Image: From the Springer Nature @ Frankfurt Book Fair site
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘The Essence of the Fair’
In the run-up to Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 14 to 18), Holtzbrinck’s Springer Nature has announced today (September 29) from Heidelberg that its first digital hub is now online.
Called Springer Nature Group @ Frankfurt Book Fair, the site aggregates the company’s anticipated offerings and programming, and is “created to maintain the tradition of live panel discussions on industry topics and book presentations that are central to Springer Nature’s physical booth,” the company tells the news media.
“Visitors will be provided with insights, information, and a collection of quality content, which complements Frankfurter Buchmesse’s own digital-only approach following their announcement that they will no longer be hosting a physical fair.”
From October 14 through 17, the hub is expected to have live events daily on “hot topics and trends in the publishing industry and academic community, including digital transformation, the impact of research, and how research can help to address global issues like COVID-19.”
The events offered at the site will be free of charge, and “a dedicated video gallery will allow authors to present and discuss their new books. Registration for the site’s events is open, and some author videos have been uploaded.
In some cases, the planned live events are in German. In most instances, they’re in English.
Renate Bayaz
In a comment, Renate Bayaz, communications director for books and professional publishing at Springer Nature, is quoted, saying, “We are excited to launch our very first Springer Nature Group @Frankfurt Book Fair virtual hub, where people can find information about all our events and register for the live discussions.
“Frankfurt Book Fair is an important date in the publishing calendar and we are proud to be able to still bring the essence of the fair to our community in a new way.
“We’re also delighted to also be able to showcase some of our authors and their books in a special video gallery, in which they can talk about their motivation for writing them and what makes these titles special.”
A Variety of Events and Topics
Image: From the author video gallery at Springer Nature @ Frankfurt Book Fair
The listing of events on the newly activated site include “Where Are We on the Path to an Open Future?” at 4:30 p.m. CEST (1430 GMT) on October 14.
Our own program, Publishing Perspectives Talks is also listed for October 14. That session is a roundtable event with academic publishing leaders:
- Springer Nature’s chief publishing and solutions officer Steven Inchcoombe
- Michiel Kolman, senior vice-president for information and industry relations at Elsevier
- Judy Verses, executive vice-president of research with Wiley
On October 15, the Springer Nature site is highlighting a session on “The Impact of COVID-19 on Research Enterprises” with:
- Rob Johnson, founder and director with Research Consulting
- Roger Schonfeld, director of libraries, scholarly communication, and museums at Ithaka S+R
- Susie Winter, director of communications and engagement for research at Springer Nature
Another event on October 15 is called “OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit,” and it’s expected to have its panelists look at the new resource, which is designed to help authors understand open access and build trust in the creative corps. Speaking in this one:
- Lucy Barnes, editor of Open Book Publishers
- Eelco Ferwerda, director of OAPEN
- Ros Pyne, director of open access books and book policies for Springer Nature
- Graham Stone, senior program manager of open access monographs at Jisc
More events include a session on libraries that will include issues of safety protocols and novel delivery methods; and a program on interdisciplinary thinking, climate change, and environmental impact with four authors: Mark Everard, author of Rebuilding the Earth; Audley Genus, author in Advancing Energy Policy; Caroline Hickman, author in Climate Psychology, Wesley Spindler, co-author of The Circular Economy Handbook.
More from us on Springer Nature is here, more on scholarly publishing is here, and more on open access is here. More from us on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here. And more from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here and at the CORONAVIRUS tab at the top of each page of our site.