Caught My Eye 1/30/13

 World wide web creator sees open access future for academic publishing  According to this post in PhysOrg,  world wide web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee thinks “that the open access activists will win out” when it comes to the future of academic publishing.  He was speaking at the launch of the $40 million CSIRO’s Digital Productivity and Services Flagship on Tuesday when he noted “A lot of publishers realise that’s the way that is going. The unfortunate death of Aaron Swartz brought… that whole battle to many people’s attention,” he said, adding that an open access model gives the most benefit to the most people.”

• The wrong goodbye of Barnes and Noble  In this article on the Melville House website, Dennis Johnson predicts a future with Barnes and Noble’s “1362 bookstores disappearing from the American landscape — less than two years after 686 Borders stores disappeared…”  And in an ironic twist, he points to a David Streitfeld article in the NY Times that puts forth the “counterintuitive possibility … that the 2011 demise of Borders, the second-biggest chain, dealt a surprising blow to the e-book industry. Readers could no longer see what they wanted to go home and order.” -  If he is right and B&N closes too, where does that leave the book business?

• Improve Your Results with Google’s Advanced Power Searching MOOC  The Prof. Hacker blog in the Chronicle of Higher Education focuses on Google’s continuing efforts at user education. They are adding  own version of a MOOC, or massively open online course, on Advanced Power Searching. Registration is—of course—free, and according to the site, you will be able to complete the course at your own pace and on your own time…”

• Digital Lending, In Agreement  This article by Peter Brantley in Publishers Weekly discusses the much publicized Smashwords – Douglas County Public Library deal, however, it focuses on “Smashwords’ acceptance of a simple “Statement of Common Understanding for Purchasing Electronic Content…” Peter thinks that this barely two page document “is a model for a straightforward and civil agreement between publishers and libraries that rests solidly on current copyright, without the need for confining and restrictive licensing agreements that add complexity, increase user frustration, and diminish access without providing significant additional protection for rightsholders…”