Equal parts mathematician and political activist, Cathy O’Neil has calculated the impact of algorithms on society. For the most part, she says, big data adds up to big trouble. When it comes to human activities, algorithms are expected to be models of objectivity,...
Born in a world before smartphones and tablets, the Books in Browsers conference was once aptly named, as it concentrated on reading online. In 2016, of course, digital reading is about much more than books and browsers. After a one-year hiatus that allowed organizers...
Organizations and organism share more than a Latin root word. Both are never static, but destined forever for change. Over time, evolution takes its course. Organisms and organizations once dominant in their environments must find ways to adapt to change or give way...
As the business day closed last Friday, published reports announced the removal of Maria Pallante from her duties as the US Register of Copyrights, a role she had held since 2011. Subsequent reporting offers insights on what prompted the surprise move, and what it...
The annual Frankfurt Book Fair is a global jamboree of self-expression. The world’s authors and publishers arrive with poetry, fiction, science and business texts that map to the remarkable range of human talent. In 2016, Book Fair organizers recognize that the...
The opening bars of “Heavy Action,” the longtime theme music for Monday Night Football in the U.S. have preceded many a memorable game. This week, Beyond the Book has “swapped” the MNF theme for our own to help make the point that music makes emotional connections...
Well, Shakespeare, he’s in the alley with his pointed shoes and his bells, and Bob Dylan’s heading to Stockholm to claim the Nobel Prize. From Hemingway to Hesse, Camus to Kawabata, Singer to Soyinka, Nobel winners in literature have authored books of poetry,...
Consider the evolutionary track taken by the Book Industry Study Group. Founded in 1975 by the Book Manufacturers Institute, BISG has endured a tsunami of change in publishing over three decades. In 2016, a much different place from the days before e-commerce and...
The American Library Association is calling attention to book banning again this week. The titles pulled off library shelves last year ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. “Topping the list for 2015 was Looking for Alaska by John Green, which was cited for...
As fall begins, the Frankfurt Book Fair looms, coming to the German financial capital October 19 through 23. Traditional expectations for industry trade shows face unprecedented challenges in 2016, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer. The...
