Apomediation: Word of the Day
Disintermediation presupposes the intermediation is the only choice. Maybe apomediation is the destination.
The Importance of Being First
Position in a daily arXiv email report can determine future citations. A German physicist struggles to determine why.
Anonymity Meets Aggression on Web 2.0
Web 2.0 may be shattering the established control of elite media. In their place are loud and aggressive voices.
Watching the Wrong Things?
Scholarly publishers have traditionally focused on articles, issues, subscriptions, citations, impact factors, and business models. But maybe by focusing on these things, which are much more about us than about our readers (who are becoming users today, a significant shift […]
Open Access Doesn’t Drive Citations
In the best-designed study of this topic yet, no citation advantage emerges for OA articles.
Google Launches Knols
Google Knols launched with a lot of splash, but is it a small fish?
Who Comments?
The proliferation of Web 2.0 and social networking tools has made it clear that the functionality is being baked into the substance of the Web. But, who is using these tools in the scholarly community? A recent blog entry on […]
Unfair Use
Blogging, like journalism, amplifies the dissemination of scientific information. But tensions still exist between bloggers and the mainstream media.
Citations & the Missing Link
A paper examines faulty citations, but the authors are on shaky ground.
Eigenfactor
Does the Principle of Repeated Improvement Result in Better Journal Impact Estimates than Raw Citation Counts?
Versions — NISO’s New Recommendations
The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has released its recommendations on versioning of journal articles. It is a document worth looking over, for a great deal of careful thought has gone into it. The document also reflects the schizophrenic relationship […]
Reputation Matters
A new (and flawed) study reveals that reputation matters. In fact, it’s core to scientific expression.
The “h-index”: An Objective Mismeasure?
A “mystical belief” in simple math and hard numbers like the h-index can mislead smart people.
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 […]
AP vs. Blogs: Spoiler Alert!
The AP is taking on blogs. They won’t win by fighting.