"I certainly never write a review about a book I don't think worth reviewing, a flat-out bad book, unless it's an enormously fashionable bad book." --
says, John Gardner in Conversations with John Gardner
Quoted from 'Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations'     Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) p.150. Available @ Amazon.com

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Open Access Versus Traditional Publishing -- A Survival of the Fittest Business Model Overdue

Note: This post got inspiration from Mayank Bhatt posted in Generally About Books

Open access (includes self-publishing, wired) versus traditional publishing (includes bricks and books). This is obviously all about a survival of the fittest business model that is long overdue. The debate about the perpetual death of traditional publishing has continued since a few decades. This debate continues, with not very clear signs of death as yet. The definition of the terms is more important, here is an extract (although this is not a general example, it is from UMI, just to illustrate the meaning of the respective terms) from Proquest
What is Open Access?
The now-common usage of the term "open access" means freely available for viewing or downloading by anyone with access to the internet. Sometimes a distinction is made for "limited open access" meaning that material is available free of charge to a limited group of authorized users. Our usage of "open access" means the former; that is, dissertations and theses published for Open Access with ProQuest/UMI will be available at no charge for viewing or downloading by anyone with access to the internet, indefinitely.

What is Traditional Publishing?
Traditional publishing at UMI® corresponds with the model that generated the publishing industry as soon as mass-reproduction of printed material was possible. That is, the owner of intellectual property and author of the work contracts with the publisher to reproduce, distribute, and sell copies of the work. The publisher pays the author a certain portion of the revenue thus generated. That is why we also refer to our Traditional Publishing model as the "copy sales and royalty payments" model. It's been our business model since 1938, and we've paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties to the authors of dissertations and theses over the decades.
The following is a review of literature that supports a discussion of pros and cons:
  • The Self-Publishing Debate: A Social Scientist Separates Fact from Fiction (Part 3 of 3)
    Is self-publishing an amateurish endeavor, a means of sharing stories, a strategic move in a writing career, or an entrepreneurial activity? To gain insight into this question, I have been analyzing the responses from the nearly 5,000 authors who responded to the 2013 Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest Author Survey in relation to whether an author is aspiring (not yet published), self-published only, traditionally published only, or hybrid (both self-published and traditionally published). In Part 1, I compared the top priorities of these 4 types of authors, and in Part 2, I examined the differences in their stock of published unpublished manuscripts. Now I turn my attention to the differences in their income from their writing.
  • Why are publishers the new villain in the digital age? As Amazon tears down the gates around literary culture, even independents are caught in the crossfire, Hero or villain? ... the Amazon warehouse in Milton Keynes. Richard Lea , 22 August 2013 theguardian.com
  • Open Source Meets Textbook Publishing - Much Cash Freed Up, By Richard Adhikari, LinuxInsider 08/22/13
  • Target reader: Want to publish a book? First use data to figure out who’ll read it,- There are better ways to give readers what they want. Reuters/Adnan Abidi, qz.com By Candy Lee August 21, 2013
  • E-book revolution: Breaking through in the digital age, BBC News Aug 21, 2013
  • Piracy a Major Threat to Digital Publishing in China, Good E-Reader (blog) by Sovan Mandal, 08/22/13
  • Women Dress Like Sex, Men Dress Like Money: Business Marketing Strategy from the World of Love and Sex by Bill Harte
  • Book publishing business tries a rewrite, Marketplace.org-Aug 19, 2013
  • When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers Jeremy Greenfield Forbes
  • What Publishing Companies Do in a World Where Anyone Can Publish a Book Jeremy Greenfield Forbes
  • When the Self-Published Authors Take Over, What Will Publishers Do? Jeremy Greenfield Forbes
  • What Publishers Need To Do In The Era Of Self-Publishing Jeremy Greenfield Forbes
  • How Do Literary Agents Fit Into The New Book Publishing Ecosystem? Jeremy Greenfield, Forbes-Aug 2, 2013
  • Books aren't dead yet - Salon.com, by Laura Miller - in 121 Google+ circlesMar 21, 2013
  • How Do I Decide? Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing (A Field Guide for Authors), Rachelle Gardner
  • The next New York: Seattle moves in on the Big Apple to become a ... Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle), Emily Parkhurst Aug 15, 2013
  • LIBRARY NEWS: Libraries Dealing with E-book Friction, Carole Howard & Library Staff Pagosa Daily Post 8/9/13
  • Book Publishers Scramble to Rewrite Their Future ... - Wired, Mar 19, 2013
  • How to Start a Book Publishing Company Plus Business Plan
  • Book Publishing for Professionals, Lisa Robinson-Davis Daryl D. Green
  • Can Hard Case Crime solve the mystery of digital era publishing ... www.theguardian.com Nov 3, 2010
  • Survival of the Fittest, Efficiency is key for printers and manufacturers in soft market by Ginger Curwen, Publishers Weekly Oct 27, 2003

