Methodological measures to promote publishing projects in university libraries: from theory to practice

Fedotova Natal'ya Postgraduate student, Department of Publishing Industry and Book Science, Moscow Polytechnic University 107023, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Bol'shaya Semenovskaya, 38 nmfedotova@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Digital transformation presents ample opportunities for organizing the activities of a modern university library. The employees of libraries and library centers have a great responsibility for developing plans for the acquisition of funds, servicing users, organizing exhibitions, conducting and accompanying master classes and training sessions for faculty, staff and students.

In the current situation, the role of online promotion of resources and publications is increasing, but, in our opinion, it is not necessary to completely abandon traditional promotion channels, since it is important to rely on the experience and expertise accumulated over decades when promoting digital data and information.

In the article by N. N. Kvelidze-Kuznetsova, Yu. V. Lapina, S. A. Morozova ^[1] "Information flows: how and how to ensure the educational process? (Master class in the library of Herzen University)" it is emphasized that in order to promote educational resources, it is necessary to combine "time-tested library forms of work and new information and communication technologies" ^[1].

The authors identify effective measures to promote electronic resources:

book expositions, excursions, conferences, presentations of authors, printing of information materials.

Researchers agree that the relationship of traditional forms of promotion of library resources with new, virtual ones (presentation of publications on the website, in social networks) expands the "reader's horizons" ^[1] allows us to highlight the unique properties of the publication.

The following are popular channels for promoting publishing products, and in our work electronic educational resources, increasing interest in publications, increasing book output:

1) conducting master classes for faculty and students in the library,

2) conducting joint online conferences and webinars with publishers.

An important form of promotion of electronic resources, in our opinion, is a master class. In scientific papers we see the following definitions of the master class:

G. L. Gurtova ^[2] defines a master class as "an interactive form of organizing a training or demonstration lesson" leading to a specific final result. According to the researcher, the involvement and interaction of representatives of the "external environment" is very important^[2].

The author identifies two main tasks of the master class: "training and demonstration of achievements" ^[2]. In our opinion, this form of interaction is suitable for promoting complex publishing projects and systems.

The article by N. A. Zaitseva ^[3] notes that within the framework of the master class, the participants are an expert (often a representative of a service provider company) and students, during the master class the opportunity is given to get acquainted "with new techniques and author's or corporate developments" ^[3]. The author identifies the following structure of the master class: "theoretical, demonstration, practical" ^[3]. According to the author, conducting master classes in the educational process of universities allows "to be involved in the problem under discussion" ^[3] and gives "maximum learning effect" ^[3].

The article by T. I. Sannikova ^[4] defines a master class as a "special form of educational activity" aimed at showing the application of new technologies in practice ^[4].

Thus, it can be concluded that the practical part during the master class plays an important role for the development of the material and is of particular interest to the student contingent.

In our opinion, the structure proposed by the researchers is perfect for conducting a training event on publishing projects in libraries.

At the beginning (in the theoretical part) of the master class, it can be a report on the history of the publishing house, the publishing portfolio, information about cooperation with specialized universities and departments, the peculiarity of editorial and publishing processes, marketing events, etc.). This is usually followed by a presentation on a large screen of electronic resources: registration, authorization, work with bookshelves, an interface for the reader, the teacher's work on creating groups and monitoring, and many others.). The practical part in the computer room allows the participants of the master class to practice applying the knowledge gained, work in an electronic library, ask questions to the methodologist publishing houses or libraries.

In our work, we consider training activities of publishers of educational and scientific literature for universities. We have analyzed the websites of libraries of 38 pedagogical universities and conclude that lectures and master classes on working with electronic educational resources are held by libraries regularly with the support of publishers.

The organizers of methodological events are libraries: agreements are made, invitations to faculties and departments are sent by e-mail, informational materials are prepared together with publishers. Libraries collect applications for training events and prepare questions for speakers.

As part of the presentations, representatives of publishing houses will present database services and electronic libraries: "they present the navigation of the resource, demonstrate various types of search, the ability to work with text, etc." ^[5].

The epidemiological situation in 2019 imposed restrictions on the formats of working with the audience. Many educational organizations have switched to the remote format of work, which has determined the popularity of teaching new technologies and resources in online formats.

In our opinion, the organization of training events in the online format has a number of advantages:

1) audience reach (no territorial restrictions),

2) availability,

3) the possibility of attracting more experts,

4) working with data and lists of participants (upon receipt of consent): setting up additional alerts, sending emails and meeting materials.

