(NEW YORK, October 28, 2008) Representatives from Fordham University Press, Pennsylvania State University Press, and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services (CUL/IS) will speak at Columbia University on the economics of scholarly publishing and the future of the monograph. The panel discussion, entitled "The Future of the Book: Can the Endangered Monograph Survive?" will take place on Tuesday, November 11, 2008, at 3 p.m. in Alfred Lerner Hall Room 555 on Columbia's Morningside Campus. This event is free and open to the public.

Panelists include Helen Tartar, Editorial Director at Fordham University Press; Sanford Thatcher, Director of Penn State University Press and past President of the Association of American University Presses; and Ree DeDonato, Director of Humanities and History and Acting Director of Union Theological Seminary's Burke Library of CUL/IS.

For humanities scholars seeking promotion or tenure, having a published monograph—a work of writing on a single subject—is often a key requirement. Due to small, specialized audiences and growing financial challenges for university presses and academic libraries, the business of publishing these monographs has long been a troubled undertaking. The panel will discuss the future of the print monograph, especially in light of the increasing digitization of scholarly communication.

This event is the third in the speaker series on today's pivotal issues in scholarly communication organized by the Scholarly Communication Program of Columbia University Libraries/Information Services. Follow the live event remotely via Twitter at http://twitter.com/ScholarlyComm. Video of each event will be available on the Scholarly Communication Program website. For information on the series, Research without Borders: The Changing World of Scholarly Communication, please email Kathryn Pope at kp2002@columbia.edu, or visit http://scholcomm.columbia.edu/events/.

The Scholarly Communication Program is an initiative of the Columbia University Libraries/Information Services' Center for Digital Research and Scholarship. Established in April 2008 to encourage discussion about and innovative solutions to scholarly communication issues, the Program aims to support faculty members, librarians, staff, and students as they consider their options for creating, distributing, evaluating, reusing, and preserving new knowledge in a rapidly changing communications environment.

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services is one of the top five academic research library systems in North America. The collections include over 10 million volumes, over 100,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, graphic and audio-visual materials. The services and collections are organized into 25 libraries and various academic technology centers. The Libraries employs more than 550 professional and support staff. The website of the Libraries at www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb is the gateway to its services and resources.