Roundup: News and Analysis from the Publishing World

ISBN numbers: Book-keeping
The Economist

For decades, the International Standard Book Number, more commonly known as ISBN, has been the standard for classifying books. But with self-publishing on the rise, new forms of cataloging books are beginning to emerge.

The Education Industry Faces A Multi-Decade Peak
Alan Hall (The Exchange/Yahoo! Finance)

According to Alan Hall, a spike in popularity toward higher education in the United States will test institutions in new and challenging ways.

Online Education May Make Top Colleges More Elite, Speakers Say
By Steve Kolowich (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

With online classrooms becoming more popular in higher education, a summit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University on March 4 concluded that their impact on elite schools may cause them to be even more selective when choosing prospective students.

Bookshelves in the age of e-books
Tom Perkins (Washington Post)

As eBooks are becoming more popular, making paper copy books a thing of the past for some people, Tom Perkins wonders what will happen to those glorious bookshelves that have become iconic collections of knowledge in people’s homes and libraries.  

Open access publishing takes a step forward
By Alan Osborn (University World News)

Member states of the European Union take a closer step toward supporting open access to publicly funded scientific research; however, a concrete plan has yet to be formulated.

Authors face change as Amazon tightens affiliate policy on free Kindle books
By Lauren Hazard Owen (paidContent)

Amazon is changing the rules for how affiliates are able to promote free eBooks, which will most likely have an impact on how self-published eBooks are promoted online.