Archive for the 'Book' Category

Call for Book Reviewers

Published on October 28, 2011 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments Tags: .

Common Ground Publishing is seeking distinguished peer reviewers to evaluate book manuscripts submitted to the On Museums Book Series.

As part of our commitment to intellectual excellence and a rigorous review process, Common Ground sends book manuscripts that have received initial editorial approval to peer reviewers to further evaluate and provide constructive feedback. The comments and guidance that these reviewers supply is invaluable to our authors and an essential part of the publication process.

Common Ground recognizes the important role of referees by acknowledging book reviewers as members of the On Museums Book Series Editorial Review Board for a period of at least one year. The list of members of the Editorial Review Board will be posted on our website. In addition, Common Ground also offers a US$200 voucher for each completed review which meets the standards set out by the Commissioning Editor at the commencement of assignment. Vouchers may be used in the Common Ground Bookstore or for registration at one of our international conferences.

If you would like to referee book manuscripts submitted to On Museums, please email.  Please make sure to include:

  1. a brief description of your professional credentials
  2. a list of your areas of interest and expertise
  3. a copy of your CV with current contact details

If we feel you are qualified and we require refereeing for manuscripts within your purview, we will contact you.

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology: The Making of a National Museum for Communities

Published on December 23, 2010 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology: The Making of a National Museum for Communities by Nguyen Van Huy is now available from the On Museums imprint.

For more than a decade (1995–2006), the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology has undertaken many journeys: journeys to bring relevant ethnographic objects to the museum; journeys to reach the opening of the museum’s permanent exhibition in its new structure–itself shaped like a traditional bronze drum–journeys to prepare temporary exhibitions; journeys to seek out and erect houses of different ethnic groups in the museum’s outdoor exhibition; journeys to learn about and present craft demonstrations and performances; journeys to implement educational programs for children; and journeys to introduce multimedia into museum activities. Each journey–creative and educational–has provided opportunities for us to learn about how the people in our country have adapted to changing conditions.

Although all the above journeys took place at different times and involved different, specialized skills of staff members, it can be said that all the journeys shared the same aims: to link the museum with communities; to make the museum more accessible to the public and relevant to contemporary life; and to celebrate the ordinary people of the different ethnic and social groups who hand down the traditions of their ancestors to current and future generations. This is the fundamental orientation of the museum’s activities, which I have had the privilege to present in papers at various international conferences dedicated to cooperative learning. Here, I have compiled these papers to provide our friends and colleagues–especially colleagues from museums in Southeast Asia–with a better understanding of the activities of the VME. By reading these papers, one can follow the new road that the VME has taken in fostering and presenting the cultures of ethnic peoples living in Southeast Asia.

Series: On Museums

Published on July 30, 2010 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments Tags: .

We are accepting book proposals for the imprint On Museums.

Common Ground is setting new standards of rigorous academic knowledge creation and scholarly publication.

Unlike other publishers, we’re not interested in the size of potential markets or competition from other books. We’re only interested in the intellectual quality of the work.

If your book is a brilliant contribution to a specialist area of knowledge that only serves a small intellectual community, we still want to publish it. If it is expansive and has a broad appeal, we want to publish it too, but only if it is of the highest intellectual quality.