The explosion of e-journals and other online resources has created many challenges for libraries. Use of general search engines is increasing, and the relevance of the library to users is being questioned. One issue that is often overlooked is how the library should market itself to a new generation of tech-savvy users. Basic marketing concepts, including how to formulate a marketing plan, are presented, as well as a look at one library's current marketing efforts.

This paper summarizes the presentations made at the "Academic Journal Publishing" session of the 2007 NASIG conference. The session was conducted by four publishers from a variety of academic publishing companies who made presentations (specifically tailored to a librarian audience) which provided a broad stroke overview of their industry and how they go about the process of publishing and distributing academic journals in the 21st century. Through each of their presentations they spoke to the questions of "what they do, how they do it, and why they do it." Topics covered included the launch and acquisition of journals, the peer review process, the tools and services supplied to authors and editors, the production processes employed, special legal and copyright issues, marketing and distribution strategies, and usage.

In September 2007, a Biochemical Society delegation comprising Professor George Banting (then the Chair of the Biochemical Journal Editorial Board), Professor Peter Shepherd (then the incoming Chair of the Biochemical Journal Editorial Board) and senior Biochemical Society staff visited institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hong Kong to raise awareness of the Society and its publishing portfolio in China [see The Biochemist, Vol. 29 (December), pp. 24–28]. The relationships established on this trip were further strengthened at the 21st IUBMB and 12th FAOBMB Meeting in Shanghai in August 2009, where a Biochemical Society/Portland Press stand to promote our membership and publishing activities attracted interest from many delegates. These initial steps into China have now reaped rewards with two major initiatives coming to fruition this year.