Thomson Reuters Tackles Open Access Datasets With Data Citation Index

Over a year ago, I spent months working on what I hoped would be a comprehensive guide to Open Access repositories for data in Anthropology & Archaeology. The resulting list is impressive in size if nothing else (see it here). After getting it on the web and appropriately linked, I checked back recently to see what kind of traction the site has gotten - little. Folks in my departments were thrilled to have - many, in fact, helped create it - but their information seeking behavior just didn't allow for rummaging around the web - even with a guide.

In an environment of research - and in a time of decreased financial support - getting the best information is what is essential. Just as with web searching, I've found people in my departments will rarely go beyond the third page of results....The answer with web searching is to become much more skilled in the search so you don't have pages and pages of potentially great results to shift through.

I think that is also true for data discovery. There are fabulous resources for Open Access - or not OA but just great sources - of data out there. So how do we help researchers in this quest?

I think that Thomson Reuters has it right with their new Data Citation Index product. I was asked to write a quick summary as a NewsBreak for Information Today on the product - and you may want to give it a look. Even if you loathe the idea of a commercial company's involvement, the critical issue today is sorting out the wheat from the chaff in terms of finding quality data for research. Even ICPSR and other esteemed repositories are on-board with this effort. Since there isn't an alternative, I'm just happy that someone is willing to invest in giving this the due diligence that it clearly deserves.

Would you agree?

Random House and Penguin Merge to Meet the Digital Imperative

What do you think of the changes in book publishing today? It seems like the only common denominator in the industry is change. Options range from the death of books or chaos to comments like this from blogger "Passive Guy:"

"Twenty-five years from now the creative destruction of legacy publishing we are witnessing today will be regarded as a major cultural turning point, a literary renaissance. We will celebrate countless brilliant books created by authors who would never have been published by the corporate cretins that slithered into control of the levers of Big Publishing."

Where do you stand?

The latest chapter in this cultural shift is the contraction and/or reinvention of publishing itself. The 'Big Six' will be the 'Big Five' next year - if not less as Random House and Penguin merge. I was asked to cover this as a NewsBreak for Information Today. You might want to give it a read.

One image that I can't get over comes from long-time Penn State University Press editor Sandy Thatcher. In an email to me, jokingly noted that "they missed a real opportunity at renaming: this should have become Random Penguins in the House!"

I love the image in my mind that could have become the logo!

Google, Apple Expand Micropayment Systems for Web Content and Mobile Purchasing

In 2009, New York Times columnist David Carr wrote that "with newspapers entering bankruptcy even as their audience grows, the threat is not just to the companies that own them, but also to the news itself." Will enhanced technology make micropayments any more attractive or compelling now than twenty years ago? "Remember that when iTunes began," Carr continues, "the music industry was being decimated by file sharing. By coming up with an easy user interface and obtaining the cooperation of a broad swath of music companies, Mr. Jobs helped pull the business off the brink. He has been accused of running roughshod over the music labels, which are a fraction of their former size. But they are still in business."

According to industry trade group CTIA, wireless data traffic doubled from 2010 to 2011, to an incredible 341.2 petabytes -= 341,200 trillion bytes of data. Since voice traffic remained constant, this shows that people are clearly finding new ways to use their cellphones. The adoption rates in Africa are most compelling.

The 2012 Afrobarometer survey found that 93% of their survey communities had cellphone service - amazing when compared to only 23% having a post office, 30% a police station, 51% a health clinic and 82% an electricity grid.

A recent World Bank report finding that in Kenya "basic mobile savings is already partially filling the gap, answering the acute need many Kenyans, particularly the poor, have for a secure place to store funds." For developing countries, without the existing financial infrastructure, micropayments has already taken a strong hold.

Clearly mobile is hot today - and a major device for the 21st century for communication, information and now finance as well: "Mobile services are changing the way that billions of people around the world live, work and socialise," notes Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer for the international trade group GSMA, "and we are seeing a steady evolution towards a fully digital life."

Timetric's recent market research report on mobile banking reports that "at the beginning of 2011, 30% of mobile phone users in developed markets used a mobile banking service on their mobile phones at least once. By 2015 however, a number of forecasts expect at least 50% of US mobile users to be conducting transactions from their mobile devices."

I was fortunate to be able to look at this new phenomenon for a NewsBreak for Information Today. Google, Apple, Walmart,PayPal and now Isis are some of the non-traditional companies hoping to move into 21st century banking. You might want to give my report a read. Are you ready to switch from banks and cash to mobile? Who do you trust with your banking?

Content Curation - An Answer to the Information Glut?

