The $20 Tablet, and Four Interesting Questions for the Academic Market
A low-priced tablet computer from India might have the potential to change the game for many. Are we ready for a potential rapid and system-wide disruption?
The Best Mistakes — and Corrections — of 2012
In a year of mistakes, some corrections stand head and shoulders above others. Let us celebrate the honest and witty souls behind them.
Chefs’ Selections: The Best Books Read During 2012
Once again, the Chefs list their favorite books read this year — everything from Presidents to statisticians to cancer to owl soup. Enjoy!
A Call for Simplified Tablet Publishing — "The Subcompact Manifesto"
A manifesto urges publishers to make simple, functional, and practical tablet editions, and to avoid the tendency for bloat.
New Players, New Priorities — Part 3: It's Never About the Money; It's Always About the Money
Funders and governments are exerting their influence in scientific publishing through monetary and financial threats, and are willing to slow science in order to accomplish OA goals.
New Players, New Priorities — Part 2: The Problematic Role of Funders
Funders — corporate, governmental, and philanthropic — have different priorities, yet they are now reaching into scientific publishing, wearing OA as a glove that fits. This post explores the problems this is creating and might create if allowed to perpetuate.
New Players, New Priorities — Part 1: Governments and Politics Enter Scientific Publishing
In this first part of a three-part series, the intrusion of governments into scientific publishing is contemplated — its causes, current state, and possible effects.
A Call for Participation — A Survey on Book Discovery
A call to participate in a survey on how books are discovered and ultimately purchased. The survey is being conducted in cooperation with O’Reilly Media.
Ask the Chefs: "What's the Most Important Print Subscription You Haven't Canceled?"
Even in the digital age, some print products are hard to give up. What is the allure?
Mobile Access — Publishers Must Catch Up With User Adoption Trends
Mobile access is reaching an inflection point, but publisher solutions to mobile access are still lagging.
Metrics and Meaning — Can We Find Relevance and Quality Without Measurements?
Putting metrics and altmetrics into perspective can help us separate secondary signals from primary signals, and may lead to a greater appreciation of alternatives to metrics, or alt2metrics.
The Hall of Mirrors — Trying to Explain Why Users Value Free Content Differently
Why would free content be differentially accessed across versions of it, and across publications? A dive into PLoS data leads to a potentially reassuring answer.
Hat Tip to the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog — and Lessons from the Trails It Blazed
The recently departed WSJ Health Blog taught us all lessons — and this blogger the lesson of standing up for what is clearly a better way of doing things.
Amazon Enhances Its Position in Academic Markets with Launch of Its Whispercast System
Amazon’s new local distribution technology allows academic institutions new levels of control.
Springer Establishes a Beachhead on the Desktop with Acquisition of Papers
Springer’s acquisition of Papers shifts the publisher into the workflow, and provides a unique opportunity to become a unifying resource.