Scholars have a vast range of opportunities to distribute their work, from setting up web pages or blogs, to posting articles to working paper websites or institutional repositories, to including them in peer-reviewed journals or books. In American colleges and universities, access to the internet and World Wide Web is ubiquitous; consequently nearly all intellectual effort results in some form of “publishing.” Yet universities do not treat this function as an important, mission-centric endeavor. The result has been a scholarly publishing industry that many in the university community find to be increasingly out of step with the important values of the academy.

Published in 2007, this groundbreaking paper underlines the need for universities to consider more strategic approaches to publishing in its broadest sense; the value of inter and intra campus collaborations; and the potential for publishers, universities, and libraries to work together to take a leading role in determining the future of scholarly communication.