To: All Member Organizations of the Canadian Geoscience Council.
August 30, 1997
The Monograph* Publishing Program of the NRC Research Press has been in business for about three years. Twenty volumes have been published (including three French translations), seven volumes are in press (two of them being published jointly with the University of Toronto Press), three volumes are undergoing peer review, and four proposals for new works are in hand. In addition, the Press is initiating a series of Conference Proceedings which, for the time being at least, will not be included as part of the Monograph Program. The quality of the NRC-published works (both in terms of content and production) is high: none has earned a poor review; a few have been praised generously for their usefulness and as "value for money". The average number of sales have been about 500 copies/volume -- a satisfactory result given the specialized, "reference" character of many of the titles and shrinking library budgets. The Board of Directors of the Program believes, therefore, that the Program is meeting a national need of the scientific community.
Most published titles have been in the life-science disciplines, but at its meeting last month, the Board considered the desirability of expanding the Program to other disciplines. I raised the possibility of an Earth-Science Series, which seemed to be well received, and I was asked to look into this possibility more fully. I should appreciate hearing from any Canadian earth-science organization or interested individuals.
Experience with the life sciences revealed that there were many essentially completed, and many more potential, monographs extant in the community but languishing for want of a publishing house that would produce the works and market them at a fair and reasonable price. It may be the same in the earth sciences. I suspect that with the demise of the NSERC program for the support of scientific publications, some associations and societies may have had to restrict the number of monographs they publish, and if these organizations were aware that an alternative outlet were available to accommodate such works, they could encourage more submissions in the interests of promoting Canadian earth science.
The Board is open to any reasonable suggestion. If the decision to proceed with an earth-science series is favourable, the Board would, for example, be open to joint ventures, especially in the early years when the series was under development. Three matters must be made clear, however:
Would you let me have reaction to the various related issues raised in this letter? This would include the notion of a series of Conference Proceedings (the topical variety, likely to have a short-shelf life, and distinct from the results of a conference that may be held as part of the preparation for a multi-authored, genuine monograph.). The Board expects to meet again in the Fall, when I would like to have at least a preliminary reaction from my fellow earth scientists.
W. G. E. Caldwell, Professor, for/NRC Monograph Board
*Monographs are understood to be specialized scientific books with a central theme which summarize the results of research and can be expected to have a shelf life of some considerable duration. Textbooks and most volumes of conference proceedings (the latter tending rapidly to become dated and, therefore, to have short shelf lives) are not monographs. Examples of Canadian monographs in the earth sciences would be the Memoirs of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology or the Special Papers of the Geological Association of Canada.
Contact Information:
Room 61, Department of Earth Sciences, B and G Building
The University of Western Ontario
London, ON N6A 5B7
Tel.: (519) 661-3857
Fax: (519) 661-3198
E-mail: gcaldwel@julian.uwo.ca