Category Archives: Publishing

More Elsevier Questions

Posted on 7 May 2009 by Rick Mason

Was the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine incident an isolated case, or is it the first of several Elsevier journals that only appear to be legit? Michael Hansen, CEO Of Elsevier’s Health Sciences Division, issued a statement today … Continue reading →

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Google Book Search Settlement Links

Posted on 6 May 2009 by Rick Mason

Peter Murray has an incredibly good selection of links about the Google Book Search Settlement on the Disruptive Library Technology Jester blog.  Really.  Spend some time perusing them.

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Merck, Elsevier, and Ethics

Posted on 6 May 2009 by Rick Mason

Ever hear of the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine?  Sounds official, as well as medically specific.  Did you know it was published by Elsevier?  That is is Peer Reviewed?  And that it published an article on the effectiveness … Continue reading →

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Publisher Confidential

Posted on 22 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Publisher Confidential is a creation by the Unshelved crew that strives to convey to publishers what libraries wish they would know.  It consists of brief statements illustrated with the familiar Mallville Public Library staff.  The booklet is being distributed to … Continue reading →

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E-Readers and the Future

Posted on 21 April 2009 by Rick Mason

ALA TechSource has a brief blogger forum post on the state of E-Book Readers.  The quote that I think is most worth thinking about comes from Jason Griffey: E-books are the future of reading in a very real way, simply … Continue reading →

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Movers and Shakers 2009

Posted on 15 March 2009 by Rick Mason

Library Journal has announced the winners of the 2009 Movers & Shakers awards, and as usual, the recipients are fantastic and enthusiastic innovators who look for new ways for libraries to be better: The Alphabetical List (follow the links for … Continue reading →

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Amazon and Contracts

Posted on 4 March 2009 by Rick Mason

Authors Guild:  Contracts Forced Amazon to Flip on Kindle is an article on CNet.com in which the Authors Guild asserts that Amazon turned off the Kindle’s Text-to-speech function (unless authorized by a book’s publisher) due to contractual obligations, not pressure … Continue reading →

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Confusing Assistance with Performance

Posted on 1 March 2009 by Rick Mason

Amazon.com has given in to the Publisher’s Guild on the issue of text-to-speech capabilities in the Kindle 2. In their press release, Amazon states up front that “Kindle 2’s experimental text-to-speech feature is legal: no copy is made, no derivative … Continue reading →

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Media-Morphosis

Posted on 27 February 2009 by Rick Mason

Media-Morphosis : How the Internet will Devour, Transform, or Destroy Your Favorite Medium is an essay by Cory Doctorow on Internet Evolution.  Think of it as another way of describing the times in which we are living.  Then start thinking … Continue reading →

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Colleges and E-Texts

Posted on 23 February 2009 by Rick Mason

Paper Cut : Missouri College Embraces E-Textbooks is a story that was broadcast this morning on NPR.  The headline is slightly misleading, in that they are running a pilot program in which 500 students are trying out E-Texts for one … Continue reading →

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Walt Crawford on the Google Books Settlement

Posted on 21 February 2009 by Rick Mason

The March 2009 issue of Walt Crawford’s Cites & Insights is devoted to a 30 page essay on the Google Books settlement.  His is an opinion that spans many of the issues : he is at once a writer, fair … Continue reading →

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Gramophone Archive

Posted on 16 February 2009 by Rick Mason

Gramophone Archive is the complete, searchable collection of every issue of The Gramophone since April 1923. Enjoy audiophiles! found via MetaFilter

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Voice of the Kindle

Posted on 11 February 2009 by Rick Mason

The impending release of the Kindle 2 wireless reading device has been all over the news this week, accompanied by many reviews and commentaries.  One response to a new feature strikes me as extreme, however: “Some publishers and agents expressed … Continue reading →

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By Any Other Name

Posted on 14 January 2009 by Rick Mason

By any other name is the title of a blog post/essay by Mandy Brown which encapsulates the history of stored writing in just a few paragraphs.  Take a short few moments and read it… you will be glad you did. … Continue reading →

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Nine Inch Nail’s Creative Commons Success

Posted on 6 January 2009 by Rick Mason

The Creative Commons blog has a thought-provoking post about CC licensed music.  It seems that the latest Nine Inch Nails album, Ghost I-IV, is available under a CC license.  This means that you can legally download it from any of … Continue reading →

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Open and Libraries Class Journal

Posted on 8 December 2008 by Rick Mason

The Open and Libraries Class Journal is a new, peer-reviewed journal on open access and libraries, and the first issue contains the “final papers for the Open Movement and Libraries class (LIBR287-06) at San Jose State University, School of Library … Continue reading →

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The Library and the Bazaar

Posted on 14 November 2008 by Rick Mason

The Library and the Bazaar is an essay by Greer Hauptman that discusses copyright options, libraries, and the freedom to read. Of note is his argument that with greater control being exerted by publishers over access to content (think e-journals) … Continue reading →

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Stories Behind 10 Dr. Seuss Stories

Posted on 25 September 2008 by Rick Mason

Stories Behind 10 Dr. Seuss Stories is a post at the Mental Floss blog with information about the inspirations (and representations) behind several of the great books by Theodor Seuss Giesel. via LISNews

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Harry Potter and the Unfair Use Lexicon

Posted on 9 September 2008 by Rick Mason

TeleRead has an excellent post dissecting the recent ruling against the author of the Harry Potter Lexicon.  It examines the Fair Use aspects of copyright as they apply to this particular case. via LISNews

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Oil and Journals

Posted on 15 August 2008 by Rick Mason

Mike Dunford writing in of The Questionable Authority has written a post that compares the business model and profits of journal publishers with oil companies.  One figure that he arrives at is shocking, to say the least, but also illustrative … Continue reading →

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