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September
12, 2006
Learn how to
create, publish podcasts for educational use
The Copyright Clearance
Center (CCC) is offering a free "Beyond the Book" conference call discussion
Thursday, September 28 at 2 p.m. Eastern, on how to create and publish
podcasts for educational use.
The conference
call discussion, "Podcasting: The Content Creation Revolution," will
be led by Rob Simon, a media and marketing entrepreneur, and founder
and president and CEO of Burst Marketing (www.burstmarketing.com),
which specializes in creating and publishing podcasts. A published author
and humorist, Simon recently appeared on a BookExpo America panel about
the rise of podcasting in the book publishing business.
"Podcasting is
one of the hottest trends in communication and technology today," said
Christopher Kenneally, director of author and creator relations for
CCC. "A word coined from merging 'broadcasting' with 'iPods' - portable
devices for downloading audio files, including spoken word as well as
music - podcasting is not yet entirely mainstream, though millions already
listen to hundreds of different programs available for free on the Web."
At a growing number
of colleges, professors who already have blogs, where they post online
commentary on their favorite topics or academic specialties, are now
adding podcasts to reach even larger audiences. Classroom lectures are
also being made available as podcasts.
Book authors, columnists,
instructors, professors and freelancers can all use podcasting to further
their reach, increase understanding of their works, and supplement their
existing content.
Space for this
program is limited! E-mail CCC at beyondthebook@copyright.com,
or call toll-free at 1-800-982-3887 ext. 2420. Be sure to include your
name and e-mail address.
The first 50 registrants
will receive e-mail confirmation with instructions on dialing in to
this toll-free conference call discussion.
Visit CCC online at
www.beyondthebook.com
for more information about all of their "Beyond the Book" programs.
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First
world texts for third world countries
(Richard T. Hull)
Rick Watson, J.
Rex Fuqua Distinguished Chair for Internet Strategy and director of
the UGA Center for Information Systems Leadership at the University
of Georgia, has initiated a drive to make electronic textbooks, created
with the software used by the on-line encyclopedia, Wikipedia, available
as a free library for students in developing nations. The texts would
cover material usually encountered by freshmen and sophomore college
students. Developing nations typically cannot afford print texts that
are current or recent editions. Chapters would be assembled, presumably,
from contributions by individuals interested in contributing to the
project, and academics in the particular discipline would approve any
changes to the texts suggested by readers. Watson said each chapter
of the textbooks would be overseen by an academic in the relevant field.
He said the editors would have final approval over any changes to the
texts suggested by readers.
(From United
Press International, August 3, 2006)
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Earth
girls may be easy, but e-books aren't
(Richard T. Hull)
The 20-plus competing
extant e-book formats have not seen either a dominant one emerge nor
many works that are readable in multiple formats. As a result, writes
David H. Rothman in an article in Publishers
Weekly, "Razing the Tower of Babel," the frustrations of would-be
e-book readers, who shell out their shekels for pricey devices only
to find that favorite works can't be read on them, have slowed the development
of the e-book market. One commentator on a Wired Campus report in The
Chronicle of Higher Education, Matt Short, noted that upgrading reading
software can result in lost rights to e-books acquired with previous
formats. The attraction, he notes, is being able to carry 40 books in
a device weighing less than one pound.
(chronicle.com
article source)
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Study: Copyright
a hindrance to digital tech innovation
(Richard T. Hull)
Copyright law is
hampering innovative uses of digital technology in schools and colleges
across the country, according to a report released this summer by Harvard
University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, reports Andrea
L. Foster in the August 11 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The report of a yearlong study by the Center, argues that copyright
restrictions have adversely affected a research center at George Mason
University, the field of film studies, a nonprofit group that promotes
American composers, and WGBH, a public broadcaster in Boston. Consult
the freely-downloadable, 117 page report for details here.
For Foster's note, click here.
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Online education
journal seeking submissions
"Innovate", an online
education journal, is seeking research-based submissions that cover
innovations in education through online learning, stimulating K-20 learning
environments through online learning, and assessments, policy, funding,
and governance models that can advance the ability to innovate with
online learning for a special issue on Building an Evidence Base Supporting
K-2- Online Learning. Review the journal's submission guidelines here.
Send your manuscript to the guest editors of this issue, Cathy Gunn
at c.gunn@moreheadstate.edu,
Susan Patrick at spatrick@nacol.org
and Editor-in-Chief James L. Morrison at jlm@nova.edu.
Deadline: November 30, 2006.
