"Enhancing Scholarly Publications: Developing Hybrid Monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences"

Nicholas W. Jankowski, Andrea Scharnhorst, Clifford Tatum, and Zuotian Tatum have self-archived "Enhancing Scholarly Publications: Developing Hybrid Monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

Enhancing publications has a long history but is gaining acceleration as authors and publishers explore electronic tablets as devices for dissemination and presentation. Enhancement of scholarly publications, in contrast, more often takes place in a Web environment and is coupled with presentation of supplementary materials related to research. The approach to enhancing scholarly publications presented in this article goes a step further and involves the interlinking of the "objects" of a document: datasets, supplementary materials, secondary analyses, and post-publication interventions. This approach connects the user-centricity of Web 2.0 with the Semantic Web. It aims at facilitating long-term content structure through standardized formats intended to improve interoperability between concepts and terms within and across knowledge domains. We explored this conception of enhancement on a small set of books prepared for traditional academic publishers. While the project was primarily an exercise in development, the conclusion section of the article reflects on areas where conceptual and empirical studies could be initiated to complement this new direction in scholarly publishing.

For related information, see the SURF Enhancing Scholarly Publishing in the Humanities and Social Sciences project website.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography, Version 80 | Digital Scholarship |

"Teaching with Google Books: Research, Copyright, and Data Mining"

Nathan Rinne has self-archived "Teaching with Google Books: Research, Copyright, and Data Mining" in E-LIS.

Here's an excerpt:

Google's Google Books site is a rich resource that is probably underutilized by most educators. It has all kinds of potential for a) getting students into the research process in a way that they will enjoy (for example, they can see how a famous quote has been used/quoted, find out which books cite the journal article they are interested in, or check to see if a specific book covers a topic that they want to explore, etc.); b) teaching them about the deeper civic purpose and the evolving state of copyright law; and, c) exploring, with the help of Google Book's Ngram viewer, the promise and ethics surrounding the issue of data-mining and "non-consumptive" research, or research that is accomplished by "mining" books for data, as opposed to reading them.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Digital Copyright: Authors Guild Files Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings in Authors Guild et al. v. Hathitrust et al.

The Authors Guild has filed a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in the Authors Guild et al. v. Hathitrust et al. case.

Here's an excerpt from the associated "Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings":

Defendants are wildly exceeding the special privileges Congress granted to libraries under Section 108 by systematically digitizing, reproducing, distributing and putting at risk millions of works through their mass book digitization program. Defendants' so-called orphan works program is similarly inimical to the Copyright Act, as it violates Section 108(h)'s explicit limitation of libraries' use of orphan works to the twenty year period preceding the end of their copyright term. Neither fair use under Section 107, nor any other statutory exception under the Copyright Act, can justify Defendants' systematic and concerted digitization, reproduction, distribution and other unauthorized uses of millions of copyright-protected library books. Accordingly, Plaintiffs urge the Court to grant their motion for partial judgment on the pleadings.

Read more about it at "GBS: Authors Guild Goes for an Early Knockout," "Guild Motion Asks for Quick Ruling on HathiTrust's Fair Use Defense," and "A Masterpiece of Misdirection."

| Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Pamela Samuelson et al. Send Letter to US District Court Judge Denny Chin about Authors Guild v. Google Case

Pamela Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law and Information at the UC Berkeley School of Law, and other scholars have sent a letter ("Academic Author Objections to Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification") to US District Court Judge Denny Chin about class certification issues in the Authors Guild v. Google Case.

Here's an excerpt:

We believe that our works of scholarship are more typical of the contents of research library collections than works of the three named plaintiffs in this case. Betty Miles is the author of numerous children's books. Jim Bouton is a former baseball pitcher who has written both fiction and nonfiction books based on his experiences as a baseball player. Joseph Goulden is a professional writer who has written a number of nonfiction books on a variety of subjects, including a book about "superlawyers." None of these three are academic authors. Their books are aimed at a popular, rather than an academic, audience. As professional writers, their motivations and interests in having their books published would understandably be different, and likely more commercial, than those of academic scholars. Hence, our concern is that these three do not share the academic interests that are typical of authors of books in research library collections. As we explain further below, the clearest indication that the named plaintiffs do not share the same priorities typical of academic authors is their insistence on pursuing this litigation.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

"Putting 600,000 Books Online: the Large-Scale Digitisation Partnership between the Austrian National Library and Google"

Max Kaiser has published "Putting 600,000 Books Online: the Large-Scale Digitisation Partnership between the Austrian National Library and Google" in the latest issue of LIBER Quarterly.

