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To protect privacy, bookseller deletes records| MONTPELIER, Vermont, February 28, 2003 -- To circumvent the USA Patriot Act, which gives federal agents access to book-store records on customer pourchases, Bear Pond Books has destroyed its records. Documents that link titles with the 3,000 customers in the store's data base have been delated, said co-owner Michael Katzenberg. Vermont booksellers have been especially vehement against te post-9/11 Patriot Act, which allows the government to seize bookstore and library records to see who's reading what. The law also bars booksellers and librarains from announcing there has been a seizure of records. Katzenberg acknowledged there may be a price to be paid for his pre-emptory destruction of customer records, which are used in marketing. "That's the price we have to pay to safeguard people's privacy," he said. Many Bear Pond customers have commended the initiative, he said. |
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Economics author tabbed for Bush chairmanship| WASHINGTON, February 26, 2003 -- President Bush nominated Harvard University economist Greg Mankiw, a textbook author, to chair his Council of Economic Advisors. Throughout his career, Mankiw has taught macroeconomics, microeconomics, statistics and principles of economics. He is the author of two best-selling textbooks, Macroeconomics, first published by Worth in 1992, and Principles of Economics, first published by Harcourt Brace's Dryden Press in 1997. In addition, Mankiw is a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and to the Congressional Budget Office. Mankiw is a graduate of Princeton University. He bolds a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, |
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Cuba intercepts 5,100-book shipment| HAVANNA, Cuba, February 26, 2003 -- The Cuban government seized a shipment of books from the United States destined for independent libraries and dissident groups. Seized were more than 5,100 books, including John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Charles Lindblom's Democracy and Market System, Thomas Buergenthal's International Human Rights in a Nutshell, journalism textbooks, collected speeches of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and management guru Spencer Johnson's bestselling Who Moved My Cheese? In a confusing statement, officials said the ban wasn't because of the books themselves but their intended recipients. |
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| ACADEMIC AUTHORING PEOPLE |
 | Michael J. Handel (communication), University of Wisconsin, Madison, wrote The Sociology of Organizations: Classic, Contemporary and Cultural Reading (Sage). |
 | Glen Hanson (pharmacology and toxicology),University of Utah, Peter J. Venturelli (sociology), Valparaiso University, and Annette E. Fleckenstein (pharmacology and toxicology), University of Utah wrote the seventh edition of Drugs and Society (Jones & Bartlett). |
 | Sylvia S. Mader (biology), formerly Lowell University and Massachusetts Bay Community College, wrote the eighth edition Biology (McGraw-Hill). |
| Please
tell
us
about
your
latest
project:
EDITOR |
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Westwood coursepack law suit resolved| LOS ANGELES, California, February 25, 2003 -- The owner of a Los Angeles copy shop, Westwood Copies, Elias Negash, agreed to settle a copyright infringement suit over journal articles that were sold in course-packs without permission. Terms were not announced. Bob Weiner, licensing vice president of the Copyright Clearance Center, which coordinated the suit on behalf of journal publishers, said Westwood already has begun seeking permissions through the CCC for furture coursepacks, Meanwhile, CCC is continuing with other high-profile actions to encourage copyshop compliance with copyright laws nationwide. |
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Harcourt sci-med sales buoy Reed| ORLANDO, Florida, February 25, 2003 -- Anglo-Dutch Reed Elsevier, reporting its preliminary 2002 financial results, said that its 2001 acquisition of Harcourt science and medical businesses "strongly contributed" to sales gains in their first full year as part of the company. The company's total sales rose 13 percent, a turnaround from three years when chief executive Crispin Davis was explaining losses. The preliminary 2002 financial report acknowledged that U.S. el-hi sales at Harcourt Education were off 5 percent, which led to massive layoffs in Janaury, but the losses were than offset by "a significant outperformance" in Harcourt medical and science publications. |
