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Publishing trends and predictions for 2013

By on January 4, 2013 in Information and Publishing Industry, Public Libraries

The dust has settled on the Christmas sales of books, e-readers and tablets and some interesting figures have emerged.

In the UK, over £75m was spent on printed books in the week leading up to Christmas. This was an increase of 19.3% on the previous week and up 1% on the same week in 2011. The figures represent a three-year high for hard copy book sales in the UK.

In the US, the latest Pew Internet figures show another increase in the numbers of people reading digital books – an increase from 16% of the US adult population a year ago to 23% by the end of 2012. 33% of Americans now own a tablet or e-reader device.

Borrowing of e-books from libraries in the US is also continuing to increase as is the public’s awareness of e-book offerings available in public libraries.

“It’s becoming harder to define what ‘publishing’ really is”

Meanwhile three specialist industry sites (The Bookseller, AuthorMedia and Digital Book World) have interviewed a number of thought leaders (including CILIP President Phil Bradley) and published their predictions for the publishing industries in 2013. These include:
• Migration from print to digital will continue to slow
• More mergers and consolidation between publishers and agencies
• Continued growth in self-publishing and the companies that support it
• A growth of ‘author collectives’
• New partnerships for independent booksellers
• Major authors to keep their digital rights
• E-book sales will ‘level off’ in 2013 and prices may start to decrease
• Digital publishing means increased global audiences for digital works
• New, dynamic marketing models for publishers

 

 

Budget cuts, usage statistics and renewal campaigns

By on March 15, 2012 in Information and Publishing Industry

Ongoing budget pressures are forcing libraries to monitor journal usage statistics more closely than ever before.

Accucoms, which provides research and marketing services to academic and professional publishers around the world, has published some interesting statistics summarising five years of running subscription renewal campaigns for its clients.

Although renewal rates are fairly stable (currently running at approximately 38%), the percentage of online only renewals has increased over the last five years and now currently accounts for 40% of all renewals in 2011.  Print only renewals have accounted for less than 10% for the last four years.

The largest markets, including the US, UK and Spain, are reporting a substantial percentage of budget related cancellation.  Overall the number of respondents who cited ‘lack of budget’ as a reason for cancellation has increased from 19% in 2007 to 40% in 2011.

When it comes to renewal decision making, librarians are increasingly relying on usage analysis.  In 2007, fewer than 10% stated they were not renewing because of low usage.  This figure had increased to 18% by 2010.

Accucoms summarises the report with some advice to publishers regarding customer service and the need for ‘fair and transparent’ journal pricing models.

You can access the findings via the Accucoms website.

 

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The Cost of Knowledge versus Elsevier

By on February 19, 2012 in Academic Libraries, Information and Publishing Industry, Open Access, Post, STM Publishing

There has been much coverage recently of the website petition launched by Cambridge mathematician Timothy Gowers, winner of the Fields medal, to encourage academics to publicly declare that they will not support any Elsevier journal. According to The Cost of Knowledge website, more than 6000 academics have currently signed up. Robin Peek takes an in-depth look at the issues in this ITI Newsbreak.

I heart the OED

By on March 25, 2011 in Information and Publishing Industry

In 1977 New York was a city struggling with a number of social and economic challenges.  A campaign to increase tourism was launched, one element of which was the ’I heart New York’ logo’.  Designed by graphic designer Milton Glaser (who incidentally did not charge for the idea), the ‘heart’ logo has long outlived the original campaign.

(I know all this because BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a 30-minute programme about Milton Glaser and this iconic image). 

‘Heart’ is now used widely as a verb meaning ‘love’ and has been recognised in the latest Oxford English Dictionary online update.  Also included are popular new ‘initialisations’ including LOL and OMG.

Great art via Google

By on February 3, 2011 in Information and Publishing Industry

Google has announced the launch of Art Project.   The project has used ‘street view’ technology to capture world famous art in high resolution.  

Seventeen art galleries around the world have participated in the project, including the Uffizi Gallery (Florence) and the State Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg).  Great works of art have been captured in extraordinary detail – you can zoom in close enough to see microscopic details.   You can also take a virtual tour around the museums.  The project aims to broaden access to art, and for the participating museums the hope is that virtual access will encourage more in-person visits.

What do students REALLY want?

By on January 19, 2011 in Academic Libraries, Digital Publishing, E-books, eBooks and eReaders, Information and Publishing Industry, Post

In an interesting blog post, Stephen Abram considers the findings of a recent (US) research report.  The original research was conducted by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and asked US college students about their format preferences for textbooks.  BISG found that ‘nearly 75% of students…say they prefer textbooks in printed rather than etext form’.  Reasons cited for this preference included the potential resale value of the books and its ‘permanence’.

