Librarian Steve Black was among the first to create a regular show for The College of Saint Rose Radio Station after it was founded in the summer of 2006. His show, Periodical Radio, delves into the world of magazines and journals. Every new show is a must listen to around my house, so I thought I’d ask Steve a few questions about the show and its guests.
How did you become involved with periodicals as a librarian? What unique challenges come with your responsibilities?
I’d been a part-time reference librarian for a year or so when Sr. Katherine McPeak retired and her Serials Librarian position became open. Happy to have a shot at a full time tenure track position, I applied and thankfully got the job. I knew almost nothing about periodicals at the time, but Sr. Katherine helped me learn.
Unlike books, which you buy and catalog once, serials change prices, frequencies, and titles, so keeping records accurate requires constant maintenance. Since prices on average go up 9% a year, it’s also tough to stay within budget.
How did you come up with the idea for a Saint Rose Radio show titled Periodical Radio?
Librarians and publishers don’t communicate very well, and I wanted to do something to generate dialogue. I also thought that editors would have interesting things to say that people would like to hear. I considered several titles, but chose Periodical Radio because so far as I could find out, it was unique. So if you Google it, you’ll find my program and not something else.
I’d like to thank Dr. Fred Antico, who runs the Saint Rose radio production program, for all he does and everything he’s taught me. He’s been exceptionally supportive from the beginning; generous with constructive criticism and encouragement. Thanks, Fred!
Can you describe what your radio show is all about?
The mission is to record dialogs with the interesting, creative, dedicated people who edit and produce journals and magazines. The conversations address the content of the magazines as well as the experience of publishing them.
How do you identify publishers/editors to talk to?
It’s very haphazard. I draw from our collection here in the library, but get ideas from news stories, web sites, and promotional materials. Sometimes I just browse through listings. There’s no system, but I do try to get a nice mix of popular and scholarly titles, and a broad variety of topic areas.
In your opinion what has been the most interesting show to date? Why?
Honestly, they’ve all been interesting in one way or another. Editors are knowledgeable and passionate, which comes through in their conversations. If I had to choose, perhaps I’d pick my interview with Dr. John Lent of the International Journal of Comic Art. His critique of traditional peer review was frank, and he said things I think many academics would agree with but are afraid to speak out about. Also, I was fascinated by his ability to produce a high quality journal on a tiny budget. The subscription rate is amazingly low for a scholarly journal of its caliber.
As a librarian who works closely with periodicals, you have a good deal of knowledge about the industry. Have you learned new things about the periodicals industry as a result of doing this radio show?
Mostly more detail about the amazing variety of ways to run a magazine. Conservationist is run by a government agency, Voices by a non-profit that relies on memberships, Information Technologies and International Development is free to all, subsidized by a grant from Microsoft, True West relies almost wholly on advertising. The list goes on. How they pay the bills varies almost as much as the topics they cover. I don’t know how much people enjoy hearing about business models, but it’s one of my favorite aspects of the program.
If you could pass on any information about magazines and journals to students, what information would benefit them most?
Don’t limit yourself to only online publications. Many excellent periodicals are only published in print. Most of the editors I’ve interviewed plan to continue publishing in print for the foreseeable future.
What are your plans for Periodical Radio in 2007-08?
I’d like to do ten or so shows per semester, to continue building the archive of interviews. If I can keep a steady pace it will grow into a nice oral history of periodical publishing in our time.
–Listen to archived shows of Periodical Radio
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