 |
July
5, 2007
New textbook
accessibility policy increases potential for copyright abuse
A March 2007
decision by the United States Department of Education's Office
of Special Education Programs to open access to the entire content
of the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC)
to certain groups that create specialized formats for the blind
and print disabled, increases the potential for copyright abuse,
according to The Association of Educational Publishers. In an
alert posted on the AEP website, the AEP states: "The new policy
of allowing all NIMAC files to be downloaded by the 'authorized
entities' ['a nonprofit organization or governmental agency that
has a primary mission to provide specialized services relating
to training, education, or adaptive reading or information access
needs of blind or other persons with disabilities'] creates an
opportunity never before encountered. The value added NIMAS file
set can be used to create versions of and manipulate the content
of instructional materials as never before, the portability of
digital files makes tracking the file nearly impossible after
the initial download, and the absence of enforcement increases
the potential for copyright abuse." Read the entire AED Alert
at http://www.aepweb.org/govrelations/quickhits.htm
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Boston
Museum of Science to produce HS textbooks
The Museum
of Science, Boston has partnered with Key Curriculum Press to
publish a new high school science and engineering curriculum,
"Engineering the Future: Science, Technology, and the Design Process."
The curriculum, developed by the Museum of Science's National
Center for Technological Literacy, and tested in more than 100
schools nationally, immerses students in hands-on design and building
challenges reflecting real engineering problems -- from designing
a testing a boat model to constructing a building prototype. The
"Engineering the Future" textbook, "Engineer's Notebook" and "Teacher's
Guide" will be available August 2007. For more information, visit
http://www.keypress.com/etf
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LexisNexis
Academic redesigned
LexisNexis
has redesigned "LexisNexis Academic" based on input from hundreds
of academic librarians. "Academic" will be moved to the same technology
platform as the "Nexis" service to provide the same professional-strength
search functionality available to government and corporate users.
The new search interface makes it easier for users of all levels
to get precise search results. It supports natural language searching
and relevance ranking, as well as precise LexisNexis search commands
that have become the benchmark for retrieval performance. NexisNexis'
SmartIndexing Technology has been integrated throughout the new
service to organize both sources and documents, and is incorporated
in the new Results Clustering feature that allows users to group
their results by publication type, subject, geographic region,
and language.
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ACSFA
report recommends establishing national digital marketplace
In its May
25 report to Congress and the Secretary of Education, the Department
of Education's Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
(ACSFA) recommended the federal government play a role in establishing
a "demand-driven, college- and student-centric" national digital
marketplace as the long-term solution to the rising cost of college
textbooks.
The Committee
said its most important finding was that rapid increases in the
prices of college textbooks are symptoms of a structural flaw
in the market for textbooks and learning materials -- a market
driven by supply rather than demand: "Faculty select textbooks
from publishers, bookstores order them, and students must pay.
The end consumer has little, if any, direct influence over price,
format or quality of the product." The report found that faculty,
colleges, bookstores and publishers were victims of the failure
of this market, and should not be blamed for high textbook prices.
The Committee
outlined the current short-term solutions for curbing the high
cost of textbooks (used textbooks; better faculty involvement
textbook selection and purchase; textbook rentals; custom textbooks;
more financial aid for students to purchase textbooks; electronic
textbooks and other online resources) and said that relying on
these short-term solutions, without addressing the problem of
market failure, is "likely to undermine the affordability, quality,
and accessibility of learning resources in the future."
The national
digital marketplace, according to the report, "would provide a
role for all stakeholders, restore a consumer-centric focus, broaden
the concept of publisher and publication, protect copyright and
fair use allowances, and ensure a comprehensive institutional
approach."
Read the
full report: http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-txtbkstudy.html
Read TAA Executive
Director Richard Hull's reaction to the report: Proper
evaluation of textbook costs begins with students
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Emory
partnership breaks new ground in print-on-demand books
Emory University
in Atlanta, Georgia is launching a new model for digital scholarship
through a partnership with Kirtas Technologies, Inc., a maker
of cutting-edge digital scanning technology. Once digitized, the
books will be made available on Amazon.com as well as other book
distribution channels.
