Comments on: Should I or Shouldn’t I…

By: Seth Finkelstein

Seth Finkelstein — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:47:31 +0000

> Seth: Waiting for news…well, that’s what I was doing, but the news seems to be receding from the horizon.

Walt, your news-ship has come in, and it’s a supertanker.

Associated Press
NYC judge rejects Google books settlement
Associated Press, 03.22.11, 03:29 PM EDT

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York City has rejected a deal between Google and lawyers for authors and publishers to let the gigantic search engine make money presiding over the world’s largest digital library.

U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin said the creation of a universal library would benefit many but would “simply go too far.”

By: walt

walt — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:40:11 +0000

Interesting. I think ebooks and ereaders will be moving targets for a very long time to come; it’s been a while (years!) since I focused on them.

As for shooting fish in a barrel: True enough, but I have to have some fun in the process of doing C&I as well…and some of those fish earn $big $buck$ saying stupid things.

By: Steven Kaye

Steven Kaye — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 03:13:32 +0000

Ebooks is still a moving target, IMO, though Border’s decline (goodbye to Kobo?) and the concentration of ebooks on Amazon by all accounts might be an interesting subtopic. Or possibly what librarians and others can do to push for open formats in ebooks and ownership rather than purchasing a license.

Poking fun at pundits and “death of” rhetoric is like shooting fish in a barrel, honestly.

And put me down for #3 for GBS.

By: Michael Golrick

Michael Golrick — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:12:10 +0000

By the way Steve Lawson posted this video on copyright: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UWaQK5Wbvs&feature=player_embedded

That made me think about the intersection of copyright law (DRM) and e-books. Maybe that is one place to focus???

By: walt

walt — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:09:28 +0000

Thanks, both–and Michael, thanks for broadening the possible responses. I certainly wouldn’t be tackling GBS immediately–it’s too big. I’m trying to decide whether to tackle it at all. (Seth: Waiting for news…well, that’s what I was doing, but the news seems to be receding from the horizon.)

Michael: Copyright’s already split into several areas, and I should look at that. Print/deathwatch is always fun. Subdividing ebooks/ereaders and, in the process, dropping lots of stuff, may also be worthwhile.

As for blogging: Yes, I’ll keep writing about it. But as for splitting the work I’ve done across several issues—well, the expressed *dis*interest in reading my results, and the absolute, total lack of any book sales argue against doing that. If people are actively disinterested, it’s not just a waste of space, it damages C&I.

By: Michael Golrick

Michael Golrick — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:39:09 +0000

Personally, I’d vote for copyright (defining all the issues feels like nailing Jello to a tree, at times), and the print deathwatch group.

I would say take your time with “GBs” (I hope the capitalization will keep it from being George B. Shaw), but I would think a special issue in late spring or for ALA could be interesting.

You are known for thinking and talking about blogging, especially in the library world. Can you split some of that up as part of several issues? Just a thought….

And maybe after you weed/look at/subdivide e-books, a plan will leap out at you. I worry about where libraries fit in for e-books, and have some concerns about DRM and the lack of cross-platform compatibility. In public libraries who have them there is always the issue about helping the public with their (the public’s) specific brand. (I am sure you saw the discussion on PUBLIB about Overdrive.)

By: Seth Finkelstein

Seth Finkelstein — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:49:54 +0000

I’d say wait until there’s some news. That increases the interest on the part of the readers.

FYI, a gbs item of possible interest:

http://laboratorium.net/archive/2011/01/27/gbs_brevia_1