The first plenary speaker confirmations for the 2010 Book Conference, at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, are now online. This year’s conference will feature the following plenary speakers and panel members:
- Jens Bammel, International Publishers Association, Geneva, Switzerland
- Herbert Burkert, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Lucy Küng, University of Jönköping, Jönköping, Sweden
- Eric Merkel-Sobotta, Springer Science+Business Media, Berlin, Germany
- Ernst Tremp, Abbey Library of St. Gallen/University of Freiburg, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Please continue to check the conference website for further additions to the line-up of plenary speakers as well as parallel sessions at the 2010 Book Conference.
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From Juli Weiner at VF Daily…
In a move that’s clearly intended to out-postmodern MoMA’s acquisition of the @ symbol, the Library of Congress has announced this morning that it has acquired the entire Twitter archive. “Every public tweet, ever, since Twitter’s inception in March 2006, will be archived digitally at the Library of Congress. More…
From Ken Auletta in The New Yorker:
On the morning of January 27th—an aeon ago, in tech time—Steve Jobs was to appear at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in downtown San Francisco, to unveil Apple’s new device, the iPad. Although speculation about the device had been intense, few in the audience knew yet what it was called or exactly what it would do, and there was a feeling of expectation in the room worthy of the line outside the grotto at Lourdes. Hundreds of journalists and invited guests, including Al Gore, Yo-Yo Ma, and Robert Iger, the C.E.O. of Disney, milled around the theatre, waiting for Jobs to appear. The sound system had been playing a medley of Bob Dylan songs; it went quiet as the lights came up onstage and Jobs walked out, to the crowd’s applause.
In the weeks before, the book industry had been full of unaccustomed optimism; in some publishing circles, the device had been referred to as “the Jesus tablet.” The industry was desperate for a savior. Between 2002 and 2008, annual sales had grown just 1.6 per cent, and profit margins were shrinking. Like other struggling businesses, publishers had slashed expenditures, laying off editors and publicists and taking fewer chances on unknown writers.
For more…
2010 Book Conference
University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
6-8 November
- Rafael Ball, University Library Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- Jens Bammel, International Publishers Association, Geneva, Switzerland
- Herbert Burkert, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Jochen Gutbrod, Holtzbrinck Group, Stuttgart, Germany
- Tom Hall, Lonely Planet, London, UK
- Stephanie Jacobs, German Book and Font Museum, German National Library, Leipzig, Germany
- Vincent Kaufmann, Media and Communication Management Institute, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Lucy Küng, University of Jönköping, Jönköping, Sweden
- Wulf D. von Lucius, Lucius & Lucius Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany
- Eric Merkel-Sobotta, Springer Science+Business Media, Berlin, Germany
- Andy Renggil, Media Control AG, Zurich, Switzerland
- Ernst Tremp, Abbey Library of St. Gallen/University of Freiburg, St. Gallen, Switzerland
If you intend to present a paper at the conference, your participation begins by submitting a paper proposal. More information on proposals, presentation types, and other options available here. If your proposal is accepted, you will then need to register for the conference.
Those who submit paper proposals should register following the acceptance of the proposal. Conference delegates who do not intend to present may register at any time. 2010 Book Conference registration options.
From Terje Hillesund in First Monday:
This paper focuses on changing reading characteristics and presents a study among a group of expert readers. Considering technological bases of reading and applying corporeal and material perspectives, this study examines manners in which proficient readers handle printed and digital texts, attempting to explain differences in digital and paper–based reading. Based on findings, this paper reflects on how long–form text can be productively transferred into the digital reading space.
For more…
