  • Bloomsbury Publishing
  • Eerdmans Publishing
  • Ignatius Press
  • Langham Publishing (Majority World theology)
  • Paraclete Press
  • Regnum Books, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies
  • Wisdom Publications
  • Zondervan (a division of Harper/Collins Christian Publishing)

Idea to get vendors/aggregators “in the room”:

  • Pricing
  • Functionality
  • Publisher models
  • These could include:
    • GOBI/YBP
    • Rialto
  • Question: How does “not available in my region” work? Why? And why are prices different?
    • Or aggregators:
      1. ProQuest
      2. EBSCOhost
      3. JSTOR
      4. Project Muse

Resources we’re using online:

  • Bloomsbury Religion North America
  • Oxford Bibliographies (for overviews)
  • EBAs for various platforms: Brill, DeGruyter

Questions raised:

  1. Does the panelist have to be an ebook publisher?
  2. How do we respond to our needs as a group?
  3. How do we petition to have materials from 1970s-1990s made available as ebooks?
  4. Can we negotiate better as a group?
  5. Are online overviews better for introductory material?
  6. Controlled digital lending for OP titles – what are the policies?
  7. Will Internet Archive digitize things for us? We’ve heard they’re really far behind on digitizing materials submitted.
  8. Could negotiating be a member service of Atla?
  9. Could some of the titles we need be published by Atla Open Press?
  10. Should we create a LibGuide for things faculty should as publishers before they publish?
  11. Should we invite academic deans, in addition to other librarians, to attend if we do a session on publications?