= Premium Content

  • Monday, May 28, 2012

Previous

Next

Bloomsbury Debuts New Imprint to Revive Out-of-Print Books

September 28, 2011, 11:35 am

By PageView Editor

Bloomsbury Publishing announced the debut today of its “new digital global publisher” called the Bloomsbury Reader. The publisher in London and New York will offer e-book and print-on-demand versions of books long out of print, including titles by or of interest to scholars. In The Guardian’s write up on the project, the imprint’s publishing director said that they are open to suggestions by readers. “Let us know if there are some classics we could publish,” Stephanie Duncan told the paper. Wishful thinkers should write to info@bloomsburyreader.com.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Print
  • Comment
  • http://twitter.com/betsydrager betsy drager

    I have been teaching graduate students at a Chinese university for 4 years now. Quality education is an ongoing challenge

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jorge-Novillo/827853999 Jorge Novillo

    Out of print books may be published by Bloomsbury – send suggestions to  info@bloomsburyreader.com

  • aaabbott5

    A possible great opportunity for many of us depending the price range.

  • mbelvadi

    I’d be interested to see the business model that can afford to deal with researching the “orphan works” they’re likely to get asked for.

  • graddirector

    I am always torn about testing accommodations for learning disabilities.  In the real world, the customer is not interested in waiting for their order due to the ADHD of the provider, and a lack of attention to detail in a pharmacist can kill.  Further, a grant application/scholarly paper/legal brief which is written by a dyslexic is not going to be accepted if it is full of misspellings/bad grammar.

    This really is not the same thing as a ramp for a wheel chair to get into the testing center or the use of a screen reader by a blind person.  The learning disability directly impinges on the ability of the student to complete academic work successfully.  Supposedly, college placement tests like the SAT and ACT can predict the ability of a student to be successful. How can they do that if  the test is compromised by giving folks with known problems with completing academic work extra time?  What about the poor students whose academic problems were never enough for a diagnosis but are on a learning disability spectrum?  

  • isalaur

    I must echo the thoughts of graddirector.  I too have always been reluctant to agree with the neccessity for these accommodations on these types of tests, in fact for many of these accommodations in general. 

    If the SAT/ACT tests which are weighed so heavily in so many schools’ admissions process are truly the predictors of college success that they claim (which by the way I happen to strongly doubt based on years of evidence to the contrary) then how can you allow accommodations for something that will not exist once the student is actually in college.  A professor is not going to take several breaks during his lecture for the student who can’t pay attention, a student isn’t going to get a separate lecture room so she can concentrate on the professor’s lecture without distraction.  Most professors are not going to give you extended time or ignore your failure to follow directions.  In the “real world” (college or career) you have to adapt, the real world doesn’t adapt itself to you. (same exceptions as previously noted re wheelchair access etc!)

    I believe that public schools do students a serious disservice by allowing them all sorts of accommodations that they will not receive in the real world.  This isn’t only true of higher education.  Your boss at the supermarket isn’t giving you time and half to stock that shelf and she isn’t re-writing your directions in a separate font.  Your failure to fill in a job application accurately or to complete it with horrendous spelling and grammar mistakes isn’t going to get you an interview.  This isn’t just about testing companies but the whole notion of IEP and 504 accommodations in general.  My favorite was always the student who got tests read, including a test of reading competency!!

    If public education is truly supposed to be striving for “college and career ready”, the latest educational buzzwords, then they are failing miserably by allowing students to be exceedingly unprepared for what life will be like once they leave the sheltered confines of high school.

  • graddirector

    Well, the students getting these accommodations also get them in college as per federal law including longer time to take tests, tests given in environments with no other people, ability to take tests on a computer, automated noted takers, etc.  It  is not just high school…….

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antsy-Kuhnwisse/100002159499682 Antsy Kuhnwisse

    And the “real world” is also following suit, to some extent.

    One of the local network news channels in my big city has for about ten years employed a deaf reporter who covers disability news. She delivers her reports quite unintelligibly. When I was growing up, I would have thought that the inability to speak clearly would disqualify a person from a job as an on-air reporter. But I guess it doesn’t necessarily, these days.

    I never wanted to be a model, but I’d have ruled it out anyway because of my beauty deficiency.  As a pre-teen, I had a friend who wanted to be a flight attendant (called a “stewardess” in those days), who informed me (just in case I might be considering that career choice) that I wouldn’t qualify for that job because of my height.  It seemed reasonable to me.

    I believe in accommodations, but taking them to the extremes leads to … the world of “Harrison Bergeron.”

