Berg Publishers
Encyclopedia
Berg Publishers is an academic publishing company based in Oxford, England that was founded in 1983 by Marion Berghahn. Berg publishes monograph
s, textbook
s and reference work
s as well as journals
. Concentrations are fashion
, design
, anthropology
, history
and cultural studies
. Berg is known as the publisher of Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, edited by Valerie Steele
, director of the museum
at the Fashion Institute of Technology
in New York City
. This journal pioneered the concept of fashion theory to bring the study of dress
and fashion into the academic arena.
After an acrimonious split with Berg's investment partners, Berghahn founded a new company, Berghahn Books, in 1994 and started publishing again in 1995, specializing in the Social Sciences, especially in Social Anthropology and History. Berghahn Books currently publishes 25 journals and has more than 1000 titles in print.
In 2002, Berg managing director Kathryn Earle and director Sara Everett led a group of private investors in a management buyout of the company. Having managed the company since 1997, they had doubled sales since then to 750,000 pounds. In 2002 Berg published 50 new titles per year and had 400 in print. Its growth had been led by expansion into the US market, then using New York University Press as its distributor.
Book Industry Communication (BIC), a trade standards group for electronic commerce and supply chain effiiciency, awarded Berg its BIC Product Data Excellence Gold Award in 2007-2008, and its e4books project accredited Berg in 2008.
Berg won the Independent Publishers Guild's 2008 Publishing Technology E-Publishing Award for its collection of profitable digital strategies in March 2008. The judges "liked the way it had taken apart its books to adapt them to digital environments."
As of March 2008, Berg published thirteen journals, with several more planned to start in 2009.
Berg currently has in development The Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress & Fashion, a reference work that will publish in print and online in 2010. Berg is distributed in the United States by Palgrave Macmillan
.
In September 2008, Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury agreed to buy Oxford International Publishers, trading as Berg Publishers, for a maximum £3m. It will pay an initial consideration of £2m for the academic publishing business, made up of £1.8m in cash and the rest in Bloomsbury shares. Another £1m could be paid if Berg meets certain performance criteria.
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
s, textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
s and reference work
Reference work
A reference work is a compendium of information, usually of a specific type, compiled in a book for ease of reference. That is, the information is intended to be quickly found when needed. Reference works are usually referred to for particular pieces of information, rather than read beginning to end...
s as well as journals
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
. Concentrations are fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
. Berg is known as the publisher of Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, edited by Valerie Steele
Valerie Steele
Valerie Fahnestock Steele is a fashion historian, curator, and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York...
, director of the museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
at the Fashion Institute of Technology
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. This journal pioneered the concept of fashion theory to bring the study of dress
Dress
A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...
and fashion into the academic arena.
After an acrimonious split with Berg's investment partners, Berghahn founded a new company, Berghahn Books, in 1994 and started publishing again in 1995, specializing in the Social Sciences, especially in Social Anthropology and History. Berghahn Books currently publishes 25 journals and has more than 1000 titles in print.
In 2002, Berg managing director Kathryn Earle and director Sara Everett led a group of private investors in a management buyout of the company. Having managed the company since 1997, they had doubled sales since then to 750,000 pounds. In 2002 Berg published 50 new titles per year and had 400 in print. Its growth had been led by expansion into the US market, then using New York University Press as its distributor.
Book Industry Communication (BIC), a trade standards group for electronic commerce and supply chain effiiciency, awarded Berg its BIC Product Data Excellence Gold Award in 2007-2008, and its e4books project accredited Berg in 2008.
Berg won the Independent Publishers Guild's 2008 Publishing Technology E-Publishing Award for its collection of profitable digital strategies in March 2008. The judges "liked the way it had taken apart its books to adapt them to digital environments."
As of March 2008, Berg published thirteen journals, with several more planned to start in 2009.
Berg currently has in development The Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress & Fashion, a reference work that will publish in print and online in 2010. Berg is distributed in the United States by Palgrave Macmillan
Palgrave Macmillan
Palgrave Macmillan is an international academic and trade publishing company, headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom and with offices in New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, Delhi, Johannesburg. It was created in 2000 when St...
.
In September 2008, Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury agreed to buy Oxford International Publishers, trading as Berg Publishers, for a maximum £3m. It will pay an initial consideration of £2m for the academic publishing business, made up of £1.8m in cash and the rest in Bloomsbury shares. Another £1m could be paid if Berg meets certain performance criteria.