July
3, 2006
Reconsidering
the textbook
Paul Bierman, a
geologist at the University of Vermont, gathered 54 leading scientists,
educators and technology experts for a three-day workshop on "Reconsidering
the Textbook," at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington D.C.,
May 24-26. Read more about the workshop and its findings here.
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Elsevier
launches new online oncology journal
Elsevier, a world-leading
healthcare and scientific publisher, will launch a new online-only oncology
review journal. "Update on Cancer Therapeutics," edited by Giuseppe
Giaccone, Richard Schilsky and Paul Sondel, to be published quarterly,
in June 2006. "Update on Cancer Therapeutics" will provide a valuable
new resource for clinicians seeking to stay current by publishing timely
reviews on progress and achievements in clinical oncology and cancer
therapeutics. Reviews focus on recent advances in the understanding
of anti-cancer drugs, biological agents and the multi-disciplinary management
of specific malignancies. Each issue will reflect a spectrum of reviews
presenting recent data, conclusions and recommendations that advance
our understanding of anti-cancer drugs, specific malignancies and immunotherapy-host
responses, said editor Richard Schilsky. Subscribers will have full
access to each issue as well as articles in press on the journal's website,
www.updateoncancer.com. "Update on Cancer Therapeutics" will also be
accessible through Elsevier's online database, ScienceDirect http://www.sciencedirect.com,
the world's largest electronic collection of science, technology and
medicine full text and bibliographic information.
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Writer's
Block: Working with my ghost(ly) writer, the "slave within"
by Richard T. Hull
I had a lesson handed
to me by my subconscious writer this week, and it was a hard one.
Returned to Tallahassee
from the TAA Convention in Orlando, I sat down to write a report on
the excellent sessions devoted to the digital revolution in academic
writing that were presented on Friday and Saturday. I had, as is my
practice, "given the assignment" to my slave within, the subconscious
level of composition and other cognitive activities that I have described
elsewhere. To my delight, the article was ready to transcribe!
click
for rest of essay in Writer's Block section (members only)
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Popescu joins
TAAF advisory board for minority author survey project
Sorin C. Popescu,
an assistant professor in the Department of Forest Science at Texas
A&M University, has joined the TAA Foundation Advisory Board for the
Foundation's minority author survey project. Popescu joins Dr. La Verne
Gyant, director of the Center for Black Studies at Northern Illinois
University; Don Pepion, director of American Indian Programs and assistant
professor of Native American Studies at New Mexico State University;
Mattie L. Rhodes, clinical associate professor in the School Of Nursing
at the State University of New York at Buffalo; Rosángel Cruz,
Biopsychology, State University of New York at Buffalo; and Irina Weisblatt,
a Community College Business adjunct instructor at Grossmont College,
Southwestern College and Mesa College on the Advisory Board. The Board
will be available to discuss with TAAF ways to encourage minorities
to write textbooks.
Sorin C. Popescu
|
Dr. La Verne
Gyant
|
Don Pepion
|
Mattie L. Rhodes
|
Rosángel
Cruz |
Irina Weisblatt
|
Richard Hull |
|
Resumes/CVs of
Board Members (click to download)
Sorin
C. Popescu
(pdf)
Dr.
La Verne Gyant
(Word doc)
Don
Pepion
(Word
doc)
Mattie
L. Rhodes
(pdf)
Rosángel
Cruz
(Word
doc)
Irina
Weisblatt
(Word
doc)
Richard
Hull
(Word
doc)
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TAA Council
doubles convention budget for 2007
The TAA Council authorized doubling the 2007 TAA Convention budget
to fund a restructuring of the convention to include additional tracks
for academic authors, social networking events, and a keynoter. The
budget was raised from $10,000 to $20,000. The new structure is expected
to increase convention revenue from $3,000 to $7,200.
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Mid-year TAA
Council meeting January 15
The TAA Council's mid-year meeting will be held in St. Petersburg,
Florida on Monday, January 15.
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TAAF receives
$15,000 gift
Betty Azar |
TAA member Betty
Azar has made a $15,000 unrestricted gift to the TAA Foundation. Azar,
the author of the bestselling Azar Grammar Series, published by
Pearson Longman, said she hoped her gift would encourage other textbook
authors of perennial bestsellers to support the Foundation with significant
contributions: "I thought that if one author led the way, others might
consider doing something similar."
Azar's gift will
be applied to the TAAF study of state adoption policies and practices
for textbooks, being headed by Christopher Stream, assistant professor
of public administration for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said
TAAF Executive Director Richard Hull. "The TAAF board is grateful for
Betty Azar's generous gift in support of the work of the TAA Foundation,"
he said. "Her gift puts the TAAF over its goal of raising $15,000
to receive a matching gift from TAA." The Foundation has so far raised
$31,500. This year's goal is $40,000.
