Instead of being an ordeal to survive, a dissertation can be a rewarding opportunity to develop your own vision and voice as a researcher. Getting the Best of Your Dissertation: Practical Perspectives for Effective Research by Dave Harris offers perspectives that support practical action and positive motivation. Research is hard work, but with the right practice, it can be a labor of love. Published by Thought Clearing.
Top Hat Sponsoring 2025 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring
A big thank you to Top Hat for sponsoring the 2025 TAA Virtual Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring at the Bronze level.
Top Hat’s mission is to spark better teaching and learning for a brighter world. Its dynamic courseware helps educators deliver more engaging, relevant and inclusive learning experiences in and outside of the classroom, so all students can succeed. Its extensive catalog of interactive eTexts features titles across all major disciplines, optimized for active learning. With Top Hat Custom Solutions, its experienced team helps you build the exact textbook you need, whether it’s by creating original material, customizing existing content, personalizing OER, or mixing and matching. Their instructional design and project management expertise makes for a smooth process to create interactive course materials that meet your affordability goals and timeline. With unparalleled support, Top Hat is your partner in transforming engagement wherever and whenever learning takes place. Managing Director Donna Battista is a TAA Board Member.
Dear Dr. Noelle: Time! Help!
By Dr. Noelle Sterne
Q: As a tenure-track professor, I’m looking up, and the year is ending. I sign up for the TAA programs and schedule writing into my calendar. But during my reflection, I allow other “things” to take precedence, and I don’t attend the programs I sign up for, and the writing time I’ve planned slips away. Can you offer words of encouragement that my time management skills will continue to improve and that protecting writing time is possible?
— Passionate About Academic Growth
A: Dear Professor Passionate—
We all fight time. especially as we continue to accomplish in our chosen specialties.
Maybe you’re self-judging too harshly and expecting too much of yourself.
2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book: ‘Principal to Principal: Conversations in Servant Leadership’
Principal to Principal: Conversations in Servant Leadership (Second Edition), edited by Joseph (Rocky) Wallace with contributions by Jenny Ray, is a story that chronicles a school principal’s first year at the helm, and how she navigates the array of challenges with the help of a veteran retiring principal. The chapter by chapter scenarios and conversations between the two inspire the reader to embrace servant leadership as a lifestyle that changes lives, and creates a culture of care in a school community. Published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Authors Guild Releases Statement on AI Licensing for Authors
The Authors Guild released a statement on December 12, 2024 stating that they believe “it is crucial that authors, not publishers or tech companies, have control over the licensing of AI rights,” and that “Authors must be able to choose whether they want to allow their works to be used by AI and under what terms.”
The statement includes six sections, including:
- AI Training Is Not Covered Under Standard Publishing Agreement
- Subsidiary Rights Do Not Include AI Rights
- Authors Retain Copyright
- Publishers Must Seek Author Permission
- Publisher Compensation Depends on AI Licensing Role
- Authors Should Get Majority Share in AI Licensing Deals
Industry News Round-Up Week of 12/9/24
Stay updated on the latest news, advancements, and changes that are shaping the textbook and academic authoring industry with our bi-weekly Industry News Round-Up. Have an item to share? Email Sierra.Pawlak@TAAonline.net.
Struggling US Regional Colleges’ Best Hope is to Embrace CX and AI (December 6, 2024)