Google Book Settlement — Opponents 1, Google 0
The Google Books Settlement hits a barrier. The implications of this will need to be sorted out over the coming days and weeks.
College & Research Libraries Adopts Open Access
After years of debate, ACRL will finally “walk the talk.” But without a business model, they could get tripped up.
HarperCollinsGate: Some Thoughts
The HarperCollins e-book lending limitations provide lessons in how both sides typically deal with change.
Customers Move Online = Bad News for News in the Internet Age
Online news increases in popularity, online advertising grows, and an iPad newspaper pure-play exists — why does this all seem like bad news?
The Expensive e-Book: The Illogical Reasons Why Paper Books Can Sell for Less
When you explore the revenue model of e-books vs. print books, some pricing practices make sense. But when you factor in the expenses, the logic begins to break down.
The Terrible Price of Free: On E-reading Jane Austen via Google's Ebooks
The new Google Ebooks have made a mess of many popular classics in the public domain.
Kevin Kelly on Generating Value in a Free Copy World
A fascinating talk from last month’s O’Reilly Tools of Change conference, in which Kevin Kelly talks about how the proliferation of screens, the incorporation of gestures and voice, the abundance of data streams, the notion of “always on,” and so […]
Journal of Cosmology and Alien Life — Reputation Precedes Refutation, But Are Brands Enough?
Alien life? Or just the will to publish, and some accomplices? While those in the field know the pecking order, those outside still get fooled.
Authors — Only One Reason Why the Revolution in Book Publishing Continues
The revolution in book publishing shares some aspects with revolutions everywhere. Here’s a short slideshow by the founder of Smashwords examining current motivations for authors.
The Upcoming Must-See Documentary — Bad Writing
How can you make a movie about why some writing is good, some bad? This trailer makes it seem not only possible, but interesting.
The Digitized Book Corpus and the Cracking Dam
A new report from OCLC underscores how much water is already over, and how fragile the foundation has become.
Can You Actually "Sell" an E-book? How You Answer Affects Your Revenue Assumptions
Customers have accepted the analogy that they “buy” e-books, but publishers may be faced with accepting the fact that they’re selling licenses. What this could mean to their bottom lines may not be the most painful part of this shift.
Smarter Metadata — Aiding Discovery in Next Generation E-book and E-journal Gateways
For scholars to excel in the information age, technology needs to learn to learn. Perhaps highly specialized humans can help.
Crowdsourcing, Reference Works, and Peer-Review: Some Surprising Connections
A new study suggests that reference works can be created cheaply and effectively through only mildly organized collaborations. Have we been missing a critical contribution of peer-review? Does it suggest that post-publication won’t review won’t be very effective?
Will Reference Books and Journals Survive? A Debate
A debate at PSP reveals much, especially after it ends.