Tom Foremski, SiliconValleyWatcher blogger, has said that "I see curation as a one part of that human essence, a natural human activity that cannot be matched by technology. And curation is where the value lies in improving the organization and usefulness of the Internet."

CurationSoft blogger Jack Humphrey lists the "effects of a well-curated hub as:

• save readers time finding the good stuff themselves


• inform readers by providing context and meaning to the citations and the overall topic-based trackback links from cited sites, which improve search rankings for the curator


• loyal following from readers who have chosen your site to be the trusted 'filter' on a topic-based monetization through traditional methods of paid advertising, affiliate sales, list marketing, or products and services you provide directly"

Content Curator Robin Good notes that "a content curator is someone "who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online". The most important component of this job is the word "continually."In the real-time world of the Internet, this is critical."

Whether you think curation is the future or not, it is a hot trend today. I've written a two-part article on Content Curation and the first part was published in SEARCHER this month. You might want to give it a look. Would you look to curators to help you find what you need?

Three Publishers Settle in Apple Pricing Collusion Case

Ebooks continue to grow in popularity and market share for books. Bookboon.com, which "publishes free and openly available eBooks for students and business professionals," released a survey of student opinions on etextbooks September 11th, finding that almost 97% of students believe texts are too expensive and 76% don't always buy required texts. 58% preferred etexts, believing them to be cheaper and easier to carry around.

Bookboon.com's Thomas Buus Madsen noting that "American students are at least a couple of years ahead of the European counterparts. In countries like Germany, the U.K., and the Netherlands, between 30 and 40 percent of students prefer digital textbooks, but most are still stuck on old-fashioned paper. This is partly because ereaders and e-textbooks are less available" in Europe, Madsen added. "Additionally, publishers, professors, and universities in Europe are less active in promoting and adopting the use of e-textbooks compared to the USA."

I was asked to cover the latest chapter in the Apple - Big 5 Publisher collusion case for NewsBreaks from Information Today and it was published this morning. You might want to give it a look - and feel free to share your ideas and comments!

Barnes & Noble and Microsoft Form 'Newco'--A New Chapter for Ebooks

Once upon a time - seems like a long time ago - there were two massive companies controlling their markets: Microsoft had a death-grip on computer operating systems, browsers and office/productivity software; Barnes & Noble led the bookselling industry with stores across country and by 2000 was the second-largest online bookseller in the United States. Today, both are struggling. MS never figured out social media and their stiff-arm tactics (within the industry and with users) enraged many - along with their products that were buggy, overpriced and constant targets of spam and viral attacks. Despite deep pockets, MS has been little more than an also-ran in today's mobile, online environment. BN hasn't the deep pockets to wage a serious challenge to Amazon. MS may have the money, but no serious products to wage battle for position in the marketplace.

Perhaps it was bound to happen, money meets a poorly-funded but competent challenger to Amazon's ebook throne - and Newco was born. Details on the collaboration are still being roughed-out, but I was able to get what information is now available for a news blog on Information Today's NewsBreaks. The blog entry is "Barnes & Noble and Microsoft Form 'Newco'--A New Chapter for Ebooks" and you might want to give it a read.

Can Microsoft regain its footing and successfully move into this arena? MS was perhaps the most important proponent of electronic books in the CD-ROM era - can they recapture their mojo here? Will an infusion of much needed capital help Barnes & Noble and their Nook product take on the current champ?

The ebooks story continues to unfold.

The Ebook Wars Continue

Ebooks are providing a very interesting drama today, due at least in part to the dislocations in major industries due to technological change and the rise of a truly mobile, online 24/7 global culture. Judge Denise Cote recently rejected a motion to dismiss antitrust charges against Apple and major book publishers - so the cases go on.

For anyone around in the 1980s when MPEG, JPEG and other standards and industry changes were in play, watching this ebook saga is particularly interesting since back in the 1980s the stakes weren't as immediate and the 'deals' were worked behind closed doors at very initial stages of what was then called multimedia. Today, perhaps due to the arrogant attitudes of JP Morgan exes and others who feel above the fray, companies and individuals are amazingly (and arrogantly) open about their intentions and efforts to grab power and dominance. Check out the Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs bio for some amazingly open comments on Apple's efforts to control markets.

An article I wrote on some of the latest twists and turns to the ebook story have been published in the May SEARCHER magazine as "The Ebook Wars - Amazon Versus the Rest" and it was posted publicly. You might want to give it a good look.

And....keep tuned in, this story is far from over.

Your thoughts?