About 12% of the students surveyed said the prefer etexts to printed texts because of lower cost and portability while 11% preferred to rent textbooks.

Stephen Abram’s interpretation is slightly different.  The survey was conducted before what he terms the ‘explosion’ of affordable tablets and e-readers in the consumer market which will almost certainly impact the uptake and acceptability of etexts.  He also feels that students considered a ‘polarised’ view (either print OR etext) when in fact a hybrid model that combines e-texts with books would be much more likely. 

Abram also states that it is often difficult for people who are surveyed to compare a situation they know (in this case text books) and an ‘imagined future state’.   The e-text space is evolving with textbooks and library research services beginning to integrate.  The space should be watched closely, says Abram.

Forking out for charity

By on December 7, 2010 in Information and Publishing Industry, Professional Development

Very many congratulations to the team at Sue Hill Recruitment (SHR).  With the help of client contributions, almost £7,000 has been donated to charities that have a real resonance for SHR staff.

The breakfast and credit crunch lunch meetings are free for clients to attend but they are asked to make donations.  (Writing from experience, the meetings offer excellent networking and learning opportunities and the food is always good!)

You can read more about the charities that benefitted from this generosity and effort here.

SLA Europe at Internet Librarian International

By on October 15, 2010 in Information and Publishing Industry, Post, Professional Development

After a full day on Wednesday, 13 October, conference delegates joined their SLA Europe colleagues for a drinks reception, sponsored by Infotrieve.

Some 60 people gathered for an evening of conversation about libraries, the information marketplace and future technologies.  Here’s hoping SLA Europe will do the reception again next year.

Internet Librarian International 2010 – Programme Unveiled

By on June 18, 2010 in Academic Libraries, Events, Information and Publishing Industry, Professional Development

The conference programme for Internet Librarian International (London, 14 – 15 October) is now available.

Internet Librarian International is the innovation and technology conference for information professionals. Keynotes this year come from author Robert Rowland Smith and Hazel Hall of Edinburgh Napier University, who will explore the hidden potential of social media for information professionals and shares her tactics for exploiting social networks.

Over 50 speakers from around the world will present this year, representing a variety of industry sectors, including government, health, education, business and law.

Sessions include Relating value to price and budget, Monitoring and maximising organisational impact, Social and mobile tools, Hot topics in innovation and Digital services for customer satisfaction.

Members of CILIP, SLA Europe, and a number of other associations are all entitled to discounts on the delegate booking fee.

Further information, and download and view the programme here.

Challenges for Academic Libraries in Difficult Economic Times

By on April 29, 2010 in Academic Libraries, Information and Publishing Industry, Public Policy

A recently released guide from the Research Information Network reveals how academic librarians are experiencing and responding to financial cuts in the current economic climate. 

Using data which was gathered in the UK and internationally, and which was then explored further during late 2009 with focus groups of senior librarians, the guide examines the financial position of libraries, their strategies for dealing with challenging economic circumstances, and the value of libraries.

The report reveals that, after a decade of growth in budgets and services, academic librarians now expect a sustained period of cuts over the next three to five years. Directors from across the sector reported that they were being asked to model cumulative cuts of between 5% and 10% a year.

The scale of these cuts means that librarians are having to reconsider the kinds and levels of service they can provide in support of their universities’ missions.  The study reports that librarians across the sector are looking very closely at the costs of the ‘big deals’ and how they might be reduced. As a consequence, there is increased interested in national site licences covering the whole of the HE sector.

Other reductions being considered include opening hours, subject support for academic staff and students, and information skills training.

The report acknowledges that, in the very long term, it is possible that open access may help to reduce the pressure on library budgets. However, for the next three to five years at least, open access initiatives will continue to represent additional burdens on libraries, while the costs of running repositories, or paying publication fees, are not being offset by any significant reductions in subscription costs for scholarly journals.

The guide stresses that library directors from across the sector are keen to use the current financial difficulties as an opportunity to rethink what the library does, and to do things differently. But as yet there are few concrete proposals that will transform services or yield large-scale savings. The report concludes that sustaining world-class information services is of fundamental importance to UK universities. Libraries and their directors have a critical role to play, but they cannot do it all themselves. Leadership and partnership with champions from across the HE and information sectors will be critical to sustaining the outstanding position of UK universities.