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As tech-savvy library folk, ebooks are naturally of direct professional relevance to us, and it can’t hurt to undertand a little more about how they are produced

I’ve been making eBooks for a few years and would be happy to share what I’ve learned about the tools and workflow involved in making an eBook and distributing it through the major commercial vendors.

Tom Dodson

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Yesterday, as some of you doubtless know, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a new open access policy that may have a drastic effect on scholarly publishing (unless, of course, it changes nothing). Discussion on Twitter with the hashtags #publicaccess and #openaccess was lively, and I thought we could spend some time talking in person about the policy generally, and specifically how it might affect libraries. One question I have, for instance, is whether projects that IMLS funds will come under this policy; another is how libraries can help with the increased requirements for data management mentioned in the policy.

Here’s some key links:

• White House announcement – www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-access-results-federally-funded-research
• White House directive – www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf (PDF)
• Jen Howard, “White House Delivers New Open-Access Policy that has Activists Cheering” – chronicle.com/article/White-House-Delivers-New/137549/
• Peter Suber, “Second shoe drops: new White House Directive mandates OA” – plus.google.com/109377556796183035206/posts/8hzviMJeVHJ
• Carl Franzen, “White House says government-funded research should be more public, but critics want more” – www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4019058/white-house-opens-federally-funded-research-critics-unimpressed

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In case my first proposal is too much like what is already being offered, I’ll put forth an alternate proposal:

With many screencasting programs the basics are easy to learn, but most of us did not attend film school.  The hours spent creating a screencast make updating it a chore.  If we could screencast more effectively, we could keep our videos updated and more useful.

• What are some common mistakes that novice screencasters make, and how can we avoid them?
• How can we create a more polished product in fewer takes?
• What are best practices for those who don’t have a dedicated studio space for screencasting?
• Are there times when a rough screencast is better than a polished one?