Monday 28 September 2009

Don't miss this key ALPSP Seminar

Going Green? Sustainable Publishing, 4 November, London

Chair: Ashley Lodge, Publisher, Pearson Education and Chair, Publishers Green Network

Speakers include:

Genny Early, Head of Purchasing and Distribution, Oxford Journals
Mark Gough, Global Environmental Manager, Reed Elsevier
Edward Milford, Chairman, Earthscan
Toby Sawday, Business Development & Sustainability, Alistair Sawday Publishing

Your supply chain is important when considering the environmental impact of your publishing. But there are other key issues - how do you get buy in from your staff, change the way you organise the office and business without escalating costs? Learn how to be an effective publisher in a sustainable way at the ALPSP practical one day seminar on 4 November in Central London.
Details

Online Information - 1-3 December 2009

Just a swift reminder that the Online Information will be held as usual at Olympia in London on the 1-3rd of December, 2009. This year we won't have an ALPSP stand but if you're there why not use the Twitter hashtag #alpsp to keep in touch?

To pre-register for entry to the exhibition go to www.online-information.co.uk. As an ALPSP member you can also claim an association discount if you register for the conference which is being run alongside the exhibition.

Nick

Monday 21 September 2009

Semantico offer free demo at Frankfurt

A message just received from Richard Padley of Semantico which you might find of interest . . .

Free data consultancy and rapid online publishing demo on the Semantico stand at Frankfurt: Hall 4.2, Stand K445

If you’re planning to visit the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, why not make a date to talk to us on the Semantico stand right now?

Gareth Bish and I will be conducting one-to-one, hands-on demo sessions of our new rapid online publishing platform SIPP Rapid, and arranging FREE consultancy days to help improve the quality of your data.

You can also hear about a selection of our newest service developments for 2010 to help your organisation position for recovery – see the list below.

To book a time to meet up, just hit reply and suggest a time and we’ll get back to you.
We look forward to welcoming you on the stand!
Best regards,
Richard PadleyManaging Director, Semantico Limited


FEATURED FOR 2010:
Shibboleth: come and talk to us about enabling federated access management for your sites
Book Widget taster: publishers can trial a range of titles for a six-month period without making a major commitment to an entire library or imprint
User-experience review: a 2-day consultancy package offering that helps publishers get more sales effectiveness out of an existing site

Friday 18 September 2009

What's Next for the Google Settlement - FREE online seminar from CCC

Colleagues may be interested in a free online seminar which has been organized by fellow ALPSP member the Copyright Clearance Center.

Copyright law specialist Lois F. Wasoff will give the hour-long webinar which will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm BST in the UK, 6:00 pm CEST in mainland Europe).

To quote the blurb:
"Since its announcement in October 2008, there has been a continuous stream of activity surrounding the Google Settlement. The dates to opt-out and object have passed and thousands of documents have been filed with the court. Renowned copyright law and policy attorney Lois Wasoff returns to help sort out the diverse viewpoints in anticipation of the Fairness Hearing, the next important event in this historic lawsuit. Presented in clear and concise terms, the seminar will examine the complex issues facing Judge Dennis Chin as the hearing date approaches."

The webinar is FREE, but you must register to take part.

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Current Communications and public consultations from the European Commission

The European Commission currently has three 'communications' (EC speak for policy documents) and public consultations open that may be of interest to ALPSP members.

1. Consultation on “Europeana – next steps”
The European Commission adopted the Communication “Europeana – next steps” on 28 August 2009. Europeana is "Europe's online library, museum and archive" and is part of the European Commission's digital libraries initiative which, in their words, aims "to make Europe's cultural and scientific heritage accessible to all on the internet".

The EC has launched a public consultation to discuss the further development of Europeana (deadline for comments: 15 November 2009).

2. Consultation on “Post i2010: priorities for a new strategy for European information society (2010-2015)”
The European Commission has published Europe’s Digital Competitiveness Report and opened a public consultation on what future strategy should be adopted to meet 5 stated goals:

  • to accelerate the economic recovery and maintain its world leadership in high-tech sectors
  • to spend research budgets more effectively so that bright ideas are marketed and generate new growth
  • to kick-start ICT-led productivity to offset GDP stagnation as the labour force starts to shrink when the baby boomers retire
  • to foster new, smarter, cleaner technologies that can help Europe achieve a factor for growth; and
  • to use networking tools to rebuild trust in Europe as an open and democratic society.

The Commission has launched an online questionnaire to gather opinion.

3. Communication on “Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the internal market”
On 14 September 2009 the European Commission adopted the Communication "Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the internal market". There is no consultation open on this Communication but ALPSP members may be interested in the "practical, non-legislative measures to combat counterfeiting and piracy" that are outlined in the Commission's press release.

