Are University Block Grants the Right Way to Fund Open Access Mandates?
While block grants may be a preferred way to disperse money to fund public access mandates, their actual use may cause problems for researchers and universities.
Attacking PowerPoint and Prezi — Is This Just Shooting the Messenger?
Perhaps poor presentations aren’t caused by the tools, but the content and delivery. PowerPoint or Prezi can’t cover for those problems.
(Re)Defining the Library, Part 1: Why?
With changes in the scholarly communications world, many old questions for the library are unsettled once again, and many news ones arise. In this first part of a two-part post, we’ll ask the questions.
Udacity Redux: And Then There Was Credit
Udacity students can now transfer credits to Colorado State. Is this the start of something big?
And Another Thing — A Postscript to the Proposed List of 60 Things Publishers Do
In addition to what publishers do directly for authors and readers, they foster many collaborative and philanthropic efforts around the world.
Insane in the Chromatophores — Squids and Disco Lights
Want disco lights? Squids might be on your path to dance club heaven.
Short-form Publishing — A New Content Category, Courtesy of the Internet
The publication of short works opens up new opportunities for academic publishers that heretofore have had to choose between the forms of the article on one hand and the full-length book on the other.
An Update from Inside the Kitchen — Progress and Potential
After a summer full of interesting posts and time to think, a bit of reflection seems in order as we head into Fall.
Bury Your Writing — Why Do Academic Book Chapters Fail to Generate Citations?
Books and book chapters have a competitive disadvantage in citations, but it’s not accessibility that makes the difference — there are more reasons, and more changes needed.
Photography at One Trillion Frames Per Second — Light's Glamor Shot
A new high-speed camera has the potential to reveal the world of light in completely novel ways. This video is amazing from start to finish.
-omics: A Language Parasite or a Legitimate Linguistic Extension?
The recent proliferation of -omics words amuses some, annoys others, and perhaps signals an effort at integrating new areas.
The NPR Model and the Financing of Scholarly Communication
The “listener support” model works in some cases. This fact alone suggests it may not have a robust future in the funding of scholarly initiatives.
Fighting the Programming — Men Throwing Rocks With the Other Hand
Self-explanatory, but remarkably humorous in the best way — it makes you sympathize and empathize while still chuckling.
Data Integrity and Presentation — Journalism, Verification, Skepticism, and the Age of Haste
Representing data graphically is always tricky. It doesn’t help when a journalist misses many opportunities to verify the data, provide context, and ask some probing questions.
Driving Innovation: Finding the Balance Between Fair Reward and Profiteering
Vitriol may have obscured important points in a post last week. The growing business strategy of our era is to drive the cost of everyone else’s product to zero in order to make more money from your own product. This imbalance stifles innovation and creation.