Dispatches from Beyond the PDF, Amsterdam

Posted on by Clare Wratten
We were lucky to participate in last month’s very interesting and informative Beyond the PDF 2 (BTPDF2) conference in Amsterdam. Beyond the PDF is a Force 11 initiative. There’s a great storify of the social media stream available for those of you who did not manage to attend. We very much enjoyed ourselves – it was a lively and stimulating event. We were invited to present our Roaming Passport technology, and our Linking Hub. There were two days of interaction and debate. Here, in no particular order, are some observations … Continue reading →

Riding the Tectonic Plates 3: The Future

Posted on by John Helmer
Photo: The Grand Canyon, USA

Image: Tobias Alt

Report from the Third Semantico Online Publishing Symposium Technology is driving disruptive change in scholarly publishing – as well as altered expectations and behaviours among scholars, researchers, students, librarians and those who set institutional and governmental policy. This symposium was held recently in London to discuss how publishers can survive and thrive within this fast-changing landscape. An invited audience of publishing industry leaders debated the issues under Chatham House rules. Delegates were from organisations including Beilstein-Institut, BioScientifica, CABI, Cross Ref, eLife, Mendeley, Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, SIPX and Springer. The discussion was in three parts, covering the following themes:
  1. The changing user
  2. Changing business models
  3. Future tech trends
This post looks forward to how the technology trends identified as driving disruptive change in the previous two parts are liable to play out in the future, and how further developments of educational and publishing technology look likely to impact the business of scholarly communication. Continue reading →

Riding the Tectonic Plates 2: Disruptive Effects

Posted on by John Helmer
Photo: The Grand Canyon, USA

Image: Tobias Alt

Report from the Third Semantico Online Publishing Symposium Technology is driving disruptive change in scholarly publishing – as well as altered expectations and behaviours among scholars, researchers, students, librarians and those who set institutional and governmental policy. This symposium was held recently in London to discuss how publishers can survive and thrive within this fast-changing landscape. Continue reading →

Surviving and thriving in the social web: 5 strategy tips for publishers

Posted on by John Helmer
Report from the Semantico Digital Publishing Symposium on Publishing and the Social Web – Part Three Publishers should place innovation at the heart of their digital enterprise and focus on core specializations and capabilities, among which curation is key. Social media can help them to connect and engage with customers, and collaboration may hold an answer to the problems of large-scale tech competitors/gatekeepers. These are final findings from our three-part report on the second Semantico Symposium, held recently in London to discuss the impact of social media on publishers and information providers. An invited audience of publishing industry leaders debated the issues under Chatham House rules, covering the following three themes:
  • Trends and drivers
  • Disruptive effects
  • Strategy options
It was a stimulating event with a high calibre guest list, delegates attending from organisations including Bloomsbury, CABI, CourseSmart, Harper Collins, Informa, ITHAKA and the Royal Society of Chemistry. To do justice to the discussion, we’re reporting it over three blog posts. This post is on the theme of Strategy Options. Continue reading →

Has push come to shove yet? How publishers are reacting to disruptive forces from the social web

Posted on by John Helmer
Report from the Semantico Digital Publishing Symposium on Publishing and the Social Web – Part Two Disruption is happening unevenly across publishing. Where the commercial threat is most intense is also where we see the greatest ferment of evolutionary change in online business models. Winners and losers are not always easy to spot yet among the general fallout, but a clear message emerges: innovate or die. This was one of the key findings of the second Semantico Symposium, held recently in London to discuss the impact of social media on publishers and information providers. An invited audience of publishing industry leaders debated the issues under Chatham House rules, covering the following three themes:
  • Trends and drivers
  • Disruptive effects
  • Strategy options
It was a stimulating event with a high calibre guest list, delegates attending from organisations including Bloomsbury, CABI, CourseSmart, Harper Collins, Informa, ITHAKA and the Royal Society of Chemistry. To do justice to the discussion, we’re reporting it over three blog posts. This post is on the theme of disruptive effects. Continue reading →