The Chicago Collaborative is a working group established in 2008 to promote open communication and education among the primary stakeholders in the scholarly scientific communication area. Its membership includes representatives from a number of publishing and editing organizations and representatives from the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL)  which provides administrative support for the Collaborative.

The Chicago Collaborative Framework outlines the broad strategies, goals, and expected outcomes of the new working group. Frequently Asked Questions describe the differences between the new working group and existing organizations and provide a list of initial participating organizations. Executive summary meeting notes provide an overview of discussions of the Chicago Collaborative.

A descriptive brochure about the Chicago Collaborative is available by contacting Karen Dodson at karen.dodson@wustl.edu

Our co-conveners are:

 

Jennifer L. Pesanelli, CAE, who is currently Deputy Executive Director for Operations and Director of Publications for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Jennifer directs the publication operations for The FASEB Journal. In addition, she works with several other organizations, FASEB member and client societies, on their publishing programs and supports them in efforts ranging from vendor selection and contract negotiation to editorial policy and publication business model changes. In her role for Operations, she oversees FASEB’s Association Management Services business lines which provide services to more than 40 scientific organizations ranging from contract executive directors to membership and accounting services. Jennifer is on the Board of Directors for the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) and formerly served on the SSP Education Committee for five years. She is also a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE).

 

Brenda L. Seago, MLS, MA, PhD, who is currently Professor and Director of Libraries, Georgia Regents University (GRU) in Augusta, GA. She is currently the PI on a $1.7 million, multi-year contract with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to provide Professional Services in Support of NLM’s Outreach and Training Efforts in Biomedical Informatics. Before coming to GRU she was the Administrative Director of the Center for Human Simulation and Patient Safety and Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Prior to serving as Director of the Center for Human Simulation and Patient Safety, Seago directed the VCU School of Medicine Computer-Based Instruction Lab/Learning Resource Center and served as a clinical medical librarian in the Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences. During her VCU tenure, she served as the School of Medicine's representative to the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Information Resources and the Libraries Advisory Committee. She received the School of Medicines Educational Innovation Award. Seago currently serves on the Scholarly Communications Committee of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) and represents AAHSL on the Chicago Collaborative. Seago has chaired the Medical Library Association's Publications Committee and Educational Media and Technologies section and served on the association's Continuing Education and Governmental Relations Committees and Editorial Board for the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. She is past New Journals Editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association and is former Chair and Treasurer of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association. She also authored a chapter in the textbook, Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship. Seago earned master’s degrees in English and library science from Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland, respectively, and a doctorate in public policy and administration from VCU.