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First One: Leading the Digital Revolution
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by Theresa Cramer
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When Karen Hunter started noticing a shift in publishing a few years ago, she says, "I was treated like Chicken Little." A journalist for more than 15 years, the co-author of several books (including the best-selling I Make My Own Rules with L.L. Cool J) and a self-professed tech geek, she says she told her co-workers at Simon & Schuster, "Something's going on that we need to capitalize on." Just like at most publishing companies, Hunter's warnings went unheeded, and as she puts it, "We got jacked." Digital publishing exploded, and even now—as ereaders flood the market—many companies are still trying to figure out how to make money from ebooks. Now, with the Jan. 11 launch of First One Digital Publishing, Hunter is trying to make up ground and help publishing regain some of its power with a new business model.
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Tutor.com Launches New Mobile and Personal Features
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Tutor.com released a new look and new mobile and personal features to its thousands of library, school, and military sites. Tutor.com reports that it is the first online homework-help company to release a mobile application for library patrons. The Tutor.com library advisory council, data from more than one million student surveys, and feedback from a network of 2,200 tutors drove the development process. New features are available to current clients at no additional cost and were showcased at the Midwinter ALA Meeting.
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NPG Introduces Mobile and Article ‘Rental’ Access Options
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) introduced a range of new affordable access options for readers. A number of Nature journals now offer 24-hour "view only" access for $3.99 via the DeepDyve platform and a range of access models via the nature.com iPhone app. The nature.com reader for iPad is expected to launch later this month.
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Readex to Release African American Periodicals, 1825-1995
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African American Periodicals, 1825-1995, will be released by Readex, a division of NewsBank, in spring 2011. This newest Archive of Americana collection will feature more than 170 periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications will include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations' bulletins, annual reports, and other genres. Soon to be fully searchable, these diverse periodicals—which have shaped, and in turn, been shaped by, African American culture—will enable new discoveries on lives of African Americans as individuals, as an ethnic group and as Americans.
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Review of the Year 2010 and Trends Watch 2011
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by Paula J. Hane
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The year 2010 saw the emergence of the iPad, the Android, and apps—lots and lots of apps. The market for mobile computing skyrocketed this year. And, information industry providers were quick to jump in with content delivery apps of all kinds. But I actually think it's a toss-up for top news of the year. While some say 2010 was the year of the app, there's also a very strong case that it could be considered the year of the ebook. And in our information industry, you could make a claim for it being the year of the platform relaunch (and I did, in my December 2010 NewsBreak Update column in Information Today,.
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If you regularly read blogs, add these to your reader:
ITI Books Blog – booksblog.infotoday.com – news, observations, and commentary from the authors, editors, and publishers of Information Today, Inc.'s many book offerings.
ITI Conference Blog – libconf.com – covering ITI's library conferences worldwide.
Library Stuff – librarystuff.net – the library blog dedicated to resources for keeping current and professional development, written by Steven M. Cohen.
InfoToday Europe Blog – infotodayeurope.com – The latest news, analysis and opinion on the information industry in Europe and the UK.
Business of Video blog – blog.streamingmedia.com – Daily posts about the online video industry, business trends and analysis, market data, and research as well as the online video business models in the media and entertainment, broadcast, publishing, advertising and enterprise industries.
destinationCRM Blog – destinationcrmblog.com – a blog from the editors of CRM magazine, dedicated to providing Customer Relationship Management information in a timely manner to connect decision makers and providers.
SpeechTech Blog – speechtechblog.com – updates on speech technology and its applications in daily life. Covers everything from ASR to VUI, with lots of links, threads, and even a few pictures thrown in for good measure.
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Paula Hane's New Chapter
Effective June 1, Paula J. Hane is giving up her assignment as News Bureau Chief at Information Today, Inc. (ITI), where she was engaged to provide editorial direction to the ITI NewsBreaks service hosted on infotoday.com. She also wrote for Information Today and the Cyberskeptic’s Guide to Internet Research. She has been associated with the company for 16½ years and was previously the Editor of Database magazine for Online, Inc. She will continue to accept freelance editorial and writing assignments.
The responsibility for producing news commentaries and in-depth analyses for the infotoday.com website will be integrated into the workflow of the Information Today newspaper, with Barbara Brynko as Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director. Assisting Barbara will be Brandi Scardilli as Managing Editor.
Vendors should continue to send information industry and product news items to Information Today: Barbara Brynko (Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director) at bbrynko@infotoday.com. Library technology news should continue to be sent to Computers in Libraries magazine at cilnews@infotoday.com. As always, freelance writers are encouraged to submit story ideas directly to the editors.
We wish Paula success in her new ventures and thank her for her many years of great work as News Bureau Chief at ITI. Paula can be reached at paulajeanhane@gmail.com.
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