For two professions so committed to meeting the needs of readers, publishers and librarians have distinct cultures. Put simply, one culture is all about developing and selling books; the other is about sharing them and fostering a culture of reading. But there is another basic difference, too. Publishers work closely with authors and use sales…

It used to be that a book was published first as a hardcover, then as a lower-cost paperback. With increasingly tech-savvy consumers demanding instantaneous access to content in various formats, that publishing protocol has in the last decade changed to one in which the book in codex form often remains the focus, but digital "extras"…

The 2009 database marketplace is bounded by two extremes: massive digitization projects to increase access, and retrenchment owing to budget worries. Picture medieval monks hunched over their desks in the scriptorium as they labor to copy manuscripts. A 21st-century version of this activity is being repeated daily in the world's libraries and…

The information industry continues to consolidate, just as agribusiness has consolidated and now dominates farming. Both the family farm and the small information company still exist but are becoming rarer in an age of mergers, acquisitions, and increased economies of scale. Small companies distinguish themselves by high quality, special themes,…

This article presents an interview with Casper Grathwohl, VP and publisher of reference at Oxford University Press (OUP), regarding his background of reference publishing, his role in OUP, and his plans of moving on with Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO). Over the past 12 years, Grathwohl, has led a successful transition of the venerable…

This article presents an interview with Dan Clancy, engineering director for Google Book Search. In this interview, Clancy talks about the pending Google Book Search settlement, involving millions of volumes digitized from libraries, which drew a lawsuit from the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild. He also discusses pricing,…

This article presents the 10 best new magazines of 2008. They are: (1) BBC Knowledge; (2) Bible Study Magazine; (3) Culture: The Word on Cheese; (4) Food Network Magazine; (5) Lapham's Quarterly; (6) Miller-McCune; (7) NCAA Champion; (8) Science Illustrated; (9) Strategy; and (10) World Affairs. These magazines have in common the potential to…

As waves of grim economic news wash over state and federal governments here and abroad, libraries of all types and sizes are bracing for budget cuts the likes of which have not been seen in three generations. Unlike most financial crises, this one is ubiquitous, with all but a handful of states in the red and getting redder. Globally, the meltdown…

Take a look around the bus or subway and see just how many people are bumping along to an iPod or an MP3 player. What they are listening to is their secret, but the many signature earbuds in sight should give one a real sense of just how pervasive digital audio has become. This article describes how that popularity is mirrored in library audio…

Evidence for open access as an emergent, global state of mind is everywhere. The "New York Times" went "open" last September, and the "Wall Street Journal" is slated to follow. Increasingly, scholarly communities are breaking with tradition and calling for the open sharing of research, software, and data. Amongst these global initiatives is the…

According to the results of LJ's latest annual referenda survey, covering measures held between December 1, 2006, and November 30, 2007, voters approved both operating and building referenda at very high rates. If a library reported a referendum this year, chances are they are in high spirits. Operating referenda, with 69% of measures succeeding,…

Start-up Colorado publisher Capital Crime Press found rousing success in 2006. According to senior editor Alex Cole, in their first year of business, they had six new authors making a splash. Robert Fate's "Baby Shark", a gritty noir crime novel set in 1950s Texas that is a finalist for "Foreword" magazine's 2006 Book of the Year, got the biggest…

Nearly 25 percent of the U.S. population--those with higher incomes and more education and those living in slightly larger households, with children--are listening to audiobooks according to Audio Publishers Association (APA) statistics. No wonder there is continued growth in the industry. This article presents the 2006 "best" list which includes…

America's subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 spiraled into a global financial crisis in 2008. For much of the year, attention was riveted on the presidential primaries. A worsening economy made the election somewhat anticlimactic, but everybody rejoiced with the choice of the first "international" President. With stocks tumbling and major firms…

"Forbes" recently reported that Americans spent $11 billion in 2008 on self-help books, CDs, seminars, coaching, and stress-management programs--13.6 percent more than they did in 2005. Why the uptick? According to a recent "Publishers Weekly" cover story, conventional publishing industry wisdom holds that personal improvement titles do very well…