|
January
1999
PROFIT
LOSS
Houghton
Mifflin:
Education sales in the first halfreached $237.2 million, up 2.6
percen from a year earliert.
Reed Elsevier:
Profits declined 2 percent in the first half, compared to a year
earlier, to $514 million.
Scholastic:
Sales increased 14 percent to $403.2 million in the latest quarter,
compared to a year earlier. Income rose 22 percent to $31.7 million.
Thomson:
Sales rose 8 percent to $2.8 billion in the first half, compared
to a year earlier.
Tribune
Education: Sales grew 50.4 percent to $146 million in the
first half.
Wolters
Kluwer: Profits rose 18 percent to $123 million, attributed
to a strong market for WK's U.S. tax publications.
top
of page for all news
R.I.P.
Leo Buscaglia
Leo Buscaglia,
whose feel-good books sold 11 million copies, died of a heart
attack June 12, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He was 74.
top
of page for all news
New issue
features geology author
WINONA,
Minnesota, January 1, 1999
-- The monthly Academic Author, a digest of Text and Academic
Authors on-line newsletter, was shipped to TAA members. The issue
features a profile on geology writer Charles Fetters, an article
on authors whose books are being divested by Pearson, and reservation
details for the Park City, Utah, convention in June.
top
of page for all news
Campus
group seeks TAA advice
TAMPA,
Florida, January 2, 1999
--- The chair of the University of South Florida's publications
council, Tom Massey, has a problem. Some faculty members are turning
down university grants to support their publications because policy
requires the grant be repaid from royalties and that further revenues
be shared. Massey asked Text and Academic Authors leaders to explore
alternatives at a Jan 8 campus meeting.
top
of page for all news
Encyclopedia
bidding runs high
NEW YORK,
January 3, 1999
-- New York University Press won a bidding war in the low six-digits
for the Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before the Holocaust,
the New York Daily News reported. Press Director Niko Pfuno
outbid Facts on File, Routledge and Yale. A fund drive is planned
to offset the costs.
top
of page for all news
Text archive
link planned
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 4, 1999
-- The library catalog for the textbook archives being assembled
at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg will be accessible
through links from the TAA on-line newsletter. The archive will
be a discrete collection, said Janet Tucker at TAA headquarters.
The link will be available after cataloguing is complete.
top
of page for all news
"Dummies,"
Cliff's Notes joined
LINCOLN,
Nebraska, January 4, 1999
-- IDG Books, which puts out the "Dummies" series, bought Cliff
Notes, which publishes study guides. Price: $14.2 million. John
Kilcullen, IDG president, said Cliff's distribution would be expanded
in the United States and overseas, as will Cliff's software.
top
of page for all news
"Where's
our book going?"
WASHINGTON,
January 4, 1999
-- Co-authors of a new teacher education math text want it in
writing that the federally required Pearson divestiture of their
book won't result in weak marketing. Co-author Mary Hatfield said
her editor at Allyn & Bacon said nothing will be different --
except the publisher. The book, now in production, is on the market
because of government concern about diminished competition if
it remains with A&B under the new Pearson's corporate roof.
top
of page for all news
Newsletter
carried 517 stories
LEWISTON,
Minnesota, January 4, 1999
-- On-line news coverage for Text and Academic Authors included
517 stories in 1998, editor John Vivian said. The Notable Authors
series reach 57. Vivian commended Kim Pawlak, editor of the Academic
Author digest, and Paula Wiczek, desktop editor, for making
all monthly mailings on schedule.
John
Vivian
Rural Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA
55952-9706
January 9, 1999
TO:
Peggy Stanfield, president,
and
TAA Council
SUBJ: Newsletter
The on-line newsletter carried 517 new items in 1998, many
with links to documents and expanded stories. Most expanded
stories were original reporting by Kim Pawlak.
The total of Notable Author articles reached 57.
Kim Pawlak, who edits the monthly digest, and Paula Wiczek,
who does the desktop editing, made every monthly issue on
time.
The site and the digest remain word-driven, but we are trying
with every story to identify visual accouterments. In the
coming year, we hope to add an audio component with the
president's welcome and perhaps convention presentation
snippets.
The best news came from Janet Tucker: An author was so impressed
with TAA's on-line presence that he joined.
I am pleased to offer this report as TAA editor.
cc:
Kim
Pawlak
Ron
Pynn
Janet
Tucker
Paula
Wiczek
|
top
of page for all news
Harvard
business content on-line
DENVER,
January 5, 1999
-- Real Education announced 3,200 Harvard Business School case
studies plus Harvard Business Review reprints are on-line
for student purchase. Faculty can review material before assigning
it. Sixty colleges are signed up, Real Ed said.
top
of page for all news
TAA agenda:
Authors' declaration
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 6, 1999
-- The TAA Council will consider how to promote a new authors'
rights declaration developed in Britain, said Ron Pynn, the association's
executive director. The agenda for a January 9 meeting includes
a report by Pynn and President Peggy Stanfield on meetings with
the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society in London.
top
of page for all news
TAA agenda:
Authors' declaration
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 6, 1999
-- The TAA Council will consider how to promote a new authors'
rights declaration developed in Britain, said Ron Pynn, the association's
executive director. The agenda for a January 9 meeting includes
a report by Pynn and President Peggy Stanfield on meetings with
the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society in London.
COUNCIL
MEETING
Radisson Sandpiper Resort
St. Petersburg Beach, Florida
AGENDA 9 a.m., Saturday, January 9
1. Minutes
from June
2. By-laws
second reading
3. Executive
Director position
4. Budget
review
5. Convention
1999,
including Artifical Intelligence
2000
6. Nominating
Committee
Vacancies
for 1999
7. Reports
Executive
Director
Office
Newsletter and Web site
8. Council
of Fellows
Nominations
Medallion
9. Authors
Coalition/CCC
10. Audit
status
11. Contract
survey (Bill Pasewark)
12. London
& ALCS STM authors
13. Libel
insurance
top
of page for all news
VarsityBooks
text list grows
WASHINGTON,
January 6, 1999
-- On-line textbook discounter VarsityBooks will list books for
60 large colleges for spring classes. Discounts range to 40 percent.
In all, VarsityBooks lists 400,000 titles required in more than
45,000 courses.
top
of page for all news
Science
editor plans to leave
LA JOLLA,
California, January 7, 1999
-- The editor of the journal Science, neuropharmacologist
Floyd Bloom, said he will leave when his five-year contract expires
in 2000. Bloom plans to return to the Scripps Research Institute.
Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
publisher of Science, hadn't expected Bloom's announcement.
Amid praise for his work, the directors announced a search.
top
of page for all news
Campus
reconsiders subvention
TAMPA,
Florida, January 8, 1999
--- Publishers are cutting back on the financial support they
almost routinely once offered to faculty authors, the University
of South Florida publications council was told. Non-repayable
grants are disappearing, according to a TAA survey cited by John
Vivian of the TAA Council. This, he said, increases the need for
university support. TAA President Ron Pynn suggested that the
campus reconsider a policy requiring authors to pay back grants
from future royalties. That subvention policy, said campus Publications
Council chair Tom Massey, may be discouraging faculty from tapping
into an $80,000 fund to support authoring.
top
of page for all news
Wiley,
McGraw mum on dealing
NEW YORK,
January 8, 1999
-- Publishers John Wiley and McGraw-Hill declined to comment on
speculations that they may bid on some of the 55 education titles
that Pearson has up for sale. Both said they don't comment on
acquistions as a matter of policy. "It doesn't mean we are or
aren't," said Wiley spokesperson Susan Spilka. Industry insiders
named six other publishers that are interested in buying titles
from the 55-book list that the U.S. Antitrust Division says Pearson
must sell.
top
of page for all news
Tampa workshop
attracts 26 profs
TAMPA,
Florida, January 8, 1999
--- A team of Text and Academic Authors leaders returned to the
University of South Florida for a second workshop on authoring.
Twenty-six faculty registered for the half-day session. Presenters
were Steve Gillen, of the TAA Council; Ron Pynn, executive director;
and Frank Silverman, past president. The focus: Textbook authoring.
top
of page for all news
TAA
to examine libel policies
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors'Council, governing board of TAA,
asked Council member Paul Rosenzweig of Royalty Review to look
into the cost of obtaining libel insurance for TAA members. Past
studies have found premiums unreasonably high for most authors
with huge deductibles, sometimes a quarter-million dollars.
top
of page for all news
TAA plans
journal initiative
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors' Council gave Executive Director
Ron Pynn the go ahead to pursue a relationship with science, technical
and medical journal authors as potential members. Pynn proposed
developing a series of services for STM writers as an exetnsion
of the association's commitment to authoring.
top
of page for all news
TAA seeks
liaison role
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors president Peggy Stanfield told the
TAA Council that the British Authors Licensing and Collecting
Society was open to TAA becoming a liaison for U.S. authors. "They
would like us to promote their Declaration on the Rights of Academic
Authors to make it an international document," she said. In return,
said Stanfield, TAA can benefit from some of the projects that
the society has initiated, including one to get compensation for
authors of journal articles. Stanfield and TAA's executive director,
Ron Pynn, flew to London in October to meet with the ALCS and
other authors' groups to determine how TAA could help gain recognition
for the Declaration.
top
of page for all news
Fellows
committee formed
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1998
-- The Text and Academic Authors Council asked Council members
Karen Morris, Mary Kay Switzer and Jay Black to recommend the
first authors to be made Fellows of TAA. Sixteen people have been
nominated, but Council decided to award a maximum of eight awards
the first year and a maximum of five in the future. The committee
will make recommendations by March 1 so winners have time to arrange
plans for the Park City covnention to receive a medallion to wear
around the neck.
top
of page for all news
CD-ROM
book line being planned
NEW YORK,
January 9, 1998 --
Publisher IDG and browser manufacturer Netscape plan book and
CD-ROM packages aimed at consumers and business. The subject:
Technology. Target for release: April.
top
of page for all news
TAA pleased
with staff
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
--- Text and Academic Authors's headquarters office, Janet Tucker,
hired last June to manage the TAA office full-time, was given
a $1,000 bonus from the TAA Council. "Janet has been organized,
prompt and efficient in dealing with organizational matters,"
said executive director Ron Pynn. TAA also added a part-time office
assistant, Margaret Painter, in October.
top
of page for all news
Workshops
draw 50 participants
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999 --
Text and Academic Authors' Executive Director Ron Pynn, in his
report to the TAA Council, said two workshops, one held in River
Falls, Wisconsin, in October, and the other in Tampa, Florida
in January, were successful, bringing in 50 more members. "The
attendance at workshops shows they are a popular and well received
activity," Pynn said. "We need to get more of our members to sponsor
these workshops at their universities."
top
of page for all news
TAA chooses
nomination group
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors' Council asked Karen Morris to
follow through on the assocaition's tradition and, as president-elect,
head a nomination committee to fill six Council vacancies. Terms
expire in June. Incumbents interested in another term: Council
member Steve Gillen, treasurer Mike Sullivan andsecretary Mary
Kay Switzer. Elections will be in spring.
top
of page for all news
TAA narrows
2000 sites
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors' Council gave TAA's treasurer,
Mike Sullivan, the go-ahead to pursue three sites for the association's
year 2000 convention: Chicago, New Orleans and San Antonio. All
are sites of earlier TAA conventions. Sullivan will look into
hotel rates for the three locations and report back in June. The
council's original preference for Montreal or Washington had prohibitive
hotel costs, Sullivan said.
top
of page for all news
TAA Council
accepts budget report
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors' Council accepted a mid-term
budget. Treasurer Mike Sullivan reported the association was in
good financial shape.
top
of page for all news
Wisconsin
plans 50 percent more titles
MADISON,
Wisconsin, January 9, 1999
-- The University of Wisconsin Press plans to increase its output
to 60 books a year in an aggessive plan for profitability. Output
now is 40. Graduate Dean Virginia Hinshaw said the Press is running
a $1 million deficit.
top
of page for all news
TAA membership
up 10 percent
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors membership has increased 10 percent
since June 1998, the association's office manager, Janet Tucker,
told the TAA Council. TAA now has 718 members. The 68 new members
were added, said Tucker, through workshops and new member recruitment
through e-mail, phone solicitation, correspondence, colleague
invitations, and the TAA web site.
top
of page for all news
TAA exec
search defined
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors' Council accepted the recommendations
of the search committee to proceed with its search for a part-time
executive director. The Council approved a July 1 hiring date.
The search will use Florida university procedures. Excerpts from
the vacancy notice:
Expectations:
Build the association's membership and visibility; manage the
affairs of the association; represent the association at all levels,
global, national and others, including at the USF campus; develop
and administer the TAA budget, in coordination with the association's
volunteer treasurer; supervise staff; coordinate activities of
the volunteer TAA Council, the association's governing board;
maintain communication with members. Salary: $30,000.
Ron Pynn holds
the position on an interim basis.
top
of page for all news
TAA extends
officers' terms
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The Text and Academic Authors' Council approved extending the
terms of president and vice president from one year to two and
council terms from two years to three. Why? To give the association's
elected leadership more time to follow up on initiatives. The
new terms will be phased in over the coming two years, said Peggy
Stanfield, association president.
top
of page for all news
Campus
text archive dedicated
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 9, 1999
-- The new Text and Academic Authors archive at the University
of South Florida-St. Petersburg, with 200-plus titles to start,
was dedicated as part of a permanant USF Poynter Library collection.
Kathy Arsenault, in charge of collection development, said the
collection is an interesting documentary of an organization that
is important to the St. Petersburg campus. "It will become part
of the campus' history as well as provide many useful books for
our students," she said, during a ceremony at the library . "Some
of the books show such a range of time that it may also become
an interesting historical collection. The math texts alone show
the many changes that have occurred in math, from traditional
to new math."
Library director
Landon Greaves said when he was approached to provide space for
the collection he thought it was a wonderful idea. "What better
place to house books than in a library?" he said. "We both benefit
from the collection. TAA has a place for the books to reside,
and our students have access to the various publications. It will
help round out our collection. It's appropriate for the collection
to be here."
TAA's founder,
retired math author Mike Keedy who contributed an entire set of
his works, said an archive was something only in his dreams in
the association's early days. When he heard of the collection,
he said, he was relieved that his books would be preserved. "These
books become like your children and you want to know they will
live on after you're gone," he said.
TAA president
Peggy Stanfield thanked campus Dean Bill Heller, who came up with
the idea of setting up an archive of TAA authors' works.
The collection
will be catalogued and shelved at the USF Poynter Library. Each
book will have a bookplate on the inside front cover designating
it as part of the TAA collection. The library will create a web
site registry of the books over the summer that will eventually
link to the TAA home page.
| LEAFING
THROUGH EDUCATION HISTORY.
TAA's vice president, Karen Morris, and treasurer Mike Sullivan
examine textbook archive contributions awaiting shelving at
the new textbook archive at the University of South Florida-St.
Petersburg. |
 |
| |
ARCHIVE
MASTERS.
The campus dean, Bill Heller, flanked by two University of
South Florida-St. Petersburg librarians, toasts the new collection.
The archive, TAA hopes, will be a rich source for scholars
studying the history of learning materials development. |
top
of page for all news
R.I.P.
Ivo John Lederer
Ivo John Lederer,
whose specialized in Yugoslav and Russian history, died June 18,
in New York. He was 68.
top
of page for all news
Houghton
goes more on-line
NEW YORK,
January 10, 1999 -- Houghton Mifflin, acting on its strategy to
strengthen its on-line products, bought a stake in OnlineLearning.net.
Online focuses on college-level continuing learning materials.
top
of page for all news
Torstar:
What to do with Troll?
TORONTO,
Ontario, January 11, 1999
-- Torstar hired the Morgan Stanley consulting form to assess
"strategic alternatives" with its Troll children's subsidiary.
Torstar paid $140 million for Troll in 1997. Now the company wants
to concentrate on its supplementary education business.
top
of page for all news
AAP chief
is TAA keynoter
POWDER
SPRINGS, Georgia, January 12, 1999
-- The president of the Association of American Authors, former
Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, will deliver the keynote address
at the Text and Academic Authors convention. Convention program
chair Paul Tippens, said Schroeder will kick off the annual meeting
the morning of June 24. The convention is at Park City, Utah.
top
of page for all news
"Dummies"
firm eyes Canada
TORONTO,
Ontario, January 13, 1999
-- The company that's made a fortune with the "for Dummies" books,
IDG, put $1.7 million into a joint venture to expand its Canadian
market. IDG will have 49 percent of the venture, called CDG. IDG's
partner: Macmillan Canada.
top
of page for all news
South-Western
launches series
NEW YORK,
January 14, 1999
-- South-Western publishing began a new business series, Corporate
Views, by Karl Barksdale and Mike Rutten. The focus: How interconnected
corporate departments and teams work.
top
of page for all news
Keynoter
is copyright expert
POWDER
SPRINGS, January 14, 1999
-- The keynote speaker at the Text and Academic Authors convention
in Utah, book-publishing association executive Pat Schroeder,
has up kept-to-date since her days in Congress on intellectual
property issues, said program, chair Paul Tippens. He noted that
her recent work for the Association of American Publishers included
the No Electronic Theft Act, the WIPO bill, and the Digital Object
Identifier System.
top
of page for all news
Schroeder
topic to be change
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 15, 1999
-- Association of American Publishers president Pat Schroeder
will deliver the keynote speech at the 1999 Text and Academic
Authors convention in Park City, Utah, June 25.
TAA convention
chair Paul Tippens said Schroeder's "up-to-date knowledge and
participation in the changing world of publishing makes her a
unique choice as our keynote speaker."
Although
she says she hasn't chosen a speech topic yet, she said it will
be something relevant to the changing role of publishing and the
role authors play in it. "Text and Academic Authors is a very
important group with many issues at stake in public debates about
where we are moving," Schroeder said. "Some groups want to forget
authors in these discussions. It's as if they feel authors write
for the priviledge of being read. It's important to remind people
about authors. Without authors, what are they going to sell?"
Schroeder
said authors and publishers are both rights holders. Instead of
authors saying publishers aren't being fair and publishers saying
authors are asking for too much, she said, they have to see they
are on the same side. "It's important that authors and publishers
learn that they have much more in common that contrary to each
other," she said. "They should work out their differences quietly."
She said libraries could could fit in one hand the number of people
who come to them defending their copyright, but could fill a football
auditorium with the number of people who want to use what authors
and publishers do for free. "We forget the outside world would
like to divide and conquer," she said.
Before becoming
president of AAP, Schroeder represented Colorado in the House
of Representatives for 24 years. As a ranking member of the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, she
was one of the most knowledgeable members of Congress on copyright
issues and was a champion for the protection of intellectual property
rights. "Her steadfast support for authors and publishers continued
in her role as president of AAP," said Tippens. Under her leadership,
the AAP has lobbied successfully for legislation to protect intellectual
property, including:
- The No
Electronic Theft Act. In the fall of 1997, only a few months
after assuming her leadership at AAP, Schroeder and others were
able to lobby successfully for the NET Act, which tightened
the criminal copyright infringement provisions of the Copyright
Act.
- The WIPO
bill. The WIPO bill, which implements two international copyright
treaties adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization,
was passed in fall 1998 largely due to the efforts of Schroeder
and the AAP. This bill encourages the growth of electronic commerce
and makes the internet a safer place to do business.
- Digital
Object Identifier System. Schroeder spearheaded, in collaboration
with the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, the
development of a Digital Object Identifier System or DOI, which
is an internet-based technology that helps the publishing industry
foster the electronic dissemination of copyrighted material
while enabling copyright protection over the internet.
top
of page for all news
Longman
puts authors on-line
NEW YORK,
January 15, 1999
-- Web access to four authors will be the main feature of a new
site, Penguin Online Auditorium. The authors: Dorothy Allison,
Julia Alvarez, Mary Karr and Arthur Miller. Longman and Penguin
Putnam, partners on the site, said the goal is faculty and student
dialogue on scholarly issues that relate to courses.
top
of page for all news
A+dvanced
Learning to Britain
DERBY,
England, January 16, 1999 --
A K-12 software company, American Education, bought on-line distributing
company Learning Pathways of Derby. Price: $829,000. American
Ed now has a marketing route for its A+dvanced Learning System
in Britain.
top
of page for all news
Schroeder:
Authors have bills too
WASHINGTON,
January 16, 1999
-- The president of the Association of American Publishers, Pat
Schroeder, said in accepting the keynote invitation to Text and
Acedemic Authors national convention that "TAA is a very important
group with many issues at stake in public debates about where
we are moving." "Some groups want to forget authors in these discussions.
It's as if they feel authors write for the priviledge of being
read. It's important to remind people about authors. Without authors,
what are they going to sell?"
top
of page for all news
PROFIT
LOSS
Tribune
Education:
Sales grew 56 percent to $329.3 million for the latest fiscal
year.
Wolters
Kluwer: Profits rose 18 percent to $123 million, attributed
to a strong market for WK's U.S. tax publications.
top
of page for all news
R.I.P.
George Mosse
George Mosse,
who wrote Nazi Culture, died January 22 in Madison, Wisconsin.
He was 80.
top
of page for all news
R.I.P.
Ivo John Lederer
Ivo John Lederer,
whose specialized in Yugoslav and Russian history, died June 18,
in New York. He was 68.
top
of page for all news
What are
e-text expectations?
MARIETTA,
Georgia, January 17, 1999
--Physics author Scott Tippens will explore the use of electronic
delivery media for authoring including effective strategies for
creating and delivering interactive content and the future of
electronic publishing with his Text and Academic Authors convention
presentation, "Authoring and Publishing in the Electronic Medium:
Meeting the Expectations of Students and Faculty."
top
of page for all news
Technology
prof eyes e-future
MARIETTA,
Georgia, January 19, 1999
-- Electronic and computer engineering technology professor Scott
Tippens, of Southern Polytechnic State University, will explore
the use of electronic delivery media for authoring at the Text
and Academic Authors convention. Tippens' topic: "Authoring and
Publishing in the Electronic Medium: Meeting the Expectations
of Students and Faculty."
Tippens' presentation
will address effective strategies for creating and delivering
interactive content as well as future directions for electronic
publishing. "The landscape for textbook authoring is rapidly changing,"
he said. "As students gain access to and become proficient in
the use of technology for communications, entertainment, and classroom
research, their expectations are growing as well."
To address
these changes, Tippens said, many publishers and authors are offering
supplemental resources in the form of web sites and CD-ROMs. "These
supplemental resources expand the textbook materials to other
media, but few take advantage of the new media capabilities,"
he said.
Currently
available resources and tools will also be explored.
Tippens created
a Teaching and Learning Academy at Southern Poly to prepare faculty
to teach with technology.
top
of page for all news
Time Warner
eyes Reader's Digest
NEW YORK,
January 17, 1999
-- The grapevine has Time Warner bidding to acquire troubled Reader's
Digest. The deal would create a new ranking among U.S. publishers:
Pearson, first, then either Random House or Time Warner/Reader's
Digest. Beset by a continuing financial decline, Reader's Digest
is vulnerable. Profits plunged 58 percent in the latest fiscal
period.
top
of page for all news
TAA speaker
explores effects of e-texts
POMONA,
California, January 18, 1999
-- Mass media author Mary Kay Switzer will explore the ramifications
of developing an interactive multimedia textbook based on an interactive
approach to learning with her presentation entitled "Developing
Electronic Textbooks: The Nintendo Generation," at the Text and
Academic Authors convention.
top
of page for all news
TAA membership
up 10 percent
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 18, 1999
-- In 1998, Text and Academic Authors membership grew to 650,
an increase of 10 percent, said national office manager Janet
Tucker. The number included 130 members running as late as three
months in renewing, which Tucker said is not unusual.
|
To:
TAA Council
From: Janet Tucker, TAA Program Assistant
Re: Membership Counts
Date: January 9, 1999
CURRENT
MEMBERSHIP: 718 Members plus 40-50 who will be added as
of March 1999 workshop at University of North Alabama.
TOTAL
AS OF JANUARY 9, 1998: Approximiately 650
**INCREASE
OF: 68 MEMBERS OR A 10 PERCENT INCREASE
Membership
increase is due to workshops and new member recruitment
through e-mail, phone solicitation and correspondence (mailing
TAA information and membership invitation kits to published
textbook authors), colleague invitations and the TAA website.
New
members from workshops: Lamar: 50 new members
- Southwestern:
25 new members
- USF
Tampa: 50 new members
- Riverfalls:
25 new members
How
membership numbers compare to last year:
|
1998 |
1997 |
|
Non
Renewals |
Renewals |
Non-
Renwals |
Renewals |
| January |
13 |
84 |
5 |
46
|
| February |
3 |
19 |
0 |
14 |
| March |
18 |
63 |
5 |
46 |
| April |
7 |
41 |
3 |
42 |
| May |
24 |
101 |
3 |
54 |
| June |
9 |
40 |
4 |
35 |
| July |
12 |
32 |
3 |
34 |
| August |
9 |
35 |
4 |
40 |
| September |
11 |
20 |
8 |
30 |
| October |
1 |
68/17
due |
30 |
81 |
| November |
2 |
31/85
due |
12 |
122 |
| December |
0 |
23/28
due |
23 |
50 |
| TOTALS |
109 |
557/130
due |
100 |
594 |
|
top
of page for all news
Publishers
oppose web restrictions
PHILADELPHIA,
January 18, 1999
-- The Association of American Publishers told a federal judge
it plans a brief against the Child Crime Protection Act, which
is being challenged on First Amendment grounds. The act, passed
by Congress, is designed to punish anyone whose web material is
available and harmful to minors. The AAP and other civil rights-conscious
organizations were successful in having a predecessor law, the
Communications decency Act overturned as overly broad. The new
law carries the moniker CDA II.
top
of page for all news
Scholastic
buys QED mailing firm
DENVER,
January 18, 1999
-- Educational publisher Scholastic bought Quality Education Data,
which sells mailing lists to educational marketers. With QED,
Scholastic will have in-house data to focus promotional materials
more sharply. Whether Scholastic will sell QED data to other companies,
now among QED customers, was unclear. Sales price: Not announced.
top
of page for all news
TAA panel:
Whither the journals
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, January 19, 1999
-- Former mass communication journal editor Jay Black, of the
University of South Florida-St. Petersburg, will moderate a panel
discussion of the pros and cons of current journal publishing
at the Text and Academic Authors convention in in June. The topic
of the panel, "Hardening of the Articles: Trends in Academic Journals,"
will address the convention's theme: "It's a Different World Out
There: Authors and Publishing in the New Millenium." Issues that
Black expects will be explored: The relationships among authors,
editors and universities, and what they consider the value of
academic authoring in the new millenium.
top
of page for all news
Follett
offers texts on-line
NEW YORK,
January 20, 1999
-- Textbook retailer Follett set up an on-line sales site with
110,000 textbooks for sale -- and used books too. Follett is sharing
revenue with more than 450 campus stores. The stores supply Follett
with tetxbook needs on their campuses for the master list from
which students oirder. By fall, Follett said, all its own 585
campus stores will be hooked up, as well as 500 independents.
The used books will be at a 25 percent discount.
Web address:
Follett On-Line
top
of page for all news
Speaker
offers CD-ROM how-to
HOUSTON,
Texas, January 20, 1999
-- El-hi author Lee Mountain, at Text and Academic Authors national
convention, will show how to write, design and develop "edu-taining"
CD-ROMs for elementary language arts and reading. Mountain, of
the University of Houston, will also discuss how student feedback
and team interaction at the development stage can contribute to
the effectiveness of electronic instructional materials. The title
of Mountain's session: "How to Write Literacy CD-ROMs For Elementary
Pupils."
top
of page for all news
VarsityBooks
in pact with UCLA
WASHINGTON,
February 1, 1999
-- On-line discounter VarsityBooks will be the exclusive supplier
of textbooks for extension courses offered by the University of
California at Los Angeles. The deal, announced by VarsityBooks,
includes courses in business, computers and information systems,
education, and management.
top
of page for all news
Pearson
exec joins McGraw-Hill
NEW YORK,
January 20, 1999
-- The president of Pearson Education's higher-ed group left the
company and joined competitor McGraw-Hill as president of the
higher-ed, professional and international division. Henry Hirschberg
had been with Prentice-Hall 25 years before it was absorbed into
Pearson. Replacing Hirschberg: Will Ethridge, former president
of Prentice-Hall engineering, science and math.
top
of page for all news
Pearson
high-ed chief leaves company
NEW YORK,
January 20, 1999
-- Henry Hirschberg resigned January 4 as president of the Pearson
Education Higher Education Group. On January 14 he was named group
president of Higher Education, Professional and International
Publishing at McGraw-Hill.
Prentice-Hall
would not comment on why Hirschberg resigned. Will Ethridge, former
president of Prentice-Hall engineering, science and math, took
over Hirschberg's position. Hirschberg had worked for Prentice-Hall
for 25 years.
Harold McGraw
III, chief executive at McGraw-Hill, said: "We are delighted to
have an executive of Henry's caliber and track record join The
McGraw-Hill Companies. He further strengthens our industry-leading
team in educational and professional publishing."
Pearson Education
president Peter Jovanovich, in an internal memo to employees,
said Etheridge "understands that great products and great sales
are a winning combination, and he and his team have brought best-selling
textbooks and sophisticated technical innovation to these markets.
His ability to manage successful people and publishing enterprises
and his depth and breadth of experience are tremendous assets
and add to the considerable talents and efforts already at work
throughout the higher education group."
