Dan Cohen tries to make the case for “open source” academic publishing on his blog. In part: The dirty little secret about open access publishing is that despite the fact that although you may give up a line in your CV (although not necessarily), your work can be discovered much more easily by other scholars… Continue reading Dan Cohen on open source scholarship
Month: May 2010
Google Editions update
Library Journal with a report on Mak Nelson’s comments on Google Editions, Getting To the Details with Google Editions: “No role for libraries, but publishers and booksellers get their questions answered.” Note this: How does Google make its money?“The majority of revenue from these sales goes to the publisher. How does Google make money? Advertising.… Continue reading Google Editions update
Blouin on Google book scanning
F.X. Blouin in the current issue of RBM writes about the Google Book scanning Thoughts on Special Collections and Our Research Communities: (in RBM) Toward the end of August in 2009, a van pulled up to the loading dock of the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. Book trucks were unloaded and moved… Continue reading Blouin on Google book scanning
Google Editions and Open Source
From GigaOM at Salon (and a bit dated), but this article by Matthew Ingram has some more reporting than the WSJ article. Open vs. Closed: Google Takes on Amazon and Apple in e-Books – Technology News | GigaOM Network – Salon.com Whatever pricing scheme it chooses, it seems clear that Google wants to come down… Continue reading Google Editions and Open Source
Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland) Selling its Collections
The Cleveland Plain Dealer on the WRHS selling parts of its collections to pay off loans and to cover operating expenses. This is a deeply distressing article. Western Reserve Historical Society sells its history to save institution | cleveland.com This is a story about how the Western Reserve Historical Society, a beloved Cleveland institution, dreamed… Continue reading Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland) Selling its Collections
Art Conservation Rescue in Haiti
The NY Times reports on efforts by conservators in Haiti, “Conservators Aid Art Rescue Effort in Haiti”: Haitian artists and cultural professionals have been conducting informal salvage operations for the past four months. But the Americans are bringing conservation expertise — there are few if any professionally trained art conservators in Haiti — and special… Continue reading Art Conservation Rescue in Haiti
The iPad and Publishers (New Yorker)
[I had meant to post this link when this article appeared in April…. PWR] The New Yorker on the iPad and books: The industry’s great hope was that the iPad would bring electronic books to the masses—and help make them profitable. E-books are booming. Although they account for only an estimated three to five per… Continue reading The iPad and Publishers (New Yorker)
Google Editions to premiere this Summer
The Wall Street Journal had the main story which most bloggers played off, with these interesting details: While Mr. Palma didn’t go into details, users of Google Editions would be able to read books from a web browser—meaning that the type of e-reader device wouldn’t matter. The company also could build software to optimize reading… Continue reading Google Editions to premiere this Summer