Saturday, April 27, 2013

I came, I saw, I conquered --Samachar.com homepage takeover ads


Original source: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Julius Caesar quotes (Roman general and statesman, 100-44 B.C.). Thinkexist.com

But the landing page of a website makes a visitor think, I came, I saw and I was... (visualize what you see, below)
See Samachar.com's landing (home page) as seen on 27th April, 2013--not sure if it is virus or design or whatever



A Cached copy of the Samachar on 25, April, 2013



On the same shelf:
  • Sify Technologies Launches iOS News App Samachar; Our Take
  • Don't visit samachar.com - WMF virus
  • Warning from Google regarding the Bombay Samachar Website--- I will not be sending any Parsi news from Bombay Samachar this weekend until this problem is resolved ---

    Online link Scan finds no virus on 28th April, 2013:
  • Sunday, April 21, 2013

    WEB 2.0 Experience: Wherein breaking up is hard to do

    Thinking of making a comparative study of the following titles:


    On the same shelf:
  • Breaking Up Is Hard to Do. By AZADEH ENSHA | New York Times -- includes FACEBOOK, GOOGLE PLUS, AMAZON, LINKEDIN, MYSPACE, TWITTER
  •  The Anxiety of the Unanswered E-Mail New York Times

  • Monday, February 18, 2013

    Reviewing website: Best Practices

    Here is a best practice approach in evaluating Website:

  • Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology ( WCAG-EM ) @ W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Draft 7 February 2013
    Application of this Methodology
    The methodology defined by this document is flexible to allow its implementation in different situations and contexts. It is not required to carry out any of the steps and activities defined by this methodology in any particular sequence. For proper application of this methodology, use all the following Methodology Requirements:
    1: Define the Evaluation Scope
    2: Explore the Target Website
    3: Select a Representative Sample
    4: Audit the Selected Sample
    5: Report the Evaluation Findings
    Results, reports, accessibility statements, and performance scores can only be claimed to be in accordance with this methodology when the evaluation carried out meets these Methodology Requirements.
    See also Google's approach
    See also: Other best practices, worth visualizing:
  • Visual Appeal


  • What or Personality
  • Where or Design & Layout
  • How or Reader Usability
  • Why or Functionality


  • Meeting browser / visitor expectations, Adapted from: graphic-design.com
  • When or Interactive Features (dynamic not static)
  • Which or Content (and context)
  • Why or Layout (and site plan),Adapted from: Yellow Bridge Interactive's Checklist
  • How to use the Website
  •  Website of the Month guidelines ACRL
  • 2013 Annual Website Review Checklist (with metrics to measure web sights)
  • Website Title, Website URL, Category to which it belongs (using a self designed or Library of Congress categories)
    Overall Rating:
    5 star- This website is really good! It doesn't need any changes.
    4 star- The website is good. I would only change a few things.
    3 star- The website is okay. It could use some major changes.
    2 star- The website is bad. It needs a lot of improvement to be good.
    1 star- The website is awful. I will never visit it again.
    Adapted from: Review A Website | SmartGirl Suggests


  • Sunday, February 17, 2013

    How to Review a Book

    A review is basically both a description and a critical evaluation of a book. It should focus on the  purpose (audience)  scope( coverage & /or limitations, i.e. what it does not cover), contents (and context), authority (author and publisher), critical evaluationn (strength, weekness) and value (commend or don't commend).

    For Further Reading:

  • Queen's UniversityHow to Write Book Reviews
  • AcqWeb
  • Bookwire:This book industry website provides links to several major review publications, including Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Book Report (from AOL), the Boston Book Review, and others.
  • Booklist: Published by the American Library Assocaiation, Booklist is a great source for brief reviews of current publications. Reviews from 1995 to the present available on the site, indexed by date, author, and genre
  • How to Write a Book Review - Los Angeles Valley College
  • How to Review a Book
  • How to Write a History Book Review | Department of History, The University of Iowa
  • How To Find A Book Review
  • How to Write a Critical Book Review