[Aztlan] Digital Press for Archeology

[John F. Schwaller]

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Beth Svinarich, University Press of Colorado, beth at upcolorado.com 
<mailto:beth at upcolorado.com>, (720) 406-8849 x.3

*Mellon Foundation Funds E-Book Initiative*

*Six University Presses to Develop Digital Publishing Platform for 
Archaeology Research*

Boulder, CO—The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a $282,000 
one-year planning grant to six university presses to collaboratively 
develop a digital collection of New World archaeology scholarship.

The University Press of Colorado, Texas A&M University Press, University 
of Alabama Press, University of Arizona Press, University Press of 
Florida and University of Utah Press will jointly explore ways to 
deliver data- and illustration-rich digital editions of cutting-edge 
archaeological research. The project, called the Archaeology of the 
Americas Digital Monograph Initiative, will give scholars and 
professional archaeologists the ability to review supplemental data not 
often contained in conventionally published volumes.

"This initiative will push the boundaries of the scholarly monograph," 
said Darrin Pratt, director of the University Press of Colorado. "To 
date, most digital publication has been the simple replication of print 
books in PDF or HTML format."

Enhanced by large data sets, color illustrations, video components, 
three-dimensional, rotatable images and, in some cases, interactive 
components such as reader commenting, the digital platform could 
"stretch our very conception of the book," Pratt said.

The University Press of Colorado will administer the planning grant, 
which will fund a shared project manager. If the program reaches full 
implementation, the presses could potentially create a third party 
entity devoted to the creation and maintenance of the digital platform. 
The presses also plan to work on a business model for the proposed 
platform.

Meredith Morris-Babb, director of the University Press of Florida said 
development of a strong fiscal model is critical to the project's success.

"Generating sustainable levels of revenue from digital publications has 
proved tricky for university presses," she said.

University of Arizona Press Editor-in-Chief Allyson Carter said the 
strength of the archaeology-focused digital initiative lies in the depth 
and breadth of the participating presses in New World archaeology.

Together, the University Press of Colorado, Texas A&M University Press, 
University of Alabama Press, University of Arizona Press, University 
Press of Florida and University of Utah Press publish more than 70 
titles in this field annually, focusing on the southeastern and 
southwestern United States, the Mountain West, Great Basin, Texas, 
Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean as well as the 
early hunter-gatherers that peopled the Americas.

The presses plan to develop a prototype digital book, providing a 
workable platform that could potentially be used by scholarly presses 
around the world. While the initiative will involve publishing many of 
the same books both in print and digital form, the participating presses 
will enhance digital editions with data not currently available in most 
printed books in the field.

Like scholarly books in other humanities fields, sales of archaeology 
titles remain limited. Presses also must enforce strict length and image 
limitations to constrain production costs.

“Many archaeologists have turned to supplementary CDs and personal Web 
sites as a place to post important context missing from their print 
work," said Mary Lenn Dixon, editor-in-chief of Texas A&M University 
Press. "We hope this initiative will help these authors reconnect that 
context to the arguments made in their books.”

The archaeology-focused collaboration is one of seven multi-year, joint 
university press projects the Mellon Foundation has funded since the 
launch of its Monographs Initiative in 2007. The initiative serves to 
encourage presses to work together in publishing a larger number of 
first books in under-served and emerging areas of humanistic scholarship.

For more information on the foundation's monograph initiative, visit 
http://aaupnet.org/news/press/mellon12008.html.

Archaeology of the Americas member presses:

University Press of Colorado

Darrin Pratt, Director

Texas A&M University Press

Charles Backus, Director

Mary Lenn Dixon, Editor-in-Chief

University of Alabama Press

Daniel J.J. Ross, Director

Judith Knight, Senior Acquisitions Editor

University of Arizona Press

Kathryn Conrad, Interim Director

Allyson Carter, Editor-in-Chief

University Press of Florida

Meredith Morris-Babb, Director

John Byram, Associate Director and Editor-in-Chief

University of Utah Press

Glenda Cotter, Acting Director

Reba Rauch, Acquiring Editor