February 2012
68 posts
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Marco.org: Right versus pragmatic →
This pattern is common. We often try to fight problems by yelling at them instead of accepting the reality of what people do, from controversial national legislation to passive-aggressive office signs. Such efforts usually fail, often with a lot of collateral damage, much like Prohibition and the ongoing “war” on “drugs”.
And, more recently (and with much less human damage), media piracy.
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lifehacker: How You’re Breaking the Law Every Day... →
You share music, rip DVDs, make Hitler whine about your first world problems, and much more in the course of your regular online activities—and more often than not, you do these things without giving a thought to the fact that you’re actually breaking the law. Here’s a look at how you’re inevitably circumventing copyright law and what you can do to protect yourself.
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EFF: How to Remove Your YouTube Viewing and Search... →
On March 1st, Google will implement its new, unified privacy policy, which will affect data Google has collected on you prior to March 1st as well as data it collects on you in the future. Earlier this week, we showed you how to delete your Google Web History in order to prevent Google from combining your Web History data with the data it has about you on its other products to provide you...
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Guardian: Ebooks: the giant disruption →
In the past 12 months, I’ve never bought fewer printed books – and I’ve never read so many books. I have switched to ebooks. My personal library is with me at all times, in my iPad and my iPhone (and in the cloud), allowing me to switch reading devices as conditions dictate. I also own a Kindle, I use it mostly during summer, to read in broad daylight: an iPad won’t work on...
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ZDNet Blog: PayPal Strong-Arms Indie Ebook... →
On Saturday February 18, PayPal began threatening indie book publishers and distributors with immediate deactivation of the businesses’ accounts if they did not remove books containing certain sexual themes - namely, specific sexual fantasies that PayPal does not approve of.
PayPal told indie e-book publishers and retailers - such as AllRomance, Smashwords, Excessica and Bookstrand - that...
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The Kindle Monologues: OverDrive to supply Harry... →
thekindlemonologues:
I assumed this was a given, to be honest. Like it or not, OverDrive has become the ecosystem of choice for libraries, so it makes sense Rowling & Pottermore would partner with them.
Charlie Redmayne, Pottermore CEO, said in a statement, “We are keen to support public and school libraries, and OverDrive, as one of the leading suppliers in this market, provides us...
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ELSEVIER WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR THE RESEARCH... →
While we continue to oppose government mandates in this area, Elsevier is withdrawing support for the Research Work Act itself. We hope this will address some of the concerns expressed and help create a less heated and more productive climate for our ongoing discussions with research funders.
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The Digital Shift: A Guide to Publishers in the... →
However, it may help to scan the landscape not only for the “Big Six” trade publishers but also for the “fairly large” and the “not so big” and the “further afield” in order to get a fuller sense of publishers’ participation in the overall library marketplace.
The list is meant to be a helpful, not comprehensive, resource. The focus is whether or not publishers are in the library ebook...
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Library Babel Fish: Why Are We Boycotting... →
In my circles, the answer to this question is fairly obvious. But as I was trying to explain to undergraduates how messed up scholarly publishing is, I realized it’s hard to grasp unless you already have been bruised by current practices. When you’re just learning how information works and have only gotten as far as “you ought to use scholarly sources,” it’s...
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CNET: So how much is a fair price to pay for an... →
Remember how much money e-readers were supposed to save book buyers? It was among the big reasons why 20 million Americans decided to take the plunge.
So why is it that consumers are still paying through the nose for e-book titles that ought to cost a fraction of the price charged for the used hardcover version?
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“Every time society advances, it faces challenges from those people economically...”
– Are books and the internet about to merge? | Books | guardian.co.uk (via wildcat2030)
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Censored Genius: Each and every ebook costs $99. →
This post makes an interesting point.
If you have a portable ereader or an iPad or a smart phone or even a laptop, then each and every ebook you put on that device costs as much as the device. There is no way to average out the cost of all your books when you drop your reader in the toilet. You don’t pay 3 cents to Amazon or Barnes & Noble each time you open a book. You pay $79 or...
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NYT Bits Blog: Amazon Pulls Thousands of E-Books... →
Amazon.com removed more than 4,000 e-books from its site this week after it tried and failed to get them more cheaply, a muscle-flexing move that is likely to have significant repercussions for the digital book market.
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The dispute quickly reignited fears in some corners about the power Amazon enjoys as the shift to e-books accelerates. Amazon is dominant in both the physical and...
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“Because libraries are, at most 5% of a general trade publisher’s business and...”
– Libraries and publishers don’t have symmetrical interest in a conversation (via thelifeguardlibrarian)
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Free Range Librarian: Between an ebook and a hard... →
In the past, the writer-publisher-library-reader model had a modicum of equanimity. It is now obvious that the nature of the technology — the printed book — largely regulated that equanimity. All of us in the reading ecology — librarians, authors, repackagers, readers — are tied to the tracks by the Brobdingnagian power wielded by the highly consolidated publisher-industrial complex that is...
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Village Voice Blogs: Mike Bloomberg: Libraries... →
Yes, books and reading and anything that involves words on actual paper are totally screwed. But that doesn’t mean New York City libraries aren’t valuable!
That was kind of the message behind Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s announcement this morning that he is expanding the city’s efforts to help unemployed New Yorkers find jobs through partnerships with public libraries.
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In the Library with the Lead Pipe: Snooki, Whale... →
…Sleep eluded me that evening as I realized how desperately we, as librarians, are needed in the 21st Century to help the public, our patrons, wade through a sea of misinformation. Each day we aide our patrons as they seek to rebuild their lives and their careers after an economic meltdown that never seems to end, yet in the midst of an economic crisis that has enveloped a culture...
