By Edward Nawotka Yes, it’s a huge question. But the general consensus is the university and academic publishing models are broken. Under pressure from funding bodies to make enough money to be self-sustaining, many university presses have turned away from their core mission of publishing monographs and original research to publishing trade-oriented titles (with mixed results). Those that have stuck …
Behold, It Lives! Frankentext! (Or How Textbook Publishing Got So Scary)
• The textbook, the revered embodiment of knowledge for more than 150 years, had turned into Frankentext, The Monster: overstuffed, overpriced, and unloved. • Eric Frank, co-founder of Flat World Knowledge, explains why and what might be done to thwart the monster. Editorial by Eric Frank, co-founder, Flat World Knowledge (with a little help from Mary Shelley and Mel Brooks) …
German Buch News: Parliamentary Support for Google
By Siobhan O’Leary The Research Services group of the German Parliament is now weighing in on the pros and cons of Open Access and Google Book Search. As reported in Boersenblatt, the group has issued a 19-page letter stating that opposition to the concept of Open Access is nearly impossible to comprehend. The report praises the transparency of Google’s compensation …
Hyperbolic Heidelberg Appeal Distracts from Real Issues in Germany’s Literary Future
Editorial by Rüdiger Wischenbart Is the glass half empty or half full? At the moment, German publishing circles are absorbed in a very public debate over the digital future, one that threatens to split the literary establishment from the younger generation of “digerati” and “digital natives.” The debate was prompted in March after literature professor Roland Reuss (at left) published …