February
14, 2005
AAP To Meet with
PIRG Today
The Association
of American Publishers will meet today with representatives of the Public
Interest Research Group (PIRG) to review recent surveys related to college
textbooks. AAP President Patricia Schroeder said that they are hopeful
the meeting will be the basis of ongoing dialogue that will lead to
a better understanding and solutions.
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AAP Refutes PIRG
Study
American publishers
refuted assertions by a Public Interest Research Group study on textbook
prices released last week, citing its flawed methodology, selective
use of data and lack of acknowledgment of recent research data that
offer a different point of view. AAP President Patricia Schroeder said
there are two key factors PIRG needs to focus more upon when addressing
higher education issues, including recognition of the changing landscape
of higher education and the fact that "professors and publishers are
creating the tools, textbooks and other instructional materials that
are helping students improve their college success rates."
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New Textbooks
for LD/ESL Students
Visibooks, LLC
has created the first computer class textbooks for students with learning
disabilities and students who speak English as a second language. The
new textbooks, called Visibooks, employ an illustration-based approach
tailored to the needs of LD and ESL students. The textbooks cover Windows,
Microsoft Office, and Web development topics, and available at http://www.visibooks.com
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TAA Seeks New
Executive Director
The Text and Academic
Authors Association (TAA) is a Florida not-for-profit organization committed
to the advancement of textbooks and academic authoring, and to the creation
of quality educational materials at every level. The organization is
seeking applications and nominations for the position of
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
The director will
assume responsibility for the overall management of the organization.
This includes day-to-day operations, execution of Council priorities
and strategic plans, within a framework of approved policies and available
funds. The director will be encouraged to explore and bring forth new
proposals to help position the organization for growth and fiscal health.
Specific areas of
responsibility include: supervision of staff, budgeting, accounting,
membership recruitment, service, and retention, membership database
management, organization publications, member communication, public
relations, Web site, planning of events and national meetings, and development
of chapters.
While the offices
are currently in St. Petersburg, FL, the organization is open to relocation
to any college community in the United States.
The position presently
is half time. Remuneration is $30,000 per year. No benefits are currently
offered. However, TAA is embarking on a national growth initiative with
a goal of becoming a major institutional force in the world of text
and academic authoring. Significant incentives are negotiable for meeting
performance and growth objectives. Substantial growth will lead to a
full time directorship with commensurate pay and benefits.
To apply, please
send a letter of interest and a vita with references to Dr. Michael
Sullivan, President TAA 9529 S. Tripp, Oak Lawn, IL 60453-3234. E-mail
m_sullivan@att.net
Deadline for applications
is April 30, 2005. The Association anticipates a two-stage evaluation
process. It is expected that the initial pool of applicants will be
reduced and the remaining candidates will be invited to submit a proposal
outlining short- term strategies and goals for the Association. A final
decision is expected by July 1, 2005. Equal opportunity employer.
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TAA Convention
Registration Form Now Available Online
Click
here to print out a PDF version of the convention and workshop registration
forms.
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Sound Off!
TAA is always looking
for columns on issues related to text and academic authoring (plagiarism;
used books; comp copies; contracts; royalties; journal submission guidelines,
etc.) for publication on the TAA website or in The Academic Author.
400-word maximum. Please send your name, title, school, college or university
affiliation (if any), phone number and e-mail address along with your
column to Kim Pawlak, Editor, kmpawlak@centurytel.net
or mail it to S2874 Spruce St., Fountain City, WI 54629 or call (608)
687-3106.
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Step Four to
Becoming a Prolific Scholar
Tara Gray, who will
present her popular writing workshop, "Publish and Flourish: Become
a Prolific Scholar" as a 10-hour pre-conference workshop at the TAA
convention in Las Vegas in June, shares the fourth step in becoming
a more prolific scholar (Gray will be sharing a step in each News Alert
leading up to the convention): Write from the first day of your research
project. "Everybody knows that the literature review-and the research-should
be finished first before 'writing it up.' Everybody is wrong. First,
neither the literature review nor the research is ever finished. And,
if you have thought about your discipline for years, how much is your
thinking going to change by reading one more article or doing one more
day of research? Be writing every day no matter how rough the writing.
It's much better to write from your heart, from what you feel and know,
and leaves blanks to fill in from the literature and the research later.
Each paragraph you write doesn't have to become a paragraph that will
later go into a certain section of your paper such as the introduction
or the literature review or the methods. What you write can just be
your own thinking and musings on the subject. As you write, imagine
you are writing a letter: 'I don't know why I got the results I got
in the lab today. . . Perhaps it was because. . . . No, I don't think
so. I think the reason was. . . . Tomorrow I will try something different.
. . .' The crudest writing about a given idea is superior to the best
thinking precisely BECAUSE it can be saved, reviewed, and revised later.
Write from the very first day of your research project: research as
you write and write as you research."
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Register Now
to Attend TAA Convention in Las Vegas
TAA is returning
to Las Vegas this year to hold its annual convention. Attending this
year's convention is no gamble, however; new authors will find solid
ideas for getting started in textbook or academic authoring and veterans
will find challenging sessions too! Register for the 2005 TAA convention,
to be held at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas, Friday, June 24
and Saturday, June 25. To register, contact TAA at (727) 563-0020 or
TEXT@tampabay.rr.com Room
rates for TAA convention attendees are $85 per night until May 20.
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TAA Welcomes
Advertising on Website, In Print Newsletter
Full page ads in
the print newsletter are $350, half page ads are $275, quarter page
ads are $200 and 1/8 page ads are $150. A business card sized ad is
$45. Special discounts apply for those who advertise in four or more
issues. If you would like to place an ad in the March issue of The Academic
Author, or on the TAA website, please contact TAA's interim advertising
manager, Kim Pawlak, at kmpawlak@centurytel.net
or (608) 687-3106. Click here for more
information about advertising in the print newsletter or online.
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