Utah State University officials are hoping to take the USU Press in the same direction as other national university presses, creating open access with additional digital publications.

The move begins with merging the scholarly press with the administrative structure of the Merrill-Cazier Library at USU. Mergers have been used at other institutions to address a number of trends in scholarly publication, according to Michael Spooner, USU Press director.

"We see this as a significant institutional commitment by USU to provide a secure home for its press, and we look forward to working with our new colleagues there," he said.

USU Press will adopt a new publication model, providing open access while increasing digital delivery of books. The library's position will be enhanced as well, as academic libraries nationally take on a stronger role in the evolution of scholarly publishing.

"Open access allows us to go back to where university presses began — to publish work by all faculty in every discipline," said Richard Clement, dean of USU Libraries.

Open access publishing provides access to material via the Internet, making it free to all users. The move, including staff and operation of the USU Press, is scheduled to be complete in July.