On Monographs, Libraries And Blogging: A Conversation With Duke University Press, Part One

This is part 1 of the ninth interview in a series, Digital Challenges to Academic Publishing, by Adeline Koh. Each article in this series features an interview with an academic publisher, press or journal editor on how their organization is changing in response to the digital world. The series has featured interviews with Anvil Academic, Stanford Highwire Press, NYU Press, MIT Press and the Penn State University Press.

In this interview I speak with Ken Wissoker (@kwissoker), editorial director of Duke University Press, one of the most well-known university presses for innovative books on global cultural theory. This first installment covers Ken’s thoughts about the relationship between the academic library and press at Duke, publishing your research online before you find a traditional publisher, and the future of the monograph.

AK: Hi Ken, thanks so much for speaking with us today. My first question is about the relationship between academic libraries and academic publishers. Some say that academic libraries are increasingly taking over the role of academic presses. Could you tell us what is the situation is like at Duke?