Those who take on the global industry that traps research behind paywalls are heroes, not thievesNever underestimate the power of one determined person. What Carole Cadwalladr has done to Facebook and big data, and Edward Snowden has done to the state security complex, Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls. Sci-Hub, her pirate web scraper service, has done more than any government to tackle one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era: the capture of publicly funded research that should belong to us all. Everyone should be free to learn; knowledge should be disseminated as widely as possible. No one would publicly disagree with these sentiments. Yet governments and universities have allowed the big academic publishers to deny these rights. Academic publishing might sound like an obscure and fusty affair, but it uses one of the most ruthless and profitable business models of any industry.The model was pioneered by the notorious conman Robert Maxwell. He realised that, because scientists need to be informed about all significant developments in their field, every journal that publishes academic papers can establish a monopoly and charge outrageous fees for the transmission of knowledge. He called his discovery “a perpetual financing machine”. He also realised that he could capture other people’s labour and resources for nothing. Governments funded the research published by his company, Pergamon, while... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This column marks the start of PW’s monthly coverage of the Spanish-language book market in the U.S. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Office, PDFs, ebooks, archives, audio, video, images: the average PC owner regularly encounters a lengthy list of file formats, and viewing them all typically requires an entire library of software. Free Editor claims it can simplify all that by opening 70-plus file formats from a single... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2015-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European executives from Mashable, Quartz, Dennis, RTE and Sanoma share their tech priorities for the coming year. The post How European publishers set their tech priorities for the year appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Harper announced Tuesday that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel the Pulitzer Prize-winning author completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The esteemed literary agent and innovative publishing executive died February 3 in New York City. He was 77. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thad McIlroy offers some statistics and key data on smartphones and tablets to help book publishers figure out how to address mobile technology. The post The Mobile Story for Publishers: Told in Key Stats appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bono, Colm Tóibín, Paul McCartney and Salman Rushdie are among the big names contributing to an anthology about sons and fathers, as part of a joint venture between Hutchinson and The Irish Hospice Foundation. Jason Arthur, publisher of Hutchinson, Heinemann and Windmill, agreed a joint-venture... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A few days into Snapchat Discover, we checked in on how publishers are approaching the feature. The post How top publishers are using Snapchat appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins will publish 2 million copies of "Go Set a Watchman," a novel Harper Lee wrote in the 1950s and then “put aside.” It will come out on July 14. The post HarperCollins to Publish 2m Copies of New Harper Lee Novel appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publishing house Lohvinau launches crowdfunding campaign after government imposed heavy fine on Minsk literary hub“We are trapped in an absurd and unjust situation which threatens not only the existence of Lohvinau Bookstore but which endangers the possibility to publish books freely... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A blizzard that dumped 19 inches of snow on Chicago on Sunday disrupted the travel plans of publishers in town for the library conference. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An unpublished novel by Harper Lee is to finally see the light of day, 60 years after the US author put it aside to write To Kill a Mockingbird. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The AP reports that Harper Lee will publish her second novel this summer, a sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic To Kill a Mockingbird. The book, entitled Go Set a Watchman was completed in... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Catapult will launch in fall 2015, with Padgett Powell's story collection, 'Cries for Help, Various.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One of iTunes' earliest slogans was "Rip, Mix, Burn," encouraging us to digitize our CD collections and recording custom playlists that were about as third as romantic as a mixtape. At some point, you've probably wished that you could do the same for... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The White House published President Obama’s 2016 fiscal budget on Monday using a medium that’s become increasingly popular among its advisors: Medium, the three-year old self-publishing platform. In the past three mon ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee, whose single work of fiction, 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' earned her the National Medal of Freedom and the distinction of having written one of the bestselling novels ever published, is going to be releasing a second book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To kick off the year, we surveyed magazine publishers to find out what trends and technology they think will have an impact on the industry in 2015. While the responses will help us better understand the audience we serve, they also reveal where... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2015-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To sell online, indie publishers must use Amazon. But its methods leave them out of pocket – or out of sight, paying hidden charges, says the founder of Linen Press Indie publishers need transparency and support from online companies that sell their books. Amazon fails such publishers on both... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Denis Wilson Yes, data has become a buzzword and anyone with a little extra hot air will be eager to tell you it's the cure to what ails your business. The collection of articles in this issue of Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2015-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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