BYOD - some food for thought

This blog post (by Andrea Di Maio of Gartner Research) looks at the trend of employees bringing their own devices to the workplace and the different BYOD strategies organisations are adopting.  Some organisations are choosing a simple ‘laissez faire’ approach, while others might offer the widest possible choice of devices to the workforce, arguing that this would be cheaper than the potential costs of ‘mismanaged’ personal devices.   Di Maio acknowledges the ‘unstoppable trend’ of BYOD, but points out some potential implications you might not have previously considered, including:

• a provider revealing to employers that an employee has signed up to use the cloud service (this might be against company policy
• employers having access to employees' personal data 

We're planning an article on 'the digital workplace' for September's issue of BIR - more details for follow.

Libraries and publishers - demonstrating the new value

Lynne Brindley, the outgoing CEO of the British Library, addressed an audience of editors, authors and other interested parties at a SAGE reception held at the Reform Club on 26^th April.  Her speech reflected on the changing roles of publishers and academic and research librarians – and the relationships between them. 

A book or journal can now be created and accessed digitally and content is being liberated from physical space.  Meanwhile, as the debate surrounding access continues, intellectual property law has still to catch up. 

Academic libraries also have to reassess and articulate their value to their customers and fight for research funding.  The debate around open access continues.  Data heavy research is not just the new normal in STM – other disciplines including the humanities are joining in too.  Lynne urged libraries “to articulate what role they might play in this field and publishers not to lock down possibilities for data and text mining in a too defensive a stance.” 

The generation and dissemination of new knowledge is a critical activity and the different stakeholders must work together ensure success.  Despite dramatic changes in the wider information landscape, Lynne believes that shared values endure.  She called on all interested parties to focus on what they have in common and work together to reach creative solutions and design new business models.

EBSCO releases BusinessCore

BusinessCore is an e-book collection designed to meet the research and learning requirements of business professionals. Featuring thousands of full-text e-books, BusinessCore will be updated every month.  Users can print, email and save chapters, or transfer them to e-book readers and mobile devices. 

Topics covered include general management (leadership, project management, business communications and human resources) and specialist subjects such as M&A and ‘green business’.

The collection is available as an annual subscription.

More information via EBSCO.

Searchable trademark data

Thomson CompuMark, (a Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property and Science business), has announced plans to expand its SAEGIS on SERION online trademark screening solution.  The launch of 136 new databases means the solution will cover 186 countries and registers.

The development means that SAEGIS on SERION will provide the largest collection of trademark screening information on a single source, simplifying search processes for trademark professionals.

More information via the press release.