In a letter to the
TAAF informing them of her gift, Azar voiced her support for the TAAF's
current projects, including its textbook adoption process study and its
research into how to increase the diversity of textbook authorship. She
also encouraged the Foundation to produce a series of publications on
various aspects of textbook publishing (e.g., how to evaluate effective
textbooks, the future of textbook publishing, and a look inside the workings
of publishing companies). "I'd also love to see TAAF develop a library
of books/anthologies written for textbook writers and publishers," she
said.
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McGraw-Hill
defends copyright rule in story contest
Suzanne Toney, a
spokesperson from SRA/McGraw Hill, defended a contest rule from the
company's "What's the Story" teacher author contest which states that
the company retains the copyright for all entries ("All entries, including
supporting materials, and any copyrights therein, become the sole property
of McGraw-Hill and will not be returned.").
In an e-mail to
TAA Executive Director Richard Hull, Toney said: "Per our legal department
we had to insert this statement in order to cover SRA/McGraw-Hill legally
and be able to do the contest. The statement is more to protect SRA/McGraw-Hill
not prevent non winners from sending their works to be published by
other publishers."
Hull responded
by saying that the company then needs to make a clarification to their
statement of obligations to the submitter: "The current rules clearly
will be taken to mean that your permission would need to be obtained
for any submission that does not win to be published elsewhere, and
as such will discourage would-be entrants (including myself) from making
submissions."
Previous TAA Notes
item:
'What's the Story?' contest has non-author-friendly rule
click here
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TAA welcomes
new members
Leslie Chamberlin,
Casey Chaney, Joseph Vivian Davis, Michael J. Finley, Roger Galegos,
Oscar Illanes, Cynthia Jackevicius, Ryan Junsay, Maria Lambros, Jennifer
Le, Kelly Lee, Juan Ramirez, Donna Redman-Bentley, Sandra J. Stuckey,
Rosalie Trevejo, Mark Turner, Jeffrey Wang, Irina Weisblat.
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TAA member gives
gift membership
TAA member Pat McKeague
gave a gift membership to Mark Turner. Thanks Pat! Welcome Mark!
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Convention logistics:
Where to find TAA at the Grosvenor
The TAA Council
meeting on Thursday, July 6 will be held in the Ascot room on Lobby
level/Conference Center (Continental Breakfast 8:00-9:00, meeting 9:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) The Friday and Saturday convention meetings on July
7 and 8 will be held in Windsor Salons 9-11 on Mezzanine Level (Continental
breakfast offered from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m., meeting begins at 8:30 a.m.
on Friday and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday). The Friday night Awards Banquet
will be held in Windsor Salons 7 and 8 on the Mezzanine Level at 7:00
p.m.
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TAAF creates
advisory board for minority author survey project
Five TAA members
have agreed to serve on a TAAF Advisory Committee for the Foundation's
minority textbook author survey project. Dr. La Verne Gyant, Director
of the Center for Black Studies at Northern Illinois University; Don
Pepion, Director of American Indian Programs and Assistant Professor
of Native American Studies at New Mexico State University; Mattie L.
Rhodes, Clinical Associate Professor in the School Of Nursing at the
State University of New York at Buffalo; Rosangel Cruz, Biopsychology,
State University of New York at Buffalo; and Irina Weisblatt, a Community
College Business Adjunct Instructor at Grossmont College, Southwestern
College and Mesa College, will be available to discuss with TAAF ways
to encourage minorities to write textbooks.
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Author joins
convention presentation on alternate avenues for publishing
Matt Basham, program
director and lead instructor for the St. Petersburg College-CISCO Regional
Networking Academy in Clearwater, Florida, has agreed to serve on the
TAA Convention panel "Alternate Avenues for Your Existing Content: Blogs,
Web Publishing, Tradebooks, Self-Publishing." Basham has published traditionally,
and via fellow presenter Lulu.com, with success in both, and will share
his experiences from the author's viewpoint.
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TAA news alert
sponsorship opportunities?
TAA has received
requests from several companies to place ads in the TAA News Alert.
It is TAA's policy not to include advertising in News Alerts. TAA is
considering, however, offering the opportunity for a company to sponsor
each News Alert. The company would be able to have a one paragraph message
and link to their website within a News Alert, either at the top or
bottom of the Alert. If you have any objections to offering sponsorships
of the TAA News Alert, or any suggestions regarding sponsorships, please
e-mail Kim Pawlak, Publications Editor at kmpawlak@centurytel.net
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Join the discourse!
Visit TAA's blogs
and post your text and academic authoring questions.
TAA
Community blog
TAA Members Only blog
Be sure to visit Richard's
Blog too!
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Renew your membership
online!
TAA has just launched
a new online member form that will allow members to renew online using
a secure server. The form can also be used by new members. Check it
out in the TAA Member Center here.
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