The problem of this study was subsidy ("vanity") publishing among college and university faculty. The purpose of the study was to estimate the extent to which postsecondary faculty use subsidy presses for the publication of their scholarly writings and the professional reasons for which academicians choose these presses to publish their works, viz., tenure, promotion, or salary increase. An additional purpose was to compare the subsidy publication experiences of faculty according to the types of institutions which employ them. The study involved 11 national subsidy publishers and 1,124 subsidy-published authors throughout the United States. Subsidy-published authors were identified occupationally as faculty by their appearance in the 1990 edition of The National Faculty Directory. The subjects in this study consisted of (a) faculty members listed in The National Faculty Directory. 1990 who are (b) known to have used subsidy presses for publishing their writings. A major finding of the study was that the proportion of vanity-published authors who are college and university faculty was small. Twenty-seven percent of the faculty whose books had been published by subsidy presses indicated that they had written and published in order to earn salary increases. Another 23% indicated that they had their books published to obtain promotions. Seventeen percent had their books published for the purpose of gaining tenure. Finally, one-third of the faculty surveyed identified miscellaneous other reasons for publishing their books through subsidy presses. More than two-thirds of the faculty who had used vanity presses (69%) claimed that their subsidy-published books had been effective in helping them achieve their purposes for publishing. Thirty percent judged their subsidy-produced books as ineffective. The majority of the subsidy-published faculty in the study were employed either by research universities or community/junior colleges. Only 26% of those surveyed indicated that they would choose a subsidy publisher if they had it to do again.

[pt] Esta pesquisa observadora-participante tem como tema a história em quadrinhos como meio narrativo para a manifestação popular carnavalesca dos Bate-Bolas. O objetivo da pesquisa é investigar como o tipo de quadrinhos produzido no Brasil da última década pode gerar um método de criação narrativa para a cultura popular dos Bate-Bolas do subúrbio do Rio de Janeiro. Este projeto visa a dar continuidade aos estudos do Laboratório Design de Histórias, que tensionam registro e materialização como formas que mesclam o poético e o documental. Foram feitas reflexões sobre o contexto dos quadrinhos brasileiros da última década, sobre as tensões entre realidade e ficção, sobre o gesto do desenho e seu uso como instrumento de campo. Ao fim do estudo foi proposta uma metodologia de trabalho que dá ao quadrinista ferramentas e métodos multidisciplinares que articulam saberes ligados à produção de texto, imagem e design gráfico. Como materialização desta pesquisa, foi documentada parte da préprodução de uma história em quadrinhos com o tema Bate-Bola, de caráter ficcional e documental. / [en] The theme of this participant-observer research is comics as a narrative medium for the popular carnival manifestation of Bate-Bolas. This research seeks to investigate how the type of comics produced in Brazil in the last decade can generate a method of narrative creation for the popular culture of Bate-Bolas in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. This project aims to give continuity to the studies of the Design of Stories Laboratory that tension recording and materialization as forms that mix the poetic and the documentary. Reflections were made on the context of Brazilian comics in the last decade, on the tensions between reality and fiction, on the gesture of drawing and its use as a field instrument. At the end of the study, it was proposed a work methodology that gives the comic artist multidisciplinary tools and methods that articulate knowledge related to the production of text, image and graphic design. As a materialization of this research, it was documented part of the pre-production of a fictional and documentary comic book with the theme Bate- Bola.

One of the first Czech research papers on self-publishing. Even though unsuccessful and forbidden authors could publish a book on their own in the past, the current phenomenon of self-publishing can be arranged on-line in just a few clicks and for much cheaper. Self- publishing began to spread since circa 2005 - in the Czech Republic and abroad simultaneously. This thesis shows how the development has unfolded differently in the Czech Republic and in the USA, which is considered the cradle of this technology. The first chapter of this thesis analyzes the history of book publishing and many different ways to publish a book, and defines self-publishing. The second chapter shows how the new technologies and media influenced the expansion of self-publishing. The third chapter analyzes and puts into context some of the Czech and the American self-publishing portals, and compares the providers of these services. Many professionals - editors, authors, and literary critics - criticize self-publishing for its amateurism and low quality content, which this work takes into account as well. This paper also documents some of the rare cases of self-published authors, who managed to succeed despite the tough competition from traditional publishing houses. In the last chapter the whole process of self-publishing...

