I spent this Christmas in Kansas visiting my mom and her husband, who happens to own a feedlot (for you cityfolk, that’s a place where cattle are sent to fatten up before being shipped to a beef packing plant for, um, slaughter). Leaving aside the somewhat unpleasant reality of our modern-day agribusiness industry, I was interested to see that my stepfather has a special computer terminal in his office that provides custom feedlot reports from all around the country, information on agriculture futures trading, industry reports written by various experts, and so forth. This terminal is like a Bloomberg in that the only way to gain access to this information is to buy the terminal along with a subscription to the data feeds; you can’t get most of it (perhaps none of it) from the open Web. And the various data feeds on the system are supplied by a variety of companies. Although a world apart from our day-to-day life at Schlager Group in many respects, the cattle business of the high plains does still intersect with our business as an information provider, doesn’t it?
Library Journal has informative new articles on the Thomson Learning sale (including musings on whether they might choose to sell Thomson Gale separately from the rest of the companies in the division) and the ProQuest sale.
In a recent post I blogged about the ongoing rumor that President Bush will choose Southern Methodist University as the site of his presidential library, and that part of the package will be a new conservative think tank that presumably will churn out scholarship that supports the policies he followed throughout his tenure. Today’s Dallas Morning News brings word that some SMU professors are asking for more discussion about this before the university signs on any dotted line. Theology School professor Susanne Johnson has circulated a letter among the faculty to this effect, commenting: “There are two different visions of the library. One is for the library as a place for academic inquiry … but the other vision is a strictly partisan center to promote the president’s platform.” An English professor who signed the letter, Beth Newman, told the newspaper: “I am troubled by the likelihood that [the library] will bring with it a right-wing think tank, an institute that advocates for right-wing causes.” It will be interesting to follow this debate, but I have a hard time imagining it will matter in the end. If the president chooses SMU for the library and think tank, the university will sign wherever it has to sign as quickly as it possibly can.
On another topic, I want to apologize to any of you who may try to read this blog through a news aggregrator such as Technorati or NewsGator. I have tried my best to get the RSS feed of the blog to work properly, but for some reason those sites seem to have trouble picking it up. My suspicion is that the fault lies with the blog software, which is provided by Hostway.com. This company does a great job of hosting our company website, but their blog software has many serious flaws. For instance, it cannot provide usage statistics. In the new year I will be switching to a new blogging software, but which one is a question mark. I’m waiting and hoping that the SuiteTwo software, which promises RSS feeds, blogging, wikis, and more, will arrive quickly–and that it will be affordable to a small company like ours. If not, I’ll choose another route. But for now, you’ll have to come directly to this site to see my latest postings.
Some fairly big news in the reference world today: Cambridge Information Group, which owns R.R. Bowker, RefWorks, and other educational/reference companies, is buying ProQuest’s Learning and Information division for $222 million. A number of colleagues from my old Gale days work for this ProQuest division out of Ann Arbor. This would seem to be a pretty big coup for Cambridge.
EContent magazine is out with its annual list of 100 companies that “matter the most in the digital content industry.” It’s an interesting list–established reference heavyweights like Thomson and Elsevier are there, as are newer, younger companies. Check it out here.
Some interesting storylines are playing out with regard to two U.S. presidents and their roles in history. First, many of you may know that for some time it has been rumored that George W. Bush will select my alma mater, Southern Methodist University, as the site of his presidential library. He’s aiming to raise $500 million for it, not just for the library but also to fund a conservative think tank that will help burnish his legacy by, presumably, hosting scholars who will write favorable things about his policies and presidency. Bush doesn’t have much connection to SMU, but the First Lady is an SMU graduate and is a trustee of the university (and a former librarian), so the choice makes some sense in that regard. With Schlager Group now located in Dallas, I find myself thinking more about SMU than I have for some time. While I admire much about the university, including its terrific faculty, gorgeous grounds, and international focus, my liberal heart has always viewed its conservative bent with some disdain. If I had it to do over again, I’m not sure I would attend SMU. But then again, picturing myself as an 18-year-old in small-town Kansas back in the mid-80s, I think the choice to attend SMU was by no means a bad one. And besides, I was a history enthusiast, and SMU was (and is) highly regarded for its stellar history department.
Another recent announcement was that Salman Rushdie, whose writings I greatly admire, has donated his papers to Emory University in Atlanta. He will also join the faculty. Part of me wishes that SMU was getting his papers and Emory was getting the Bush library, although I know that in the cold light of reality that’s a stupid wish–the library is the far more important association and a far bigger deal. The library will undoubtedly draw many scholars from around the world, and that’s a good thing. However, I’m not thrilled with the idea of a conservative think tank pumping out pro-Bush books and papers. I know that the idea of historians–like journalists–viewing their subject with complete neutrality is a myth, but still I despair at the thought of so-called scholars toeing an ideological line, whether by choice or not.
Curiously, this entire ragged train of thought was brought into focus today with a story in the New York Times about a dispute at the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter’s think tank at–get this–Emory University. An Emory historian and longtime fellow of the Center has resigned his fellowhip as a protest against the former president’s recent book about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He charges Carter with rewriting history, among other things. Without taking sides in this particular argument, I suppose it’s a good reminder that historical bias can infect people–and presidents–of any political stripe.
Two more Schlager Group-produced encyclopedias have been published. First up is the World Religions Reference Library, a three-volume set from Gale’s UXL imprint. Next is the newest volume (#7) in the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives series. You can find more information about both titles at Thomson Gale’s website. When reviews come in, I’ll post news of them.