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April 2010

Focus on Publishing

The New Ethos of Publishing

by ROBIN PEEK

consider what we recommend and what we do. Social networking falls into a gray area. Is a Tweet a published work? Blogs certainly run the gamut from inane communication to full-blown published sources

n the new coin of the realm, who do we trust when it comes to the published word and those who keep those words within the clouds? Robin Peek Now I should admit that I am writing this on Google Docs. So for the record, yes, I drank the Google Kool-Aid, even though I have Open Office at home and at school. But even a flash drive seems to be a hassle, doesnt it? It reminds me of the good old disk days, when you would be working at home and you suddenly realized that the document you needed was still on your office hard drive or that you had copied it over to another media and left it at work. So I bought into the convenience factor. It was just easier

to put my stuff up in Google Docs and have access to it anywhere. Well, you get what you pay for, particularly when you dont pay for it.

Dealing With Failure to Load

But there are times when life can get a little cloudy. On more than one occasion, I have tried to access one of my Google apps, only to be told, Oops, Google Calendar Failed to Load. Thats when my little cyberheart skips a virtual beat because it was clearly at that particular moment that I wanted something from that app. While we can emote at times such as this, what exactly do you do about it? Complain to management? Leave? And go where? I have been thinking about this lately, particularly after Google Buzz entered my life and then promptly found people for me to follow and others to follow me.

The data was sucked from my contact list that I have with Google because I am living my life in the Google cloud. Google Buzz is Googles latest attempt to find a place in the social networking world, and it automatically attaches itself to your Gmail account. Unattaching it did prove to be a problem, and Google was flooded with complaints and eventually found a way to let people stop buzzing if they wanted. Was Google wrong in making all of its users automatically attached to a social networking engine? But were publishers who sold their mailing lists to advertisers on the same footing?

So I am left wondering, as I write this in Google Docs, are there ethical lines that have to be drawn in the digital sand?
frequently referenced by the fourth estate of journalism. The question is not an easy one to answer. For every good journalist who adheres to a code of ethics, there is another who writes for publications with a lesser pedigree and (continued on page 16)

In Google We Trust
I often jokingly say, In Google We Trust, but I have been giving some serious thought to the obligations of content platforms (such as Googles Blogger), content providers, and even consumers to

Internet Waves

Legal Issues

Lists and More Lists Google Books Unsettled

by SHIRLEY DUGLIN KENNEDY

And how about five wonderful things about Twitter? 1. You can review and absorb a lot of information quickly. You can follow current events in real time. You can use search tools to find expertsand local experts at that. You can ask the Twitterverse for help and receive it almost immediately. You can attract the attention of corporations when other customer service conduits prove unfruitful.

ists. The truth is that people love them. For example, there are the five must-have beauty products, five pieces to update your spring wardrobe, five superfoods to keep you healthy, five websites to help you manage your money, the five most highly cited papers in microbiology, and even five easy recipes to get you out of the Shirley Duglin Kennedy kitchen in 30 minutes or less. I can play this game. So can you. Ill go first. Lets start with five annoying things about Twitter: 1. 2. Spammers The number of tweeters who selfidentify as social media experts Tweeters who link to a story on Digg or another site rather than directly to the item being shared People who thank you every time you re-tweet something that they posted (unnecessary, folks at least for me) People who use Twitter exclusively to promote themselves or their businesses

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But I wont stop with Twitter. Lets move on to Facebook. Here are five awful things about Facebook: 1. The ever-shifting privacy policies and controls, resulting in The ample opportunity to embarrass yourself, your co-workers, your boss, your friends, your family Farmville, Mafia Wars, yadda yadda, and the endless updates The misleading, insulting, and downright offensive little ads along the right-hand column

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(continued on page 16)