  • jadams65

    I have had a great deal of experience with this in my classes–some good and some bad.  I don’t think that students who did not understand the material were allowed to pass as a result of accommodations, and in at least one case, the provision of the accommodation verified that the student did not understand the material (and could not point to the testing environment as the reason for poor performance).  I did have one over-traditional-age student who asked the most insightful questions during class but performed very poorly on tests.  I encouraged him to be tested, which revealed a learning disability.  With the  the right accommodations,  we was able to earn an A in my class.  This was a 1st year class, and the last time I heard from him he was just completing his residency in internal medicine (and, yes, I would trust him as my physician).  His particular disability could have led to a failing grade in my course but it does not prevent him from being an effective physician.  I always think of this success when confronting each new situation.  

  • katisumas

    Dyslexia causes the brain to invert the order of letters in reading.  The brain makes up for it but the process causes a slowing down of reading and writing.

    Dyslexia does not lead to mispellings and bad grammar.  I know some highly successful university professors with dyslexia, and yes, they have no problem correcting the spelling and grammnar of their students’ papers. They just need a bit more time to do so.   And yes, they publish books and articles and are respected scholars in their field. 

    I am aghast at the ignorance shown by your comment and by the people who approve of it.   What I take from you comment is that “if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.”

    If your fingers are not too tired, perhaps you might consider Googling “dyslexia”?

    Disabilities can strike any of us, even Stephen Hawkin, so who knows what human treasures we might miss simply by not allowing more time for a dyslexic to take an exam?

    Incidentally, it is my impression from various studies that performance on the SAT is not predictive of achievement in college, and even less in one’s field.

  • katisumas

    No professors are not going to take breaks during lectures “for the student who can’t pay attention”  — you know like Einstein who always had his head in the clouds….  However, if she/he is the kind of  prof who only gives straight lectures (as you seem to be), these could  easily be recorded (and are in many institutions) for students to listen to them again later on. 

    As for giving extended time to take a test, most professors these days will.  And this might surprise you, but businesses will gladly accomodate brilliant individuals with vision problems (though that’s never an issue for our CEOs because they never write anything themselves). 

    Your attitude implies that you want to close the doors to higher ed to people whose disability you can’t perceive visually.  However, I am aware from experience that this attitude generally also extends to people whose disability can be visually perceived.  There was the same sort of objections to building ramps for wheel chairs for instance.  

     

  • katisumas

    I get it Antsy, it’s past time to fire Stephen Hawkins!

  • kenn45

    “…licensing exams…”  Let’s all go to a dentist or physician who is “…unable to maintain focus…unable to sit still…easily distracted…”  Boy is this comforting.

  • 11196496

    I would like to comment positively on accommodating students with invisible disabilities. Over the years I have had a number of students with invisible disabilities in my classes. Many have spent time learning about their disability generally and how it affects them specifically. They have been generous with their time and we have had extended discussions one-on-one about how each of them learns best, given the specific disability, whether it is a hearing problem, a brain stem injury, ADHD, etc. I have learned what the obstacles to effective time in the classroom have been for these students. In nearly every case I have learned more about how people–with disabilities or not–learn. These conversations have provided me with insights that have changed my teaching for the better for all my students. I am grateful for the opportunities these students have provided me. I encourage professsors to take time with students who have disabilities, especially those who can be articulate about how they learn and what presents problems for them. The rewards can be much greater than the challenges.

    Happy new year and new semester to all CHE readers.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antsy-Kuhnwisse/100002159499682 Antsy Kuhnwisse

    His name is Stephen Hawking.  Although he still does speak and lecture, his primary means of public communication is through publication, not public speaking.  I am very, very happy that technology exists that enables him to write and publish.  I am also happy that he is able to communicate verbally with a speech synthesizer, but I sure wouldn’t hire him as a news anchor or reporter … and if he has any books on tape, I think he’d be wise to have someone else do the reading.

    My point is, people should be able to do what they do well. If accommodations help them to do that, fantastic. That’s what they’re for.

  • graddirector

    Sorry, but my daughter is borderline dyslexic.  She reads well but the
    primary symptom leading to her diagnosis and current treatment plan was
    her horrific spelling (I have been subjected to many brochures from
    therapists on the relationship between bad spelling and dyslexia thank
    you very much!).  Since it seems that her treatment is going well,  she
    will probably end up coping just fine by college. Thus, I completely
    know that dyslexia is real and that in some forms it can be overcome.

    That said, I am dealing with a student in my program who is severely
    dyslexic and receives major time accommodations.  However, even with his
    extensive therapy as a child and extra time to do assignments, he can
    not write a coherent sentence and his spelling is atrocious even with
    spell check. 

    However, what do do with my grad student?  How will he ever be
    successful in a  profession that requires constant manipulation of
    language?  In the end, it is looking like he will not get through his
    first year coursework which requires extensive documents written outside
    of class.  If we let him through, he would not be
    successful  in a profession which is largely driven by writing so
    kicking him out is probably in his best interests.  Was it fair to him
    to receive years of educational accommodations which allowed him to
    skate through to this point?  When he leaves the program, will his
    employer tolerate the fact that his is incapable of writing even a
    straightforward experimental report?  I dont think so.  So in the end,
    what does he have?

