Surprise, Surprise — The Web Turns Out to Be Too Persistent
The recent “right to be forgotten” case raises a corollary issue for scholarly publishers — are you managing your archives so that users have been given the “right to ignore”?
Quality and Relevance: A Matrix Model for Thinking about Scholarly Books and Libraries
Libraries do not have the luxury (or the mission) of selecting books solely based on their intrinsic quality. In order to do their work, the students and scholars served by the library need access to books that are highly relevant to their interests. How do the variables of quality and relevance interact with each other when it comes to library book purchasing?
Guest Post: Elisabeth Jones on Monograph Costs and Urban Legends–What's Wrong with This Picture?
Guest Chef Elisabeth Jones offers a critical analysis of a widely-distributed statistical chart that seems to show a doubling in the unit cost of monographs since 1985.
Ask The Chefs: Are Publishers Customer Focused?
This month the Scholarly Kitchen Chefs consider how publishers identify and serve their customers? Are they doing it well? What do YOU think?
The Role of Scholarly Societies
Is there hope for scholarly societies? Where once perhaps membership benefits from publications were key, now the emphasis will move to the character of academic life and independence from commercial forces. This post aims to engage the reader in thinking through what it means to be a member of a scholarly society
The Editor — A Vital Role We Barely Talk About Anymore
An alien landing in the scholarly and scientific publishing world today, reading all the opinions about how to make things more efficient and effective, might be forgiven for thinking there are only authors, readers, librarians, and reviewers. After all, those […]
Tweaking Twitter
Social media giant (and information tool) Twitter has casually suggested to its users that it might be changing its algorithm. But has it considered what the implications for users might be? The users have and they are worried.
Coping With New Technology: Medieval Help Desk
Struggling to come to grips with the new Apple Watch or the latest Kindles? You’re not alone, and in fact, there’s a historical precedent.
Interview with Laurel Haak of ORCID: Supporting the Efforts with Membership and Integration
As ORCID comes close to reaching it’s goals for registrations, the organization is not yet financially stable. Laurel Haak, executive director of ORCID, answers questions about where they are at and what is coming for users and members.
Letter to a Change Agent
Organizations seeking change will often turn to an individual to bring about that change. The challenge for such a change agent is how to move the organization forward without breaking it.
Meet the New Economy of Letters, Same As the Old Economy of Letters
Last fall in the New Yorker, Jill Lapore bemoaned the current relationship between intellectuals and the general public, which she feels is “more vexed than ever” — in part because of a system that rewards academics for outrageousness and for lousy writing. Does she have a point?
Cascades and Volcanoes — Are the Problems of Science in Public Discourse Getting Worse?
Hysteria over a supervolcano leads to speculation about the eruptions of misinformation all around us. And, why exactly are we seeing so many recycled news stories in social media these days?
Word News With John Oliver
John Oliver hosts a new fake newscast, this time with an unexpected co-anchor.
Exhibition Prohibition — Why Shouldn’t Publishers Celebrate an Improved Impact Factor?
A trend toward shaming journals that promote their impact factors needs to be rolled back. Impact factors are journal metrics. It’s the other uses that need to be curtailed.
When Crises Collide: The Tension Between Null Results and Reproducibility
Reproducibility of research results, and the lack of availability of negative results have both been deemed “crises” for the research community. But proposed solutions for each seem at odds with one another.