Project MUSE Announces Strategic Organizational Changes

NISO Member News

Baltimore, MD | May 17, 2023

For nearly 30 years, Project MUSE has been the trusted and reliable source for access to essential humanities and social science research, as an integral part of the scholarly communications ecosystem and platform of choice for respected not-for-profit publishers. From its grant-funded origins piloting a small collection of online journals from the Johns Hopkins University Press, MUSE has grown to host more than 800 journals and more than 90,000 books from nearly 400 leading university presses, scholarly societies, and related publishers. As the organization approaches its third decade, we are pleased to announce several enhancements to the organization which expand our capacity and reach, while supporting our strategic priorities and our commitment to equity and inclusion.

To better align with the changing scholarly communications landscape, MUSE has created a new department for Library & Publisher Partnerships. With many of our partner publishers now reporting to libraries, and many libraries now delving into publishing activities, MUSE seeks to create more connections between these two key constituencies. Kelley Squazzo has been appointed Director of Library & Publisher Partnerships, and will oversee both the current publisher relations and library sales teams at MUSE. MUSE will also be recruiting a Senior Sales Manager to further strengthen the department’s reach under Squazzo’s leadership.

Squazzo has been Project MUSE’s Director of Publisher Relations and Content Acquisitions since 2018, and brings a unique perspective to the department by combining her experiences in acquisitions and sales to create a more collaborative community. She previously held senior editorial and acquisitions positions with the Johns Hopkins University Press and Wolters Kluwer, and was an adjunct instructor at Towson University and Anne Arundel Community College.

As the information landscape becomes increasingly complex, MUSE has also created a new department to ensure its ability to provide robust updates in real time, and elevate the global impact of the scholarship on the platform. The growth of open access content and new channels for discovery require that MUSE effectively engage with broader and more diverse audiences than ever before. Melanie Schaffner will lead this department in the newly-created position of Director of Communication, Marketing, and Engagement, managing the internal and external marketing resources for the organization.

Schaffner joined Project MUSE in 1996, as its first marketing and sales manager, just as the project was emerging from its grant-funded launch and becoming a self-sustaining operation. Promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing in 2012, she developed the team which saw MUSE grow into a $30 million annual business, with thousands of library customers in more than 75 countries. Prior to arriving at MUSE, Schaffner held a variety of marketing communication and public relations positions in the music and electronic entertainment industries.

“We are excited by the synergies made possible by bringing library sales, publisher relations, and content acquisitions into stronger alignment, leveraging the new team’s extensive community connections and deep knowledge of our constituents’ needs and challenges,” said Wendy Queen, Director of Project MUSE. “And I am extremely grateful to have the person who has led sales and marketing at MUSE, since its inception, take the lead on our new communication and engagement strategy.”

Project MUSE has also expanded its capacity in business operations and intelligence by welcoming back Lance Tieperman, in the newly-created position of Business Operations Manager. Tieperman was previously with MUSE in an inside sales and library support role, and also has experience in procurement with Johns Hopkins University and as a buyer/analyst with T. Rowe Price.

These organizational changes position MUSE well for further growth and opportunity as we approach our 30th anniversary, and will support current strategic and operational priorities such as our upcoming Subscribe to Open program for our flagship journal collections, and the diversification and expansion of scholarly publications hosted on the platform.

About Project MUSE

Project MUSE has offered libraries affordable access to essential humanities and social science research for nearly 30 years, as an integral part of the scholarly communications ecosystem and platform of choice for respected not-for-profit publishers. Currently, Project MUSE is the trusted and reliable source for over 800 journals and over 90,000 books, from nearly 400 of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies. MUSE also hosts thousands of open access books and several open access journal titles, freely available to anyone worldwide.