Introduction

In-person interviews were conducted with six senior editors at four major university presses that specialize inpublishing in the field of art and architectural history, four senior executives at a foundation with a significant investment inthe arts, three senior executives at an art museum with a significant publishing program, and two senior executives atprofessional associations with a strong interest in art history publishing. In addition, a two-hour focused discussion was heldwith art and architectural history editors from 27 presses (both academic and trade) on February 22, 2006, during the annual CollegeArt Association meeting in Boston, MA.

Topics discussed in the interviews and during the focused discussion included: changes in the business ofpublishing over the past decade, especially as they have affected the publication of works in art and architectural history;publication philosophies at university presses and museums; costs associated with publishing in the field of art history; sales andprint-run trends; intellectual property issues; electronic publishing; recent trends in art history scholarship; and therelationship between publishing and tenure requirements.

[To preserve the anonymity of the interviewees and discussion session participants (and to facilitatereadability), they will be referred to simply as “sources” for the remainder of this section.]