The partnership
will enable Emory to apply automated scanning technology to thousands
of rare, out-of-print books in its research collections, making
it possible for scholars to browse the pages of these books on
the Internet or order bound, printed copies via a fast, affordable
print-on-demand service. The project is limited to materials in
the public domain (published before 1923).
"We believe
that mass digitization and print-on-demand publishing is an important
new model for digital scholarship that is going to revolutionize
the management of academic materials," said Martin Halbert, director
for digital programs and systems at Emory's Woodruff Library.
"Information will no longer be lost in the mists of time when
books go out of print. This is a way of opening up the past to
the future."
Emory's Woodruff
Library is one of the premier research libraries in the United
States, with extensive holdings in the humanities, including many
rare and special collections. To increase accessibility to these
aging materials, and ensure their preservation, the university
purchased a Kirtas robotic book scanner, which can digitize as
many as 50 books per day, transforming the pages from each volume
into an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF files will
be uploaded to a Web site where scholars can access them. If a
scholar wishes to order a bound, printed copy of a digitized book,
they can go to Amazon.com and order the book on line.
Emory will
receive compensation from the sale of digitized copies, although
Halbert stressed that the print-on-demand feature is not intended
to generate a profit, but simply help the library recoup some
of its costs in making out-of-print materials available.
Materials
in Emory's collections that are rare and unique to the history
of the university and the South are currently being digitized
as part of a pilot project. The university expects the print-on-demand
feature for these targeted materials to become available by the
fall semester. Altogether, the university houses more than 200,000
out-of-print volumes that were published before 1923.
Emory was
already on the leading edge of digital scholarship, as one of
the first universities to establish a major online peer-review
journal. In the two years of its existence, Emory's Internet journal
Southern Spaces (southernspaces.org) has grown into a dominant
force in the Southern studies field, attracting scholars from
around the world to its forums and interactive, multi-media features.
Visitors
to Southern Spaces can actually see and hear Southern writers
reading from their works, in the actual settings of those works.
A video of Emory's Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey,
for example, shows her reading "Elegy for the Native Guards" while
standing amid the dunes of Shipp Island, Mississippi, where the
poem is set.
"Mass digitization
and print-on-demand capabilities represent another quantum leap
forward for digital scholarship at Emory, opening up whole new
arenas of possibilities," Halbert said.
In addition
to making out-of-print books more accessible, Emory librarians
envision the university's mass digitization and print-on-demand
capabilities expanding the range of more current scholarly materials.
"The Emory
libraries plan to use the program to support an array of scholarly
publishing needs of our campus," said Rick Luce, vice provost
for libraries at Emory. "We will be providing new opportunities
for our faculty and students to disseminate their work, if they
choose to do so, under the Emory banner."
As chair
of the American Librarian Association's Digital Library Technologies
Interest Group, Halbert will be leading a panel discussion at
the ALA annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 24, entitled,
"Libraries as Digital Publishers: A New Model for Scholarly Access
to Information."
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New tools
for scholarly publishing
Science Commons
and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
(SPARC) have released new online tools to help authors exercise
choice in retaining critical rights in their scholarly articles,
including the rights to reuse their scholarly articles and to
post them in online repositories.
The new tools
include the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine, an online tool
created by Science Commons to simplify the process of choosing
and implementing an addendum to retain scholarly rights. By selecting
from among four addenda offered, any author can fill in a form
to generate and print a completed amendment that can be attached
to a publisher's copyright assignment agreement to retain critical
rights to reuse and offer their works online.
The Scholar's
Copyright Addendum Engine will be offered through the Science
Commons, SPARC, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
and the Carnegie Mellon University Web sites, and it will be freely
available to other institutions that wish to host it. It may be
accessed on the Science Commons Web site at http://scholars.sciencecommons.org.
