The annual Frankfurt Book Fair kicked off October 9, 2013. About 7,300 exhibitors from 100 countries are attending the Frankfurt Book Fair this year.
Calling on publishers to use “Tarzan” Economics to swing to the new vine, Jim Griffen of Onehouse LLC delivered the keynote speech at the International STM annual conference at the Westin Grand Hotel in Frankfurt on October 8.
“Digitization effects, come first to the edge, not to the center. The fringe will redefine the center. In fact, we see this is precisely what is happening. New technologies bring you something new completely. The enabling is found in new art and bringing old art back to life. We are hearing more new artists, unusual artists and old artists” Griffen stated.
Change will come faster than you think, he warned citing Moore’s law. Griffen’s two final points “As we swing from vine to vine we have to think more feminine than masculine. The real value comes from women who understand that starting relationships and maintaining them is much more important than moving from one to one. Amazon is feminine, it evens remembers your eye colour. We need to cherish relationships”
He implored publishers to leave the constraints of Gutenberg behind “this is the most important work on the planet today. Communication amongst researchers is the most important, not the researchers themselves. It is the nuclear power of today. You can hold a lot more in an open hand than a closed fist”.
In the Hot spot area ACP announced the launch of Smart Medicine. ACP Smart Medicine is a sophisticated new decision-support tool designed to deliver fast, authoritative answers to clinical questions and will replace its current resource, PIER. In addition to its compelling content focused on internal medicine, key features of ACP Smart Medicine are optimized mobile access (it will adapt to the user’s mobile environment) and integration with other ACP products.
In the Forum STM and Specialist Information section Publishing Technology discussed “What is a Publisher Now?” How can publishers stay relevant in an age where users pick and choose content across multiple platforms and formats? Should they become IT providers? How can the publishing process be driven most effectively? The panel addressed the issue of working with flexibility in content and pricing mechanisms and the implications on rights and royalties, licensing, the author and reader expectations.
