What We Should Learn from the Collapse of Borders
The collapse of Borders should be a wake-up call to publishers that assume that the core infrastructure of their legacy businesses will always be there to provide essential services.
Realistic Approaches to the US Federal Public Access RFIs
The two Requests for Information recently put forth by the federal government require a realistic set of responses, and hint at some changes in attitudes and approaches.
The Stubborn Persistence of the Subscription Model
The clear benefits of the subscription model make it enticing even for those who supposedly abhor it. And while it’s right to try to make it as efficient as possible, it will likely be with us for a long time to come.
The White House Calls for Information on Public Access to Publications and Data
The US government’s requests for information are of great importance for the future of academia and scholarly publishing. If you’re a traditionalist who sees open access as the downfall of civilization, an advocate who thinks information must be free, or someone who falls somewhere in between, this is your chance to create the future you’re seeking.
"A Novel Bookstore" — A Review
A review of the novel “A Novel Bookstore” by Laurence Cossé, which imagines an ideal bookstore and the policies required, including peer review, to make such a venture possible.
Are Open Access and Traditional Publishers in the Same Business?
We’ve lived long enough with the proposition that OA publishers compete with traditional publishers. Perhaps they do not. Some major indicators suggest a non-competitive coexistence.
Joe's Metadatarium: Creating New Forms of Discovery in the Bricks-and-Mortar World
The decline of bookstores has made discovery increasingly difficult. One solution is to create a new kind of bookstore, which is effectively a showroom and community center for the celebration of the book.
Vanishing Ghost Authorship
The prevalence of ghost authorship in the medical literature may be in decline, a new study reports. Is the issue really social or is authorship partly a problem of definition?
The Shrinking Orphan Works Problem
The orphan works problem is finite. Current practices will chip away at the number of orphans. It is unlikely that more orphans will be created in the future because it is so easy for publishers now to hold onto rights and keep books available in some form.
The Emergence of the Disposable E-Book Reader — An Inflection Point in Ambient Computing?
By offering a bare-bones Kindle at a very low price point, Amazon has created a virtually disposable e-reader that does exactly what it should, and little more. Will this little probe down-market unleash a tidal surge toward e-books?
My Utopian Vision for Communication of Scientific Methods
The publishing industry seems to be focused on improving a system that already works well, the system of topical information flows. Perhaps it should be looking at the system of method information flows.
The Library With No Books In It
A surprising collection found at the Schroedinger Archive includes a number of works of short fiction that take scholarly communications as their subject. In it, we find a tale with many surprising reversals — “The Library With No Books In It.”
Is PLoS ONE Slowing Down?
Claims of speed can be used to carve out a competitive edge, especially for journals serving authors. PLoS ONE entered the market claiming fast publication times, but data show that PLoS ONE is slowing down, with times more than doubling over the past few years. Is PLoS ONE losing its speed advantage?
The Aaron Swartz Case: What Does It Mean?
Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that the allegations against Swartz are proved and that he’s convicted. What would his case mean? It seems to me that it raises a number of questions that have received insufficient attention up until now.
Ask the Chefs: "What Do You Think Is the Most Important Trend in Publishing Today?"
Welcome to a new feature of the Scholarly Kitchen we’re calling “Ask the Chefs.” The premise is that each month, the Chefs (contributors) to the Scholarly Kitchen will answer a provocative question in a pithy paragraph or two. Each Chef answers the question without benefit of seeing the others’ responses. This month’s question: “What Do You Think Is the Most Important Trend in Publishing Today?”