Publishing Guidelines

1. ‘For sale’ or trade publishing

  • All credible new publishing proposals for ‘for sale’ or trade publications received by the Publications Section, including sound publications, will be taken to the Publications Committee for consideration.
  • If given ‘in principle’ approval by the Publications Committee, Publishing staff may refine the proposal based on discussions with the author (this refinement may include agreement on word length, style of publication, variations to content etc), and draw up a provisional budget for the publication, including estimated unit cost and revenue potential. The revised proposal and budget will be resubmitted to the Publications Committee for endorsement. If the proposal is endorsed a contract for the publication will be drawn up. Once this contract has been signed by the author and representatives of the Library the publication will go forward.
  • If deemed necessary by the Director, Publications and Events Branch, a publication may be taken back to the Publications Committee for further consideration. This would only occur if the manuscript failed to meet the Library’s publishing standards or if publication would result in a significant budget issue for the Library.

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2. Promotional publishing

  • Promotional publishing includes all Library information or promotional material, except advertisements, in printed or electronic formats. Promotional publishing proposals will be considered at meetings of the Publications Committee following an annual bid process coordinated by Publications staff. Prior approval for such proposals must be obtained through the Head of the Division from which the proposal comes.
  • The Publications Committee will assess proposals against the following criteria:
    • the way in which the proposal supports and promotes the goals and objectives of the Library
    • the relationship between the proposed publication and the Library’s overall communications and marketing strategy
    • the proposal’s relationship to other material on the National Library website
    • the identification of appropriate audiences for the proposed publication and the provision of a distribution plan consistent with the Library’s communications and marketing strategy
    • total available resources.
  • Only those publications approved by the Committee will be produced by the Publications and Events Branch, in accordance with approved procedures disseminated to staff. However, urgent requests between meetings may proceed with the approval of the Assistant Director-General, Public Programs. Such requests will be reported retrospectively to the Publications Committee.

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3. Electronic publishing

  • Planning for electronic publications will consider a range of possible delivery mechanisms including, but not limited to, the World Wide Web, palm held and mobile devices.
  • The Publishing Section will create electronic publications that are attractive, user-friendly, well-structured and accessible by a wide audience. These publications will employ appropriate standards for metadata and will be promoted to a wide online audience through search engines, ensuring that the Government’s and the Library’s accessibility requirements are adhered to. The Library’s preservation strategies for the persistence of electronic publications will also be applied.
  • The Electronic Publishing Section will work closely with the IT Division to ensure a coherent library-wide framework for web publication and graphic design. The Electronic Publishing Section will also work within the guidelines of the National Library’s Web Policies and Principles, IT infrastructure and the Government’s Online Initiative.
  • The Library has identified four broad categories of electronic publications (not all of these activities are necessarily undertaken by the Library’s Publications Branch):
    • Publishing Type 1
      This publishing type occurs where the Library is approached by an external agency or individual and asked to collaborate on publishing an electronic publication related to the Library’s Collection and containing interpretative content produced by, or in association with, the external agency or individual (eg the South Seas project).
    • Publishing Type 2
      This publishing type occurs where the Library decides to publish in online form only (‘born digital’ publications or exhibitions) instead of in print or physical form; or to produce dual format publications (online and print).
    • Publishing Type 3
      This publishing type occurs where the Library hosts stand-alone online content produced by external parties (eg JASAL). These are not necessarily based on the Library’s collection.
    • Publishing Type 4
      This publishing type occurs where the Library creates ‘online spaces’ to facilitate scholarly discourse based on or associated with use of the Library’s collections and its resource discovery services (eg blogs, discussion forums; annotation facilities)
  • Division 5 E-publications will conform to the definition of Electronic Publishing Type 2 above.
  • The usual business of E-publications will be to undertake:
    • a) Electronic publications, including OCRed and PDF titles (both back and front list) and periodicals, including National Library of Australia News and Gateways; and
    • b) promotional, events, media and/or Library information websites (including the archiving and maintenance of existing sites) and standard exhibition sites. In the future exhibition sites will aim to archive all key material from an exhibition, including the catalogue or room brochure, wall and caption text, a digital copy of all exhibition images and a digital copy of posters, invitations and other significant printed material associated with the exhibition.
  • Significant new electronic publications will only be undertaken once a successful budget bid for a project is approved and signed off by the Library’s Publications Committee and/or CMG. Such funding would include bids from Library Trust Funds. At the time of approval, it will be determined whether the Library’s role will be to add value to and/or quality assure the content of an electronic publication (which might include fact checking, editorial, proof reading and/or design processes), or whether its role will simply be to mount and direct users to existing or newly authored material. Such electronic publications will become part of a formed scholarly repository once this has been created by the Library.
  • Interpretative collection-based websites, including substantial online exhibition and gallery sites (such as the website for the Treasures Gallery) will only be undertaken in order to meet identified Library needs. Each project of this kind will require an individual project proposal, including a costing, to be formally approved and signed off by the Library’s Publications Committee and/or CMG.
  • All externally funded or collaborative projects would also need to be approved through the funding processes outlined above.

