Utah State University Press = Win

Take a break from grouchy discussions of scholarly communication, scholarly societies, and the destruction of the university press system and feast your eyes on a big pile of good news.  Utah State University Press is not only not going away (as it might have, as reported in IHE here) but it is moving on to great things as part of the USU Library. Its even better than I had hoped.  There will be more great news in the future, I think, but for now check this out.  Like old fashioned books?  They will sell them to you. Like e-books?  They will sell them to you? Like free PDFs of books? They will just give you some! How great is that?

For my folklore colleagues especially, check it out.  Among the OA offerings are:

• Folklore and the Internet: Vernacular Expression in a Digital World (2009) Trevor J. Blank, ed.
• Folklore/Cinema: Popular Film as Vernacular Culture (2007) by Sharon R. Sherman and Mikel J. Koven
• Folklore in Utah: A History and Guide to Resources (2004) by David Stanley
• Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore (2007) by Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas
• Newe Hupia: Shoshoni Poetry Songs (2001) by Beverly Crum, Earl Crum, and Jon P. Daly
• Once Upon a Virus: AIDS Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception (2004) by Diane E. Goldstein
• The Anguish of Snails: Native American Folklore in the West (2003) by Barre Toelken
• What Goes Around Comes Around: The Circulation of Proverbs in Contemporary Life (2004) by Kimberly J. Lau, Peter Tokofsky, and Stephen D. Winick
• Worldviews and the American West: The Life of the Place Itself (2000) by Polly Stewart, Steve Siporin, C. W. Sullivan III, and Suzi Jones

Books from across USUP’s lists are available OA in the DigitalCommons@USU system. History and literature of the North American West, Mormon history, and works on teaching writing are other areas of strength in addition to folklore studies.

Three cheers for Utah State University Press. When other small university presses are dead or headed in the wrong direction, here is one that is finding a path to new accomplishment.  Thank you Utah State University administrators!