The academic publishing sector in South Africa is facing many changes and challenges in a post- 1994 democracy. Most of these changes were brought about by the Higher Education Act No 101 of 1997. Challenges and new trends include new business and threats from multinational corporations; a limited buying market at higher education level; a need for localised content; new emerging technologies in publishing and knowledge distribution; the merging of 36 higher education institutions into 22; escalating book production costs and book prices; a non-book buying and book reading culture; illegal photocopying and widespread copyright infringement; changing student and lecturer profiles including the language of instruction; increasing pressure on academics to publish research; inefficient student loan schemes; decreasing library acquisition budgets and the transformation of the publishing industry itself in terms of BBBEE. Within the midst of all these challenges, publishers are faced with a new trend, that of selfpublishing of academic textbooks, which lecturers then prescribe to their own group of students. Self-publishing implies that authors undertake all processes related to publishing on their own, including the financial risk of publishing a book. There is a multitude of literature available on self-publishing, but very little focuses on this trend within the academic environment. A literature survey of self-publishing provided various reasons and conditions for the existence of the phenomenon. The researcher made use of two questionnaires that were sent to academic campus bookshops and academic self-publishing authors. From the results of these two surveys it is evident that academic self-publishing is an increasing trend in the higher education environment of South Africa. Reasons for self-publishing collected from the literature survey were supported by the empirical research findings from the two surveys. The main reasons for self-publishing in the academic environment include financial incentives; a volatile author-publisher relationship; issues of copyright and control; possible rejection suffered by authors; technological advances and a sense of community service among academics and lecturing staff. The study was able to prove the existence of academic self-publishing in the higher education environment of South Africa. Academic self-publishing is most apparent in the academic fields of Business, Economics and Management Sciences to the extent that it could have far-reaching financial impact on markets that are traditionally lucrative for commercial publishers. Commercial publishers are encouraged to engage with author associations and seek out possible new alternatives to satisfying author needs in a changing market place. / Dissertation (MIS)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Information Science / unrestricted

Orientador: Mônica Cristina de Moura / Resumo: As transformações ocorridas no país nas últimas décadas influenciaram mudanças em vários aspectos da cultura, incluindo o meio editorial. Diante disso, surgiu um movimento autoproclamado independente, propondo novas práticas para o consumo e produção de livros, e que se desenvolve apresentando elementos relacionados às características do design contemporâneo. Portanto, esta pesquisa dedica-se a observar os livros independentes, porém, aqueles cuja composição material, estrutural, gráfica, imagética e suas narrativas textuais adotem essas concepções experimentais e envolvam as reflexões contemporâneas em sua confecção e modus operandi. Discute-se a experimentação, o hibridismo, a relação com o artesanal, a valorização da estética, os aspectos da autoria, da memória e da relação com o leitor/usuário. Destacam-se, também, os diálogos entre design gráfico e editorial e as possibilidades transdisciplinares entre design, arte e literatura e outros campos de conhecimento, assim como as dinâmicas oriundas desse cenário diante de questões sociais em contraste com a cultura de consumo. O método adotado compreende o mapeamento das feiras, entrevistas realizadas com diferentes profissionais distribuídos pelo país e o desenvolvimento de análises por meio das funções do design. Os referenciais teóricos abrangem tanto as bases que compõem a teoria do design enquanto linguagem quanto as relações estabelecidas com a filosofia, a sociologia e a arte, buscando atender aos objetivos da pesquisa:... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The occurred transformation in the country had in the last few decades influenced changes in some aspects of the culture, including the editorial environment. In view of this, emerge a publisher movement self-proclaimed independent, considering new practical for the consumption and book production. This movement has developed with elements related of contemporany design. Therefore, this research dedicates to observe it independent books; however, those whose material, structural, graphical, imagery composition and its literal narratives adopt these experimental conceptions and involve the reflections contemporaries in its confection and mode of operation. It is discussed the experimentation, the hybridsm, the handmade, the relation with the artisan one, aesthetic appreciation, aspects of authorship, memory and the relationship with the reader/user. They are distinguished also the dialogues between design graphical and publishing and the transdisciplinary possibilities between design, art and literature and other fields of knowledge, as well as the dynamics derived from the social issues of this scenarios, in contrast to the consumption culture. The adopted method understands the mapping of the fairs of independent publications, interviews carried through with different professionals distributed for the country and the development of analyses by means of the functions of design. The theoretical framework ranges from design theory as the language itself to intersections with ph... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

