VDM Publishing

VDM Publishing or Omniscriptum Publishing Group is a German publishing group based in Saarbrücken, Germany, with offices in Argentina,Latvia, Mauritius and Moldova. Its book production is based on print on demand technology.

VDM publishing's imprints—Alphascript, Betascript, Fastbook Publishing and Doyen Verlag—specialize in publishing and selling Wikipedia articles in printed form via print on demand, in e-commerce bookstores. Alphascript distributes publications through several on-line book retailers. At least some of the books are printed by Amazon.com. As of November 2010, around 150,000 such titles have been produced. In June 2010, VDM started its own online-bookshop: MoreBooks! Publishing.

VDM's publishing methods have received criticism for the soliciting of manuscripts from thousands of individuals, for providing non-notable authors with the appearance of a peer-reviewed publishing history, for benefiting from the free contributions of online volunteers, and for insufficiently disclosing the free nature of their content. VDM responds that it is a valuable, quality resource, that the company has no problem asking authors for content, that buyers are informed of where information comes from, that books are a convenient form to collect articles about interesting subjects, and that its customers are satisfied with VDM's products. VDM Publishing is designated as non-scientific by the Norwegian Scientific Index.

SOLV

SOLVE (formerly SOLV, Sustaining Oregon's Legacy by Volunteering, originally an acronym for Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) is an environmental non-profit organization working throughout the U.S. state of Oregon whose mission statement is: "SOLV builds community through volunteer action to preserve this treasure called Oregon". The group is based in Portland

History

SOLV was founded in 1969 by Oregon Governor Tom McCall with the goal of reducing and cleaning up litter and vandalism throughout Oregon. In 1976, SOLV hired Blanche Schroeder, Portland Chamber of Commerce lobbyist, to act as Executive Director of SOLV on a part-time basis. The first statewide citizen Beach Cleanup in the nation was organized by SOLV in 1984. Since then, annual beach cleanups have spread to every state in the U.S., all U.S. territories, and more than 100 countries around the world.

Jack McGowan became the director of the group in 1990, and continued as its leader until 2008. Over time, SOLV has expanded its work to include education efforts, removal of invasive species, and planting of native species. In April 2008, Dianna Smiley took over as director after McGowan retired, and she was replaced in January 2010 by Melisa McDonald. The current Executive Director is John Tortorici. As of 2011, the organization had a $2.2 million budget.