The Power of Language, the Choice to Share Ideas Widely, and Why Humans Have Prospered
A bizarre evolutionary scenario gave us the most powerful tool nature has ever created.
NASA's Vital But Forgotten Role: Stimulating the Pursuit of Frontiers
NASA makes us look up and inspires young children to pursue science, all for 1/2 a cent on the tax dollar. Why are we letting it slip into oblivion?
Will a Renewed Re-examination of the Big Deal Itself Be a Big Deal?
As budgets make librarians look for better deals, the Big Deals fall under close scrutiny.
Challenging the Access Crisis
A review of the literature shows that access conditions are getting better, not worse. So, why do we hear just the opposite?
The Ticklish Problem of Pricing E-books for Libraries
As publications move to digital form, libraries are taking on a greater share of the total volume of publishers’ income. This inevitably leads to conflicts.
How a Magician Beat Nine Chess Champions
Want to come out ahead? Planning is everything.
The First-World Problems Rap — A Little Perspective Before the 4th of July
A teen nails the woes of the blithely pampered.
A New Form of Filter Failure — The Invisible Dangers of the Online "Filter Bubble"
The downside of silent filters becomes crystal clear in this important talk.
The Rhetorical Consequences of STM "Madlibs" — Saving [ __________ ] from [ ____________ ]
Instead of filling in the blanks of attribution with the same old agents, maybe we need to go beyond the usual suspects.
John Palfrey: Thoughts About the Future of Libraries and Learning
John Palfrey talks about digital scholarship, digital students, and the challenges and opportunities both provide. From the closing plenary of the SSP Annual Meeting.
The Spaceship Earth As Seen Through the Chilean Skies
A set of time-lapse videos of the night skies will leave you in awe.
As Book Warehouses Vanish, Is It Time for Librarians to Stop Running Libraries?
Are librarians making the same mistake railroads made — forgetting their purpose to remain tied to their physical heritage?
Science on YouTube: Pendulum Waves
Oscillations are captured wonderfully in this short video.
"The Making of a Scholarly Journal" Video — Perhaps Inducing More Nostalgia Than Intended
A nice video documenting how a humanities journal is made inadvertently hits on some other themes, almost by exclusion.
Medical Writer Caught Plagiarising — and Other Man Bites Dog Stories
Humor about scientific misconduct may reflect a deeper, more serious side of academic culture gone wrong.