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POD Network
seeking submissions
The Professional
& Organizational Development (POD) Network is seeking submissions for
its 2006 edition of "To Improve the Academy", which provides a forum
for articles on instructional, faculty, and organizational development.
Manuscripts are solicited on those three general areas and may be research-based,
programmatic or reflective pieces. For more information, visit the POD
website.
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News,
Notes from Richard T. Hull,
Executive Director
TAA to branch out in new directions
At its annual meeting
the TAA Council endorsed a number of changes that are designed to widen
the appeal of the organization to all of its members, not just textbook
authors. My column in this issue reports on those changes, to alert
you to what this year holds in store and to encourage you to renew your
membership and not let it lapse.
TAA Executive
Director Richard Hull said that in the coming year, TAA plans to
widen the appeal of the organization to all of its members, not
just textbook authors, to truly become the Text and Academic Authors
Association. |
First, TAA is adding
a companion, follow-up workshop to Tara Gray's well-received "Publish
and Flourish." Developed by Robert Ginsberg, teacher, author, editor,
this workshop gives an intensive look at academic writing from the point
of view of an editor, who is also an author and teacher. Ginsberg's
workshop addresses such questions as: publishing as an extension of
teaching; publishing as research; finding publishers for your scholarly
book or textbook; finding scholarly journals appropriate for your work;
the formats of journal publishing: articles, reports, reviews, special
issues; writing as communicating; recognizing bad style in the writing
of others and in your writing; unclogging your reference system; turning
a scholarly conference into an edited book; dealing with issues of copyright,
fair use, quotation, paraphrase, permissions, translation, public domain,
out of print; the art of editing: the editor as the author's best friend
and the advocate for readers. Please see Ginsberg's workshop outline
and credentials elsewhere in this issue.
Second, TAA will
be surveying the membership this fall on a number of issues, trying
to find out what services members want that TAA can provide. We are
considering increasing the number of newsletter issues to 12 per year,
with an emphasis on the how-tos of academic writing, a monthly notable
author column, and commissioned articles by members on writing topics
in their own disciplines. We have been asked by the Council to rejuvenate
TAA's refereed online journal for longer articles on academic writing.
And we are considering an expanded, two track conference next year,
with one track devoted to the traditional topics and issues of textbook
writing and the other track devoted to other forms of academic writing:
journal articles, scholarly books, collections arising from conferences,
and grants. The conference will be at a more convenient time and located
near a major concentration of members, and it will have some interesting
additional activities, such as a reception in a publishing house or
a banquet on board a riverboat.
Third, TAA is considering
adding to its Texty and McGuffey awards a new range of awards. Given
by genre, they will award the most frequently cited article published
in the previous year in each genre by a member, and the most frequently
cited scholarly book published within two years in each genre by a member.
As with the Texty and McGuffey awards, these awards will recognize outstanding
contributions by members in other areas of academic writing.
These and other changes
are intended to complete the conversion of TAA from its original name
and identity as Textbook Authors Association to Text and Academic Authors
Association that was begun in 1993. One of my chief charges when I was
hired was to increase member renewals and retention. It has become increasingly
clear to me that, despite the historical origins and mission of the original
TAA, we need to attend to the needs and interests of members who are not
yet at the stage of their academic careers when textbook authoring is
an appropriate and attractive challenge. So many of our members who come
into the organization through Tara's workshops are at earlier stages of
their careers, some just learning the craft of academic authorship, that
spreading the focus of the Association to address the demands made upon
them for journal articles, scholarly books, and grant writing seems an
entirely proper thing for the Association to do.
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TAA to offer
new workshop on creating camera-ready copy
Freelance book
editor Elizabeth D. Boepple will present her workshop, "Creating Camera-Ready
Copy: The Process Demystified," as part of TAA's expanded Text and Academic
Authoring Workshop Series.
Elizabeth
D. Boepple
freelance book
editor to offer new TAA workshop |
Boepple's six-hour
workshop describes the steps involved in creating camera-ready copy
for publication. Working from sample materials they bring to the workshop,
attendees will have the opportunity to apply editing and production
skills using Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and Paint Shop
Pro, as an illustration of how to work with graphics.
"Publishers working
from camera-ready copy print using a photo-offset process directly from
the camera-ready copy you supply," she said. "What you see when you
submit is exactly what you will see in print. As the sole preparer of
your book, you have taken on the role of typesetter, page maker, illustrator,
proofreader, and the quality-control expert. Each function is critical
to the outcome. Whether you plan to create camera-ready copy for publication,
or you plan to hire a professional preparer, or your publisher generates
the final copy, knowing what the process involves and how to complete
the steps in that process can save you time, money, and frustration."
