848 College & Research Libraries September 2015

doi:10.5860/crl.76.6.848

stating that it is no longer the heart of the public library. However, a few pages later, 
he asserts it as an important place by stating that recent graduates from library school 
ought to spend time on the public reference desk, as this type of work provides valu-
able experience.

Part III of the book, “‘Dude, Where’s My Jetpack?’ Near Future of Reference,” in-
cludes two coherent and comprehensible chapters. In these chapters, the authors en-
deavor to foretell the future of reference services while acknowledging the limitations 
of prognostication. In chapter 8, one of the projections includes the growing need for 
librarians to familiarize themselves with regulations, such as fair use and copyright, to 
help users navigate the realm of digital rights management. The author also foresees 
the necessity for librarians to learn how to use artificial intelligence tools, such as ones 
that use audio commands to complete tasks, to teach users how to use these systems 
successfully. In chapter 9, it is suggested that the real challenge for reference is to 
establish reference librarians as “consultative experts and the go-to folks in the minds 
of the end users” (134). The chapter recommends a variety of strategies to accomplish 
this goal including strategic planning to demonstrate the value of the library and the 
use of data-gathering tools to accumulate evidence to make data-driven decisions. 
Part III provides useful information; however, this information may be familiar to 
librarians who stay current with the literature or who have already adopted similar 
practices in their libraries.

Generally, this volume does succeed in outlining the evolution and potential future 
for the delivery of reference services and librarianship. Unfortunately, the problems 
identified in part II diminish the book’s overall effectiveness. Nevertheless, there is 
enough worthy information to provide a good beginning point for librarians in insti-
tutions that have not yet adapted to the changing reference environment.—Michelle 
Hendley, SUNY Oneonta

Getting the Word Out: Academic Libraries as Scholarly Publishers. Eds. Maria Bonn 
and Mike Furlough for the Association of College and Research Libraries. Chicago: 
American Library Association, 2014. 288p. Paper, $50.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8697-4).

For readers seeking an overview of library publishing efforts, Getting the Word Out 
is an indispensable primer that also offers opportunity for reflection for those in the 
trenches. Ultimately, the work demonstrates how the convergence of publishing with 
the library offers new groups and generations of stakeholders greater opportunities for 
engagement. These benefits transcend the democratization of access to knowledge via 
open access, and their breadth is captured well by Maria Bonn and Mike Furlough’s 
edited volume. 

The editors bring to the work professional backgrounds offering a favorable mix 
of theory and praxis. Dr. Bonn currently teaches scholarly communication and pub-
lishing at the iSchool at Illinois following an appointment as Associate University 
Librarian for Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. Mike Furlough also 
brings a wealth of expertise to the project, currently serving as Executive Director of 
HathiTrust Digital Library with prior appointments as Associate Dean for Research 
and Scholarly Communications at Penn State University Libraries and faculty for the 
ARL/DLF/Duraspace E-Science Institute.

Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Dan Cohen lend more than their names to the volume; 
they set the landscape and provide a helpful jumping-off point with their Foreword. 
An introduction by the editors follows, providing a practical condensed history of 
library publishing as a lead-in to highlighting key findings and exploring overarching 
themes. From there the book spans eleven chapters and is divided into three sections 
discussing the why, how, and what of library publishing.



Book Reviews 849

In keeping with the approach favored by the Library Publishing Coalition, the 
book takes a broad and inclusive definition of scholarly publishing, sharing the voices 
and experiences of libraries large and small. Readers will find higher-level overviews 
such as a taxonomy of press and library integration, thoughts on capacity building 
for publishing, and the achievements of smaller institutions in their library publishing 
efforts. There is also ample attention to detail found in chapters on evolving publishing 
agreements, data curation, and open educational resources. 

For those familiar with Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s Planned Obsolescence (2011), this book 
serves not only as a companion resource to her chapter on The University, but continues 
the conversation. We see elements of her discussion of the alignment of the library’s 
mission with the university press in the informative first chapter, where Paul Courant 
and Elizabeth Jones weave together business models and mandates of stakeholders in 
scholarly publishing with insights from the field of economics into plausible scenarios 
for ubiquitous access to scholarly resources.

J. Britt Holbrook provides necessary sensitivity training from the faculty perspec-
tive, emphasizing how librarians at times may, despite honorable intentions, trudge on 
what Isaiah Berlin has coined negative liberty (freedom from constraint), and positive 
liberty (freedom to pursue a self-determined course of action), when advocating for 
open access on campus (46).

An anchoring chapter is provided by Monica McCormick, who analyzes libraries 
and publishers independently, enumerating their skills and strengths to best illustrate 
how these strengths might be best combined. To this end, she describes a number of 
emerging models as well as distinct opportunities for collaboration. Charles Watkinson 
extends McCormick’s chapter with his thoughtful taxonomy for levels of integration of 
the university press with the library, reinforcing his work with relevant case studies. 
As in the case of McCormick, Watkinson adeptly hints at potential friction that can 
exist between library publishers and presses. A separate chapter exploring this tension 
in scholarly publishing and how libraries navigate it would be a welcome addition 
to the volume. 

The final section of the book, What Libraries Publish, illustrates the added value 
libraries bring to the student experience, including the pedagogical role that libraries 
are well positioned to play by engaging students as content creators, and the ability to 
facilitate the adoption and creation of open textbooks and open educational resources, 
as is the case with Open SUNY Textbooks. We are also shown that libraries can sup-
port humanities scholarship by curating data (making it more accessible and usable), 
and by providing APIs to extend its research possibilities. In the process of making 
the distinction between data publishing and curation in the final chapter, the reader 
is led to appreciate that the curatorial efforts invested by libraries position them as 
ideal publishers of data.

In the Introduction, the editors share that their goal for the book is “to examine 
library-based publishing with both a clear-eyed realism about the challenges faced 
by libraries as publishers and a confirmed optimism that libraries are well suited 
to address and overcome these challenges” (2). The challenges faced by libraries as 
publishers are not solely described in the volume; they are also present-at-hand: the 
reviewed print copy of Getting the Word Out shows noticeable fading of text toward 
the left margin for verso pages. We see, however, that the authors are also successful 
in bolstering optimism, as we are shown the underlying impact of a movement that 
has grown considerable roots. Moreover, the book demonstrates that libraries have 
moved beyond identifying and addressing challenges to realizing a more inclusive, 
diverse, and open vision for the future of scholarly publishing.—Andrea Kosavic, York 
University