#UPWeek: Blog Tour Day Four

It's day four of University Press Week's blog tour. Today's posts will not disappoint. Because it's Throwback Thursday!

Here's what you can look forward to looking back:

Harvard University Press: Late last year HUP made roughly 3,000 previously unavailable backlist works available again, some of which were published back in the late 1800s. Many of the titles and subjects bear a resemblance to some reference (or something that might as well be referenced) in a Decemberists song. So their post: a quiz, asking the question, HUP title or Decemberists' song?

MIT Press: A look back at former MIT Press designer Muriel Cooper, who designed MIT Press's iconic colophon 50 years ago in 1964.

Temple University Press: A post on the development of Temple's influential Asian History and Culture series.

University of Toronto Press: UTP looks back at the publications of The Champlain Society, an historical society which publishes primary source archive material that explores Canada's history. The Champlain Society produces scholarly books every year that have been the object of meticulous treatment by specialists whose role has been to highlight the significance of the eyewitness accounts and to inform readers of the context in which these documents were drafted. The post highlights this year's volume on the writings of Pierre-Espirit Radisson, as well as include historical images from past publications.

University of Washington Press: UWP looks at a series of Asian American classics that they have recently reissued, with an emphasis on the evolution of cover designs over the years.

Wesleyan University Press: WUP's #TBT post is a poem by Alice Notley from Grave of Light: New and Selected Poems, 1970-2005, which WUP published in 2006.

#UPWeek: Blog Tour Day Three

Yesterday for day two of the University Press week blog tour, we blogged about our collaboration with New Georgia Encyclopedia. University Press of Florida, Fordham University Press, and Indiana University Press shared some great—and a few hilarious—photos of their presses through the years. Johns Hopkins University Press ran a Q& A with JHUP Art Director Martha Sewell and a short film of author and marine illustrator Val Kells in her studio. And Stanford University Press featured some old b&w photos of SUP and its printing facilities as they existed in the 50s and 60s that highlight the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into print publishing.

Today on the blog tour: popular culture.

Georgetown University Press: TV, espionage, and the academy. GUP highlights several of their books that dive deep into the dark corners of the history of espionage, all of which speak to the enduring popularity of espionage as a subject in popular culture.

University Press of Kentucky: Dalton Trumbo was a Blacklisted Hollywood screen writer of films such as 'Spartacus' and 'Roman Holiday' and a member of the Hollywood Ten who opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee. (Bryan Cranston recently debuted the "Cranstache" at the Emmy's, grown in preparation to portray Trumbo in an upcoming biopic directed by Jay Roach.)

University Press of Mississippi: UPM highlights their book Walt Before Mickey, which has been adapted into a movie set to open Thanksgiving Weekend.

University of Pennsylvania Press: Penn Press highlights their ability to publish books that cater to both niche markets and general audiences as well, spotlighting a few recent titles.

Princeton University Press: Q&A with math editor Vickie Kearn about PUP's book Alan Turing: The Enigma, which has been adapted into a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley titled The Imitation Game.

University of Wisconsin Press: Books that highlight issues that have become major news stories, such as gays in the military, militarized police, torture, and immigration.

Tomorrow is sure to be another day of excellent blogging. Stay tuned.

#UPWeek: Blog Tour Day Two

Yesterday for day one of the University Press week blog tour, we blogged about our collaboration with the New Georgia Encyclopedia. There were also great posts from the University of California Press, University of Chicago Press, Duke University Press, Project Muse/Johns Hopkins University Press, McGill-Queen's University Press, Texas A&M University Press,  University of Virginia Press, and Yale University Press. (We did the tour yesterday: here are our highlights via Twitter.)

On deck for day two, Your UP in Pictures:

University Press of Florida: UPF in pictures through the years.

Fordham University Press: A photo collage featuring FUP events and memorable moments over the years.

Indiana University Press: A fun look at the history of IUP as they celebrate their 65th anniversary next year.

Johns Hopkins University Press: Q& A with JHUP Art Director Martha Sewell and a short film of author and marine illustrator Val Kells in her studio.

Stanford University Press: Old b&w photos of SUP and its printing facilities as they existed in the 50s and 60s that highlight the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into print publishing.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's posts as university presses take on their role in and relationship to popular culture.

The University of Georgia Press and New Georgia Encyclopedia: A Collaboration of Like Minds

It's Day 1 of the American Association of University Press Week Blog Tour, and we'd like to start by applauding our friends at Duke University Press for their new book, THE MUTLISPECIES SALON, and how it epitomizes this week's theme—collaboration. In this new approach to writing culture, editor Eben Kirksey creates an anthology that brings together analyses of insects, animals, fungi, microbes, and humans with strands of economic, political, and social life. More information on the book can be found here, and there's also an outstanding companion site in the transmedia collection that's definitely worth checking out.

Roughly 350 miles away from Durham in Athens, Georgia, the spirit of collaboration is alive and well here at the University of Georgia Press. The primary mission of the UGA Press is to support and enhance the University of Georgia's place as a major research institution by publishing outstanding works of scholarship and literature by scholars and writers throughout the world. But in order to ensure knowledge was available to expand upon, the New Georgia Encyclopedia was born. Now this year, for AAUP Week, the encyclopedia is being acclaimed as a groundbreaking collaboration to make knowledge accessible to all.

On February 12, 2004 (aptly Georgia History Day) the New Georgia Encyclopedia launched with a virtual ribbon cutting ceremony.  What started with only 700 entries has grown into a scholarly monolith of the state's history, with over 2,000 articles and over 6,000 images.  It is the first state encyclopedia to to be conceived and designed exclusively for publication online, and it is the product of unification between The Georgia Humanities Council, the University System of Georgia/GALILEO, the Office of the Governor, and the Press.

Though the content is exclusively digital, the award-wining encyclopedia has published two books with the Press to supplement the knowledge of Georgia history. In 2007, THE NEW GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA COMPANION TO GEORGIA LITERATURE was published by the Press, and the anthology (which contains articles originally published online) collects biographical profiles of Georgia writers to highlight the state's literary contributions.

In 2011, THE CIVIL WAR IN GEORGIA: A NEW GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA COMPANION was published, also by the Press. Edited by John C. Inscoe, editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia, this groundbreaking work draws attention to the war's legacy, as well as originally published online articles that cover the prelude to the war and the war's years.

Director of the Press, Lisa Bayer, said, "The New Georgia Encyclopedia has become so deeply embedded in the ways in which Georgians of all ages (and people everywhere) learn about our state that I sometimes think we take it for granted. Where else can you find well-organized, vetted, expert information along with images, references, and crosslinking for free? We should be very, very proud—and supportive—of this amazing resource, which shares the rich history of our state with our world."

Kelly Caudle, project director and managing editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia, elaborated on on how each compliments the other. "The NGE and the Press are natural partners, each doing its part to make the best scholarship on Georgia available to the academic community as well as the larger public," she said. "With a scholarly credibility endowed by the Press partnership, the NGE attracts a wide audience of readers curious about Georgia's stories—and in turn the NGE sends users straight to the authoritative source behind the entries: UGA Press books. It's been a mutually supportive partnership."

If you have any comments or are interested in learning more about the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the Press, or University Press Week, tweet to us at @UGAPress or talk to us on Facebook at the University of Georgia Press using the hashtag #upweek.