Here's an excerpt:

In a public-private partnership with Google, the Austrian National Library is digitising its historical book holdings. Some 600,000 volumes from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries will be digitised and made available free of charge. The project demonstrates that public-private partnerships can be successful in enabling our heritage institutions to provide large-scale access to their holdings, provided that such partnerships are not exclusive and free access is ensured. The article outlines the preparatory phase and work flows established in the project.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

"Assessing the Value of Ebooks to Academic Libraries and Users"

Tina Chrzastowski has self-archived "Assessing the Value of Ebooks to Academic Libraries and Users" in IDEALS.

Here's an excerpt:

In 2010, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library agreed to take part in a global study of Elsevier electronic books (ebooks) sponsored by Elsevier Publishing. Ultimately, 129 UIUC faculty and graduate students participated in a logbook study that examined the ebook discovery process, detailed the way in which this group of researchers used ebooks, and queried users on the value they assigned to Elsevier ebooks. Going beyond the Elsevier survey, this study examines the value of ebooks both to UIUC users and to libraries, and it reports on an assessment of the ebook collection at UIUC including cost and use statistics. The results show that UIUC users assigned a high value to Elsevier ebooks for research purposes; this paper also determines that, in the broadest sense and as a collective format, ebooks offer libraries a better economic value than print books (pbooks) when comparing the cost of activities such as processing, circulation, storage and preservation.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Tablet and E-book Reader Ownership Nearly Double Over the Holiday Gift-Giving Period

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released Tablet and E-book Reader Ownership Nearly Double Over the Holiday Gift-Giving Period.

Here's an excerpt:

The share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January and the same surge in growth also applied to e-book readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period.

The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Apple Launches iBooks 2 for iPad and iBooks Author

Apple has launched iBooks 2 for iPad and iBooks Author.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The new iBooks 2 app is available today as a free download from the App Store™. With support for great new features including gorgeous, fullscreen books, interactive 3D objects, diagrams, videos and photos, the iBooks 2 app will let students learn about the solar system or the physics of a skyscraper with amazing new interactive textbooks that come to life with just a tap or swipe of the finger. With its fast, fluid navigation, easy highlighting and note-taking, searching and definitions, plus lesson reviews and study cards, the new iBooks 2 app lets students study and learn in more efficient and effective ways than ever before.

iBooks Author is also available today as a free download from the Mac App Store and lets anyone with a Mac create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books and more, and publish them to Apple’s iBookstore. Authors and publishers of any size can start creating with Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. iBooks Author lets you add your own text and images by simply dragging and dropping, and with the Multi-Touch™ widgets you can easily add interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote® presentations and 3D objects.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

"From Stacks to the Web: The Transformation of Academic Library Collecting"

College & Research Libraries has released a preprint of "From Stacks to the Web: The Transformation of Academic Library Collecting" by David W. Lewis.

Here's an excerpt:

The existence of a ubiquitous and cheap worldwide communication’s network that increasingly makes documents easily and freely available will require a transformation of academic library collecting practice. It will be driven by a number of specific developments including: the digitization of content; the development of print repositories; the development of e-readers and print-on-demand publishing; the growth of open access; challenges to establish academic publishing organizations; and the growth of new forms of scholarship based on openness and social productivity. If academic libraries are to be successful, they will need to: deconstruct legacy print collections; move from item-by-item book selection to purchase-on-demand and subscriptions; manage the transition to open access journals; focus on curating unique items; and develop new mechanisms for funding national infrastructure.

| E-science and Academic Libraries Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Legal Issues in Mass Digitization: A Preliminary Analysis and Discussion Document

The U.S. Office of the Register of Copyrights has released Legal Issues in Mass Digitization: A Preliminary Analysis and Discussion Document .