Apple Announces Efforts to 'Reinvent' Textbooks

In a rather odd Press Conference in January, Apple brought in the international media to the Guggenheim Museum in New York to announce that they were going to 'reinvent textbooks.' Although an interesting thought, the actual content seemed to me to be rather naive, the textbook industry - and especially the process of textbook adoption at the K-12 level particularly - is very complex and often very political....think of all the ongoing problems with evolution versus creationism? Also the announcement seems premature since there was little to announce - other than Apple would love everyone to get an iPad (and imagine how long these would last in K-12 settings!), though all school systems are cash-strapped today and government data shows that one in five children live in poverty in the U.S. Apple has a long way to go to prove their concept here.

I was able to talk with some very smart people about all of this for a news blog for Information Today's NewsBreaks. Outsell's Kate Worlock was one: "I think that the announcement does more to reinvent business models and practices than it does to reinvent textbooks. The new iBook 2 textbooks, while impressive, aren't terribly different to something you'd see from Inkling or in Nature Education's new Principles of Biology. Of course, iBooks 2 focuses more on K-12, so it's new for that market, but not revolutionary."

What do you think? Am I wrong or missing something here?

Social Review Site Goodreads Dumps Amazon's Metadata

Amazon has made its metadata - information on a book's title, author, publisher, etc. - available to others - but all most agree to Amazon's terms.

Until recently, Goodreads relied on Amazon book information for basic metadata on titles. This arrangement allowed Goodreads access to cover art on books as well. However, Goodreads decided that Amazon's restrictive API agreements--not allowing for use of Amazon data on mobile apps and the inability of linking to competing bookstores--made the continuing relationship untenable. Goodreads noted to the PaidContent blog that its "goal is to be an open place for all readers to discover and buy books from all retailers, both online and offline." Amazon's API was actually developed for affiliate marketers in order to allow them to feature books on their websites, driving referral sales to Amazon--and Amazon alone. Restrictions that might work for other booksellers weren't working for this social book networking site.

As we move to more social forms of book recommendation and review systems, these issues of access will continue. In Goodreads case, they have switched to Ingram for data.

Goodreads noted to the PaidContent blog that its "goal is to be an open place for all readers to discover and buy books from all retailers, both online and offline." Amazon's API was actually developed for affiliate marketers in order to allow them to feature books on their websites, driving referral sales to Amazon--and Amazon alone. Restrictions that might work for other booksellers weren't working for this social book networking site.

For more about this, see my news blog posting at Information Today.

Your thoughts?

Etextbooks Attracting Involvement of the FCC, Education Department, and Higher Ed

To kick off Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Education jointly held a Town Hall in Washington, which issued an election year "challenge to states and companies to ensure every K-12 student has a digital textbook within five years."

Quite an ambitious goal! However, ebook technology is evolving and stabilizing today and the pricing of textbooks (from K-12 through college) has become a major issue.

I was asked to write about this for a blog posting for Information Today. You may want to give it a read.

Many issues remain unsettled today, but the efforts to experiment and test ideas and technologies are a positive indicator of interest and innovation. Student acceptance of etextbooks is still a question, with some scattered surveys finding that students still prefer the current print-based systems.

Ebooks accounted for only 2.8% of the estimated $8 million textbook market in the U.S. in 2010, so the products are still at a very early stage of development - but clearly, there are efforts to accelerate this quickly in the coming years.

Amazon's Squeeze on Booksellers Leads to Boycotts and Protests

Amazon is making serious moves to consolidate its position in North America and other English-language markets - and even moving strategically into Spanish-, Italian- and French-speaking areas of the world.

In the U.S. they have been working to mould the book distribution system to fit its goals for a streamlined, cost-containment model. In March they worked to freeze out IPG - an important publishing support network for smaller presses - while adding on alternative independent publishing groups. I wrote about it in a NewsBreak for Information Today.

Today, there is no company that approaches the position or power of Amazon in the evolving 21st century publishing arena. For better or worse, Amazon is a power to behold - and watch carefully!

Amazon is a company that has done most things right to build its power, reputation and customer loyalty.

Ebook Tsunami--From Antitrust to Burgeoning Sales

After over a year of investigation, Wednesday (April 11th), the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in federal court against Apple and five of the largest, most important publishers on our planet. I wrote a news blog item about the filing - and other recent ebook news - for Information Today's NewsBreaks. It's worth a read - even more interesting to read is the lawsuit itself, which - step-by-step - presents the government's case of how it all happened. In Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, he talks about the discussions and comments that Jobs himself had made about this. The government's case, however, outlines this in detail. The inner machinations of publishers paint them as fearful and feeling powerless against the advancing technology of the 21st century as well as of the increasing power of Amazon. You might want to give the news post a read.

Your thoughts?