In a previous column, I suggested that this matter had grown beyond a lawsuit omeday I may no longer and was now a business negoneed to write about the tiation. But there is a problem Google Books settlement with that assessment: While and can instead focus on the the discussions between Google future of a dynamic new mechand the authors/publishers are anism for universal access to focused on finding a business an incredible wealth of stored George H. Pike solution to the problem, the knowledge. But today is not underlying legal challenges that day. The Google Books settlement is back have not disappeared. There are still before the courts, and yet again, there is copyright violations that have been aluncertainty about the viability and le- leged, and as the DOJ has pointed out, gality of the latest settlement proposal. there are potential violations of federal Neither the lawsuit that began more antitrust and class action law. The lawsuit, filed by The Authors than 4.5 years ago nor the settlement, which was originally reached more than Guild in September 2005, complained 1.5 years ago and was updated in No- that Googles program to scan library book collections and then make those vember 2009, is close to being resolved. works available through the Google Books program violated their copyrights. Google Fairness Hearing defended its actions by noting that while On Feb. 18, the court held a fairness the entire book was scanned, search rehearing on the most recent settlement sults would only present a small portion proposal. The purpose of the hearing was of the book. Googles position was that to allow the parties to the lawsuit and this was a fair use of the works and that other interested parties to advocate in fa- it was legal. vor of or in opposition to the proposed settlement. The 5-hour hearing included All Persons 21 speakers registering objections, five speakers in support of the settlement, Similarly Situated the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Significantly, the lawsuit was filed as the plaintiffs (The Authors Guild, Asso- a class action. In a class action, a small ciation of American Publishers, and other publishers and authors), and the (continued on page 17) defendant (Google, Inc.). by GEORGE H. PIKE

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InformationToday
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April 2010

Focus on Publishing
(continued from page 15) lesser standards. And even scholarly journals are not immune from ethical questions either. But then a problem emerges about how we collectively decided who was a good publisher before the web onslaught happened. I would go so far as to say that many people, including academics, would have been unable to name the actual publisher of much of the content consumed back then. And once you eliminate the big dogs in the room, such as The New York Times or CNN, I am not certain that the equation has changed much. If anything, it may have tipped more toward not knowing. If digital publishing has taught us any lessons, it is that establishing trust is a fickle thing. Apple Computer can decide who should be the cell phone company of choice, and people will flock to it. And

if there is an app for that, there are a variety of mechanisms, such as user reviews, that folks can use to make their decisions. To test my theory, I asked a group of people I know who regularly use the technology site CNET if they knew who the publisher was. They were 1) surprised by the question and 2) unable to identify the publisher of the site, which happens to be CBS interactive, in case you are wondering.

Seeing Is Believing?
So I am left wondering, as I write this in Google Docs, are there ethical lines that have to be drawn in the digital sand? If an online magazine such as Nibble, which claims that it does not sell the foods we review or receive fees from manufacturers for featuring them. Our recommendations are based purely on our

opinion, after tasting thousands of products each year, that they represent the best in their respective categories, why should I believe them? I proceed on faith but, then again, I like their work. I thought about this when Gourmet magazine folded, and I wondered about all of the sources that had already emerged to steal the magazines old thunder. And yet, with that said, the ethos of the newcomers is uncertain. Yelp, the popular review website (which in full disclosure I have contributed to), was in ne-

gotations last year to be purchased by Google. But Yelp is going through its own pain, according to The Wall Street Journal, in the form of a class action complaint filed in March that details how Yelp allegedly offered to take down negative reviews in exchange for advertising fees. The suit also alleges that Yelp employees have written negative reviews of businesses. So do I trust Yelp? Do I continue to contribute to Yelp? I still like Yelp as a source of content. And the fellow who cuts my hair says he has received a lot of clients because of Yelp. In fact, part of my review is displayed in his window, but I was never compensated by anyone for writing it. The times are changing.

Robin Peek is associate professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College. She can be reached at robin.peek@simmons .edu. Send your comments about this column to itletters@infotoday.com.

Internet Waves
(continued from page 15) 5. The constant changes to the user interface, few of which actually improve the experience on the site Five wonderful things about Facebook: 1. Its so easy to get in touch and stay in touch with old friends, far-flung relatives, and others.

