Archive for the 'Copyright and access' Category

The publisher is dead

Thursday, October 26th, 2006

A page from 'African Salad', used with permission.There are a number of trailblazing authors that challenge the publishing industry’s control by managing the roles of printing, marketing and distribution of their own works, discovering new inroads into printing and marketing, and using the internet as a weapon of mass dissemination. These individuals are attempting, word by word, to improvise their way towards a new status quo in the publishing industry. These authors are not content with a business model that requires them to relinquish the rights to their work, or one that encourages them to agree to diminished control and limited financial compensation.

Three short stories follow of self-publishing trailblazers who are attempting to alter this traditional publishing model: (more…)

The Archbishop, Archived

Monday, October 23rd, 2006

Archbishop Desmond Tutu. By hot_tea; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0October 2006 was an important month in South Africa. We like to celebrate things here at the tip of Africa, and what better occasion to celebrate than the 75th birthday of one of our most famous leaders, Archbishop Desmond Tutu?

The Arch, as he’s fondly known, was a major figure in South Africa’s liberation struggle, and is a well-respected statesman and religious leader all over the world. Oh, and he won a Nobel Peace Prize. He’s a mover.

And all movers are online. Which is why a new project, launched earlier this month, is so exciting.

The Desmond Tutu Digital Archive project is a complete archive of all of the Arch’s personal papers and recordings, which will, ultimately, be available, free of change, online for students, journalists, theologians and others. The fully interactive archive will be accessible to people of all cultures, all ages and all (more…)