Also available
for the first time is a new addendum from Science Commons and
SPARC, named "Access-Reuse," that represents a collaboration to
simplify choices for scholars by combining two existing addenda,
the SPARC Author Addendum and the Science Commons Open Access-Creative
Commons Addendum. This new addendum will ensure that authors not
only retain the rights to reuse their own work and post them on
online depositories, but also to grant a non-exclusive license,
such as the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial license,
to the public to reuse and distribute the work. In addition, Science
Commons will be offering two other addenda, called "Immediate
Access" and "Delayed Access", representing alternative arrangements
that authors can choose.
"The Scholar's
Copyright Addendum Engine will enable authors to maximize the
reach of their work," said Heather Joseph, executive director
of SPARC. "It's a significant leap forward in making it easier
for authors to effectively manage their publication rights."
In addition,
MIT has contributed to this effort by including its MIT Copyright
Agreement Amendment in the choices available through the Scholar's
Copyright Addendum Engine. The MIT Copyright Amendment has been
available since the spring of 2006 and allows authors to retain
specific rights to deposit articles in MIT Libraries' DSpace repository,
and to deposit any NIH-funded manuscripts on the National Library
of Medicine's PubMed Central database.
"The cumulative
nature of scientific discovery makes it imperative that unnecessary
barriers to the timely sharing of results of research should be
eliminated wherever possible," said Ann Wolpert, director of libraries
for MIT. "The MIT Libraries applauds Science Commons for its development
of tools such as the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine, which
enables authors of scholarly articles to ensure that they can
later reuse their works and make them widely accessible to other
researchers and the public. Timely and broad access to the scholarly
literature and research results is key to the advancement of science,
and we are pleased to participate in this important Science Commons
initiative by offering MIT's Copyright Amendment for inclusion
in the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine."
"Scientists
in many fields believe that progress can best be achieved by sharing
scientific information. Carnegie Mellon is delighted to be able
to host the addendum generator to help faculty balance their rights
as authors with those of their scholarly publishers," said Dr.
David Yaron, faculty senate library Committee Chair of Chemistry
at Carnegie Mellon University.
SPARC offers
a suite of materials, including a full color brochure and poster,
that introduce the topic of author rights on campuses and complement
the new SPARC-Science Commons "Access-Reuse" addendum. See http://www.arl.org/sparc/author/.
"This is
about authors' rights," said John Wilbanks, vice president of
Science Commons - a project of Creative Commons. "Right now, authors
trade the most important rights - like the right to make copies
of their own scholarly works - to traditional publishers. That
trade has led to an imbalanced world of restricted access to knowledge,
skyrocketing journal prices, and an inability to apply new technologies
to the scholarly canon of knowledge. Our Scholar's Copyright project
addresses this imbalance. Working with libraries and universities,
we are providing the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine so that
scholars can retain rights to make copies of their own writings
available on the Web."
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NIH establishes
working groups to examine peer review
National
Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., announced
today the formation of two working groups — one external,
the other internal — to examine the NIH peer review process,
with the goal of maximizing its effectiveness.
"Peer review
is such a fundamental and critical part of the research process,
that it requires our constant vigilance," said Director Zerhouni.
"With the increasing breadth and complexity of science, along
with the increased number of research grant applications, we need
to take a comprehensive look at our review process, and make the
necessary changes to strengthen it for applicants and reviewers
alike. Although our peer review system is outstanding — and
emulated throughout the world — we want to make it even better."
Over the
last 60 years, the peer review process has been examined several
times with the goal of making sure peer review identifies the
best possible scientific research for NIH to fund. "NIH must continue
to adapt to rapidly changing fields of science and ever-growing
public health challenges. It also must continue to draw on the
most talented reviewers and fund the most promising research,"
Zerhouni said.
