Information Explosion Poses Major Challenge
(mybroadband.co.za): As government regulations and legislation become more stringent and data is required to be retained for longer periods of time, organisations are struggling to manage the explosion of information emanating from their various business divisions.That’s the opinion of Kevin Dees, Professional Services Manager of EMC Southern Africa, who says… Read More
Shared Access and Reuse of Publicly Funded Scientific Data
(eprints.org): The scientific community generates increasingly vast amounts of publicly funded digital data and information, and disseminates much of it online. The public investment in the production and management of such data resources in the United States alone is estimated to be several billions of dollars. Research communities within the… Read More
Challenge on Textbook Pricing
(insidehighered.com): Textbook companies have faced a number of challenges in recent years, such as open course content, an increasingly vibrant used-book marketplace, new publishers proposing alternative pricing models, and new federal rules requiring the unbundling of expensive add-ons from the traditional texts. But a case that came before the U.S.… Read More
Speaker looks at Google’s effect on books
(news.ufl.edu): A six-part fall speaker series on the public’s access to books and their future continues Dec. 1 with a look at the impact of Google. “Google and the Future of Books” will be presented by Siva Vaidhyanathan, an associate professor of media studies and law at the University of… Read More
New e-Publishing law in final stages in Syria
(yalibnan.com): A new e-publishing law in Syria is now in its final stages for approval. The law has received considerable coverage since the drafting started in early 2010. The details of the law are yet to be cleared out, and coverage thus far has been contradictory. The law officially aims… Read More
Does Intelligent Design Help Science Generate New Knowledge?
(evolutionnews.org): It's important to realize that when dealing with historical sciences like neo-Darwinian evolution or intelligent design, new knowledge takes the form of both practical insights into the workings of biology in the present day (which can lead to insights into fighting disease), as well as taking the form of… Read More
Eight More Green Open Access Self-Archiving Mandates Registered in ROARMAP
(openaccess.eprints.org): Eight new Green OA mandates bring ROARMAP's total institutional/departmental/funder mandates to 182 -- for a grand total of 252 if we include the 70 thesis mandates. More are coming soon, especially from Portugal. Read More
Students opting more for textbooks over e-books
(thedailycougar.com): In this fast-paced technological age, where students depend on electronics for everything from text messaging to surfing the Internet, a traditional textbook still prevails over its newer counterpart — the electronic book, or e-book. Students have the ability to write in the margins and highlight passages in traditional textbooks,… Read More
IPad leading e-book reader demand despite Kindle price advantage
(arstechnica.com): In a recent ChangeWave survey about consumer e-book reader ownership, iPad ownership doubled between August and November, up from 16 to 32 percent. The percentage of e-book reader owners that own a Kindle dropped 15 points, down to 47 percent. With just 5 percent owning and Sony device and… Read More
Academic publishers
(thebookseller.com): Academic publishers have stressed they are committed to helping librarians through budget reductions amid fears over declining resources. The Wall Street Journal reports on a recent letter from the trade body Research Libraries UK that warned if journal subscriptions don't come down, librarians "will be forced to cancel significant… Read More
