LYRASIS and Michigan Publishing Announce Partnership

By: Charles Watkinson | Date: May 10, 2017
LYRASIS and Michigan Publishing Announce Partnership

Michigan Publishing, the publishing division of the U-M Library (and parent organization of U-M Press), and LYRASIS, a member-based nonprofit organization serving libraries, archives, and museums, are proud to announce a partnership.

Michigan Publishing and LYRASIS will collaborate to provide sales and administrative support for content and services offered through the platform known as Fulcrum (fulcrum.org), currently under development at Michigan Publishing with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Both parties share a vision of creating new models in order to disseminate digital content and new forms of scholarly output to the scholarly community.

LYRASIS and Michigan Publishing will work together to create a sustainable model for disseminating content and offering services through Fulcrum in anticipation of a release date in 2019. The partnership will also focus on engagement in the higher education community in support of promising new ventures and innovation in the world of scholarly publishing.

Robert Miller, CEO of LYRASIS, says of the new partnership, “We’re thrilled to be working with Michigan Publishing, including the University of Michigan Press, globally-recognized as a truly innovative publisher. LYRASIS is committed to supporting the access and management of vital content, and we are always seeking new models for collaboration. This new partnership is a wonderful opportunity to join forces with a like-minded organization and serve our members and the wider library community.”

Charles Watkinson, head of Michigan Publishing, added, “It’s inspiring to see LYRASIS so committed to the support of non-profit publishing and open source software. As our authors embrace digital scholarship their publishing needs and ambitions are changing. Through partnering with LYRASIS, Michigan Publishing can support scholars in creating new forms of work that take full advantage of the affordances of the internet age."