The two new
NIH working groups will seek input from the scientific community,
including investigators, scientific societies, grantee institutions,
voluntary health organizations, and from within NIH as well. The
groups will study the context, criteria, and culture of peer review
to make sure the most talented individuals and reviewers are engaged
in the process.
External
ACD Working Group on Peer Review:
- Keith R.
Yamamoto, Ph.D., University of California-San Francisco, co-chair
- Lawrence
Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research, NIH, co-chair
- Bruce Alberts,
Ph.D., University of California-San Francisco
- Mary Beckerle,
Ph.D., University of Utah
- David Botstein,
Ph.D., Princeton University
- Helen H.
Hobbs, M.D.,University of Texas-Southwestern, Howard Hughes
Medical Institute
- Erich D.
Jarvis, Ph.D., Duke University
- Alan I.
Leshner, Ph.D., American Association for the Advancement of
Science
- Philippa
Marrack, Ph.D., National Jewish Medical and Research Center,
University of Colorado, Denver
- Marjorie
Mau, M.S., M.D., University of Hawaii
- Edward
N. Pugh, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
- Tadataka
Yamada, M.D., Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Norka Ruiz
Bravo, Ph.D., Office of Extramural Research, NIH, ex officio
- Antonio
Scarpa, M.D., Ph.D., Center for Scientific Review, NIH, ex officio
Internal
Steering Committee Working Group on Peer Review:
- Jeremy
M. Berg, Ph.D., National Institute of General Medical Sciences,
co-chair
- Lawrence
Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research, NIH, co-chair
- Story Landis,
Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke,
NIH
- Marvin
Kalt, Ph.D., National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
NIH
- Roderic
I. Pettigrew, Ph.D., M.D., National Institute of Bioimaging
and Bioengineering, NIH
- Norka Ruiz
Bravo, Ph.D., Office of Extramural Research, NIH
- Antonio
Scarpa, M.D., Ph.D., Center for Scientific Review, NIH
- Lana R.
Skirboll, Ph.D.,Office of Science Policy, NIH
- Brent Stanfield,
Ph.D., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases, NIH
- Jane A.
Steinberg, Ph.D., National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
- Betty C.
Tai, Ph.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH
- John Bartrum,
Office of Budget, NIH, ex officio
- Jack Jones
Jr., Ph.D., Acting NIH Chief Information Technology Officer,
NIH, ex officio
- Catherine
Manzi, Office of General Counsel, NIH, ex officio
- Jennifer
Spaeth, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy, NIH, ex
officio
Results from
the ACD peer review working group will be presented to the full
Advisory Committee to the Director in December 2007. The internal
NIH steering committee working group will present its findings
to the NIH Director's Steering Committee during the same month.
Both working groups will meet in January 2008 to develop a set
of integrated recommendations for next steps.
The ACD advises
the NIH Director on policy matters important to the NIH mission
of conducting and supporting biomedical and behavioral research,
research training, and translating research results for the public.
Additional information is available at http://www.nih.gov/about/director/acd/index.htm.
The Office of
the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting
policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves
planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities
of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes
program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas
of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available
at http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/.
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Texty,
McGuffey winners participate in Q&A during awards luncheon
Six of this
year's Texty and McGuffey winners attended the TAA Awards Luncheon
in Buffalo, New York June 21 during the 2007 TAA Conference on
Text and Academic Authoring. After being presented with their
awards from TAA President John Wakefield, Texty winners Frank
Wilson, author of Finite Mathematics and Applied Calculus;
Gregory Lewbart, author of Invertebrate Medicine, Judy
Sklar Rasminsky, co-author of Challenging Behavior in Young
Children: Understanding, Preventing, and Responding Effectively;
Joseph Healey, author of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class:
The Sociology of Group Conflict & Change; and Fred Kleiner,
author of A History of Roman Art; and McGuffey winner Michael
Sullivan, author of College Algebra; participated in a
Q&A session with attendees. Read
more here
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TAAF holds
dinner for donors, long-time TAA members, volunteers
More than
40 people attended a TAA Foundation dinner held at the Hyatt Regency
Buffalo in Buffalo, New York June 21. TAA Foundation Board Chair
Michael Lennie talked about the Foundation's major projects, a
study of textbook author diversity, and a study of the current
system of textbook adoptions. Attendees were asked to share how
they became involved with TAA and why their involvement has endured.