For the participants, we will highlight the following advantages:1) the possibility of attending more events,

2) accessibility,

3) working with additional information in the record,

4) engagement.

However, in the process of training and advanced training, users face issues of lack of time, excess information, difficulties in processing and applying the materials received.

The modern technology of conducting online events is a webinar.

N. V. Solomina ^[6] defines a webinar as "a modern communication technology representing an online event (seminar, lecture, video training, course, online conference, virtual presentation, etc.) organized using web technologies in a live broadcast mode" ^[6]. 

To organize webinars, you need to have a subscription to a platform that provides such opportunities and high-quality technical equipment, an Internet connection. It is important for the participant to have a stable Internet connection, a headset and a camera, if desired.

Consider the categories of online events that publishers hold for libraries and readers.

The following categories of online events are distinguished on the website of the Yurayt publishing house ^[7]: methodical webinar, master class, online discussion, online conference, interview, online course.

It is proposed to register for events structured according to the following series: "Modern teacher", "Modern Library", "Modern author", "Distance learning tools", "Control and certification in distance education", "Distance learning methodology", "Prospects for digital education", "Organization and documents in distance education" ^[8].

Unique courses available to authorized users, as support, represent large arrays of structured data – an invaluable help for publishers in promoting publishing resources and teaching aspects of working in a remote format.

The IPR SMART digital educational resource (the IPR SMART Digital Library database) ^[9] opens registration for training events with experts on a single platform ^[10]. The online event "Big Library Upgrade-2022", co-organized by the company, is of great research interest. This advanced training program "Development of the Digital Transformation team of the University Library" ^[11], in our opinion, is interesting for the library community, since as part of the intensive, participants will study "data-based project management techniques and digital library products" ^[11].

Joint collaborations of publishers and universities make such methodological projects truly unique, meeting the needs of the library community.

The publishing house of educational and scientific literature Lan organizes free training courses for librarians and users in online format ^[12].  Users are given the opportunity to study at the following courses: "Advanced training course for teachers", "Advanced Training course for librarians", "Master of creating tests in MOODLE" ^[12]. The courses will allow teachers to master the skills of pedagogical design and study the processes of transformation in the digital environment. Modules for creating digital products, promoting publishing projects and organizing socially-oriented initiatives are recommended for librarians to study ^[12]. Representatives of the library community, developers of IT solutions, designers, editors are invited as speakers, which makes the courses unique and in demand.

INFRA-M Group of Companies (Znanium Electronic Library System) ^[13] conducts training webinars on working with electronic library system services, highlights information about additional opportunities for teachers, considers issues of publication activity in scientific publications and copyright issues.

The publishing house "Direct-Media" (Electronic library system "University Library online") ^[14] conducts training workshops and trainings on requests from organizations. The company has developed the project "Direct Academy" ^[15], which allows you to register for methodological webinars dedicated to new publishing houses, issues of working with digital resources, pedagogical design. It is possible for users to enroll in online advanced training courses ^[16] (for an additional fee). The courses cover a wide range of issues on publication activity, information technologies in libraries, working with digital tools, designing web quests, public speaking, and many others. A wide range of topics presented, invited expert specialists, documents on professional development of the established sample - all this is of interest to the educational community to the publishing house's projects.

Detailed information about master classes and seminars with publishers is posted on the websites of university libraries in the sections "News" ^[17] and "Events".

In the analysis carried out, we see that at the present stage, publishers of educational and scientific literature provide high–quality methodological support for librarians, teachers and students - they conduct both offline and online events.

The joint work of libraries and publishing houses to popularize electronic resources is an important component on which the quality of the educational process depends.

Methodological support is very important for the promotion of educational resources, which cannot be limited to instructions or other methodological materials. Field workshops, lectures, online events, conferences, in our opinion, are designed to increase interest, teach how to work and search for the necessary information. The format of the "question-answer" meeting allows you to get answers to emerging questions and increase loyalty to publishers and optimize work with resources, which is also important when testing electronic systems, choosing subscriptions, and teaching faculty.

It is important to note that the promotion of publishing projects is carried out mainly by library staff. And now there is an increasing need for their training in event management and modern promotion technologies. Online courses of publishing houses are the answer to such requests from specialists. Interaction with external publishers, their methodological support and assistance allow libraries to act as experts of large data sets.