Clay Shirky on Generosity, Erotic Novels, Civics, Lolcats, and Scholarly Journals
The cognitive surplus of our age is being unleashed. This video discusses some of the side-effects and trends that will shape our futures.
Cups, Buckets, Pools, and Puddles: When the Flood of Papers Won’t Abate, Which Do You Choose?
When most papers submitted ultimately get published, and in an age driven by pooled philosophies and practices, are we already participating in a “filter failure” of immense proportions?
OK, Let’s Try This Again — It’s Time for a Summer Vacation!
We’re taking 2 weeks off. See you in July!
Does Thinking Benefit More from Contemplation or Exchange?
Distractions spur thoughts, so why do we want deep, contemplative thinking?
The Content Graph: How Brands, Trust, and Quality Can Network the Future of Online News
By realizing content links news outlets and creating a barter system, Scott Karp’s Publish2 offers an interesting approach to the “content graph” networked information has created.
Signals of Quality — Does Selectivity Attract Better Submissions and Better Authors?
A study from ACM suggests that selectivity — both being selective and being known as selective — has a citation benefit.
The POD Booby Trap and the Lure of Open Access Books
Using POD (print on demand) as a means to support open access is not a viable business model.
Arguing Against Links: Are They Distracting, Counterproductive, and Anti-Intellectual?
Is there a good case against linking? Or are links just an updated version of an old idea?
Academic Incentives Gone Awry: Why Junk Persists in the Scientific Literature
The system of scientific publication is broken, with rewards cynically exploited by many players while science fills with more and more garbage. How can we fix this?
Trade Publishing and Ebooks: W(h)ither the Supply Chain?
The supply chain around trade publishing is “broken,” according to publishers. But are they what has broken?
Blogging Software as a Disruptive Publishing Tool — Is There Anything It Can’t Do?
Blogging platforms have morphed into web site and social media platforms. But now they’re moving into areas even farther afield, like books.
E-Readers Will Take Centerstage If Prices Drop, Yet Publishers Still Have Two Left Feet
E-readers are poised to go mainstream, yet publishers continue to be wallflowers. Haven’t we learned to dance at all during this last digital decade?
The Stick and the Carrot: Why Direct Incentives in Science are Dangerous
Reputation — fragile, cumulative, and indirect — is the reward of science. Direct compensation to motivate specific behaviors is a dangerous proposal.
Friday Fun: Bill Murray Reads Poetry to Construction Workers
While building a new poetry center, construction stops so Bill Murray can share a few poems (and jokes) with the workers. A lovely moment, captured in video.
A Future of Touch and Gestures: New Interfaces Driving Scientific Information Presentation
Image by jdlasica via Flickr For scholarly publishers, librarians, and readers, the article remains the coin of the realm — a text-based narrative that strips data of all but its most superficial aspects and doesn’t integrate itself into the body […]