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EFF: How to Remove Your Google Search History... →
(All of my accounts just gave me the option to turn the history on, so apparently I never enabled it to begin with.)
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MindShift: How to Choose the Right Words for Best... →
Based on how Google ranks search results, typing in a question will be more likely to bring back pages with a question for a title. In many of our everyday searches this is an easy way to find question and answer sites when we want them, but Q&A sites are not necessarily authoritative sources for school work. So I have students write down their questions and teach them how to mark them...
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“And let’s be honest, any deal where libraries are giving publishers money for...”
– Annoyed Librarian on libraries and ebooks and patrons and ebooks and what are we going to do about this because I’m really hoping we gain some ground in the right direction very, very soon. (via thelifeguardlibrarian)
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Cool Toys Pic of the day - 5 ebook search engines →
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Library WebHead: Why Publishers Should Not Only... →
In the library lending vs. ebook publisher controversy, one thing that we keep forgetting to add into the equation is that we libraries have always provided the value added service of free marketing & reputation building. As we move ever further into the world of digital media, reputation becomes a key asset. We’ve never charged publishers for our free marketing and ...
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Library Babel Fish: Recommended Reading,... →
This post is primarily composed of some recommended items for reading and pertinent quotes, but the summary/introduction is well worth quoting here:
…Somehow, like an unusual alignment of planets, SOPA, PIPA, RWA, and Penguin’s decision to withdraw the ebooks and audiobooks they publish from public libraries have all contributed to an unusual tidal swell. People are beginning to notice...
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Authors Guild Blog: Publishing’s Ecosystem on the... →
Lengthy, but an interesting read that pieces together some of the developments in the booksellers vs. Amazon tale.
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Real eBooks: Are We Still in the Stone Age? →
beatwritersbane:
((By John Moushon))
So when will we start to see REAL ebooks appear on the market? You know the ebooks that take advantage of their digital environment. Ebooks that have been rendered to improve the reader’s ebook experience. As the number of ebook devices explodes into the book reader’s world, the readers are going to expect more. This statement is especially true with the...
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Huffington Post: Are We Suffering from eReader... →
Sue Little of Jabberwocky in Newburyport, Massachusetts, one of New England’s longest-running indie bookstores agrees. “People who love books are feeling fiercely protective of their books and booksellers.” Her customers travel from farther away than ever, she adds, because they’re seeking that unique bookseller’s experience. “It’s like people wanting to pay...
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TeleRead: It's time to start blaming publishers... →
Instead of getting in fights with Amazon, publishers get in fights with libraries, and they don’t even understand what libraries do. Not only do libraries create future writers, they create and nurture readers. In fact, statistically, library users are publishers’ best customers. Despite all this, publishers claim borrowing ebooks from libraries makes it too easy to get around paying for books,...
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Slate: The Other Academic Freedom Movement: How... →
The Federal Research Public Access Act, reintroduced today by a bipartisan assortment of politicians, would broaden the open-access requirement to nearly all federally funded research. The rationale is that taxpayers, having paid once for the research, shouldn’t have to pay again to read what was done. Today’s bill is a response to the Research Works Act, which was introduced in December....
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O'Reilly Radar: It's time for a unified ebook... →
Imagine buying a car that locks you into one brand of fuel. A new BMW, for example, that only runs on BMW gas. There are plenty of BMW gas stations around, even a few in your neighborhood, so convenience isn’t an issue. But if one of those other gas stations offers a discount, a membership program, or some other attractive marketing campaign, you can’t participate. You’re...
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Guardian Science Blog: The parable of the farmers... →
A great parable relating to scholarly publishing. Definitely worth a read.
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The Digital Shift: Penguin Group Terminating Its... →
Um… yikes?
In a stunning development, Penguin Group has extricated itself from its contract with OverDrive, the primary supplier of ebooks to public libraries.
Starting February 10, Penguin, which had recently instituted limitations on library lending for ebooks and audiobooks, will now no longer offer any ebooks or audiobooks through OverDrive.
“Looking ahead, we are continuing to...
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Forbes: Lies, Damned Lies and Piracy →
To sum up my original point, I’m trying to get the message across that piracy is a service problem. If media companies start embracing easy to use digital methods of distribution, it’s the best way to combat piracy. You might not be able to ever beat “free,” but you sure as hell can compete with “easy.”
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…The idiotic rule of thumb in the industry is that one download equals one...
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ALA TechSource: Go High-Tech on a Tight Budget: A... →
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Perfect Whole: I Can’t Believe You’re Throwing Out... →
I am a librarian but no longer a bibliophile.
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What I’m done with is the fetishization of the codex, with books for books’ sake. I see no point in stockpiling stories that no longer speak to anyone, scientific knowledge decades out of date, speculations about the future that never came to pass, information shaped blithely by the racism and sexism of its time. But more than anything...
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Open Salon: 25 Things I Learned From Opening a... →
Unrelated to libraries (though there are some points that also relate to libraries, like the expectation that the person at the desk knows what every single book is about), but fun to read.
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OhMyGov: How to Protect Yourself from Social Media... →
Written with government in mind, but applies to anyone using Twitter for professional/organizational purposes.
Post information only on a need to know basis.
Make your passwords foolproof.
Respect other’s personal boundaries.
When it comes to posts on Facebook or Twitter, the less personal the better.
Change your privacy settings often.
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JISC: Libraries help researchers save time, says... →
University libraries are saving academics time by helping them find quality material more quickly, says a new report.
Academics are choosing the library as their first choice for getting hold of scholarly material because access is quick, it helps them make new connections to related information and the library may be the only place they can access that material.
Academics are then using their...
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