But there are five wonderful things about the iPhone: 1. 2. It has a big, bright screen. It has many truly clever apps that enable you to do so much on-the-go. It has a great on-screen keyboard (I didnt think I could adjust to this after using a physical keyboard on the BlackBerry, but I like it better). The camera is good and easy to share photos. Theres an integrated iPod so you dont have to carry an extra device with you.

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iSSRN (http://ssrnblog.com/ 2009/11/19/ssrns-iphone-appissrn-is-available), from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), provides instant access to the latest Social Science and Humanities research in the SSRN eLibrary from scholars around the world. Real Time Congress (www.real timecongress.org), from the Sunlight Foundation, gives you updates from the House and Senate floor as they happen, and access to hearings, news from popular politically oriented publications, and a variety of government documents. WordPress for iPhone (http://iphone .wordpress.org). Have a blog? Does it use the WordPress site or software? Then youre in luck. This app lets you write posts, upload photos, edit pages, and manage comments on your blog from your iPhone or iPod touch. CFR Application (http://iphone .vinta.com/apps/cfr), from the Council on Foreign Relations, offers international news briefs; news analysis; backgrounders on current political, security, and economic issues; and much more. Kindle for iPhone (www.amazon .com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8 &docId=1000301301) is a good option if you cant justify shelling out for one of Amazons ebook readers. As with the standard Kindle, you can download meaty samples, read a couple of chapters gratis, and buy the book immediately (which comes to you wirelessly, for the ultimate

in instant gratification) or decide if its worth a trip to the library to find a dead-tree copy. 9. PubMed On Tap (www.references ontap.com) is a fairly sophisticated application with a built-in browser that offers many options for PubMed searching; saving; and emailing records, documents, and the like. If you dont subscribe to medical journals, you can restrict your search to only those items offering free full text, or you can order items via the venerable Loansome Doc service. The free lite version limits the number of results and references to 10 per search. The full version costs $2.99 and is probably worth it, if youre a heavy user.

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4. 2. Instead of emailing vacation or new baby photos to everyone, you can just post them on Facebook. The same thing applies to links to websites or articles you want to share. You can keep track of your friends and co-workers birthdays. You can see whats up with your adult children (if they will let you friend them). You can become a fan of many worthwhile products, people, institutionsand silly ones too.

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And finally, here are 10 free apps for the iPhone that every information professional should try (some of which are also available for mobile devices other than the iPhone): 1. AccessMyLibrary (www.gale.cen gage.com/apps) provides a mobile gateway to Gale, a part of Cengage Learnings popular AccessMyLibrary service. Find local libraries and access electronic resources on-the-go. Local Books (www.librarything .com/blog/2010/01/local-booksiphone-application.php), from the good folks at LibraryThing, lets you search for libraries, bookstores, and bookish events wherever you are. WorldCat Mobile (www.worldcat .org/wcpa/content/mobile) helps you locate libraries near you and search their catalogs. Find what you wanted? The app provides a library phone number and a mapping tool to help you get there.

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Five not-so-good things about the iPhone: 1. 2. You cant escape its cultlike aura. You cant avoid its delicacy (drop it, and its toast; you cant buy insurance for it either). Its tied to AT&T with a network quality that varies by location. You cant multitask; you need to shut down one app before you can use another one. The app store interface is marginal; there is no way to rank search results, for example. 3. 2.

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10. Petfinder (www.phunware.com/1/ petfinder.html), the app version of the Petfinder.com website, offers mobile access to the largest searchable database of homeless pets on the Internet. It is location-aware, so you can see available animals near you. You can browse through the list of cats, dogs, or other critters (looks like mostly rabbits) or use the search form to troll for pets of a certain breed/age/size/gender. Yeah, not work-related (unless your library is looking for a cat), and it can be a real time-sink/heartbreak, but maybe youll find a new furry BFF.

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Shirley Duglin Kennedy is a news researcher for the St. Petersburg Times. She is also senior editor of DocuTicker.com and ResourceShelf.com; her email is shirl .kennedy@docuticker.com. Send your comments about this column to itletters@info today.com.

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