Learning from Books — Lessons for STM Publishers
Mass-market book publishing is being disrupted more quickly than anyone expected. What lessons can we learn?
Online Advertising — Are Publishers Squandering the Opportunity?
Image via Wikipedia Jim Spanfeller, who is leaving his role of CEO of Forbes.com, recently wrote a provocative piece about online advertising entitled, “Publishers Are Killing Web Advertising’s Potential With Misguided Pricing.” His compelling complaints have to do with publishers […]
Do Publishing Associations Match Publishing Realities?
Trade organizations grew up around traditional information containers and roles. Now that things are changing, is it time to consider collaboration and consolidation in the association space?
A Corporate Culture to Slip the Management Trap
A company’s culture defines a great deal. Here’s a peak inside Netflix, a company undergoing disruptive innovation and choosing to embrace it.
Google Announces Opt-Out Village
In response to consumer concerns, Google announces its new Opt-Out Village. Happy Friday!
Two Stories from the Management Trap
Two owners, two magazines — but one magazine wishes it could flee, while another is part of a larger digital strategy. It shines a light on what can happen when the owner is the problem.
Questioning the Attention Economy
Rupert Murdoch’s plans to charge for access to his newspapers has been widely criticized as it will cut the material out of the wider online conversation. But what good is it to be part of a conversation that doesn’t bring in any revenue?
Wikipedia’s Plateau: A Sign of Elitism, Maturity, or Both?
The plateau of entries in Wikipedia has people scratching their heads. Are the editors becoming elitists? Is quality beating quantity? Or is it a little of both?
The Trouble with Fribbles
Right and left are fundamental relative directions and biological preferences. Do they shape more than just our preferences for handedness?
Google Knol — Vanity Publishing Fails Again
Google Knol is fading fast. Why didn’t it work? And when will it be put out of its misery? Meanwhile, Google opens the doors on a faster, more accurate version of its search engine.
Ghostwriters & Ghostresearchers: Supernatural Forces in Scholarship
Ghostwriters and unnamed contract researchers might scare up controversy, and frighten away the truth. And they’re only part of the problem.
Why Everything Sucks
Why does the world suck so much right now? Craig Ferguson provides a fairly compelling hypothesis.
$80,000 per Song, and Perceptions of Copyright
Two court decisions assign enormous fines for infringing copyright by sharing songs online. Is this a sign that the public is not as jaded about copyright as we’ve been led to believe?
Will Feudalism Fade from Knowledge Exchange?
Feudalism was a necessary step in social organization, but is it the end-state for academic organization? A number of related events this past weekend make me think not.
Research4Life’s Dubious Claims and Missing Report
Free scientific journal access programs claims to boost article output in developing countries. A deeper analysis of the data shows otherwise.