    I am quite confused by the Stephen Hawking comment. He does not and never had a learning/cognitive disability. His disease only affects his ability to control his body.

    Also, if the SAT is not predictive of anything, what is the point?  I
    have no expertise in that, but at least my university claims a strong
    correlation between SAT scores and academic success.

  • maxbini

    Accommodations for people with impairments provide assistance to help them get around barriers that society has placed in front of them as that is where the disability is based (not in the person).  Accommodations are not about making it easier for people with impairments than for people without impairments to succeed, they are about allowing them to show that they can succeed.  Not everyone will succeed, but everyone should be given a fair chance.

  • theavolpe

    My child has ADD,  He took the SAT without extra time and got combined 900. A few months later, he took the SAT with extra time, and got 1460. He did not improve his scores through study. I can also add that you could give me a week for the math section and I would still score around 400.

    With access to any information one could want now available at everyone’s fingertips instantly, memorizing copious amounts of information is not a requirement for success in any pursuit. Keeping talented individuals from obtaining a formal education because of their performance on timed testing is a waste of human potential.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antsy-Kuhnwisse/100002159499682 Antsy Kuhnwisse

    Don’t quite understand your position on standardized tests.  Are you saying the SAT should be eliminated because one’s score depends so greatly on mere memorization?  Even with the accommodation that enabled your son to do so well?  It sounds like you feel that his greatly improved score is still meaningless, because it’s “just memorization.”

    I don’t *entirely* agree with you about memorization.  I would want a doctor, particularly a surgeon, to have a lot of knowledge stored; I don’t want them surfing for instructions while operating on me.  Actors and singers, too, need to be able to memorize large amounts of text, so maybe they should be hired based upon their SAT scores.

    But for the most part, I’d say you’re probably right; many people who struggle with standardized timed tests could be pretty terrific in the very careers their poor SAT scores prevent them from having.  And vice versa.

  • facultydiva

    If the Board is paying him to conduct the investigation, then they are his client.  However, if they really wanted this to be an independent investigation, Freeh should have negotiated no contact with the trustees other than information gathering until his report was complete. 

  • manoflamancha

    Smells fishy!

  • trudie
  • jsibelius

    Wish it were as simple as just not relying on spell check.  It’s a bigger issue when the program just makes the correction without asking.  It’s hard to catch a word you didn’t type when it’s not marked.  People don’t really go back and proofread text messages.  They’re short and simple for a reason.  And for all you know, “going to” would have gotten the texter smacked for being too formal with his friends.

  • panhandle

    It’s even harder to catch changed words when you have to look at the keyboard while  typing. I don’t type accurately—any one can type accurately—but I type with wonderful expression. 

  • 22058726

    Maybe this student cried “Autocorrect” when he really meant to type what he typed? When I type “gunna” into a text message on my iPhone, it either leaves it as is or turns into “Gunnar,” never “gunman.”

    Also, most people don’t type in phone numbers to people they text. They usually have them pre-stored under “Contacts.” If this student got away with this prank, look to see it happen again, with variations.

  • Unemployed_Northeastern

    In the spirit of things, I think the article should be entitled, “Dam You, Autocorrect!”

  • jsibelius

    I’ll see you and raise you by one – touch screens.  You can’t type accurately without looking at the keyboard and it’s a major pain to try to look back and forth between the keyboard and text entry area to make sure everything is correct.  Accurate typist or not, this could trip up anyone. (and still the phone salesman looked at me like I’d sprouted a horn on my forehead when I said I wanted a slide-out keyboard on my Android phone.)

  • jsibelius

    Someone should send that to the DYAC website.  They should definitely change their name.

  • Josh

    Heck, even if he’d known how to spell “gonna”!

  • isalaur

    Testing accomodations yes, (if they persue them themselves–no case manager doing all the work as in high school) but I was thinking more of day to day class functions as specified in my post…coping with lecture style classes, writing properly, following directions etc.

  • isalaur

    I don’t know where in my post you read my attitude as saying I wanted to close the doors to higher ed to anyone.  What I said, and still believe, is that conditioning kids that the real world will coddle them is doing them a disservice and in no way preparing them for what awaits them.  While a business might accomodate a “brilliant” individual there aren’t a lot of those.  And once again, I specifically referenced the need for physical accomodations.

    And you couldn’t be more wrong about my preferring straight lectures (again no idea where you inferred that) but I certainly sat through my share of them throughout my higher ed career and know there are plenty of them still around!

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

  • The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • 1255 Twenty-Third St, N.W.
  • Washington, D.C. 20037