Indiana University Publications (Firm)

The Indiana University Office of Publications is one of the oldest non-academic offices on campus.

From the description of Indiana University Publications Editor's records, 1905-1972, bulk 1935-1955. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 60552643

According to Myers’s History of Indiana University, the I. U. Publications Office (now known as the Indiana University Office of Publications and not to be confused with Indiana University Press) is one of the oldest non-academic offices on campus. Originally, the publishing of the university catalogues, bulletins, pamphlets and scholarly essays was the responsibility of the President. Prior to the start of the 20th century, this duty fell to a standing presidential committee, composed of faculty and administrators, and printing jobs were executed under state contracts. It was not until 1914 that a full-time editor was appointed to head the University Publications Office. This event coincided with the establishment of a printing plant primarily designed to print the Indiana Daily Student, but that initially handled small University jobs as well. Ivy Chamness was named Assistant Editor of University Publications in 1914 and would be promoted to Head Editor in 1917. She also served as Assistant Editor of the IU Alumni Quarterly and promoted to Associate Editor in 1919 and finally Editor in 1921. She served in this position until 1938.

By 1937, the duties of the Publications Office included a wide array of products, including not only the bulletins for the university, its extensions, and the more autonomous schools, such as the School of Education, but also such items as the commencement program; the annual telephone directory; the scholastic publication series for the sciences, the humanities, folklore, and social sciences; and the Indiana University Newsletter, a precursor to the Alumni Magazine . The office also handled the editing of the Alumni Quarterly and the publication of the numerous forms and brochures needed by departmental offices. In 1938, the Newsletter and the Quarterly merged to form the Indiana Alumni Magazine, and Chamness was named as the Associate Editor of the Magazine, a post she retained until her retirement in 1952.

As the University expanded and new departments were added, and as the number of scholarly publications grew, along with new aesthetic demands of printing requiring greater uses of color and photographs, the burden on the office expanded. By 1945, a post-war committee on publications began discussions on reorganizing the office to meet the new printing necessities of the expanding university, and the initial discussions for creating a University Press commenced. In 1950, Chamness noted in her last annual report as the Head Editor of University Publications that the growth of Extension Division publications and the increasing numbers of large scholarly studies, including a full catalog of educational motion pictures totaling 430 pages and 15,000 copies, placed the greatest demand ever on the Office. Included in that year’s output were six publications of humanities studies, four studies in folklore, three studies in the natural sciences, and two books on I.U. history ( Trustees and Officers of Indiana University and the Myer’s History of Indiana University, Vol. II ).

From the guide to the Indiana University Publications Editor's records, 1905-1972, bulk 1935-1955, (Indiana University Office of University Archives and Records Management http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives)