Day 5 - Back to Class

After our free weekend, it was back to class.  Vickie, a student at UCL, sat in on our class to gain information for her dissertation on e-textbooks.  While she’s in the beginning stages of the research and writing process, it was great hearing another student’s insight on e-publishing, especially from a British perspective. The beginning session was in relation to monographs and the costs associated with producing them.  

Ruth Jones, the Director of Publisher Business Development at Ingram Content Group, came to speak to us about the changes affecting the e-publishing market on a global level. Having a background in the British Library and publishing made her speech compelling since her experience is well rounded.  The amount of e-books being sold in the US is astonishing. I was also surprised to learn that the sale of books increases by 12% once they go from print to web since the file server is updated daily and the books are always available.  With e-literature literally being at our fingertips with books smart phones, the market is booming. Also, since the price of e-books is often lower than print, mobile devices from laptops to tablets to smart phones will continue to rise. Metadata made another appearance. With mobile device usage being on the rise, would metadata guidelines need to be updated? Would publishers sell more content if it was more easily searchable via mobile devices?

Alison Jones, a Director at Palgrave Macmillan, spoke about more trends in e-publishing. It was nice to hear her say that print is still growing. There has been a lot of emphasis towards print being dead, but we all know that is not true. She spoke about MRM, Journals, Monographs, Textbooks and Trade publishing. Vickie received lots of information about the high piracy rates in e-textbooks. E-textbooks are more adaptable to the British market since their curriculum is more standardized.  Whereas in the US, even schools within the same district are teaching the same subjects from different books, that does not happen as much in the UK.  Something that was very enlightening was the talk about dynamic books, being able to customize, add, remove chapters and fit books to curricula.  To counteract piracy, new types of DRM are being applied to not just prevent piracy but to track those who pirate information. Hidden watermarks featuring information date of purchase are applied to each product.  This information is then used to persecute the guilty.

After lunch, we trekked to Bloomsbury Publishing which turned into a mini tour of the area since the office has recently moved from Soho Square to Bedford Square. Upon our arrival, we were kindly greeted and welcomed by Emily Ardizzoni, the editorial fashion assistant at Berg Fashion Library. Bloomsbury bought Berg. The chat was based on access and content. They put together a great presentation about their database, which Pratt has access to.
By working with their tech partner, ifactory, they are able to craft a website to host their content. In terms of discoverability, they allow a certain amount of content to be available outside the firewall, such as their topic pages which are used to draw customers in.  For the image partnerships which they are expanding, there’s no licensing involved. They pay for the content once and don’t sell it to other companies.  They are also big on functionality and sustainability such as making the site user friendly to those with disabilities and using focus groups to build content.
Next, we heard a presentation about their Fashion Photography Archive (FPA) which will launch in September 2013. They purchased 750,000 slides from Irish born photographer Niall McInerney. Berg is looking to create an educational resource that is reliable, accurate and properly indexed.  The care they are taking in the quality assessment process is phenomenal. The great thing about Berg is that they are not just interested in hosting content but in how the end users and students will use their product. The FPA will be linked to the Berg site as well as the career portal which will not only lists jobs but internships and steps that students can take to land that dream job.

Free Weekend

Eurostar to Paris. Weekend filled with old friends, wine, escargot, unusually sunny weather and Beaux Arts architecture. Nothing to see here folks.

St. Pancras Station

Gare du Nord

A sunny weekend in Paris

Amazingly fresh fruit

Day 4 - Bloomsbury Conference - Day 2

The group was busy on Twitter again during Day 2.


Again, the Finch Report was a major player in the conference.  One point that really stuck with me was that in the UK, if you receive public funds to conduct your research, you need to must make your findings public, for free, as well. By 2014, this will be mandatory. I have not heard murmurs of the same law passing here in the US. Access is a major point of contention for many.  With technology growing at a fast past, huge populations are being left behind. This is not to say that since the research will be available, that many will be able to understand it; however, it is a beginning.

Anne Welsh, a Lecturer in Library and Information Studies at UCL, was one of the few to mention libraries and librarians.  Rather than having libraries be based solely in their academic realm, librarians are reaching out to include to communities around them. Anne covered strategies that can be and are being used to collaborate academic communities among academics and those that rely on them. 
 
Professor Jonathan Bowen, of London South Bank University and Museophile Ltd. mentioned visualization and altmetrics.  With sites such as Google Scholar, mentions and citation information is tracked, computed and used faster than ever.   The Erdos number was mentioned to see just how connected the scholarly world. It's fascinating. By linking co-authors, countrymen tend to look like six degrees of separation.

I was impressed by Amara Thornton's presentation on linking the past to the present through archaeology.  Thinking of how to engage the past through standard techniques while tying them into modern technology. A chat I had with Tula and Bowen during a break I mentioned that what was informal becomes formal as we work and learn, our level increases.  As the process continues, what one knows this year is much more involved and intelligent than what we knew in the previous year. 

One of the speakers made a comment regarding the convoluted nature of medical reports. While walking, I had a conversation with a fellow classmate who thought that simplifying information for patients was unnecessary and insulting to the professional who spent countless dollars and hours creating said reports. It gave the impression that information follows an elitist attitude. That if you want to be able to understand your medical report, legal papers, et cetera that one should attend a higher education facility.  To say that that idea is unfair is an understatement. As a future information professional, knowing that some feel as though it’s ok for the masses to be in the dark, or to not understand the information presented is asinine.

Day 3 - Bloomsbury Conference - Part I

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/conferences/bloomsbury/2012
With ten presenters in one day, I will not give an overview of each presentation since the link has been provided to each presentation. However, I will mention the ideas and people that resonated with me the most. In this social media age, which I'm struggling to embrace, there was a twitter hashtag which received lots of use: #BC6
The full agenda and links to presentations can be found here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/conferences/bloomsbury/bloomsburyconferenceprogramme2012

There were several presentations that covered science.
Dr. Michael Jubb, Director of the Research Information Network, spoke about the Finch Report which had just been released in the previous week.
With the findings of the Finch Report, major support would be given to OA publishing since researching would no longer be held by large companies that make enormous profits.
“Under the scheme, research papers that describe work paid for by the British taxpayer will be free online for universities, companies and individuals to use for any purpose, wherever they are in the world.” That’s a breakthrough.

Dr. Grant Lewison, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Research Oncology, Guy’s Hospital, King’s College London and  Dr. Lee-Ann Coleman, the Head of Scientific, Technical and Medical Information at British Library mentioned using the research that exists to provide better care. Since the information that currently exists is usually so convoluted, there are groups whose only job is to summarize a 400 page into a one page summary.  Giving the general public access to this information will benefit all and possibly prevent illness. Offering more morally sound, pragmatic information that is clear to the masses will be a breakthrough.

Michael Taylor, Research Specialist, Elsevier Labs mentioned the attack of bibliometrics in terms of how things used to be versus how they are today. Is it possible to predict impact? With web analytics, there are similar terms but different rationales and the playing field is definitely not level.  With citations, mass media, tweets and usage counts, the information is shareable. Will this kill peer review? That was met with a resounding no. I'm still trying wrap my brain around Taylor's use of tweetation. Will it catch on? Only time will tell. 

Day 2 - Open Access

Anthony spent a nice chunk of the morning discussing the costs associated with e-publishing.  One aspect I had not previously considered was other departments, within the same publishing house, being envious of the way the budget is split. While e-books and other forms of digital media do not necessarily carry the same costs as printed media, they are not free or necessarily less expensive. 

The peer review beast reared its ugly head during the discussion.  With Open Access (OA) journals gaining popularity and prestige, the issue of can articles be critiqued based on merit and not based on the Journal or institution in which it’s connected with? This is a new issue that is gaining steam. Being published, an idea that is often required for certain degree programs and to gain tenure, can be costly, costing thousands of dollars.  With 10% or less of articles appearing in OA Journals, are they really a threat? While they may not be viewed as a threat per se, they are being taken seriously. 
The value and new role of OA Journals within the publishing realm is being evaluated. The major question being posed is while it is relatively simple to create a OA Journal, are they truly sustainable? Where is money made to provide storage, pay a staff?
The afternoon also brought the first of many mentions of metadata (both standardized and automated). We also heard about Direct Object Identifiers (DOI) which are essential to this process. They appear in both abstracts and Index databases. 

Brian Hole of Ubiquity Press, which is located at UCL spoke to the class in the afternoon. Ubiquity Press offers several plans and packages for those wishing to be published. Everything is peer reviewed which is remarkable.  The turnaround from submission to publication is a fraction of the time span of non OA journals.  A focus that was mentioned was allowing access to the third world community, an idea which is growing in our global marketplace.  Countries such as China and Brazil, while not third world but developing, are home to publishing markets which are booming, at 40% annual increase. While Brian spoke with fervor, I am still unsure as to how Ubiquity Press makes money, let alone is able to expand their business.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/digital-publishing-forum/
Later in the afternoon, we attended the Digital Publishing Forum on UCL’s campus about legal issues and the impact that they have on publishing.  Laurie Kaye of Laurence Kaye Solicitors and Hugh Jones of PA Copyright Counsel, spoke about data protection, Legal Deposit and copyright law. The part that really resonated with me reminds me of the Russian matryoshka or nesting dolls. In reverse order, there’s copyright, communicate, collaborate and the biggest is contract. These became known as the four C’s.  While there is much pressure for change, nothing happens without the other pieces being present. In the growing digital age, enforcement is an issue. In terms of licensing, the British have different needs than the Dutch. Countries with a new market such as Brazil and Ecuador are willing to take more risks than established markets such as the US. The Joint Committee on Legal Deposit (JCLD) is currently working to decide if a digital legal deposit needs to be formed. A hornet's nest in terms of storage, costs, what should be saved, etc. comes into play. Regardless of what the future brings, more order is necessary to keep up with the changes. In just two years time, much will be different.

Day 1 - The Beginning.

After much anticipation, the day finally arrived, the first day of class at the University College of London (UCL). Anthony Watkinson and Andy Dawson gave an overview of the two week course including the Bloomsbury Conference set to take place during the first week. Tips were given to let us regarding cultural activities including museums, plays and musical performances. We were also given a tour of the campus by Andy. He shows us the museums, where to grab lunch, and avoid it, and also took us to get our ids.

After spending the morning discussing the course, what we could expect and what would be expected of us, we took a break for lunch then our first field trip, to the British Library. While it may sound strange, I never expected to step foot inside of the library let alone receive a tour!

One of my favorite and most precious souvenirs of the trip is my British Library Card! The process is unlike the process at any public library here. An applicant goes to the desk and is asked why they want the card. They also need to provide a list of materials they wish to access via the Library as well as the shelf number. If they cannot provide it, they will let you know, politely of course, that they cannot issue you a card. If you know the materials but not the shelf numbers, you are asked to use one of their computers to search the catalog. You then go to another computer to fill out an application, collect a number and wait. The applicant is then interviewed, photographed and the given an overview of the Library and its reading rooms. I still carry my card in my wallet and happily show it to anyone who asks to see it.

After splitting into groups of two, we started our tour of the Library.  To call the library a vast space is an understatement.  There are several levels underground housing miles of stacks. As large as the library is, the majority of the collection resides in Yorkshire where the land is much cheaper. To lessen risk of fire and decay, robotic storage is used.  

Model of the British Library

Thanks to Anthony Panizzi setting up the legal depository system, the British Library receives on average 8,000 books daily, not monthly or yearly but daily! With that system, storage is a major concern.

There were several highlights to the tour. One of the biggest was King George III's collection which is on glorious display at the library.  All 80,000 books are housed in a 6 story tall, glass case. The books are sorted by size to save space. The chamber is filled with gas that turns white then hardens after 2 hours if air or a risk is detected.

King George III's collection

A visit to the conservation center, which conserves everything from audio, video, books and beyond, is housed at the back of the facility. It is one of the premier institutions of its kind in the world. In the lobby, one can watch videos of the video repair process and listen to restored audio. There are also several displays showing the repairing, cutting, cleaning and binding process.  With such a vast collection, the staff must be prepared to work on any type of material.

Just a few of the original pieces on display are works by Shakespeare, the Tyndale Bible, the Codex Sinaiticus, and a revised copy of the Magna Carta. While the Magna Carta is not the original, it's pretty close and impressive nonetheless.