There has been a lot of talk about libraries and MOOCs lately as librarians try [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-massive-open-opportunity-supporting-moocs-in-public-and-academic-libraries/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-a-self-publishing-gold-rush/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-a-self-publishing-gold-rush/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 23:36:30 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=28457 “A Self-Publishing Gold Rush” is an article that appeared in this week Chronicle of Higher Education written by Marc Bousquet, director of college writing and an associate professor of English at Emory University. 

Mr. Bousquet begins his piece by pointing to the differences between popular and academic self-publishing.  In order to make these [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-a-self-publishing-gold-rush/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-intersections-of-scholarly-communication-and-information-literacy/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-intersections-of-scholarly-communication-and-information-literacy/#comments Sat, 04 May 2013 17:40:19 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=28224  Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy: Creating Strategic Collaborations for a Changing Academic Environment

Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy: Creating Strategic Collaborations for a Changing Academic Environment is “a white paper published by the Association of College & Research [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/05/atg-article-of-the-week-intersections-of-scholarly-communication-and-information-literacy/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-elsevier-acquires-mendeley/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-elsevier-acquires-mendeley/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:12:53 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=27876 “Elsevier Acquires Mendeley” is an article by Barbara Brynko that appeared on the Information Today website last week about a landmark acquisition that promises to have a significant impact on the worlds of academic publishing, research, and libraries.

Those unfamiliar with the particulars will welcome Ms. Brynko’s efforts in distilling the [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-elsevier-acquires-mendeley/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-whats-the-problem-with-self-publishing/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-whats-the-problem-with-self-publishing/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:03:35 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=27620  What’s the Problem with Self-Publishing?

This timely article by Josh Hadro was posted on the Library Journal website last week and points out the major barriers faced by self-published books in becoming a viable part of a library’s collection. Mr. Hadro notes that despite the success of self- published authors like [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-whats-the-problem-with-self-publishing/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-scholars-increasingly-use-online-resources-survey-finds-but-they-value-traditional-formats-too/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-scholars-increasingly-use-online-resources-survey-finds-but-they-value-traditional-formats-too/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:39:54 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=27316 Scholars Increasingly Use Online Resources, Survey Finds, but They Value Traditional Formats Too 

In this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education,  Jennifer Howard reports on the 2012 Ithaka survey of faculty attitudes, which went public yesterday.  In spite of all the buzz about open access,  the article has [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-article-of-the-week-scholars-increasingly-use-online-resources-survey-finds-but-they-value-traditional-formats-too/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-entire-issue-of-the-week-the-future-of-publishing-from-nature/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-entire-issue-of-the-week-the-future-of-publishing-from-nature/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:06:12 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=27137  The Future of Publishing is a special supplement from Nature that “takes a close look at the forces now at work in scientific publishing, and how they may play out over the coming decades.”  Naturally, open access gets a lot of attention but other  developments like “cloud computing, crowd sourcing and ubiquitous sharing” [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/04/atg-entire-issue-of-the-week-the-future-of-publishing-from-nature/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-books-arent-dead-yet/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-books-arent-dead-yet/#comments Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:32:41 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=26791 Books aren’t dead yet an article by Laura Miller for Salon claims that self-publishing and ebook promoters keep getting it wrong.  It sounds counter intuitive given the tremendous growth of the ebook market but Ms. Miller makes the case that authors want to be in print and [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-books-arent-dead-yet/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-in-win-for-libraries-over-publishers-supreme-court-upholds-reselling-of-foreign-books/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-in-win-for-libraries-over-publishers-supreme-court-upholds-reselling-of-foreign-books/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:43:18 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=26263 In Win for Libraries Over Publishers, Supreme Court Upholds Reselling of Foreign Books

