(add intro)In an earlier post, Michael Lieberman writes of book buyer satisfaction surveys here: http:// ww.bookpatrol.net/2008/03/vendor-satisfaction-and-online.html and bemoans the fact that booksellers have no similar surveys. However, start hereIn today's current market, the book business has tilted in favor of book buyers. As such, web venues are principally interested in keeping purchasers of books gratified. Hence, questionnaires on the book business are geared toward buyer satisfaction. How many sellers are available for each book or each buyer? For any bookseller who leaves the arena, there are countless others -- many neophytes -- who race to fill the void.Further, many existing...
Technology, technology, technology
Here's a piece I wrote that appears in the latest issue of Amphora the journal of the Alcuin Society. It was written back in early January and though things continue to change at a rapid pace in the book world I thought it still worth sharing.************Technology, technology, technologyIf your time to you Is worth savin’Then you better start swimmin'Or you’ll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin’-Bob Dylan Technology, technology, technology has not exactly been the battle cry of the bookselling trade over the years but technology has now become an inescapable influence. The seismic changes bought about...
Better World Books : Are They Better for the Book World?
Last week it was announced that Better World Books has raised $4.5 million including a $2.5 commitment from the Social Enterprise Expansion Fund of Good Capital.I have been following this company for a while and on the face of things they are doing many positive things and are deserving but there is something unsettling about this company. As much as I desire to support a socially responsible company involved with books something about Better World Books just doesn't sit right with me. They seem to be lacking a sense of humility and transparency that I would think would need to...
A New Dawn at the Library of Congress
Tomorrow for the first time in 18 years the bronze doors leading to the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building will open to the public and the Library of Congress Experience will begin.The LOC Experience is the marriage of some of the treasures of the world's largest library with the latest interactive technology. These new technologies "will make the Library of Congress and its collections more dynamic and accessible than ever."The "new exhibitions enhanced by interactive technology will offer a chance to experience rare and unique items, such as the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, the Gutenberg...
Emory University Unleashes The Danowski Poetry Collection
Emory University kicked off National Poetry Month with a bang. They had three Pulitzer Prize winning poets (Mark Strand, W.D. Snodgrass and Richard Wilbur) headlining a conference titled “A Fine Excess: A Three-Day Celebration of Poetry.” It was during this event that Emory took the wraps off what some say is the most important collection of English-language poetry in the world. It was the first public display of the fruits of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library which they acquired in 2004. The 75,000 rare books, posters, periodicals and recordings that make up the collection is "a nearly complete record of...