Here's the announcement:

The Copyright Office has published a Preliminary Analysis and Discussion Document that addresses the issues raised by the intersection between copyright law and the mass digitization of books. The purpose of the Analysis is to facilitate further discussions among the affected parties and the public discussions that may encompass a number of possible approaches, including voluntary initiatives, legislative options, or both. The Analysis also identifies questions to consider in determining an appropriate policy for the mass digitization of books.

Public discourse on mass digitization is particularly timely. On March 22, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a proposed settlement in the copyright infringement litigation regarding Google's mass book digitization project. The court found that the settlement would have redefined the relationship between copyright law and new technology, and it would have encroached upon Congress's ability to set copyright policy with respect to orphan works. Since then, a group of authors has filed a lawsuit against five university libraries that participated in Google's mass digitization project. These developments have sparked a public debate on the risks and opportunities that mass book digitization may create for authors, publishers, libraries, technology companies, and the general public. The Office's Analysis will serve as a basis for further policy discussions on this issue.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

"Access to the Agreement between Google Books and the British Library"

In "Access to the Agreement between Google Books and the British Library," Javier Ruiz of the Open Rights Group analyzes the Google Books contract between Google and the British Library (includes a link to contract).

Here's an excerpt:

The British Library recently announced to much fanfare a deal with Google to make available online a quarter of a million books no longer restricted by copyright, thus in the public domain.

The deal is presented as a win-win situation, where Google pays for the costs of scanning the books, which will be available on both Google and BL's websites. This sounds very philanthropic from Google, however the catch is in the detail:

"Once digitised, these unique items will be available for full text search, download and reading through Google Books, as well as being searchable through the Library's website and stored in perpetuity within the Library's digital archive."

In order to find out what this really means we asked the British Library for a copy of the agreement with Google, which was not uploaded to their transparency website with other similar contracts, as it didn't involve monetary exchange.

| Digital Scholarship |

Is the Google Book Settlement Still Possible?

In "Google Books Settlement, 2008-2011," James Grimmelmann analyzes the impact of recent rulings and case resolutions on the Google Book Settlement. The rulings and resolutions are the In re: Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation ruling, the National Music Publishers' Association's resolution of The Football Association Premier League Limited, et al. v. You Tube, Inc. lawsuit (consolidated into Viacom v. YouTube), and the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes et al. ruling.

Here's an excerpt:

The road to class-wide settlement—even to a much more modest settlement that covers only scanning and searching—now appears to be barred. What is more, in light of the freelancers' case and the Supreme Court's recent Wal-Mart case, the road to class-wide litigation also looks to be extraordinarily difficult. Google will raise many of the same adequacy of representation arguments in its opposition to class certification. It might still be more feasible for a few copyright owners holding large number of copyrights to litigate on an individual basis—but the major publishers, who best fit that bill, have all more or less made their peace with Google through its Partner Program. The odds of the authors being able to see this one through to the end have just dropped precipitously. Google is holding all the cards now, and they're all full houses.

| New: Google Books Bibliography, Version 7 | Digital Scholarship |

"Free E-Books and Print Sales"

John Hilton III and David Wiley have published "Free E-Books and Print Sales" in the latest issue of The Journal of Electronic Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

Digital technologies now enable books and other digital resources to be openly available to those with access to the Internet. This study examined the financial viability of a religious publisher that put free digital versions of eight of its print books on the Internet. The cost to put these eight books online was $940. Over a 10-week period, these books were downloaded 102,256 times and sales of these books increased 26%. Online sales increased at a much higher rate. Comparisons with historical book sales and sales of comparable titles indicate that this increase may have been connected to the free books being available. There was a modest correlation between book downloads and print sales.

| New: Google Books Bibliography, Version 7 | Digital Scholarship |

Google Books Bibliography, Version 7

Digital Scholarship has released version 7 of the Google Books Bibliography, which presents over 325 selected English-language articles and other works that are useful in understanding Google Books. It primarily focuses on the evolution of Google Books and the legal, library, and social issues associated with it, especially the Google Book Settlement. To better show the development Google Books, it is now organized by year of publication. It primarily includes journal articles, e-prints, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. This version expands coverage of law review articles and legal e-prints. Where possible, links are provided to works that are freely available on the Internet.