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BertelsmannSpringer bidders down to 8| GÜTERSLOH, Germany, February 25, 2003 -- Publishing giant Bertelsmann invited eight prospective buyers for its science and business unitBertelsmannSpringer to inspect the unit's books to ffine-tune their offers. The eight were chosen from a field of 14 offers, sources said. Making the short list: Cinven/Candover, CVC Capital Partners/Blackstone Group, Apax Partners/Taylor & Francis Group, Soros Private Equity, BC Partners, EQT Partners, Pemira. The identity of the eighth short-list bidder was not available. Sources said the intiial bids ranged from $863 million to $1.3 billion. |
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Columbia Press chief departing| NEW YORK, February 25, 2003 -- After six years as president and director of Columbia University Press, Bill Strachan is leaving. In a statement, Strachan talked aboutthe economic restraints facing university presses, including Columbia. Even so, he said commended his staff for "making CUP a top scholarly house." He called them "extraordinary colleagues." Chief financial officer Rebecca Schrader will be acting president. |
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School falloff hurts Scholastic| NEW YORK, February 24, 2003 -- Publishing house Scholastic predicted only a break-even third quarter despite the continuing success of its Harry Potter franchise. Chief executive Richard Robinson said library, supplement and other school sales are off because of state budget deficits. Fiscal 2004 should be stronger, Robinson said. |
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 | Reed Elsevier: Revenues grew 13 percent in U.S.$7.5 billion in 2002, according to a preliminary company report. Revenue at U.S.-based Harcourt Education, acquired in 2001, grew 78 percent to U.S.$1.5 billion.
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Kaplan realigns Dearborn units| WASHINGTON, February 24, 2003 -- The Dearborn units of Kaplan, the expanding test-preparation company, have been consolidated. Eric Cantor, presidentb of kaplan Professional, said the Dearborn real estate education, trade publishing and home inspection uits will be realigned together. The goal, he asid, will be to improve internal efficiencies, to accelerate growth, and to expand market opportunities. Current Dearborn product lines include education and training matefials for real estate people; consumer titles in business, finance and real estate; and home inspection education mateials. | |
Printing industry bright spot: TextbooksDARIEN, Connecticut, February 23, 2003 -- One indicator of the book industry's health, the revenue of printing comopanies, looks bleak except for textbooks. The industry newsletter Subtext, which tracks major commercial printers, said three of four had sales declines in 2002. There was strong activity at some companies in educational publishing, however, although comparative breakout data were not available. The largest printer, Quebecor World, has laid off 3,000 employees in the last two years and has 900 more pink slips ready, Subtext reported. Revenue data for the major printers for 2002:
Banta
Donnelly
Quebecor
Courier |
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| OVERALL
SALES
-6.3%
-10.2%
-1/2%
-4.7% |
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SALES
2.7%
-0.4%
-3.6%
-6.1% |
DATA BANK INDEX |
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California bills target school book prices| SACRAMENTO, California, February 22, 2003 -- The California Board of Education would be required to consider price when adopting new textbooks for the state's 6 million public school students under bills introduced in the state Legislature. State Senator Marco Firebaugh, a Democrat from Cudahy, introduced the Senate bill, and House Assembly leader John Vasconcellos, a Democrat from San Jose, the companion bill in the House. Vasconcellos is chair of the Senate education committee. The bills follow an investigation by Jessica Portner, a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, that found the State Board of Education's textbook adoption board paid no attention to price when selecting books for which the state would reimburse local districts making the purchases. |
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South-Western packaging texts for new market| MASON, Ohio, February 22, 2003 -- College publisher South-Western launched a series, Professional Portfolio, written by educators for professionals in business, finance, marketing, personnel and technology. The books are mostly textbooks that are being repackaged for the trade-book market. | |
Authors endorse
SA2 news siteWINONA ,
Minnesota, February 22, 2002 -- Academic authors endorse SA2 news service. Here are excerpts from the latest messages:"I love the SA2 web site. The presentation and content are very
useful to me."
