While we fuss over our interfaces and capabilities, we often forget how difficult software is to create and sustain, how easy it is to imagine otherwise, and how scarce engineering and programming resources are across the board.
The best way to increase D2C sales is to work in increasing the traffic to your site. Without traffic, there can be few sales. Unfortunately, the university press community has paid little attention to building Web traffic.
The problem of piracy is not easily solved with legal or even technical initiatives. To make piracy less significant, publishers need to create a different kind of content service, one that is resistant to piracy because of its dynamic nature.
Amazon is now the most important participant in the business of scholarly books, but it faces few threats. This post hypothesizes about where challenges to Amazon could come from.
The five stages of book publishing outlined here describe the arc as publishers move from the traditional model (where print books were sold mostly in bookstores and to libraries) through a range of developments using online media, culminating in new forms of subscription marketing.
A long-term observation among physicians and their relationship with the scientific literature leads to thoughts about the risks we run with our increasing focus on authors and funders — the producers, not the consumers.
Despite a growing anti-Impact Factor movement, a quick look at readership and search query data shows a continued growth of interest in knowing journals’ Impact Factors, even for the journal where it may be the least relevant.
Google wins an appeal on class status for the Authors Guild lawsuit. This decision may have far-reaching effects on the case and fair use principles.
In this episode, Scholarly Kitchen Chef David Smith, Head of Innovation with CABI’s Plantwise initiative, talks with podcast host Stewart Wills about some of the recent news from Google’s annual I/O conference — including thoughts on Google Glass as a […]
A new survey reinforces so long-term trends, but shows some surprising reversals that anyone interested in scholarly communication should note.
Google Glass has the potential to transform personal, social, and political relationships dramatically. Is this increased surveillance in the hands of Google an improvement? Or is it just another sign of problems ahead?
Microsoft’s Surface RT marks the software stalwart’s entry into the hardware and tablet market. Too bad it’s late and awkward.
Consumer media sets expectations for how professional media will develop. The new production of “House of Cards” is an example of this.
The New York Times is now publishing short e-books, another step down the path to monetizing content directly instead of through the sale of advertising.
A recent incident involving Amazon and a Norwegian reader has highlighted the sad state of ebook distribution on many levels.