Boepple will also
discuss printer metrics, explaining why what you print may result in
a different print area measurement from that obtained by your printer,
and how to ensure consistency across platforms. Workshop participants
will receive lists of relevant resources for editing and manuscript
production, and a check-off list of tasks for "scrubbing" text before
it goes to a proofreader.
The workshop will
also include a short discussion of the elements of concise academic
writing, sound academic argument, and the eloquence gained from respecting
grammar.
Boepple earned
a BA in Psychology (1971), and an MEd (1974) and PhD in Educational
Psychology (1977) from State University of New York at Buffalo She currently
works as a freelance book editor and provides book production services
as well as website design and management.
She published Sui
Generis in 2005. For Ethical Issues in the New Reproductive Technologies
(ed. Hull, 2004, 2005), she did research, created a hyperlinked glossary,
prepared camera-ready copy and created electronic versions. She currently
works on Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association
(eleven vol., ed. Hull, 2004 ff.), for which she researches biographies,
prepares photographs, indexes, and prepares the camera-ready copy. For
Encounters in My Travels (Harris, 2005), in addition to creating camera-ready
copy, Boepple composed study questions and a bibliography for further
reading. She has also done editing, indexing, and creation of camera-ready
copy for fourteen other volumes.
Her workshop joins
Tara Gray's "Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Author" workshop,
Dr. Robert Ginsberg's "Publishing Workshops for Faculty Authors" workshop
series, and several other workshops presented by various TAA authoring
experts, including "Authoring a Text or Professional Book," Writing a
Winning Book Proposal," and "Successful Journal Writing."
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Notable Author
archive re-posted on TAA web site
TAA's archive of
Notable Authors, a series of profiles that acknowledges text and academic
authors who have made significant contributions, has been re-posted
to the TAA website. The archive contains profiles that date back to
1997, when the TAA website was launched. Some of the authors who have
been profiled for the series, include Africology professor Molefi Kete
Asante, who was the first African-American to write an African-American
history for high school students; anatomy authors Ric Martini and Michael
Timmons, who created the first oversized human anatomy textbook that
combined the art and photography of an atlas with the narrative of a
textbook; French author Kathy Heilenman, whose textbook Voila! was the
first to put a real emphasis on vocabulary, rather than structure; and
mass communication author Gerald Stone, who made his mark by "contributing
to the body of knowledge": writing for academic journals. The series
also includes profiles of notable historical textbook authors such as
Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps, a 19th-century American educator and writer
who strove to raise the academic standards of education for women; and
education reformer John Amos Comenius, who believed that people were
born with a natural craving for knowledge and goodness, and that schools
beat it out of them. Visit the Notable Author archive in the members
only section of the site here
(members only).
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TAA
conference isn't just for textbook authors
TAA is restructuring
its annual conference for 2007 to offer more for its academic author
members. The 2007 Conference, which will be held in Buffalo, NY on June
22nd and 23rd, will include two parallel tracks, one for textbook authors
and one for academic authors. While we are in the beginning stages of
developing the program, suggestions for academic author track sessions
include writing scholarly journal articles and other academic writing;
working toward tenure; grant writing; and getting scholarly articles
published. Suggestions for the textbook author track sessions include
software for authors; designing textbook pedagogy/pedagogical aids;
negotiating contracts; tax tips; and marketing tips. Other plans: an
interesting venue for the banquet: perhaps a river boat or a museum;
and a reception in a publishing house with a tour that traces a book
from proposal to distribution. We will soon be forming a TAA Conference
Committee made up of textbook and academic authors, both veterans and
newbies, to help direct us in creating a conference that will be attractive
to both textbook and academic authors. We welcome any input from you
in the planning process. You can e-mail any suggestions to Executive
Director Richard Hull at rthull62@hotmail.com
or Associate Executive Director Kim Pawlak at kmpawlak@centurytel.net.
We have much more in store for TAA's 2007 Conference! Keep checking
the 2007 TAA Conference page
for updates.
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TAA
welcomes new member
TAA welcomes new
member Robert Marjolin.
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Check
out 2006 TAA Post-Convention site
Download convention
handouts and PowerPoint presentations, view the convention photo gallery
and read more about this year's convention sessions here.
Keep checking back for more content.
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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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