Home   »   News
02.22.2017 | SSP News & Releases

SSP President’s e-Letter – Winter 2017

Rick AndersonDear SSP Members,

Well, the snow is starting to melt, the sun is getting warmer, new shoots of grass are starting to emerge, and of course the teasing approach of spring means that our blood starts running a little faster and all of our thoughts are beginning to turn to one thing: the SSP Annual Meeting! It’s only a few months away now, and since it’s going to be held in the World’s Greatest City (that would be Boston), I’m sure everyone is anxious to get registered, and the good news is that registration is now open, so please go right ahead. The program is shaping up to be simply outstanding, and I look forward to seeing all of you on the waterfront in just a few short months.

There are so many great things happening in our organization at the moment that it’s hard to know where to start. One of the recent developments that has been especially exciting for me personally is the successful renovation of The Scholarly Kitchen website. By now, I’m sure anyone who is reading this letter will have already seen it, but just in case you’ve been absent from the Kitchen for a while, I encourage you to head over there and check it out. Our task force and the web-design team we hired really did a wonderful job. And the Kitchen renovation isn’t the end of the story—shortly we’ll be hearing about a project to refresh the SSP brand more generally, and that’s going to be very exciting as well. Stay tuned for more details as they emerge.

In other developments:

  • Nominations are now open for the Emerging Leader Award. Please help us choose an outstanding colleague!
  • This year’s Annual Meeting is the first at which we’ll be offering an option to attend virtually. While we all recognize that being there in person is ideal, we also know that in-person attendance is simply not possible for many, and we wanted to offer an option that would allow those who aren’t able to come to Boston the opportunity to enjoy the programming from a distance. We’re very pleased to be able to do that this year, and we look forward to your feedback on the experience.
  • Our highly successful webinar series continues with upcoming programs on topics like “Hiring the Next Generation of Publishing Professionals,” “The Future of Access, Authentication, and Privacy,” “The Challenges of Modern Metadata,” and much more. Go to the SSP website for full details—these are going to be great programs.
  • We’ve seen growth in the past year in the number of organizational memberships, and also in the percentage of librarians who are SSP members. I’m especially pleased about the growth in librarian memberships, as increasing library participation in SSP was my biggest goal for my presidential year. Thanks to all of you!

There will be more announcements about new initiatives and programs between now and our Annual Meeting. In the meantime, please accept my thanks for all that each of you do to keep SSP moving forward and to make our organization a force for good in the scholarly communication community.

Yours sincerely,

Rick Anderson
SSP President, 2016-17

View Comments

Be the first to write a comment!

Join the Conversation