"Your year-end wrapup on academic authoring is worth the price of admission alone, but how could you not include the No Child Left Behind Act from the Top 10 stories of 2002?" Annual report
"Thank you, SA2, for the free advertising service for members. I found a publisher." Details on free member advertising
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| ABOUT
sa2
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| ACADEMIC AUTHORING PEOPLE |
 | Ricki Lewis (biology), SUNY at Albany, Douglas Gaffin (zoology), University of Oklahoma-Norman, Marielle Hoefnagels (botany and microbiology), University of Oklahoma-Norman, and Bruce Parker (biology), Utah Valley State College-Orem, wrote the fifth edition of Life (McGraw-Hill). |
| Roy Lipner, vice president and general manager of Dearborn Real Estate Education, was named president of Kaplan Professional's new Dearborn Publishing Division. |
| Marybeth Menaker, vice president of external organizing at the National Writers Union, was named interim president to replace Jonathan Tasini, who is resigning. |
 | Pamela C. Regan (psychology), California State University, Los Angeles, wrote The Mating Game: A Primer of Love, Sex and Marriage (Sage). |
| Please
tell
us
about
your
latest
project:
EDITOR |
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Tasini: "Writers will be getting money"| NEW YORK, February 21, 2003 -- The outgoing president of the National Writers Union, Jonathan Tasini, said he will continue the mop-up details on his namesake author rights case againt major publishers. To reports that the sides are close to agreeing on a settlement sum, Tasini said: "Writers will be getting money." He declined to discuss specifics be predicted "closure in the near future." The U.S. Supreme Court, in deciding Tasini v. New York Timesin 2001, found that publishers had violated contracts with authors in recycling works in digital form without seeking permission or offering compensation. Tasini is leaving the National Writerfs Union to start a new organization |
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Report: Ugliness festers inside BertelsmannGÜTERSLOH, Germany, February 20, 2003 -- Internal tensions are plaguing the Bertelsmann media empire, which includes the BertelsmannSpringer science publishing unit, according to the Wall Street Journal. Executives are nervous and embarrassed after octogenarian Reinhard Mohn, who controls the mostly family-owned company, released excerpts from his forthcoming book, The Social Responsibility of Entrepreneurs, that seemed to attack the integrity of some high-level people in the company. To sooth feathers, chief executuive Gunter Thielen issued a letter that Mohn had assured him he had full confidence in the character of Bertelsmann executives. Meanwhile, according to the Journal, board chairman Gerd Schulte-Hillen told Mohn to leave management to the "professionals." In London, meanwhile, the Guardian said "a bitter dispute" between owners and managers in Bertelsmann's RFL broadcast group is threatening "to blow it apart." Last summer Mohn forced chief executive Thomas Middelhoff in a disagreement over Digital Age initiatives.
What this means for authors: Internal turmoil diverts energy from Bertelsmann's main challenge, which is redefining itself for the future. The most pressing question for academic authors at the moment is the fate of BertelsmannSpringer, which is a major journal publisher in Germany. It's for sale as part of one vision for what should be the company's new direction -- the Creators Federation. |
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| ACADEMIC AUTHORING PEOPLE |
 | Gregory Carey (psychology), University of Colorado, wrote Human Genetics for the Social Sciences (Sage). |
 | Sylvia S. Mader (biology), formerly Lowell University and Massachusetts Bay Community College, wrote the eighth edition of Human Biology (McGraw-Hill). |
| Anne Sa'adah (government), Dartmouth College, wrote Contemporary France: A Democratic Education (Rowman & Littlefield). |
| Please
tell
us
about
your
latest
project:
EDITOR |
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Tasini leaving National Writers Union| NEW YORK, February 19, 2003 -- The driving force behind the National Writers Union, Jonathan Tasini, announced he will resign to take over a new organization, the Creators Federation, which will have a broader scope. Tasini's departure follows months of growing divisiveness within Union leadership, which under Tasini has emerged as the scrappiest crusader for author rights among U.S. author groups. Tasini gained his widest notice as the lead plaintiff in Tasini v. the New York Times, in which the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that major publishers, including the Times, had run rough-shod author rights in re-issuing material in digital form. Tasini is a strong believer in collective bargaining. Under Tasini's leadership the Writers Union leaned heavily on the United Autoworkers Union for money and counsel. His new organization, the Creators Federation, casts a wider net. The Federation seeks to be an umbrella for people in a range of creative fields, including photography, art and music. "There's a creator on every block in America," Tasini said. "From a public policy standpoint, if we had a network connecting these creators, we'd be an incredibly powerful force." |
