Reverse Engineering, the Cycle of Culture, and the Dark History of White Bread
The story of white bread’s rise and fall offers a lesson in the circular nature of manufacturing and consumer culture.
The Ghost of Publishing Past: George Gissing’s “New Grub Street”
A lesson in publishing’s past is provided by George Gissing’s Victorian Era novel.
10 Years of Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research: An Interview with the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable (Part 2)
An interview with principals of the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, whose work significantly shaped the Holdren Memo on public access to federally-funded research.
10 Years of Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research: An Interview with the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable (Part 1)
An interview with principals of the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, whose work significantly shaped the Holdren Memo on public access to federally-funded research.
The End of the iPod
This week marks the end of an era, as the iPod is officially discontinued.
Humanities and Graduate Education: The Crisis is Real, but Not New
A new study offers — surprise — mostly bad news about the state of Humanities graduate education. Even while we know how important humanistic perspectives are for, well, humanity.
Unreachable/ Unwritable Histories: Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe
First in a series on histories made difficult or impossible though war or climate disasters, this post features two historians of Russia and Eastern Europe.
Fraud and Peer Review: An Interview with Melinda Baldwin
Robert Harington and Melinda Baldwin discuss whether peer review has a role to play in uncovering scientific fraud.
“Common Knowledge” and How False Facts Become Entrenched
Some scientific “urban legends” get debunked in today’s video. How does incorrect “common knowledge” become established?
Revisiting: Historians in Historic Times
We are always living through history. For historians, though, the current moment is always a culmination. Revisiting a post from January 2021 in preparation for a series.
The Burden of Knowledge: A Historian Reviews Popular Period Movies
How infuriating is it to watch a movie about your area of expertise and realize just how wrong it is?
Libraries and the Contested Terrain of “Neutrality”
Are libraries “neutral”? That question is way too simplistic to serve as anything other than a political football.
Restoring the Version of Record
The restoration of a glorious portrait raises questions about the scholarly Version of Record.
Revisiting — Additive, Substitutive, Subtractive: Strategic Scenarios for Publishers in an OA World
Revisiting a 2008 post noting that while it is often argued that open access will reduce the overall cost of scholarly communications, this article proposed that OA will be additive to the size of the current market.
More on Checking out Library Books
More about books about libraries and librarians, with a compilation of suggested readings.