From time to time, I'll give an overview of one broad MediaShift topic, annotated with online resources and plenty of tips. The idea is to help you understand the topic, learn the jargon, and take action. I've already covered Twitter, citizen journalism, alternative models for newspapers and other t...

Jon Orwant is a highly confident man. Some might say (and a few certainly did to me) that he is one of the great egotists of our epoch. By his own admission, he is certainly not an amateur. But then when you’re the Engineering Manager for the world’s biggest search engine, and you’...

Bill Tozier tells this story of trying to submit scans of public domain works to Google through the Google Books Partner Program, and getting this rejection: Hi Bill, Thanks for your interest in the Google Books Partner Program. While an ISBN is not required for participation in Google Book Search, ...

Chances are if you didn't know anything about Web publishing a few months ago, you do now. News about the industry is hard to escape, and its growing popularity will continue as long as the economy spirals downward. The last few weeks have proved productive for those interested in expanding and prom...

Should a single company be left in charge of putting all of the world’s books online? An impressive list of world-class libraries and book publishers don’t seem to mind. In 2004, they signed on as partners with Google, the Internet search and advertising colossus based in Mountain View, Calif. Y...

I created this cover (well except for van Gogh's contribution). You may use it!A few months ago when the Google Book Search API came out, I was among the first notice that GBS covers could be used to deck-out library catalogs (OPACs) with covers, potentially bypassing other providers, like Amazon an...

I created this cover (well except for van Gogh's contribution). You may use it!A few months ago when the Google Book Search API came out, I was among the first notice that GBS covers could be used to deck-out library catalogs (OPACs) with covers, potentially bypassing other providers, like Amazon an...

The official Google Blog and the Inside Book Search Blog just announced the new Google Book Search API, with LibraryThing as one of the first implementors. (The others are libraries; I'll be posting about what they've done over on Thingology.) In sum, LibraryThing now links to Google Books for book ...

The official Google Blog and the Inside Book Search Blog just announced the new Google Book Search API, with LibraryThing as one of the first implementors. (The others are libraries; I'll be posting about what they've done over on Thingology.) In sum, LibraryThing now links to Google Books for book ...

A Few Thoughts On Google Knol Anyone writing for Knol is likely to at least peruse Wikipedia content before publishing. And if they see anything good, they are at liberty to simply lift and copy it over to Knol, and get a adsense check for their time. So, in a way, Google has found a way to monetize...