Reputation Matters
A new (and flawed) study reveals that reputation matters. In fact, it’s core to scientific expression.
Oxford’s Open Book on Open Access
Claire Bird provides a refreshingly agnostic and evidence-based approach to open access experiments with Oxford University Press.
Bulk Publishing Keeps PLoS Afloat
PLoS sees bulk, low-cost publishing as way to financial independence
Bomomo — Etch-a-Sketch 2.0
OK, time for another Friday timesink, this time a drawing tool called Bomomo. The little balls find your cursor. Holding it down makes them bigger. Dragging makes them do things. Have fun! Draw yourself some 4th of July fireworks while […]
Truthiness and Pablumonium
Image via Wikipedia Yesterday, I published a post containing a neologism — pablumonium — that caught people’s attention. I was pleasantly surprised by the emails and feedback since it was a long post and a wry insertion of a strangely […]
FCC Misses Both Forest and Trees
Image via Wikipedia The San Francisco Chronicle (and other sources) recently reported on an initiative from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to examine embedded advertisements in TV programming (“product placements”). Examples rolled out by reporters and the FCC itself include […]
Market-based Solution to Info-glut
Finding a solution to a glut of information and a scarcity of attention can work for email and scholarly publishing.
The “h-index”: An Objective Mismeasure?
A “mystical belief” in simple math and hard numbers like the h-index can mislead smart people.
The Future That Never Was
For a lighthearted and informative time, I’d recommend a visit to Paleo-Future, a blog providing “A Look Into the Future That Never Was.” Does this look like a city near you? At Paleo-Future, you’ll see predictions from Criswell, drawings of […]
OA Author’s Fund — 1% Solution, 99% Ideology
We are seeing a publishing model that has roots in cold, hard currency transformed into an idolatry of ideology.
Britannica’s Tepid Move
Image via Wikipedia Forgive me, but I think the recent news that the Encyclopedia Britannica is adopting a modified Wiki approach reveals not a brave embrace of new online realities, but rather a tepid response to the threat they are […]
The Syllabus — Key to Changing Student Research Behavior
Cornell initiative to develop information skills in the classroom. Is there an easy solution for the Google generation?
AP vs. Blogs: Spoiler Alert!
The AP is taking on blogs. They won’t win by fighting.
0 = Initiate Final Algorithm
You may have heard of this elsewhere, a site called “You’ve Been Left Behind” (www.youvebeenleftbehind.com). It’s been created in anticipation of the Rapture. The site will store many megabytes of documents and send these materials under certain conditions to up […]
Applications, Not Publications
Don’t develop publications, develop applications!