The end of an era

For those of you who don’t already know, long-standing ALPSP member and industry legend, John Cox retires at the end of October after 42 years in the business.

John, who originally trained as a barrister, maintains he was ‘side-tracked’ into publishing! He spent ten years with the Open University before running the UK arm of Scholastic during the 1980s. He then joined BH Blackwell with whom he stayed until 1994 when he joined Carfax - later purchased by Routledge - as MD. When Routledge was sold to Taylor & Francis, John started his consultancy, John Cox Associates.

One of his earliest pieces of consultancy work was developing a set of model journal licences which have proved invaluable for over a decade to publishers and libraries alike, and which will continue to be available through Ringgold. ALPSP members will also be familiar with the ALPSP Scholarly Publishing Practice Surveys which John undertook with his daughter, Laura.

John will remain connected to the industry through his Non-executive Directorships and occasional consultancy projects. He will also continue his life-long work with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. In one guise or another, John was a member of ALPSP for over 20 years and on behalf of ALPSP Council, members and staff, I would like to wish him enjoyment and fulfilment as he begins this next exciting chapter.

Sarah Durrant
Chief Executive

Forthcoming events at the Stationers' Hall

On Monday, 12 September at 6.30 pm the Digital Media Group of the Stationers’ Company, in association with the Marketors’ Company, are holding one of their roundtables on "How do you win in today’s Digital World?"

The format will be a keynote speaker, Rory Sutherland, Executive Creative Director Ogilvy Group and a moderator, Venetia Howes, Immediate Past Master of the Marketors’ Company, with a panel who are: Fergus Boyd, Head of e-Business at Virgin Atlantic, Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor of The Times and Professor Merlin Stone, IBM Professor of Marketing at Surrey European Mgt School.

Click here for more detail and to book tickets


On Monday, 17 October 2011 at 6.30 pm The Industry Group of the Stationers’ Company, in association with the Freemen’s Association, will host an evening on “The Changing World of Procurement within the Printing and Publishing supply Chain”.

The speakers will describe procurement in the Publishing, Print Management, Printing, Paper Merchanting and Paper industries, addressing key concerns for the future as well as current practices in purchasing and will include: Mark Cruise, Head of Print Management at BSkyB, Tony Palmer, European Procurement Director of Sun Chemical, William Oldham, General Manager of UPM-Kymmene (UK) Ltd and Nigel Lyons, Managing Director of Pinstripe Print Group.

Click here for more detail and to book tickets

Both these events will take place at Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London EC4M 7DD and will be preceded by a drinks reception and followed by drinks and canapés.

National Occupational Standards for Publishing

Skillset is updating the National Occupational Standards for Publishing to include journals and the latest digital developments and they want to know what you think.

This important project comes at a critical time for the industry, when digital developments provide both threats and opportunities. As a result, ALPSP is fully supporting the project and we urge all members to take part.

Skillset are organising a series of focus groups for publishing professionals to discuss and develop the standards:

• London, Tuesday 13th September, 10:00 - 12:00
• London, Wednesday 21st September, 14:00 - 16:00
• Edinburgh, Wednesday 21st September, 13:00 - 15:00
• Belfast, Thursday 22nd September, 10:00 - 12:00
• Cardiff, Wednesday 28th September, 11:00 - 13:00
• Oxford, Thursday 29th September, 10:30 - 12:30

Visit the Skillset blog to register.

If you can't get to one of the focus groups, you can also contribute through telephone interview or by completing a questionnaire please contact Debbie Warren (email) no later than Wednesday 7 September.

If you know someone else who may be interested please let them know about this. Each focus group lasts up to 2 hrs and refreshments will be provided. Skillset can also assist with travel expenses.

PLS 30th Anniversary

The Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) is 30 years old and will be celebrating at its Open Day on Tuesday 12 July. The Open Day will take place at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA, Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD) from 2pm and a full programme can be found on the PLS website. The Open Day will be followed by a drinks reception.

To confirm your free place, contact Imogen Forbes at PLS (020 7299 7732 or email).

ALPSP seeks part time Events & Database Administrator

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) has a vacancy for a part-time Events and Database Administrator (30 hours/4 days per week), to assist with the organisation of its UK events programme and management of its information services. (Full details: http://bit.ly/k6Wmok)

Reporting to the Senior Coordinator, Events and Information Systems, you will assist in the organisation of UK events, management of our database and website systems, coordinate ALPSP presence at exhibitions and other conferences and administer the supply and storage of publicity materials.

ALPSP staff are home-workers so you will be expected to work under minimal supervision, but in close liaison with other members of the team. This is a customer-facing role, therefore you will need exceptional communication skills combined with good time management and organisational skills. Experience of event/exhibition organisation is essential. Good computer skills are highly desirable and familiarity with database administration would be advantageous.

ALPSP UK events are primarily organised in and around the London area, so the ability to travel easily to London is essential. The ALPSP International Conference will also involve overnight stays.

The salary for this position is circa £25,000, pro rata, depending on experience.

If you would like to find out more, contact Lesley Ogg (email events@alpsp.org; telephone 01245 260571). To be considered for this post, please send a CV with covering letter outlining your suitability for this position by email to events@alpsp.org.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 30 June 2011 and interviews will be held on Wednesday 20 July (in central London).

SAGE announces library travel grant for ALPSP International Conference

SAGE has supported the ALPSP International Conference as silver sponsor since the first meeting in 2008. This new travel grant will offer a free place at the conference for a librarian or information professional, including entry to the ALPSP awards dinner, travel within the UK and accommodation for one person. This year's conference will be held at Heythrop Park near Oxford UK from 14-16 September.

SAGE will be running a competition to win the sponsored place, with entries submitted either via Twitter or email. To enter, librarians must answer the following question in 140 characters or less:

Question: Why should librarians be talking to publishers in 2011?

Completed answers should be sent to @SAGElibraryNews tagged with #SAGEALPSP or email to events@sagepub.co.uk by 27 May 2011. Further terms and conditions can be found at www.sagepub.co.uk/alpsp2011.

ALPSP Seminars - tell us what you think

As part of its professional development activities, ALPSP organises seminars for its members and others in the scholarly publishing and information world. We endeavour to make these as relevant and useful as we can but would value your feedback. Please let us know how we're doing and how you think we might improve the seminars by completing this short survey.

If you complete the survey before 21 April you'll have the chance to win one of two places on an ALPSP seminar, webinar, training course or eLearning course of your choice.

Please encourage your colleagues to complete the survey too - it will only take a few minutes.