BBCiplayer would be my favourite if only it worked. The site claims that you can get your fix of British TV if you don't live in Britain, however when selected, you are told that programs are only available to play in Britain.
I settle for BBCi player for the wondrous radio Channel 4 and listen to a program featuring one of my favourite English actors Bill Nighy.
My other favourite is craigslist. I get lost in the Manhattan vacation rental site, day dreaming of holidaying in New York, staying in a loft apartment after a day of shopping, visiting museums and galleries and indulging in great food and bar hopping.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
23 things
Absolutely nothing to do with the research topic - just uploading a pic of myself from Flickr as per instructions to get familiar with the 23 things...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wordle
Have a look at this fun gadget and try some wordles yourself!
http://www.wordle.net/. cc Creative Commons
The Lonely Planet Story
I was thinking about how I would go about researching the Lonely Planet publications and realised that if I searched on "The Lonely Planet" I would get a result list about as long as the circumference of the planet. So I started looking on YouTube for some video and found this:
I also found a reference to "Once while travelling: the lonely planet story" by Tony and Maureen Wheeler. So off I raced to my local library and borrowed a copy. What more could I need for my research material than their own story?
The company was called The Lonely Planet after Tony misheard a line in a Joe Cocker song about the "lovely planet".
I found a couple of reviews of the book in The LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com/work/2472390
Although the title is different in America. Cue spooky music.
I also found a reference to "Once while travelling: the lonely planet story" by Tony and Maureen Wheeler. So off I raced to my local library and borrowed a copy. What more could I need for my research material than their own story?
The company was called The Lonely Planet after Tony misheard a line in a Joe Cocker song about the "lovely planet".
I found a couple of reviews of the book in The LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com/work/2472390
Although the title is different in America. Cue spooky music.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Power Without Glory
The Independent Type exhibition at the State Library of Victoria mentions the literary "rascal" novelist Frank Hardy. This sparks my curiosity.
I know he wrote Power Without Glory, was a communist and his granddaughter is Marieke Hardy whose articles, TV and radio appearances I enjoy (and we have something in common - we share an admiration for all things Matt Preston).
What was his involvement in independent publishing?
I spent two mornings researching and after some frustration find some very useful material.
I learn about a fascinating time in Melbourne's political and social history and the answer to why Frank Hardy self published.
One resource I found via Ebsco at Swinburne library, a detailed article from Trinity College, Melbourne University, another from the La Trobe Journal and the illustration above is from a Monash University exhibition. I must admit at one point I resorted to using Google as my searches via Swinburne and the State Library failed to find anything useful for my needs. More later...
Photo courtesy of Monash University Library 2005 Exhibition "Communism"
Monday, September 7, 2009
ALIA's position on Territorial Copyright
I thought I would provide you with another perspective to this debate in the form of ALIA's position. http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/copyright/your.ques.answered.html
What are your thoughts?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Australian Territorial Copyright
There is much concern amongst writers, readers, publishers and booksellers in Australia at the moment due to the Government's Productivity Commission recommendation that Territorial copyright established under the Copyright Act in 1991 be abolished.
What does this mean?
"As a direct result of the introduction of the 30/90-day rule in 1991, Australian publishing has grown into a strong and vibrant industry — and it keeps growing.
This vibrant market allows publishers to make long-term investments in authors — to identify them, foster their development, publish their books and promote them individually. In the last 17 years, Australia has produced a number of world-class authors as a direct result of this certainty in investment by publishers, and the knowledge by authors that if their books are successful they will receive appropriate royalties.
Australian books are the last bastion of our unique culture — our books have Australian language, spelling and illustrations. This is particularly important in children’s book publishing — who wants to read about mom, sidewalks, diapers or dialing 911 instead of 000 for emergencies?
As one of the largest English speaking book markets in the world, we need territorial copyright in order to play on a level field with the big two (US and UK). Without territorial copyright we will wither.
There is no reason to give this industry away, and not a single benefit from doing so. The Australian publishing industry is an employer, and exporter and a key protector of our culture – at a time when the economy is tightening, the industry is united in its efforts to keep Australian books."
This vibrant market allows publishers to make long-term investments in authors — to identify them, foster their development, publish their books and promote them individually. In the last 17 years, Australia has produced a number of world-class authors as a direct result of this certainty in investment by publishers, and the knowledge by authors that if their books are successful they will receive appropriate royalties.
Australian books are the last bastion of our unique culture — our books have Australian language, spelling and illustrations. This is particularly important in children’s book publishing — who wants to read about mom, sidewalks, diapers or dialing 911 instead of 000 for emergencies?
As one of the largest English speaking book markets in the world, we need territorial copyright in order to play on a level field with the big two (US and UK). Without territorial copyright we will wither.
There is no reason to give this industry away, and not a single benefit from doing so. The Australian publishing industry is an employer, and exporter and a key protector of our culture – at a time when the economy is tightening, the industry is united in its efforts to keep Australian books."
Australians for Australian Books
What do you think?
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