Toby Green elected next Chair of ALPSP

Toby Green, Head of Publishing at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has been elected as the next Chair of ALPSP.

Toby joined OECD in 1998 and became Head of Publishing in 2007. He was instrumental in the launch of SourceOECD in 2000 and since then OECD has continued to carve out a reputation as one of the most innovative and forwarding-thinking publishers in the non-profit sector. He began his publishing career in 1982 and has previously worked for Academic Press, Elsevier and Pergamon Press.

Speaking of his election, Toby said "It is a great honour to be asked to Chair ALPSP. The challenge is to build on the momentum that ALPSP has so that it can deepen and extend its work in serving the international community of not-for-profit scholarly publishers. ALPSP has its roots in the UK but has 140 members outside of the UK and active chapters in North America and Australasia so it is definitely a global association. Appointing a Chair based outside the UK for the first time underlines this global aspiration."

Toby served as a Member of the Council of ALPSP from 2002-2006 and will re-join Council as Chair on 1 January 2010, succeeding Robert Parker (Royal Society of Chemistry) who will continue to serve on Council as Past-Chair.

Saturday 12 September 2009

Fun and fundraising at the ALPSP / Ringgold Golf

Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 ALPSP / Ringgold Texas Scramble golf competition.

Shown receiving their trophies from Ringgold's Helen Henderson (far left) are from left to right Jevin West, Mary Waltham and Jacquie Thomson.

I am delighted to say that the event raised £200 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

My thanks to all those that took part - a good time was definitely had by all!

Friday 4 September 2009

New report on small businesses' access to research literature

The Publishing Research Consortium (PRC) - of which ALPSP is a founding partner - has just published a new report by Mark Ware examining UK small businesses' access to research information.

As noted by Bob Campbell, Chair of the Publishing Research Consortium steering group:

"The so-called ‘access gap’ for small businesses has often been cited as a problem in the current scholarly communication system, without much idea of its extent. This study is an important first step in improving our understanding of how staff in small businesses use journals and what can be done to achieve even greater access."

It's a hot topic because small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up a huge proportion of businesses (over 99% in the UK), account for a significant proportion of private sector employment and turnover and, crucially, drive much of the innovation in the economy. Access to the research literature by SMEs hasn't been studied much and so this report is a very welcome addition to the evidence base.

The report includes primary data from an online survey and qualitative interviews and finds that SME access to research information is good, but could be improved still further. Key findings are:
  • 70% of respondents for whom access to the literature was important described their access as fairly of very easy
  • SME respondents read circa 112 articles per year on average which implies that there are no major access barriers
  • Ease of access was lower among SMEs than in larger companies or universities
  • SMEs are more likely to experience access difficulties than those in larger companies or universities

The research report Access by UK small and medium-sized enterprises to professional and academic information is available from the PRC website along with a companion report containing additional information and analysis.

Mark Ware will give a brief presentation on the survey at an additional session of the ALPSP International Conference at 5:30pm on Thursday 10 September 2009.

Wednesday 2 September 2009

UK government gets tough with internet pirates

The UK government has accepted the huge and growing problem of internet piracy with Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw promising tougher measures to crackdown on illegal file-sharing.

Measures that the UK government is supporting include:
  • Warning letters to those illegally downloading content
  • Allowing telecoms watchdog Ofcom to release the identities of serial infringers to facilitate prosecution by rightsholders
  • Making internet service providers (ISPs) slow down the internet connections of repeat offenders, although the government appears to have backed away from getting ISPs to terminate internet access altogether

Representatives of the content industries - including ALPSP - have been working together to ensure that the government understands the economic and social importance of the creative industries and the negative impact that illegal file-sharing is having and it is great to see that our message seems to have gotten through despite fierce lobbying from the ISPs who oppose these measures.

Social Media Workshops - discount for ALPSP members

Reed Media are offering a 10% discount to ALPSP members for their workshop Introduction to Social Media Marketing for Publishers which will take place in London on October 27, 2009.

More information is available on the event's webpage.

To claim your discount enter the code alpsp1009 when prompted.

FOCUS ON: The DC Principles Coalition

The DC Principles Coalition has been an important voice in the on-going debate about changes to scholarly publishing, and an extremely active and influential one.

Marty Frank (American Physiological Society) explains more about the DC Principles Group and why it started:

"The seeds for the DC Principles Coalition for Free Access to Science were planted at the 2003 meeting of publishers working with HighWire. The group had been monitoring the efforts of advocates for changes in scholarly communication, finding themselves frustrated by calls for open access and complaints about the high cost of scholarly publications, especially those published by commercial companies. As not-for-profit publishers, the group considers themselves responsible partners with the academy, producing reasonably priced scholarly journals. As a result, a group of not-for-profit scholarly publishers, led by representatives from the American Physiological Society, the Endocrine Society, the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Association for Cancer Research, created the DC Principles Coalition in 2004 providing a voice for not-for-profit publishers (www.dcprinciples.org).

