Announcing Digi*Pub Publishing Industry Podcast

October 16, 2017 – We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new podcast called Digi*Pub, which explores the spectrum between content and its audiences and communities – everything from content to business to technology in the worlds of media and publishing.  The podcast is produced by the Harvard Digital Publishing Collaborative, which convenes publishing professionals from across Harvard and throughout the Boston area to explore common goals and challenges in the publishing industry.

You can find the podcast on Apple iTunes, Google Play, and directly online at www.digipubpodcast.com.   Here are the episode descriptions:

Episode 1: Rethinking Digital Content with Adi Ignatius of Harvard Business Review

https://digipub.simplecast.fm/52df6ed0

How have traditionally print-focused publishers transitioned to the digital world? How does a publisher unify different content types into one digital product? How viable or useful are paywalls, subscriptions, and advertising revenue in a digital world dominated by Facebook and Google? What emerging trends will publishers be grappling with in the near future? Digi*Pub host Jack Cashman sits down with Adi Ignatius, Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review, to consider some of these questions by examining what Harvard Business Review has done to adapt to a digital world. Then, in the post-interview panel discussion, Jack is joined by Sue Brown and Laura Linnaeus, both of Macmillan Learning, to talk about experimenting the digital space, how content differs by medium, and how long it will take before we all stop adding the word “digital” in front of everything.

Episode 2: The Power of Curation and Audience Expansion:  A Conversation with Footnote https://digipub.simplecast.fm/284e8fca

Academics explore some of the most engaging, relevant topics of our time. But most of their synthesis never reaches beyond traditional scholarly publishing, and even most of that content is barely consumed. Footnote curates and translates this research into actionable thought leadership that reaches a much wider, relevant audience. Digi*Pub host Denis Saulnier speaks with Joe Morone, CEO and Co-Founder of Footnote, about their work interpreting, re-packaging, and promoting content. Then we follow up with a post-interview discussion on the topic, including panelists Jack Cashman of Harvard Alumni Association and Sue Brown and Laura Linnaeus of Macmillan Learning.

Episode 3:  Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Publishers: A Primer

https://digipub.simplecast.fm/42410071

What is the difference between machine learning and artificial intelligence, and what does it mean for publishers and publishing? Publishing vet and software engineer Liza Daly arms us with definitions and takes us on a tour, showing us why this brave new world matters for publishers. Denis Saulnier of Harvard Business Publishing leads the interview and then joins a post-interview panel discussion with Jack Cashman of Harvard Alumni Association and John Corkery of iContent Consulting.

Episode 4: What’s Your Flavor? The Flexibility of Creative Commons Licensing

https://digipub.simplecast.fm/47dfb358

Content licensing and permissions: two topics that can strike terror into the hearts of publishers and spawn nightmare visions of labyrinthine contracts, endless hours of administrative toil, and exorbitant usage fees. But can Creative Commons licensing serve as the thread to help publishers navigate their way out of the permissions maze? Digi*Pub host Jack Cashman talks with Geoff Wilson, Intellectual Property Coordinator at MIT Office of Digital Learning, about how the different flavors of Creative Commons licensing allows publishers and content creators the flexibility to duplicate, reuse, and remix content, while still retaining the rights they want to protect. Following the interview, Jack joins a panel discussion with Denis Saulnier of Harvard Business Publishing, and Laura Linnaeus and Sue Brown, both of Macmillan Publishers. They talk about Creative Commons as an adaption of traditional copyright to the speed of digital publishing world, how rightsholders can use Creative Commons as a brand builder, and how traditional publishers can utilize creative commons as an opportunity to escape from mountains of permissions contracts.

Episode 5: The Case for Open Access Research with Peter Suber from the Harvard Open Access Project

https://digipub.simplecast.fm/43b13709

Today, 45 percent of scholarly research is published in some kind of Open Access format. Why is so much research being published in this format? What exactly is Open Access research and why is it important to research institutions and researchers? How have traditional journal publishers responded to Open Access? What are universities and other research institutions doing to curate and collect Open Access research? Can we rely on for-profit Open Access publishers to preserve research when their profit motives change? Peter Suber sits down with Digi*Pub host Jack Cashman to talk through these questions in light of the Harvard Open Access Project’s goal to encourage the growth of open access to research at Harvard and beyond. In the post-interview panel discussion, Jack is joined by Laura Linnaeus and Sue Brown, both of Macmillan Publishers, to talk about the benefits of openly available research, the opportunities for publishers to use careful curation of Open Access content as a means of revenue, and how Open Access research in specific fields can supercharge innovation and growth.