LIBRUM Publishers & Editors LLC

LIBRUM P&E has been the Swiss specialist publisher for history since 2012 and archaeological research with headquarters in Basel and a branch in Frankfurt a. M. The publisher is primarily focused on scientific and interdisciplinary publications, but also publishes more popular works on teaching history.

LIBRUM Publishers & Editors LLC
Industry	Graphic industry, media, publishing houses
Foundation	2012
Founder	Dominique-Charles R. Oppler
Location City	Basel, Frankfurt a. M.
Location country	Switzerland and Germany
Products	Print books, open access publications, journals, publishing services
Number of employees	17
Website	Official Website

Overview

LIBRUM Publishers & Editors stands for scientific publishing, contemporary publishing and distribution to promote research. The publisher is committed to the fact that we can learn from the past. The interest in scientific questions and the fascination of preparing and communicating complex content in a reader-friendly way as a printed or digital medium have played a decisive role in shaping the success of LIBRUM Publishers & Editors since its founding.

LIBRUM Publishers & Editors attaches great importance to ensuring that the published content, whether printed or in electronic form, is visually appealing and appropriate to the publication medium. The aim is for published content to be read with pleasure and to promote and facilitate research work.

Printed books and electronic publications are different media with different usage characteristics. It is part of the publisher's task to ensure that these complement each other and represent an overall enrichment for the reader.

With LIBRUM Publishers & Editors publications reach their target groups. Communication, sales and distribution are aimed at national and international markets.

Services and operations

LIBRUM Publishers & Editors is a medium-sized publishing house with a lean organizational structure. Low fixed costs enable cost-effective production. Each publication is prepared for a specific topic and target group.

The LIBRUM Publishers & Editors team consists primarily of freelance employees with freelance status. All of them have proven expertise and experience.

Work is carried out decentrally from the headquarters in Basel, in the branch in Frankfurt am Main or in home offices. Internal communication takes place via platforms such as Skype or Zoom - this has been working this way since long before the Covid pandemic!

The team takes a lot of time to respond to individual needs and is always flexible enough to adapt to new challenges.

Authors and editors have a decisive say in the implementation of their publications. The result should be excellent, because this is the only way publishing and publishing is fun for everyone involved. LIBRUM Publishers & Editors supports authors with active fundraising, as a specialist book can usually no longer be produced cost-effectively without external financing.

At LIBRUM Publishers & Editors, the publishing infrastructure can be used without having to give up one's own identity, the so-called "cooperation model". This is aimed at small and self-publishing houses, publication series that are affiliated with an institution and do not have their own publishing resources. They remain publishers, retain their independence and continue to publish under their publishing label. This ensures them autonomy in determining their publication program, in choosing authors, the type of publication, their design, editorial departments and production sites.

Digital publishing and open access

Digital publishing significantly expands the use and work with scientific publications. LIBRUM P&E has specialized in this and generally publishes print and free open access editions (golden path) at the same time. The publisher follows the recommendations of the Swiss National Science Foundation and Swiss Universities.

In this way, authors and publishers support international scientific discourse and the demand of university institutions for free access to scientific literature. The publications are DOI-registered (digital object identifier) and can be found via the browser and are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution International License. The publisher uses university repositories such as ZENODO.

Market presence and distribution

The majority of books are sold via the publisher's own web shop www.librumstore.com and all online providers. Sales representatives in Germany regularly present the publisher's program to book retailers. Delivery in Switzerland takes place from the publisher's own warehouse in Basel. Europe is supplied by Brockhaus Commission in Kornwestheim and various wholesalers (Libri, Zeitfracht, Umbreit, AVA). ISD in Bristol (USA) supplies North and South America as well as the British Isles.

Founder and management

LIBRUM Publishers & Editors LLC was founded in 2012 by Dominique-Charles R. Oppler. He attended school and completed a commercial apprenticeship (banking) in Basel. Professional career in marketing and sales in the consumer goods industry, NPO, media and publishing houses at home and abroad. At the age of 53, studied classical archaeology, Egyptology, Byzantine studies, UFG and geology at the University of Fribourg and natural science archaeology at the University of Basel. Freelance work for various cantonal archaeological departments in Switzerland. Research assistant for the Bhutan-Swiss-Archaeological Project 2008–2010 at the University of Basel and other projects. Speaks German, French, English and Spanish.

Collaboration

The team takes a lot of time to respond to individual needs and is always flexible enough to adapt to new challenges.

Authors and editors have a decisive say in the implementation of their publications. The result should be excellent, because only then can publishing be a pleasure for everyone involved.

LIBRUM Publishers & Editors supports authors with active fundraising, as a specialist book can usually no longer be produced cost-effectively without external financing.

At LIBRUM Publishers & Editors, the publishing infrastructure can be used without having to give up one's own identity, the so-called "cooperation model". This is aimed at small and self-publishing houses, publication series that are affiliated with an institution and do not have their own publishing resources. They remain editors, retain their independence and continue to publish under their publishing label. This ensures them autonomy in determining their publication program, in choosing authors, the type of publication, their design, editorial departments and production sites.