Coalition members believe it appropriate to make the full-text of their journals freely available to everyone worldwide either immediately or within months of publication, depending on each publisher’s business & publishing requirements. Unfortunately, funding agencies do not agree with that philosophy, mandating free access without demonstrating any concern about the viability of the journals that the scientific community relies upon. As a group, representatives of the DC Principles Coalition have written to our elected representatives, met with administration leadership, and testified before Congress on legislation and policies that impact upon our ability to publish scholarly works. The Coalition is comprised of 73 publishers with nearly 400 journals ranging from top-tier medical and research to small niche publications. The societies that make up the Coalition represent over 700,000 individual members. They publish over 100,000 articles annually with approximately 20% of them based on research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Coalition represents a diverse group of not-for-profit publishers believing in free access with some making their content available after 2 years, while others immediately or after 2 months because one policy does not fit the needs of all publishers."

ALPSP is supportive of the DC Principles Coalition; if your organization believes in the free access as defined by your organization’s business and publishing requirements, consider joining the DC Principles Coalition by completing the form available at http://www.dcprinciples.org/join.htm.

ALPSP meal at Frankfurt - Tuesday 13 October 2009

I'm pleased to be able to confirm that we will be holding our now famous ALPSP informal Pre-Frankfurt Book Fair dinner on Tuesday 13th of October 2009 for all ALPSP members the evening before the Fair opens.

We will be holding it at the same restaurant as last year: The Bangkok, Sandweg 17, 60316, Frankfurt, Germany (www.bangkok-restaurant.com).

Those of you who came last time will remember that this is not far from the city centre and all the main hotels. The start time will be 7.30pm.

We will arrange a selection of Thai dishes to suit all tastes (including vegetarians) and will arrange for some wine to be served with the meal. However other drinks either before, during or after the meal will need to be ordered at the restaurant and paid for separately.

This is a chance for members to mix and chat in an informal setting, the only rule being that if you come with a colleague you cannot sit with him/her during the meal.

I hope as many of you as possible will be able to make it for 2009. It was exceptionally popular last year, and we hope it will be so again. The cost will be 40 Euros. You should expect to pay me cash on the evening and it would also be helpful if you are able to give me a business card. Receipts will be emailed to you after the Fair (this will save me having to handwrite 80 receipts as everyone is leaving!).

Please email me as soon as possible if you would like to attend. We'll be taking over the whole restaurant but places are limited by their capacity!

Please pass this message to your colleagues if you are not attending the Fair yourself as everyone working for a member of ALPSP is welcome.

Ian Russell and I look forward to seeing you there. If not, then remember to drop by the ALPSP stand in Hall 4.2, during the Fair.

Nick

ALPSP @ the Frankfurt Book Fair

ALPSP will have its usual strong presence at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year.

Ian Russell and Nick Evans are currently booking meeting appointments so if you would like to get together please contact us.

Places still available for ALPSP golf event

These are the trophies on offer for the winners of the 2009 ALPSP / Ringgold Charity Texas Scramble team competition at Hinksey Heights Golf Course (see http://www.oxford-golf.co.uk/) on the western outskirts of Oxford.

We still have a couple of places available!

The intention is to provide a fun golf event with a little networking which raises money for charity. All of the proceeds will therefore go to the MS Society (http://www.mssociety.org.uk/).

The event will take place on Friday 11 September 2009 with the first team teeing off at 3pm. As publishing folk we are used to challenging conditions and we will therefore play no matter what the weather!

Hinksey Heights is easily accessed from the A34 Oxford ring-road.

The organizers (Helen Henderson and myself) will be placing each of the players into teams to try to ensure that there is a relatively even distribution of experience. The teams will be announced on the day and Team Captains will be determined by lot.

The golf will be followed by a barbeque (which is included in the price) and cash bar during which the winners will be announced and presented with their trophies. We expect the barbeque to start around 6:30 and the event will formally end at around 7:30 – 8:00 (though players will be welcome to stay beyond that!)

Participation in the event costs £30 which includes green fees, barbeque and a donation to the MS Society of £10 (any additional surplus, should it arise for any reason, will also be donated to the MS Society).

In order to keep the administration simple we are asking players to pay on the day but places MUST BE BOOKED AND CONFIRMED IN ADVANCE!

We are assuming that players will bring there own clubs, otherwise clubs will need to be hired from Hinksey Heights – please contact me for details.

We will make our best efforts to try to arrange car-shares from the venue of the ALPSP International Conference (the Oxford Belfry). Otherwise players will have to make their own way to Hinksey Heights.

Ian