In the first decade of the twenty-first century, this already tottering publishing system – while still publishing an impressive stream, both broad and deep, of scholarly books in all of the humanities and social sciences, as well as providing many of the most important analyses of the critical social, political and cultural issues for general as well as academic readers (the latter precisely the kind of books that the large US trade publishers, almost all now controlled by global media conglomerates, have been rapidly jettisoning) – had to confront arguably the greatest disruptive force of all: the accelerating and escalating digital tidal wave, which, it became quickly apparent, would overwhelm all preexisting forms of social and professional communication—while providing entirely unforeseen and massive new opportunities and resources. But this comes at a Faustian price, since such root-and-branch transformation inevitably threatens all existing publishing processes, personnel, and prerogatives as well.

As individuals at beleaguered institutions are wont to do, the initial reaction of some at university presses consisted of circling the wagons, repeatedly intoning stale mantras of self-praise, clinging to fraying publishing practices like a security blanket, and convincing themselves (or letting their benighted professional organization convince them and others) that they could ride out this technological tsunami intact, in part by clutching ferociously to the Disney-corrupted version of the print copyright regime.”

Very interesting essay on the outlook for scholarly publishers and the academic library market:

Given the currently dire and highly unpredictable budget environment for higher education, 2010 is a rather frightening time to be a librarian. For the same reasons, this must be an absolutely terrifying time to be a scholarly publisher.

Google Editions, Bookstore in the Cloud, Will Go Live By July – 5/6/2010 – Library Journal:

The #1 problem that book (not journal) publishers in almost all sectors face for the foreseeable future (5-10 years) is how to accomplish the transition from print-based to electronic publishing successfully.

The challenge for twenty-first century scholarship, which
includes e- books, is to implement an infrastructure for the
digital world untrammelled by the historical legacies in the
frameworks and costings of print culture. In academic monograph
and textbook production, digital online access will become the
norm, more often than not supplemented by data and multimedia
additions. Print ,however, will not die, given the likely
explosion of cheap POD outlets. Readers will still be able to
judge a book by its POD cover.

E-book futures are still clearly evolving and cost and ease of
access will be crucial issues. A discernible trend is, however,
emerging with open access e-book environments. If e-outputs and
their impacts become embedded in promotion and tenure and
research assessment exercises, then more institutions will assume
responsibility for harvesting and providing global access to
their scholarship, scholarship that combines authority with
public accessibility. A suitable vision for the twenty first
century? ‘Let those who are not old, – who are still young,
ponder this well’ (Trollope, 1866)”

Rice UP
———-
“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.’…”

Manchester UP
——————–
“MUP currently has about 110 ebooks, sold through various channels, and has plans to digitise a further 300 to 400 books. Furthermore MUP currently has around 150 titles regularly reprinting as Print on Demand.”

Univ. of Pittsburgh Press
———————————
“The University of Pittsburgh Press has made 500 out-of-print titles open access with a future fee-based print-on-demand option.”

Univ. of Michigan Press
——————————
“The University of Michigan Press is announcing today that it will shift its scholarly publishing from being primarily a traditional print operation to one that is primarily digital.

Within two years, press officials expect well over 50 of the 60-plus monographs that the press publishes each year — currently in book form — to be released only in digital editions. Readers will still be able to use print-on-demand systems to produce versions that can be held in their hands, but the press will consider the digital monograph the norm. Many university presses are experimenting with digital publishing, but the Michigan announcement may be the most dramatic to date by a major university press.”

Cornell Internet-First UP
——————————–
“Just when the recording, music and publishing industries are going all-out to stop people from making their products available on the Internet, a new publishing venture at Cornell University is challenging traditional scholarly publishing by taking the opposite approach: Make the full text of a new book freely available on the Internet, and give readers the option to buy the printed book.”

amongst others … . Another developing trend is for university presses to merge with their university libraries.

Bowker reported that print-on-demand and short-run book titles grew 132% in 2008, and, for the first time, they exceeded traditional book titles.

As library and academic budgets are increasingly stretched, we
believe eBooks and content packages have a vital role to play in
delivering quality content at affordable prices

I note that the current bestseller is available as an ebook priced at $104 …

Cambridge Books Online

1 Print-on-demand is widely used, especially
by larger publishers.

2 Amazon has emerged as a major sales channel for scholarly
books.

3 There has been a gradual move to simultaneous
publication in printed and digital form.

4 Although the e-book market has been in existence for several years it is still in a
much earlier stage than journal publishing was after a similar period.

ALPSP – Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers

The Rocky Mountain Collegian :: Library cutting $600,000 and two positions from its budget:

Library cutting $600,000 and two positions from its budget
by JORDYN DAHL

Amid cross-university cuts due to a deepening budget crisis, the Morgan Library will reduce its budget by $600,000 and eliminate two positions.

Other changes include a test trial of eBooks that students can access using their eID and password. Administrators’ hope is to reduce the amount of money spent on unused books and make research more convenient for students.

Burns said this move is in preparation for when publishers stop printing books altogether.