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Thursday, February 09, 2012
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Social Review Site Goodreads Dumps Amazon’s Metadata
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by Nancy K. Herther
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As readers are adjusting to the internet for reading, buying, and selling books, they are also becoming a significant force in the publishing paradigm as they use the medium to recommend or pan books, affecting sales and, potentially, future publishing trends. One such social reviewing site is Goodreads, which has found itself at the center of the movement due to its aggressive and successful business model and due to some of the issues arising from its success. Until 2 weeks ago, Goodreads relied on Amazon book information for basic metadata on titles. 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.
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International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) Approves Indexes Working Group
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The American Society for Indexing (ASI) reported that at the end of January 2012, the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) approved the Indexes Charter Proposal to establish an Indexes Working Group. The proposal was approved by a vote of 69 yes, 1 no, and 1 abstention.
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Amigos and Missouri Library Network Announce Agreement to Explore Merger
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Amigos Library Services, a Dallas-based library membership organization, and the Missouri Library Network Corp. (MLNC), a similar St. Louis-based library membership organization, announced that they entered into a working agreement to explore merging operations. If the organizations merge, Amigos will be the largest library consortium west of the Mississippi River, comprising about 1,000 libraries and cultural heritage institutions in 22 states.
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EPA Releases New Tool With Information About U.S. Water Pollution
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new tool that provides the public with important information about pollutants that are released into local waterways. Developed under President Barack Obama's transparency initiative, the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and allows for easy searching and mapping of water pollution by local area, watershed, company, industry sector, and pollutant. Americans can use this new tool to protect their health and the health of their communities.
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ProQuest Works to Integrate Assets and Services
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by Paula J. Hane
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Last summer, ProQuest welcomed Kurt Sanford as its new CEO. He has now had 6 months leading the company and has already made his mark with a reorganization of leadership, new customer focus, and product migrations and integrations. I had a chance to visit with him during ALA Midwinter in Dallas and get an update on the corporate strategy he is implementing and his thoughts on the industry.
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