University of California Press Blog

Taking to the Sewers

After learning of his friend's murder, Billy Sothern forced himself to remember his love for a broken city still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a recent op-ed piece in The New York Times, the New Orleans attorney shares his sorrow over the crime amid continuing citywide desperation. After recounting a failed and ultimately symbolic attempt to clear the sewer on his flooded street, Sothern articulates a resolve that we can only hope reaches beyond the borders of this ailing city. "The problem, I realized, is bigger than me," he writes. "I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."

Billy Sothern is the author of the forthcoming Down in New Orleans: Reflections from a Drowned City. The full article can be found here.

University of California Press Journals + Digital Publishing Implements New Features for Libraries: RefWorks & LOCKSS

University of California Press Journals + Digital Publishing Division is pleased to announce that its Caliber and AnthroSource online content platforms are now compatible with RefWorks citation manager. Also, AnthroSource will be made available for archiving through LOCKSS which ensures the long-term preservation and security for the over 40,000 articles that are a part of the premier online resource for anthropologists. In the short time since the launch of both sites, the Press has made a number of improvements and refinements as a response to customer demand. The addition of RefWorks to the existing roster of citation managers and the participation in LOCKSS comes as a result of requests from users and librarians and highlights the Press's commitment to providing user-friendly content that is secure.

RefWorks allows for the easy management of references and quick generation of bibliographies and footnotes. These tools dramatically reduce the reference management burden on scholars and researchers, decrease the chance of errors, and offer significant flexibility when making changes.

LOCKSS (for "Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe") is open source software that provides librarians with an easy and inexpensive way to collect, store, preserve, and provide access to their own, local copy of authorized content they purchase. Running on standard desktop hardware LOCKSS converts a personal computer into a digital preservation appliance, creating low-cost, persistent, accessible copies of e-journal content as it is published.

With the growth of digital collections, there is an increasing need to ensure the longevity of electronic archives. Smaller publishers also face the challenge of keeping pace with these sophisticated technological requirements. LOCKSS resolves both these issues.

"It's always important to listen to our customer's changing needs and maintaining electronic resources is a an area of concern for librarians. Joining LOCKSS is an excellent solution: it helps UC Press keep pace with technological demands and continue to meet our customers' requirements." says Rachel Lee, University of California Press Library Relations Specialist. "RefWorks is a very popular citation manager and we've had many requests to add this functionality to AnthroSource. We strive to make our content as user-friendly as possible; RefWorks represents another step in this direction."

Martin Luther King, Jr. Honored by UC Press, Stanford

Some thirty-nine years after his tragic death, Martin Luther King, Jr. remains a central force in the American battle for equality and peace. This Monday, the nation paused to celebrate his birthday. But the celebration doesn’t end with a day off from work.

The University of California Press and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University are in their fifteenth year of collaborative celebration through the publication of King’s Papers. Volume VI of the series, subtitled Advocate of the Social Gospel, gathers the preacher and peacemaker’s sermons and ecclesiastical notes, unveiling the scrawled beginnings of the preacher’s renowned orations.

On Thursday, January 18th, the co-editors of the book will introduce the volume at a celebration on the Stanford campus with a talk on King’s current relevance as a religious leader. All are welcome to attend.

What Your Dermatologist Never Told You

Early last week, after spending much of the past year conducting research in China and Kenya, Nina G. Jablonski landed on the pages of The New York Times Science Times. Jablonski, author of the recently published Skin: A Natural History, sat down with journalist Claudia Dreifus to discuss our largest, most visible, and arguably least appreciated organ: our skin. Even though, as Jablonski quips, “Skin has been studied to absolute death by dermatologists,” so many fascinating questions remain. Why are we so sweaty? Why does our skin come in so many different colors? And what accounts for our seemingly insatiable appetite for cosmetics, tattoos, and piercings? For answers, read the full interview and watch the bonus videos that put our trips to the tattoo parlor and beauty salon in perspective.

Reading Robert Frank. Or the Other Robert Frank.

Robert Frank is a reporter who covers private wealth for The Wall Street Journal. Robert H. Frank is an economist and professor at Cornell University who contributes to The New York Times. Confused? As noted in a recent article in The Times, there are, in fact, two Robert Franks. And to make matters even more confusing, both are publishing economics books this summer. Mr. Frank's book, Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich (Crown), is a "colorful" collection of stories about the lifestyles of wealthy Americans. Professor Frank's book, Falling Behind: How Inequality Harms the Middle Class (UC Press), explores the meaning of happiness and prosperity in America today, showing in lively, accessible prose how increased concentrations of wealth at the top of the economic pyramid have set off "expenditure cascades" that raise the cost of achieving many basic goals for the middle class. Still confused? Read the complete article here.

UC Press Signs Agreement with Portico

University of California Press Journals & Digital Publishing Division has entered into an agreement with Portico for the long-term preservation of its journal content. Portico provides a permanent archive of electronic scholarly journals, ensuring that they will continue to be secure and accessible in the future. Following on from the existing Portico agreement to archive digital content for Anthrosource, the premier online collection of anthropology scholarship from the American Anthropological Association, UC Press now has its entire list of journals archived by Portico. By adhering to industry standard archiving methods, Portico meets library demands for a trusted, reliable third party archive. UC Press has designated the archive as an official delivery platform for post-cancellation access claims.

UC Press's ongoing relationship with JSTOR and the new agreement with Portico are evidence of its commitment to a strong long-term preservation strategy. The Press is very enthusiastic to be working with both organizations to ensure that its publications will always be available in a digital format.

"Partnering with Portico affirms our commitment to permanent archiving. We want authors, librarians and scholarly society clients alike to feel confident that UC Press is doing everything possible to assure the content we publish will be available in perpetuity." --Rebecca Simon, Associate Director for Journals and Digital Publishing

For more information about University of California Press Journals & Digital Publishing, please visit www.ucpressjournals.com.

For more information on Portico, please visit www.portico.org.