Guest Post: Safiya Umoja Noble and the Ethics of Social Justice in Information (Part 2)
Jocelyn Dawson and Rebecca McLeod interview Safiya Noble, author of “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism”.
Guest Post: Safiya Umoja Noble and the Ethics of Social Justice in Information (Part 1)
Jocelyn Dawson and Rebecca McLeod interview Safiya Noble, author of “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism”.
Hipster Antitrust and Structural Dominance — What Is a Monopoly Now?
Calling something a “monopoly” has been misleading in many cases, but the new economy may require a complete rethinking of the anti-competitiveness created by intermediaries at scale.
Fourth of July: Use Your Freedom of Choice (We’re on hiatus)
It’s time for our annual summer hiatus. In the meantime, a look at a band and a song that at first seemed clever, and now prophetic.
The Core vs. the Crowd — Why Barriers to Entry May Help Restore Trust
A history of the rise of coercive media suggests that raising barriers to entry may be a remedy. Could a business model shift do most of the work for us?
Interview: The BMJ’s Patient Review Initiative — A Novel Expansion of Peer Review
Kent Anderson looks at an innovative approach to peer review that has expanded, changed review approaches, and impressed authors.
The Global Battle for Attention and Authority – Have We Already Lost?
As we learn more on an almost daily basis about the growing power and influence of social media and Facebook in particular, Alison Mudditt spoke recently with Siva Vaidhyanathan about the intricate relationship between media and democracy, and the critical role that cultural institutions – including scholarship, publishers and libraries – need to play in countering this pernicious hold on our attention.
Is Copyright Piracy Morally Wrong or Merely Illegal? The Malum Prohibitum/Malum in Se Conundrum
Is copyright infringement malum prohibitum (wrong only because it’s prohibited) or malum in se (morally wrong in and of itself)? Interestingly, scholcomm commentators and legal reference materials often characterize it as the former–while both statute and case law treat it like the latter, classifying it as “property theft” and regularly awarding its victims both statutory and punitive damages.
The Race to the Bottom — Short-term Bargains versus Long-term Vitality
Haggling for cheaper content today will certainly have hidden and unpleasant costs — large and small — down the road.
Guest Post: One LGBT Perspective on Bias in Scholarly Publishing
John Linton offers his thoughts on diversity, perspective, and the need for empathy.
On Being Excluded: Testimonies by People of Color in Scholarly Publishing
These powerful testimonies, by people of color, about their experience of racism in scholarly publishing, clearly show that we have “a great deal of powerful and humbling work to do” to address racism and the white-dominated culture of our industry.
Guest Post: Towards a Diversity Manifesto Part 2 – Making Long Overdue Change Happen in Scholarly Communication
In part 2 of Nancy Roberts’ and Phill Jones’ collaboration, Nancy, the founder of Business Inclusivity lays out the starting point for an emerging manifesto on diversity based on the recent workshop at the Researcher to Reader conference.
Towards a Diversity Manifesto Part 1 – How a White, Middle-aged, Straight, Cisgender Man Co-organized a Workshop on Diversity Without an Apparent Shred of Irony.
At the end of February, Nancy Roberts of Business Inclusivity and I co-organized a workshop on diversity for the Researcher to Reader conference. In this post I explore my motivations for doing so and talk about why I think so few men seem comfortable participating in these discussions.
Artificial Intelligence and the Infrastructure of Surveillance Authoritarianism
Techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufecki provides a stark view of the potential future of artificial intelligence (AI) and the possible dystopia toward which we are heading.
Calling It Out, Spelling It Out, Stamping It Out: Recognizing and Avoiding Bias
In honour of International Women’s Day, Time’s Up, #MeToo, and a range of recent initiatives trying to tackle equality in the workplace, Charlie Rapple provides thoughts on how to avoid inappropriate comments and behaviors that unintentionally give offense.