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White House: Journal editors on right track| WASHINGTON, February 19, 2003 -- The director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, John Marburger, praised a call for new sensitivity in accepting and editing journal articles that could be misused by terrorists. "This step provides assurance that the publishers are alert to the possibility that terrorists might exploit research results, and are prepared to take action," Marbuger said. The call for caution, issued at a scientific conference in Denver, said journal editors and editorial boards must identify manuscripts that could endanger security and spike them or adjust them. |
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Addison launches business scenarios| BOSTON, Massachusetts, February 17, 2003 -- Textbook publisher Addison Wesley entered a licensing agreement with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for a web-enabled software series that simulate real-world scenarios for students in business, finance and economics. Addison Wesley will be the exclusive distributor. The simulations challenge students to apply principles learned across multiple disciplines, said Jim Behnke, Addison Wesley president. The series will also be available via Pearson Education's CourseCompass and will launch this fall for 1,200 graduate business courses worldwide, as well as for executive and corporate training programs, Behnke said. |
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McGraw offers study tool for palm devices| NEW YORK, February 17, 2003 -- Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill/Irwin launched a new student self-study tool, Study Studio, to enhance student learning. Students can download Study Studio to hand-held digital devices for instant access to course-related quizzes, key terms and flashcards. "This new self-study tool provides a portable version of their textbook-related materials," said JP Lenney, Irwin president. "Study Studio offers students the convenience and mobility of a personal digital assistant for anytime, anywhere access." A self-quiz tool provides students with immediate feedback to their responses and a summary of results. A key-term feature allows students to select from course-related terms and definitions. Study Studio also includes a flashcard feature utilizing definitions of key terms. The system is available free for finance, management, accounting and marketing courses that use Irwin textbooks. |
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Biologists: Be careful on terror issues| DENVER, Colorado, February 16, 2003 -- A call to be cautious in publishing scientific results that could be used by terrorists was issued by 32 journal editors and biologists. In a statement released at an American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, editors and researchers were encouraged to consider how articles can affect security. Scientists must be educated about the potential societal impacts of their work, the statement said. When editors conclude that papers may result in greater harm than benefit, the papers must be modified or not published, the statement said. Ronald Atlas, president of the American Society for Microbiology, who presented the statement, said procedures can be devised to find problems. Already, he said, his microbiology society's 11 journals ask peer reviewers to alert editors to possibly dangerous papers and then urge editors to contact the society's publications board for guidance. How does it work? At one journal, Atlas said, the editors deleted "cookbook detail" for juicing-up a hazardous agent. At another journal, editors reworded a passage that called attention to the dangers posed by an article. |
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| ACADEMIC AUTHORING PEOPLE |
 | Thomas R. Lindlof (research design), University of Kentucky, and Bryan C. Taylor (research dsign), University of Colorado, wrote the second edition of Qualitative Research Methods (Sage). |
 | Kenneth D. Wald (political science), University of Florida, wrote the fourth edition of Religion and Politics in the United States (Rowman & Littlefield). |
| Please
tell
us
about
your
latest
project:
EDITOR |
|
Pearson putting two applications on Apple| BOSTON, Massachusetts, February 16, 2003 -- Textbook puiblisher Pearson Education plans to deliver two of its technology applications, SASIxp and KnowledgeBox, on the new Mac OS X, a powerful, easy-to-use UNIX-based operating system. "Many of the users of our administrative and digital curriculum products are Mac users who are moving to Mac OS X," said Steve Dowling, executive vice president at Pearson Education. |
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