The is no doubt that the big news this week is the Supreme Court’s decision in Kirtsaeng vs. John Wiley.  A number of articles have reported on the ruling but this article by Jennifer Howard in the Chronicle of Higher [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-in-win-for-libraries-over-publishers-supreme-court-upholds-reselling-of-foreign-books/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-imagining-a-swap-meet-for-e-books-and-music/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-imagining-a-swap-meet-for-e-books-and-music/#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:45:33 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=26021 Imagining a Swap Meet for E-Books and Music is a New York Times piece by David Streitfeld that points out how “severely limited” your ownership rights are when you buy an ebook.  He notes that you can’t resell it or give it away as you can a print book. In fact, he claims that [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-imagining-a-swap-meet-for-e-books-and-music/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-print-on-demand-and-the-law-of-unintended-consequences/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-print-on-demand-and-the-law-of-unintended-consequences/#comments Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:27:31 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=25476 Print-on-Demand and the Law of Unintended Consequences

In this recent article in Library Journal, Rick Anderson finds a “scary” and  disruptive threat in a place that may surprise some folks.  He worries about the disruptive potential of Print-on-Demand.  Although dependent on the latest in technology, POD might strike some as more a step [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/03/atg-article-of-the-week-print-on-demand-and-the-law-of-unintended-consequences/feed/ 2 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-digital-rights-management-downloads-downers-and-a-call-for-pdf-publishing/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-digital-rights-management-downloads-downers-and-a-call-for-pdf-publishing/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:02:22 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=25204  Digital rights management: downloads, downers and a call for PDF publishing

In this article in the Guardian, Jefferson Pooley,  associate professor in media and communication at Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania makes the outlandish claim that “we need book formats we can annotate, search, print and share.” In short, scholars need ebooks they can use.  [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-digital-rights-management-downloads-downers-and-a-call-for-pdf-publishing/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-need-library-e-books-to-feed-your-new-gadget-heres-the-answer/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-need-library-e-books-to-feed-your-new-gadget-heres-the-answer/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:33:13 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=24937  Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer, is an thought provoking article by David Rothman posted in TeleRead a few weeks ago.  In it he advocates “a well-stocked national digital library system—in fact, two of them—one public, one academic.”

Obviously the number of ebook “gadgets” [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-need-library-e-books-to-feed-your-new-gadget-heres-the-answer/feed/ 1 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-why-traditional-publishing-is-really-in-a-golden-age/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-why-traditional-publishing-is-really-in-a-golden-age/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:00:41 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=24854 This recent post on the NPR website entitled Why Traditional Publishing Is Really In A ‘Golden Age’ discusses an interview with Michael Pietsch, soon-to-be CEO of the traditional publisher Hachette Book Group.  In the interview Mr. Pietsch claims that “we’re in a golden age for books — reading, writing and publishing,” and argues for the [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-why-traditional-publishing-is-really-in-a-golden-age/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-5-academic-publishing-trends-to-watch-in-2013/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/02/atg-article-of-the-week-5-academic-publishing-trends-to-watch-in-2013/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:13:23 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=24576  5 Academic Publishing Trends to Watch in 2013

George Lossius, CEO of Publishing Technology, provides some food for thought in this recent piece on future trends in academic publishing.  Noting that 2012 was an “eventful, some would even say turbulent, year” Mr. Lossius predicts more of the same for the coming year.

Anyone interested the history of American English and the reference works that have helped transform it will be glad to see this review of David Skinner’s new book The Story of Ain’t: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/01/atg-article-of-the-week-wars-of-words-the-story-behind-the-stories-about-websters-third/feed/ 0 http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/01/atg-article-of-the-week-top-ten-digital-publishing-stories-of-2012/ http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/01/atg-article-of-the-week-top-ten-digital-publishing-stories-of-2012/#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:52:27 +0000 gilsont http://www.against-the-grain.com/?p=22750 Top Ten Digital Publishing Stories of 2012

In this article Jeremy Greenfield of Digital Book World offers a good year end summation and review of key issues and developments in the world of digital publishing by highlighting the ten most popular articles appearing in DBW during the past year.  Included are pieces that cover [...]]]> http://www.against-the-grain.com/2013/01/atg-article-of-the-week-top-ten-digital-publishing-stories-of-2012/feed/ 0