Monthly Archive for December, 2010

A defense of pagination

Published on December 28, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 1 Comment

From Bob Stein at if:book…

Joseph Pearson of Inventive Labs, the developer of Monocle Reader and Booki.sh recently wrote an eloquent explanation of why we should bother to maintain some form of pagination even in the digital era. [this originally appeared on the private Read 2.0 list serve, re-posted here with permission.]

I’m perplexed by the suggestion that we chose pagination “for the sake of tradition”, since pagination is the one and only difficult problem with building a browser-based reader. It’s actually the only thing Monocle does, and I didn’t waste this year doing it without reflecting on it.

I’m delighted by the proposal that someone should build a serious scrolling browser-based reader, because I’ll have somewhere to send people who ask this question. And I’m greatly amused by the idea that we should inplement both modes and make it the reader’s choice — as if a responsible software designer COULD actually shrug their shoulders and say “Damned if I know, you decide.”

The software designer has to make the call — has to ask: “what is the best way to read content with these characteristics?” I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. Back in March I wrote up some notes on it, but didn’t publish them. I’ve pasted them below. More…

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NSF Project Survey

Published on December 21, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 1 Comment

New paradigms for socio-technical knowledge exchange, especially within and across academic disciplines, is important in order to generate insights about how new knowledge is (and can be) created. Academic researchers regularly use Web-based tools such as wikis, blogs, electronic repositories and open publishing systems to promote the open exchange of knowledge, but with varied levels of success. These tools are increasingly being used to support conferences. The survey linked to below, prepared by researchers at NJIT and Massey University as part of NSF’s social-computing research program, is designed to gather data about potential user behaviors and their sense of user rights and responsibilities regarding such a conference support system.  By taking the survey, you will help the NSF project investigators in designing online functions that are relevant, adequate and pertinent to community-mediated systems of open academic exchange.

Access the survey here.

The survey is the beginning of work that will identify new knowledge about the participants, interactions, and contributions required for a successful, community-mediated system of open academic exchange.  Your responses will contribute to the design of an open source, Web-based conference content management system that is based on socio-technical principles and making use of successful social media tools. More…

Questions may be directed to:
Rob Friedman, PhD
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Humanities

431 Cullimore Hall
Newark, NJ 07102
Telephone: 973 596 5765
Email: friedman@njit.edu

Jackie O, Working Girl

Published on December 20, 2010 in News. 1 Comment

From Greg Lawrence Vanity Fair…

Norman Mailer once called her “the Prisoner of Celebrity,” aptly characterizing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as the ultimate object of media mythmaking. But Mailer was unaware that by the time he wrote those words, in 1983, the world’s most famous woman had already masterminded what was to be her escape from the constraints of fame. After two chapters of Jackie’s life had been defined by two extraordinary men, after she had been venerated by the world as the widowed First Lady and then vilified for marrying the unworthy Greek, after being portrayed as an extravagant, gold-digging spendthrift in the thrall of jewelry and couture fashion, she was going to find fulfillment on her own terms, and she would do so for the most part comfortably outside the media glare and public awareness.

If you produce one book, you will have done something wonderful in your life.
—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Whatever else she may have been during her lifetime—tragic heroine, elusive sphinx, reluctant icon—Jackie also distinguished herself as an intensely dedicated career woman who left behind an impressive legacy of books. More…

Books After Amazon

Published on December 10, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 1 Comment

From Onnesha Roychoudhuri at Boston Review…

The man sitting next to me takes out his new Kindle. “How do you like that thing?” I ask. He instantly becomes animated, angling the Kindle toward me so that I can better see its face. “It’s great,” he says. “I can download tons of different books and magazines.” Then, eyeing my hefty, hardback of John Dos Passos’s USA trilogy, he adds, “Cheaper than that, too. $9.99.” There, our conversation ends. I am unsure of where I fall on the Luddite spectrum, but I’ll admit to inhaling the odor of leather-bound volumes. Having moved over a dozen times, though, I’ve also found occasion to curse their weight.

So, too, has Jeff Bezos. Bezos calls the Kindle a response to “the failings of a physical book.” He told attendees of a technology conference in New York: “I’m grumpy when I’m forced to read a physical book because it’s not as convenient. Turning the pages . . . the book is always flopping itself shut at the wrong moment.” His conclusion? “It’s had a great five-hundred-year run . . . but it’s time to change.” More…

Announcing the Ninth International Conference on the Book

Published on December 6, 2010 in Conference and Newsletter. 0 Comments

www.Book-Conference.com
2011 Book Conference
University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
14-16 October

Call for Papers

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.

Registration

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. 2011 Book Conference registration options.

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