Etheridgel
reports to Jovanovich.
top
of page for all news
B&N sets
up web text store
NEW YORK,
January 21, 1999
-- On-line textbook retailing will soon have a third player --
giant Barnes & Noble. The company confirmed it is creating a site
that should be up and running by spring. The operation will be
under B&N's College Bookstore subsidiary that operates campus
stores nationwide. Existing sites are operated by Follett and
VarsityBooks.
top
of page for all news
Clock ticking
for comments on Pearson
WASHINGTON,
January 20, 1999
-- The deadine looms for authors to respond to the revised Pearson
plan to acquire textbooks from Simon & Schuster and combine them
with Addison Wesley Longman under the same corporate umbrella.
The U.S. Anti-Trust Division's tentative approval, on condition
55 titles be sold off, was published December 12 in the Federal
Register. That started a 60-day period for anyone who's interested
to file a comment
Contact:
John Poole, U.S. Anti-Trust Division: (202) 616-5943.
top
of page for all news
Author:
Human thought facing extinction?
JOLIET,
Illinois, January 21, 1999 --
Anatomy author Dale Layman will discuss Compu-think, computer-like
modes of human thinking as an alternative to robotics and mindless
computerization, at the Text and Academic Authors national convention.
"The growing power of computers and artificial intelligence warns
us of the possibility that even writers and artists may be in
danger," Layman said. The title of Layman's session: "Facing the
Robotic Challenge: Coping With Growing Computer Dominance Over
the Access, Writing and Distribution of Information."
top
of page for all news
Author
frets over robot intelligence
JOLIET,
Illinois, January 19, 1999
-- As the new millenium approaches, human beings face a "different
world" -- one increasingly one without a human face, says anatomy
and physiology authorDale Layman. It is a world in which the human
face is being supplanted by a robotic face, a world in which human
labor is being replaced by robotic labor, and, he said, most alarmingly,
a world in which natural human intelligence is being strongly
challenged by an ever-more sophisticated computer technology and
its high-tech offspring: artificial intelligence. Layman will
discuss these issues in a Text and Academic Authors convention
presentation, "Facing the Robotic Challenge: Coping With Growing
Computer Dominance Over the Access, Writing and Distribution of
Information."
"The growing
power of computers and artificial intelligence warns us of the
possibility that even writers and artists may be in danger," Layman
said. "Already some Hollywood screenwriters rely on their software
to construct salable plot outlines, and one experimental program
reportedly can write believable dialogue by reweaving fragments
abstracted from real conversations."
For authors
writing articles and books, Layman said, "what 'new profession'
can we hope to enter once we have been 'computer-supplanted'?
How then shall we face this daunting robotic challenge in the
new millenium?
Layman will
also discuss Compu-think, computer-like modes of human thinking
as a new alternative to robotics and unthinking computerization.
Layman teaches
at Joliet Junior College in Illinois. He is the author of two
medical terminology books.
top
of page for all news
Thomson
seeks on-line text sales
TORONTO,
January 21, 1999
-- Book reps for Thomson imprints soon will be encouraging professors
to urge students to buy textbooks from on-line discounter VarsityBooks.com.
For Thomson, it may mean more sales because, at discounts up to
40 percent, VarsityBooks titles are often less than used books.
Eric Kuhn, of VarsityBooks, said students will appreciate professors
who refer them to lower cost books.
top
of page for all news
Art student
wins TAA prize
WINONA,
Minnesota, January 25, 1999
-- Winona State University art student Allison Kegley won a Text
and Academic Authors contestto capture the theme of the association's
1999 national convention: "It's a Different World Out There: Authors
and Publishing in the New Millenium." Kegley will receive $100.
Her work will be used on invitations, totebags, and t-shirts to
promote the convention, said Kim Pawlak, contest coordinator.
top
of page for all news
BigWords
sells books over web
SAN FRANCISCO,
January 26, 1999
-- A new on-line textbook vender, BigWords.com, announced free
delivery to student customers. The company, like VarsityBooks
of Washington, claims discounts as much as 40 percent. Delivery:
Three to five days. BigWords joins VarsityBooks, Follett and Barnes
& Noble with on-line sales for college texts.
top
of page for all news
VarsityBooks
eyes more deals
WASHINGTON,
January 27, 1999
-- The chief executive of on-line text retailer VarsityBooks.com
acknowledged negotiations with several publishers to push web
sales -- much like an existing agreement between VarsityBooks
and Thomson. Eric Kuhn is looking for publishers' reps to pitch
VarsityBooks discounts and two-day to three-day guaranteed delivery.
Said Kuhn: "What do students want? Savings, convenience, selection
and immediacy."
top
of page for all news
Return
to News Archive
Return to Current News
|
