Big Sister: Some Beneficial Aspects of Collecting User Data

The generic item that was being talked about widely at DBW this year is the collection of end-user data. For the trade publishers that make up the bulk of DBW's audience, end-user data is almost like a piece of moon rock: foreign, unexpected, unintelligible. This is because trade publishers historically have sold books indirectly through such channels as bookstores and wholesalers, and thus have had little or no knowledge of how their books are actually used. College publishers-almost all book publishers-have had the same problem. In the journals world the situation