The following recent Digital Scholarship publications may also be of interest:

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview |

Opt-In Settlement for Google Books Case?

James Grimmelmann reports that Michael Boni told US District Court Judge Denny Chin at the 7/19/11 status conference that the parties involved in the Google Books lawsuit "have been aiming for an opt-in settlement." The next status conference will occur on 9/15/11.

Here's an excerpt from Grimmelmann's "GBS Status Conference: Opt-in Settlement in the Works?" post:

What that might mean is not obvious. It could mean an actual opt-in settlement, one that binds only class members who send in claim forms. It could mean a settlement in which Google commits to an open-ended offer to all class members. It could mean a narrower, scanning-and-searching-only settlement, so that copyright owners can "opt in" to book sales by striking their own individual deals with Google.

Read more about it at "Judge Concerned with Lack of Progress in Revised Google Settlement Talks."

| Digital Scholarship Publications Overview |

Amazon.com Launches Kindle Textbook Rental

Amazon.com has launched Kindle Textbook Rental.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Today, Amazon.com announced the launch of Kindle Textbook Rental—now students can save up to 80% off textbook list prices by renting from the Kindle Store. Tens of thousands of textbooks are available for the 2011 school year from leading textbook publishers such as John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis. Students can find details about the program at www.amazon.com/kindletextbooks. . . .

Kindle Textbook Rental offers the ability to customize rental periods to any length between 30 and 360 days, so students only pay for the specific amount of time they need a book. Students can also easily extend any rental period in increments as small as one day or choose to purchase the book they are renting at any time.

| Digital Scholarship Publications Overview |

"After Google Book Search: Rebooting the Digital Library"

Randal C. Picker has self-archived "After Google Book Search: Rebooting the Digital Library" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

The rejection of the Google Book Search settlement means that we are at a point of rebooting how we design our digital library future. There were many criticisms of GBS and the settlement but perhaps chief among those was the risk that approval of the settlement would have locked in a single approach to digital libraries. Google would have received unique access to the so-called orphan works and that would have provided it what may have been a decisive advantage against digital library competitors, both private and public. As we move forward on the orphan works, we need to do so with two principles in mind. First, we need to enable broad competing uses of the orphan works while, to the greatest extent possible, respecting the rights of the orphan works holders. Second, we should not repeat the mistake of the GBS settlement by somehow tilting the table in favor of digital library monopoly, either public or private.

| Digital Scholarship Publications OverviewGoogle Books Bibliography |

NISO Receives Mellon Grant to Support E-Book Annotation Sharing Workshops

NISO has received a Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to support two e-book annotation sharing workshops.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has been awarded a $48,500 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund two standards incubation workshops, which it will lead with the Internet Archive, on the topic of E-Book Annotation Sharing and Social Reading. These meetings will be held in conjunction with the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on October 10, 2011, and the Books In Browsers Meeting in San Francisco, on October 26, 2011. The Mellon Foundation grant will pay for the planning, organization, and direct meeting expenses for the two workshops, for which NISO will conduct the majority of the planning, organization and logistical support.

The two workshops will advance the discussions around system requirements for annotation sharing-including technical challenges of citation location and systems interoperability-and around the development and implementation of a consensus solution for these issues. The objectives of the meetings are to provide input to a NISO-sponsored working group on scope, goals and any initial work the group undertakes; and the advancement of a syntax specification that will be further vetted by a standards working group for how bookmarks and annotations are located and shared in digital books.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Institutional Repository Bibliography | Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 |

Podcast: Pamela Samuelson on Codifying the Google Books Settlement

In this podcast, Pamela Samuelson discusses her 2011 paper "Legislative Alternatives to the Google Book Settlement" with Jerry Brito, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Institutional Repository Bibliography | Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 |

E-Reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released E-Reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months .