 

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4. Exhibition-related publishing

  • Where appropriate, the publishing program will support and complement Library activities, including exhibitions. This support is in addition to the promotional materials, such as posters, which are provided by the Exhibitions Branch.
  • This support may include the publication of exhibition catalogues or room brochures, complementary trade/‘for sale’ publications, and websites.
  • The Publications Committee will consider proposals for exhibitions-related publishing on a case-by-case basis. In considering new proposals, the Committee will address the following issues:
    • the target audience for the exhibition and the most appropriate means of delivering information to that audience
    • the way in which the proposal supports and promotes the goals and objectives of the Exhibitions and Publications programs, and the wider goals of the Library
    • the relationship between proposed exhibition publications and other elements of the Library’s overall publishing program
    • in the case of proposals for electronic publications, the proposal’s relationship to the work of Web Services and the Library’s Digitisation program
    • total available resources, including those being contributed by the Exhibitions Branch and/or exhibition sponsors, the overall level of subsidy being provided by the Library and the potential to earn revenue.
  • Only those publications approved by the Committee will be produced by the Library’s Publications and Events Branch.

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5. Merchandise

  • All new merchandise proposals received by the Publications and Events Branch, including those supporting the Library’s exhibitions program, will be brought to the Publications Committee for ‘in principle’ approval.
  • All new merchandise proposals will be assessed according to the following guidelines:
    • extent to which primary material in the National Library’s collections will be used
    • size of the potential market for the proposed merchandise
    • extent to which the proposed publication complements the rest of the Library’s publishing program
    • extent to which the proposal supports other Library activities, including current or potential future acquisitions and other public programs such as exhibitions
    • available resources.
  • Except in special circumstances, the following quantity of new merchandise will be produced each financial year:
    • at least two new items for promotion at Christmas and the February Gift Fair
    • at least two new items for promotion at the August Gift Fair
    • up to two new items to support one exhibition each financial year, giving priority to new travelling exhibitions which offer expanded opportunities for sales
    • one Christmas card (see below).

Note that one ‘item’ may consist of a card pack with 6-8 different designs or a small series of postcards. The extent of the range will depend on the availability of high quality proposals and available resources.

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6. Sound Recordings

  • The publication of sound recordings may be in the form of CDs (or ensuing technology), audiovisual media or online publication, and will contain selected items that have been researched, edited, designed and produced for sale and/or distribution to the general public. The publication of a sound recording will normally be supported by notes and related pictorial material.
  • The publication of sound recordings will normally fall into two categories:
    • reproduction and re-mastering of selected historical materials from the sound archives held in the Oral History/folklore collections
    • purpose-designed sound recordings that create contemporary performances based upon collection material.
  • In selecting material for publication, the following criteria should apply:
    • the content selection should showcase the collections, reflecting and representing collection strengths and, where possible, attract public interest in acquisitions and donations to the collections
    • the content, normally, will not otherwise be readily available in the marketplace
    • the publication should add scholarly value through interpretation of the collections
    • the publication should have potential public interest and appeal, even if it is not commercial in focus
    • the publication should be structured around a common theme, concept or component of the collection, or should centre on a performer or collector
    • where possible, the publication should complement or support events, projects or partnerships with other organisations.
  • The principle of ‘one resource, many applications’ should generally be applied. That is, where a publication is made, the sound recorded item will form part of the collection and be managed in such a way that it can be re-used or disseminated in other ways.
  • Sales, marketing and distribution strategies and activities will be integrated with publications processes.
  • The publication program for each year will need to take account of available publishing resources and the ability of the Sound Preservation Unit to undertake and deliver appropriate preservation and mastering of the recordings.

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