The goal of this thesis is the development of Publizebra.se, a user-centered special digital library prototype for self-publishing authors. The service is aimed to provide valuable information, features and resources in the production, marketing and distribution of books.    Digital libraries have in recent years started to play a role in providing self-published authors with the tools, information and services required to publish independently with standardized quality. The focus has been to promote self-publishing and avoiding the pitfalls of appalling cover art, poor editorial work or zero marketing. In Sweden no such digital library initiative exists, combined with the problem of relatively few self-publishing services providing the possibility of independent publishing, without stepping into any of the pitfalls above.   The development of Publizebra.se seeks to fill the gap of digital library initiatives for self-publishing in Sweden, aggregating and distributing the value-adding features and user needs of independent authors. The applied research follows a five-step design process associated with the methodology of user-centered design, consisting of strategy, discovery, information architecture, design and prototyping. Every step of the process encompassed methodologies for taking the development forward, while further relying on fundamental research of the environment and user needs. Heuristic evaluation and expert evaluation were conducted on the prototype by LIS and usability experts to assess its functionality and user-centered design. The feedback concluded the prototype to be accessible and easy to use, while indicating the need for additional development and improvements to visual and interaction design features prior to further testing.

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This study examines how independent writers in Czechia operate at the intersection of creative processes and management of their writing ventures. With a leading set of research questions, this paper delves into the array of contemporary methods and tools used for monetization, considers their influence on content creation, explores the relation to underlying motivations of writers and investigates the current intermediary landscape in the field. As a first academic probe into the topic in the country, the research introduces key concepts and then takes the inductive approach of a qualitative study conducting 7 in-depth interviews with local independent creators and employing grounded theory for the data analysis. The themes emerging from the research of this population sample suggest that local independent writers exhibit a high degree of resourcefulness in their monetization strategies as they combat inherent uncertainties of their vocation. They are also mainly driven by intrinsic motivations in their creation, and while they enjoy a great deal of creative freedom thanks to their independent status attained by often becoming self-publishers, the findings show that the traditional intermediaries such as publishing houses remain highly relevant in the field.

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The thesis is dedicated to the changes of the book market between its entities, libraries and final consumer of information (readers, library users) after the arrival of the internet. Development of the internet has brought searching of the new business models and opportunities for cooperation. Electronic publishing that, along with the internet availability, commenced to raise is the starting factor for the development of electronic books. The thesis outlines the roles of individual entities of the book market, i.e. publisher and seller (distributor, book-seller and digital platform) and libraries during the production, sale and accessing books with the focus on electronic books. After description of used terminology, especially different approaches to the definition of "an e-book", the next chapter presents hardware devices and software programs that enable reading e-books. The third chapter introduces the role of a publisher in the process of publishing printed and electronic e-books. The aim of the chapter is to highlight different strategies of processing the printed and electronic text, incl. possibilities of self-publishing which gives new possibilities to the author's hands. The fourth chapter describes distribution and sale of printed and mainly electronic books and also defines the new...