portal: Libraries and the Academy

Awards

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portal: Libraries and the Academy Board of Editors Selection Committee Announces the 2007 Johns Hopkins University Press Award for Best Article

The portal: Libraries and the Academy Board of Editors Awards Committee announced that "Fair Use or Exploitation? The Google Book Search Controversy," featured in the October 2006, Volume 6, Number 4 issue, has been awarded the 2007 Johns Hopkins University Press award for the best article featured in portal in the 2006 volume. The winning article authored by Corinna Baksik analyzed how the Google Book Search Library Project, in which millions of books from libraries will be scanned and made searchable on the Web, has led to controversy and legal action. Publishers are suing Google for copyright infringement, while Google claims their use falls under the fair use privilege of the Copyright Act. An overview of the library project is followed by an examination of the controversy and a look at the beta program in practice. The importance of this topic cannot be underestimated for two important reasons. The Google project is plowing new ground for information retrieval from the monographic literature that has enormous potential for uncovering what’s inside the covers of books. In addition, the ultimate legal settlement may well have a profound impact on the interpretation of the meaning of “fair use” in US copyright law."

Click here to view the article.

The criteria used in the selection process for this award included: quality of research methodology, the extent to which the article places library issues in a broader academic or higher education context, the extent to which the article makes a significant contribution to the literature or the advancement of knowledge, timeliness, and the overall quality of writing. After an independent review of articles nominated by board members, "Fair Use or Exploitation: The Google Book Search Controversy" was selected as the third annual recipient. In addition to the Johns Hopkins University Press Award, the author will receive a cash prize of $500.

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portal: Libraries and the Academy Board of Editors Selection Committee Announces the 2006 Johns Hopkins University Press Award for Best Article

The portal: Libraries and the Academy Board of Editors Awards Committee announced today that "Trends in the Use of ISI Bibliometric Data: Uses, Abuses, and Implications," featured in the January 2005, Volume 5, Number 1 issue, has been awarded the 2006 Johns Hopkins University Press award for the best article featured in portal in the 2005 volume. The winning article authored by Brian D. Cameron analyzed the history of the development of impact factor, described the limitations in their use, and provided a critique of the usage of impact factors in academic settings. In particular, the analysis pointed to some of the critical problems that arise when impact factor is used for selecting periodicals, primarily in scientific disciplines and the "current trend is to use this data as a means for evaluating the performance of departments, institutions, and even researchers in academic institutions- a process that is now being tied to tenure and promotion-despite the fact that such usage can be misleading and prejudicial."

Click here to view the article.

The criteria used in the selection process for this award included: quality of research methodology, the extent to which the article places library issues in a broader academic or higher education context, the extent to which the article makes a significant contribution to the literature or the advancement of knowledge, timeliness and the overall quality of writing. After an independent review of articles nominated by board members, "Trends in the Use of ISI Bibliometric Data: Uses, Abuses, and Implications" was selected as the second annual recipient. In addition to the Johns Hopkins University Press Award, the authors will receive a cash prize of $500.

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portal: Libraries and the Academy Board of Editors Selection Committee
Announces the 2005 Johns Hopkins University Press Award
for Best Article

The journal's Board of Editors Awards Committee announced today that "A Survey of Business Trends at BioOne Publishing Partners and its Implications for BioOne," featured in the October 2004, Volume 4, Number 4 issue, was awarded the 2005 Johns Hopkins University Press award for the best article featured in portal in the 2004 volume. The winning article authored by Todd A. Carpenter, Heather Joseph, and Mary Waltham analyzed a survey of BioOne publishers conducted in the fall of 2003. Data were collected from both profit and not-for-profit publishers on scholarly output in terms of pages and articles produced, revenues, expenditures, profit, loss, and circulation, and compared against industry-standard benchmarks. The end result was an assessment of business practices documenting the effect of recent trends on publishers' revenue streams and costs.

Click here to view the article.

The criteria used in the selection process for this award included: quality of research methodology, the extent to which the article places library issues in a broader academic or higher education context, the extent to which the article makes a significant contribution to the literature or the advancement of knowledge, timeliness and the overall quality of writing. After an independent review of articles nominated by board members, "A Survey of Business Trends at BioOne Publishing Partners and its Implications for BioOne" was selected as the inaugural recipient. In addition to the Johns Hopkins University Press Award, the authors will receive a cash prize of $500.