University libraries are quickly going digital. But plans by Google to offer fully searchable databases of digitized books have spurred controversy. The Google Print program has come under fire from authors and publishers because the search giant wants to scan copyrighted material for the databases. Google paused temporarily this summer to allow publishers and authors to "opt out" of having their works scanned, but the trade organizations objected, saying the company must obtain their permission to scan the materials in the first place. Google resumed the scanning process on Nov. 1. "This is a plain and brazen …

One rainy Saturday afternoon, I scurried along 7th Avenue, cursing as my hair blew into a Medusa-like mess and my umbrella flipped inside-out. Upon arriving at the Chelsea Whole Foods Market, I didn't grab a cart or drool over the cookies as usual; instead, I descended to the store's netherworld. As a frequent Whole Foods shopper, I'd always wondered how the New York City stores found customers to pose for the candid ad campaigns that hang in store windows (and float on some cash register screens). Because it's believable that the "models" shop at the store, and the posters …

By the time you read this article, five leading media agencies will be making better decisions about which channels work best for their clients' brands than they were just two months earlier. The reason? Compose, a new channel-planning software tool, designed by Kantar Media Group and built by Pointlogic, with substantial input from the project's five charter subscribers: Carat, Initiative, Mediaedge:CIA, Mindshare, and PHD.

You know that fresh feeling you get in the first few days of a new year? Resolutions not yet broken. Hopes not yet dashed. Everything seems somehow newer and better. To start the New Year off on the right foot, here's my list of unreasonable things I wish would just go away.

How many times have you picked up the phone and attempted to be the 25th caller to your favorite radio station, only to be greeted by a busy signal?

Who needs that elusive 18- to 34-year-old male audience anyway? Nielsen Media Research reports that women make up between 61 to 68 percent of the 18 to 49 age group for shows like "Everwood," "Two and Half Men," "Grey's Anatomy," "Joey," "The OC," and "One Tree Hill." And they're older women, too. "Two and a Half Men" on CBS ranks highest in median age with 49.8; "Joey" on NBC is second at 45.4, while "Lost" is third with 43.1, Nielsen reports. At least one network, ABC, has read the signs. "ABC's goal is to be the choice …

The public broadcasting service was once a commercial-free haven. Now select PBS kids' programming is part of PBS Kids Sprout, a round-the-clock channel and video-on-demand service featuring "Sesame Street," "Bob the Builder," "Barney" -- and ads.

When a comely 160-page magazine bearing the Google logo was dropped on our doorstep the other day, we had little idea what to make of it. An offline publication professing to unlock the secrets of the online world's preeminent brand? What hubris! Nonetheless, we were intrigued. And then we opened it.

The brickbats have been flying at the reality TV fortress. As the new fall season commences -- with ABC's scripted ratings monsters "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" picking up where they left off last spring -- here's been a lot of chatter in the press about the lackluster performance of nonfiction programming.

Every year it's the same. I wait too long to get started on the holiday shopping, and then I go through the blank-sheet-of-paper hell of wondering what to buy for all of the people on my list. It lasts right up until the moment I stop for a second and think about what they love, what their passions are, and what makes them most happy. That always seems to do the trick. A little consumer understanding and the right gift ends up with the right person. Seems like a no-brainer, really. The better we understand a person, the more likely …