CSHL Press
In 1997, the productivity of CSHL Press was improved through management restructuring and investment in technology. These gains were consolidated in 1998 and resulted in improved financial performance.
The journals, Genes & Development (G&D), Genome Research, and Learning & Memory, all improved in several ways. Scientists submitted more and better manuscripts for publication and each journal published more pages than ever before. G&D led the way with a 30% increase in the number of submitted manuscripts. G&D continues to rank in the top ten of all journals in the life sciences, in terms of the number of citations reported by the Institute for Scientific Information. All three CSHL journals are published online as well as in print, and online users now have access to several improved services, including E-mail alerting services. The three journals either maintained or improved their subscription base, a significant achievement in a period of continued change in library purchasing habits and increased electronic distribution of information.
The CSHL Press published 14 new books in 1998. The most widely anticipated was Using Antibodies, a techniques manual by Laboratory alumni Ed Harlow (currently a Trustee) and David Lane. A complete update of their 1988 Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, the new book, with its innovative design and improved binding, seems likely to attain the classic status of its predecessor. Two other former Laboratory staff also revised a highly successful book: Ray Gesteland and John Atkins, in collaboration with Nobel prize winner Tom Cech, edited a second edition of the influential monograph The RNA World. A collection of essays by Max Perutz, entitled I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier, attracted glowing reviews and brisk sales and is now being translated into several languages. Other strong titles included At The Bench, a quirky introduction to life in the laboratory by Kathy Barker, and the 1997 Symposium volume Pattern Formation during Development, which brought together excellent science from widely differing areas of investigation. These lead titles, and a high-quality backlist, increased book sales by 25% over the previous year.
The Laboratory's well-established publishing activities for professional scientists expanded in 1998 to incorporate an ambitious new program for creating undergraduate textbooks. Opportunities to reshape university teaching in a variety of fields have been identified, and, led by newly appointed Senior Editor Alex Gann, teams of talented, innovative authors have begun work on these projects. The acquisition of the Meier House in Lloyd Harbor, and its conversion for use as a writing center by textbook authors, has provided an extraordinary asset in building this program, which has potentially far-reaching consequences for the future growth of the Press.
For several years, that growth has been hampered by space limitations and by the distribution of the staff at three sites: Urey Cottage and the Library on the main campus, and a warehouse in Plainview. The pending renovation of the Woodbury property should allow the Press to consolidate many of its activities while retaining a base of editorial activities at the Laboratory's main campus.