Expectations of free content are entrenched, but artists, authors, and publishers are all hurting because of it. The basic problem? It’s leading to a lack of trust in the future.
While many of the traditional publishing tasks remain intact, new tasks that are much more technical in nature have changed the skill sets required to be scholarly publishers. As new and developing standards and services such as Funder Identification, ORCID, CHORUS, and more come online, publishers and their vendors must integrate when they would rather innovate. The trick is in realizing where integration allows more innovation.
New scholarly-communication initiatives have to do more than just demonstrate proof of concept: they have to demonstrate ongoing sustainability (what we might call “proof of program”) and the ability to create desirable products in the amounts needed (what we might call “proof of scale”). What do these look like when they’re achieved, and how are some recent initiatives doing?
An overview of Vox, a news site designed around current technology and information trends offers a fresh set of design choices worth considering.
Are university presses really “under fire,” or are they simply experiencing the natural consequences of doing the wrong things at the wrong time in a marketplace that has evolved away from them?
In the midst of a couple of major projects, here are some top-of-mind lessons from cultivating and sharing ideas on the long road of innovation.
Scholarly Kitchen chef Alice Meadows discusses the challenges, and opportunities, for scientific societies in an Internet era.
There is much talk in publishing circles about disruption. What we are actually seeing unfold in our industry is not disruption, but innovation and evolution — or rather, adaption to the new normal.
The myth of the naive outsider is persistent and powerful, but even expert outsiders aren’t the only possible source of knowledge. What about the expert insider? What if most of your insiders are experts in some surprising way?
In order to take best advantage of new digital technology, a publisher must identify new places and ways that products can be sold. New media requires new markets or the investment in digital media will simply be an unwelcome additional expense.
Is running a business without a start-up mentality dangerous in our fast-paced technological world? It’s all a matter of risk and reward.
How have publishers changed over the past decade? What have been the most important advances? The Chefs tackle the question, with some surprising answers (they might have even surprised themselves).
Disruption has at least two flavors. We’ve dealt well with one, but may be blind to the second. Are those footsteps I hear?
Scott Berkun challenges a common assumption — that being innovative is desirable. Instead, he suggests other things to be, including clear, smart, and savvy.
The transformation of all publishers is underway, and this interview from a popular magazine’s editor sounds all too familiar as we adapt to evolving markets, possibilities, and expectations.