Subject: Museum Publishing

Description: Welcome to the MuseumPubs online forum. Launched in April 2020 and hosted by the University of Chicago Graham School, organizer of the National Museum Publishing Seminar, this general-interest list is meant to extend the networking benefits of the NMPS conference by facilitating the exchange of information and ideas among active members of the museum publishing community. Only subscribers may post to the list, but archives are public. Please review the community guidelines below before subscribing. You can unsubscribe at any time.

To subscribe, click the "subscribe" link to the left.

This forum is intended as a safe space for all subscribers. The University of Chicago and MuseumPubs moderators reserve the right to update these guidelines and to suspend or terminate, with or without prior warning, the participation of anyone who is deemed to be in violation of the guidelines or to have diminished the value of the discussion. Your use of this list constitutes your acceptance of the guidelines.

Discussion topics: We invite you to use this forum to share ideas and resources with colleagues, communicate information and news from the field, announce career opportunities, and the like. We recognize that consultants and for-profit entities such as publishers, printers, and packagers play vital roles in the museum publishing ecosystem, and we welcome their participation. However, as many of our constituents are employees of nonprofit institutions, it is essential to avoid topics that might jeopardize that status. Please think twice before sharing:
• posts of a political nature
• legal advice
• business solicitations
• advertising of services
• press releases
• sales announcements
• promotional information

Privacy: One of the rewards of participating in a forum like MuseumPubs is the freedom to ask for help, offer advice, and express opinions with a trusted group of professional colleagues. This freedom requires confidentiality, and we therefore request that members not forward messages outside the list. Personal information provided to this list during the subscription process will be managed in accordance with the University of Chicago’s privacy policies.

Replies: Please note that if you reply to a message, it will be distributed to the entire list. Only send a message to the entire forum if you feel it contains information from which all subscribers may benefit. If you find you are going back and forth with just one or two people, it may be time to take the conversation off-list by switching to email, phone, or social media.

Copying others: Avoid using the cc: line when replying to messages (multiple addressees may trigger spam filters). Instead, encourage interested parties to subscribe to MuseumPubs.

Self-screening: Although moderators may step in if needed, this is your forum. The moment you click the “Send” button, your message will go directly to all subscribers (if you are a present subscriber).

Subject lines: As a courtesy, be thoughtful and precise in composing your subject line. Concision and relevance will help colleagues find and respond to your messages.

TL;DR: Strive for brevity in your posts. Whenever feasible, provide links instead of attachments.

Identify yourself: Be sure to include your full name, affiliation, location, and email address at the bottom of each message.

Moderators: The MuseumPubs forum originated with the planning committee of the 19th National Museum Publishing Seminar. The present moderators are Karen Levine (University of Chicago Press), Joseph Mohan (Museum of Modern Art, New York), Katie Reilly (Art Institute of Chicago), Jane Neidhardt (freelance), and JM Conway (University of Chicago Graham School).