UMSI Alternative Spring Break participants contribute to open access mission

Since 1999, University of Michigan School of Information students have been completing week-long service learning projects through the Alternative Spring Break program. ASB connects students with nonprofit, cultural, governmental and educational institutions throughout the United States. 

This year, Master of Science in Information students Rebecca Barabas and Meghan Berry worked on a mission to expand digital access to past university press publications for their Alternative Spring Break projects. 

They joined a project involving the New York Public Library and the U-M Library that sent Barabas to the University of Massachusetts Amherst Press and Berry to the University of South Carolina Press. On these campuses, each student worked onsite with publishing staff and librarians for the week of spring break. 

Both Barabas and Berry are specializing in digital curation at UMSI. They were interested in getting hands-on experience with intellectual property and information law while learning about how publishers and librarians work together on open access projects. 

Their main objective was to assess contracts for the status of the presses’ digital rights to backlist publications. Having this information organized and accessible makes it possible for the presses to publish these titles as e-books, when rights allow. 

The students were surprised to find how widely copyright concerns varied among backlist publications, making it challenging to establish guidelines for their work. 

However, their UMSI training helped them efficiently rise to the metadata challenge.  

“This week was a great opportunity to apply coursework skills like reading contracts and managing workflows in a real-world setting,” Berry says. “My experience with other client projects prepared me to quickly adapt to a new work environment and understand the USC Press’s needs and priorities.” 

Students build professional perspective and network during Alternative Spring Break

In addition to the impact benefits for the hosting organizations, Alternative Spring Break gives students a chance to venture into the career path they are interested in, make connections with experts in their field, and gather inspiring experiences.  

Both Barabas and Berry were mentored by university press leaders who helped them make professional connections on campus and at the New York Public Library. 

“Our week with Meghan showed that programs like UMSI’s ASB have unique advantages that complement the support we get from our other interns,” says Aurora Bell, acting associate editorial director at University of South Carolina Press. “UMSI students have specialized skills that can be matched with projects, and the concentrated week-long format allows the host to make a large dent in a project quickly and for the student to gain a deeper understanding of the project.”

Barabas’ mentor, University of Massachusetts Amherst Press director Mary Dougherty, says that Barabas’ ability to “improve the project assigned to her” sets her apart. Dougherty reports that by the end of ASB, Barabas submitted a revamped spreadsheet that assessed the status of over 240 books.

“We are clearly the big winners here!” Dougherty says. “Rebecca made a tremendous contribution, and we are grateful.” 

The enthusiasm and generosity of the students’ hosts made for a memorable experience. A highlight of the week for Barabas was touring Special Collections and University Archives at UMass Amherst. Berry was excited to join USC Press staff at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new independent bookstore in Columbia, SC. 

“This experience allowed me to explore applications of information skills outside of traditional library and archives settings,” Berry says. “It also solidified my interest in digital publishing and finding ways to support open access scholarship.” 

Students, colleagues, organizations all benefit from Alternative Spring Break projects

Barabas and Berry are part of a continuous legacy of service learning and community engagement at UMSI. By spending their spring break answering a real information challenge, they have furthered a major open access project and their own career confidence. 

“This experience is valuable for the presses in helping them provide access to past publications, for the broader collaboration among libraries and university presses that this work is a part of, and for the opportunities it gave students to gain first-hand experience with university publishing,” says Jeremy York, assistant director of the Copyright Office in the U-M Library.

Alternative Spring Break is funded by donors who contributed to the Alternative Spring Break Fund.