Here's an excerpt:

The share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12% in May, 2011 from 6% in November 2010. E-readers, such as a Kindle or Nook, are portable devices designed to allow readers to download and read books and periodicals. This is the first time since the Pew Internet Project began measuring e-reader use in April 2009 that ownership of this device has reached double digits among U.S. adults.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Electronic Theses and Dissertations Bibliography | Google Books Bibliography | Institutional Repository Bibliography | Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview |

UC Libraries Academic e-Book Usage Survey

The California Digital Library has released the UC Libraries Academic e-Book Usage Survey.

Here's an excerpt:

In 2008, the University of California Libraries initiated the Springer e-Book Pilot Project with the goal of developing appropriate systemwide processes for acquiring and managing licensed e-books, as well as informing future licensing activities. Evaluation of the UC academic community’s experience utilizing the Springer e-book collection began in 2010, and a UC systemwide survey was launched by the UC Libraries in October 2010 for the purpose of assessing the user experience. The primary objectives of the survey were to determine:

  • Respondents' general preference for print books as compared to e-books.
  • How respondents interact with e-books and barriers to e-book adoption and use.
  • How users of Springer e-books discover their availability.
  • Satisfaction level with Springer content and features, including the "MyCopy" service.

| New: Institutional Repository Bibliography, Version 4 | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview |

eBooks and eReaders in Public and Academic Libraries

The Poudre River Public Library, the Front Range Community College Library, and the Colorado State University Libraries have released eBooks and eReaders in Public and Academic Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

A joint Poudre River Public, Front Range Community College, and Colorado State University libraries committee has released a report on the state of eBooks and eReaders. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of this rapidly-developing topic, and to make recommendations aimed at serving the customers of each library.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 |

Digital Book Publishing in the AAUP: Community Survey Report: Spring 2011

The Association of American University Presses has released Digital Book Publishing in the AAUP Community: Survey Report: Spring 2011.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Unsurprisingly, the 2011 results shows that every press is pursuing at least two digital publishing strategies, and almost all are expanding into many more. However, resource constraints continue to slow the development of healthy experimental models or delay the implementation of necessary digitization and workflow projects. Confirming the findings and recommendations of the recent AAUP report "Sustaining Scholarly Publishing," this digital pulse-taking indicates that finding new models to support scholarly publishing and strengthening the digital backbone of AAUP members are the top priorities in digital book publishing for the community.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 |

U.S. Department of Education Issues FAQ on E-Book Accessibility Requirements

The U.S. Department of Education has issued "Frequently Asked Questions about the June 29, 2010, Dear Colleague Letter." The FAQ is "a 'significant guidance document' under the Office of Management and Budget's Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices."

Here's an excerpt:

Specifically, some postsecondary institutions were using electronic book readers that are inaccessible to students who are blind or have low vision. As explained by the DCL, application of our long-standing nondiscrimination requirements means that schools must provide an electronic book reader (i.e., the technology that the school uses to provide educational benefits, services, or opportunities) that is fully accessible to students who are blind or have low vision; otherwise schools must provide accommodations or modifications to ensure that the benefits of their educational program are provided to these students in an equally effective and equally integrated manner.

Read more about it at "Joint 'Dear Colleague' Letter: Electronic Book Readers."

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications |

"Just Google It!—The Google Book Search Settlement: A Law and Economics Analysis"

Frank Müller-Langer and Marc Scheufen have self-archived "Just Google It!—The Google Book Search Settlement: A Law and Economics Analysis" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

Our law and economics analysis of the Book Search Project suggests that—from a copyright perspective—the proposed settlement may be beneficial to right holders, consumers, and Google. For instance, it may provide a solution to the still unsolved dilemma of orphan works. From a competition policy perspective, we stress the important aspect that Google’s pricing algorithm for orphan and unclaimed works effectively replicates a competitive Nash-Bertrand market outcome under post-settlement, third-party oversight.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications |Google Books Bibliography |