In an interesting interview with John Markoff, author of “What the Dormouse Said,” Stuart Brand is described as having the uncanny ability of showing up at the right place and right time to influence major ideas. One of these cases […]
As the SSP’s Annual Meeting approaches, many people will be gearing up to make an important presentation, and audiences will enter hoping to be inspired, informed, and impressed. Scott Hanselman has a great post on how to give a great […]
David Pogue just published a post on the New York Times that quotes at its heart the statement, “Information wants to be free.” In the post, he notes that he’s pretty conflicted over the issue, and takes solace in the […]
The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a story about open access backlash among creative writing students. It’s interesting to see how the battle lines are drawn, and how the terms of a negotiated embargo period at the University of […]
I knew he was right when I found myself printing it out. Jakob Nielsen has a new report on how much users read online. The report is only 1,068 words long, but this is apparently beyond the point most readers […]
Life is an approximation of reality. What we know and what is possible are two different things. Experiments help test and bridge the gap. With that spirit, I’m experimenting on this blog with Twitter now. You can find a link […]
This is a bit off-topic for this blog, but of interest to scholarly publishers, and I found myself doing a lot of thinking and digging about this for some reason. The announcement by Rockefeller Press that they will leave copyright […]
Impact factors have been increasing by 2.6% per year, on average. While this is lower than most economies’ inflation rates, it’s indicates a growing economy. But is the growth caused by supply or demand? In a draft paper from the […]
“Wikidemia” is a term I hadn’t heard before I read this very interesting roundtable discussion from the UPenn Department of Romance Languages. At the heart of the discussion is the notion that scholarship without the Internet and its collaborative tools […]
Image via Wikipedia One question I’ve been asked consistently since I’ve started writing this blog for the SSP is, “How do you find the time?” In some cases, it’s said with wonder. In some cases, it’s stated with what I […]
A recent news report from Germany confirms an idea I’d been toying with for a couple of years (apparently along with a few other people) — that printing online content can be a good business. To quote from the Associated […]
The Medical Library Association (MLA) is seeking 15 bloggers to cover their conference in Chicago, May 16-21. As an incentive, the MLA is offering its bloggers free wireless access at the hotel throughout the conference. As the MLA puts it: […]
Last Friday, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran a story about the emerging anti-plagiarism software marketplace, with CrossRef’s CrossCheck spotlighted. It’s a good story that broadens nicely upon the CrossCheck angle. Defining plagiarism is potentially fraught with difficulty, but it […]
There are many signs that email is threatened as the primary mode of communication between individuals. From record levels of spam (96.4% of all email is spam, some claim) to its incompatibility with cell phones, email is threatened with being […]
In the book, “The Design of Future Things,” Donald Norman observes that automation is a dangerous goal because pursuing it usually passes the point of diminishing returns. In contrast, augmentation of human effort (e.g., bicycling as augmented walking, writing/drawing/painting/composing as […]