"The gods walk the earth, and mere mortals must stay out of the way or be crushed underfoot."
—Joseph J. Esposito, speaking at the Third Symposium
In their relatively short history, the joint Symposia between the Association of American University Presses and the Association of Research Libraries have stretched and delighted registrants. More than just a way to pass a few instructional days with like-minded colleagues, the events are intended to be collaborative and fruitful venues. The organizers and participants have invented a forum for those who seek to advance the efforts of not-for-profit scholarly publishing: the university presses, the society publishers, academic librarians, faculty, and fellow-travellers. The series has been fortunate to attract co-organizers and collaborators who have contributed important personnel resources to make the Symposia a success. The American Mathematical Society worked closely on conceptual and technical parts of the first two Symposia. As an adjunct to the Third Symposium, the University of Virginia Library offered "A Day in the Electronic Village," an instantiation of the emerging electronic information environment. The National Science Foundation has helped and hurrah-ed each event.
Progress has been recorded and the series is evolving. The first event (April 1992) presented a sampler of faculty who are self-publishing formal electronic works supported by their universities' networking capabilities, as well as some large scientific societies making substantial investments in the new area of networked publishing. That spring in Washington, DC, most participants admitted to feeling very much like lesser mortals who might well be crushed under foot. The second event (December 1992) expanded the offerings to include many more projects including early innovations by university presses. This third meeting intensified exploration of publishing issues such as economics and copyright and broadened the array of project presentations. While few felt like gods, at least the danger of being crushed felt like a worry of the past. All presentations are represented in this volume.
The planners, encompassing a number of interested volunteers from the AAUP, ARL, and society groups, meet on e-mail and are in the early stages of conceptualizing the late 1994 Fourth Symposium. Building on experience to date, the group hopes to issue a call for presentations to include technical breakout sessions, project sessions and discussions groups, as well as to focus plenary sessions on airing and finding solutions to problems that vex faculty, librarians, and not-for-profit publishers. The expressed objective is that through this series we will all find better ways to work together to fulfill the educational, scholarly, and research missions of higher education through improved scholarly communications.
Special thanks go to:
Lisa Freeman, Chair, AAUP Electronic Caucus, who did so much to organize the event, and the Caucus itself as an advisory group.
Karen Marshall, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, for arranging a highly successful Charlottesville event for the 40 symposiasts who made the trek after the conclusion of the November Symposium in Washington, and for the followup wave that the Library hosted in December.
Annette Verna, Program Assistant, ARL, who has provided indispensable support in producing this collection.
The authors and presenters for their patience in being badgered for their papers.
All the registrants for this cost-recovery series: about 70 the first time; 110 the second time; and 160 this time, for making the time and finding the resources to participate.
On behalf of the above individuals and of AAUP and ARL, we hope to see you at the next Symposium.
Ann Okerson
Association of Research Libraries