Several attendees have been involved with TAA not only as members,
but as volunteers on the TAA Council since the association's founding
in 1987.
TAA Foundation
Dinner Photo Gallery: Click
here
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TAA Council
Member Tara Gray received the first annual Paul Anderson Memorial
Membership Award for her efforts to attract new TAA members.
Gray is the presenter of the TAA sponsored workshop "Publish
& Flourish: Become A Prolific Scholar." |
Gray receives
first Paul Anderson Memorial Membership Award
TAA Council
Member Tara Gray received the first annual Paul Anderson Memorial
Membership Award for her efforts to attract new TAA members. Gray
is the presenter of the TAA sponsored workshop "Publish &
Flourish: Become A Prolific Scholar." The award was presented
at a dinner sponsored by the TAA Foundation at the Hyatt Regency
Buffalo in Buffalo, New York June 21.
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Outgoing
TAA Vice President Christopher Harris was awarded TAA's 2007
Mike Keedy Award, which recognizes dedicated work on behalf
of authors. The Mike Keedy Award is named after TAA Founder
Mike Keedy. |
Harris
receives 2007 Mike Keedy Award
Outgoing
TAA Vice President Christopher Harris was awarded TAA's 2007 Mike
Keedy Award, which recognizes dedicated work on behalf of authors.
The Mike Keedy Award is named after TAA Founder Mike Keedy. The
award was presented at the 2007 TAA Awards Luncheon, held during
the 2007 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring in Buffalo,
NY June 22.
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TAA Associate
Executive Director Kim Pawlak was awarded TAA's 2007 Norma
Hood Award, which recognizes devotion and commitment to the
association. The Norma Hood Award is named after TAA's second
executive director Norma Hood. |
Pawlak
receives 2007 Norma Hood Award
TAA Associate
Executive Director Kim Pawlak was awarded TAA's 2007 Norma Hood
Award, which recognizes devotion and commitment to the association.
The Norma Hood Award is named after TAA's second executive director
Norma Hood. The award was presented at the 2007 TAA Awards
Luncheon, held during the 2007 TAA Conference on Text and Academic
Authoring in Buffalo, NY June 22. Pawlak also received a Norma
Hood Award in 2003, and a Mike Keedy Award, which recognizes dedicated
work on behalf of authors, in 2000.
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Lennie
receives 2007 President's Award
TAA Council
Member Michael Lennie was awarded the 2007 TAA President's Award
by TAA President John Wakefield. The President's Award is given
annually to someone who in the current President' view has
great potential for service in TAA. The award was presented
at the 2007 TAA Awards Luncheon, held during the 2007 TAA Conference
on Text and Academic Authoring in Buffalo, NY June 22.
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Sullivan
receives 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award
TAA Interim
Treasurer and TAA Past President Michael Sullivan was awarded
the 2007 TAA Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes
a lifetime of excellence in authoring and a career of support
and service to authors. Winners are also recognized for having
fulfilled the highest ideal of the association. The award
was presented at the 2007 TAA Awards Luncheon, held during the
2007 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring in Buffalo,
NY June 22.
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TAA Council
approves Grants-in-Aid program
The TAA Council
approved a new member benefit at its June 21, 2007 meeting that
will provide up to $750 in grants to TAA members to subsidize
their cost of publishing scholarly journal articles, such as the
preparation of artwork, having the final article formatted to
the journal's style, and the preparation of photographic images,
in addition to straightforward publication costs. The total fund
for these grants is limited to $7,500. Grants will be awarded
on a first come, first served basis.
To qualify
for a TAA grant, applicants must be a TAA member in good standing
of two or more years. An application for a TAA grant must be accompanied
by the following:
- An acceptance
letter from the journal editor that states the publishing costs.
- A copy
of the manuscript.
- An affidavit
from the applicant's dean or chair stating that neither funds
nor services for preparing the publication are available from
the applicant's employing institution, including from any grants
or contracts for which the member serves as principal investigator.
Preference
will be given to individuals who have sought unsuccessfully to
obtain funds from other sources. Send grant submissions to Richard
Hull, TAA's executive director, at rthull62@hotmail.com
For more information
on applying for a TAA grant: Click
here
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2008 TAA
Conference to be held in Las Vegas
The 2008
TAA Conference will be held in Las Vegas. The tentative date for
the conference is June 20-21. The final date will depend on the
choice of the hotel and its availability on that date.
The Council
had considered holding next year's conference in Chicago, but
the lowest hotel rate that could be secured was $179, and that
was for a hotel far from its preferred location on Chicago's Magnificent
Mile.
If you have
any ideas for conference session topics, or would like to present
at the 2008 TAA Conference, please contact Conference Chair Paul
Siegel at PSiegel@hartford.edu
or (860) 768-5418.
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TAA
offers TAAF a three-phase matching grant totaling $30,000
At its meeting
in Buffalo, NY June 21, the TAA Council offered the TAA Foundation
a three-phase matching grant totaling $30,000. The grant will
be made in three separate increments of $10,000, payable as the
Foundation raises the matching funds.
The funds
must be raised by June 30, 2008 to qualify for the full match.
The challenge begins July 1.
To make a
donation to the TAA Foundation, contact Richard Hull, TAAF's executive
director, at rthull62@hotmail.com
or (850) 893-6539. You can also mail your donation to TAAF, P.O.
Box 76477, St. Petersburg, FL 33734-6477. Make checks payable
to Text and Academic Authors Foundation.
To learn
more about the TAA Foundation and its projects: Click
here
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TAA
Council approves new duties and responsibilities documents for
its officers, members
At its meeting
in Buffalo, NY June 21, the TAA Council approved new documents
that spell out the duties and responsibilities of being an officer
or member of the Council.
The purpose
of the documents is to educate prospective and incoming Council
members as to what will be expected of them.
View the documents:
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Recommended
Reading for Academic Authors
Luey, Beth
(2002). Handbook for Academic Authors (4th ed.). New York: Cambridge
University Press.
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New
Authors Asking Q&A
Q: "I am working
on a different kind of Developmental Mathematics textbook. It
is very difficult, nowadays, to distinguish between current Mathematics
textbooks. Mine looks, feels, and reads in a very different unique
way. I've presented it to one Publisher and they are interested.
I know that it is to my advantage to approach other publishers,
however, should I be concerned that if I do, that they will 'clone'
my text?"
Read
the answers here (members only)
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TAA
welcomes new members
TAA welcomes
new members Karl Horvath, Matt Stevens, Barry Bergman, Heather
Buchanan, Ilene Linden, Marion Mason
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TAA
sustaining members ($150)
TAA thanks
sustaining members Allen R. Angel, William Boyce, Mary Ellen Guffey,
Michael J. Timmons, Allyn J. Washington
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Busy
TAA People: Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
(Mankato, Minnesota) recently published the third edition of "A
Short Guide to Action Research." He also published a journal article,
"Becoming fully intelligent," in "Encounter: Education for Meaning
and Social Justice," 2007, 19, 40-46.
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TAA
gift memberships
TAA Member
Gary L. Musser gave a gift membership to Lyn Riverstone. Thanks
Gary! Welcome Lyn!
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TAA
Foundation donations
Hannah Rubenstein
gave $250, Fred Kleiner gave $200 and David Ellenbogen and Allyn
J. Washington each gave a $100 gift to the TAA Foundation. Thank
you!
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