Building a 21st Century Library
Another look at the fascinating evolution of the library.
Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3
There are many reasons to be cheerful in the world of scholarly publishing. Taking a cue from Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and his song, Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3., this post describes an example of good things afoot in the library community. It is up to you to provide parts 1. and 2.
The Role of Scholarly Societies
Is there hope for scholarly societies? Where once perhaps membership benefits from publications were key, now the emphasis will move to the character of academic life and independence from commercial forces. This post aims to engage the reader in thinking through what it means to be a member of a scholarly society
Stick To Your Ribs: Library Budgets, Journals and Blood From A Stone
A look back at some of Rick Anderson’s insightful pieces on the economic realities of journal prices and library budgets.
Libraries and Kindle Unlimited
Could a Kindle Unlimited subscription replace your local library? What can scholarly publishers learn from Amazon’s tactics here?
Open Access: Fundamentals to Fundamentalists
There is a certain fundamentalism that pervades discussions around open access policies and business models. On the one hand there are the advocates, and through the laws of conservation of energy, the equal and opposite reaction of anti-open access advocacy. There seems little room for rational debate about open access in the midst of such an antagonistic atmosphere.This post asks us to spend our time thinking through a range of open access models, experimenting and refining, rather than forcing ourselves down the road of policy mandates that potentially discourage innovation.
Scholarly Kitchen Podcast: Standards, Standards, Standards
Scholarly Kitchen chef Todd Carpenter discusses technical standards in today’s scholarly-publishing landscape, and what’s on the horizon.
The Conversations We're Not Having — Overcoming Uncertainty, Chilling Effects, and Open Access Complacency
While open access remains a hot topic in our industry, we may not be discussing the most difficult aspects. Worse, OA proponents themselves may not be answering some of the questions that are now arising as a broader swath of academics, scientists, and administrators become aware of OA.
Antisocial in a Social World
Do we as publishers, societies and libraries understand how to grapple with the needs of academics with such a range of cultures?
For Libraries the Future Is a Foreign Country
A new essay by Rick Anderson proposes that libraries begin to focus more strongly on special collections and migrate away from the collection of commodity content. This would have a dramatic impact on the structure of the marketplace for scholarly materials and would be more disruptive than anything currently being bandied about. That may not be a bad thing.
Another Perspective on Library-Press "Partnerships"
A response to Joe Esposito’s post last week about partnerships between libraries and university presses.
Scholarly Kitchen Podcast: Anita de Waard on the Semantic Web, Data, and Discovery
An expert on the semantic Web, structured markup, and the emerging area of research data services talks about the current state of play.
Having Relations with the Library: A Guide for University Presses
Libraries and university presses are often asked to collaborate with one another; in some instances presses are put into library organizations. It is not clear why. The functions of publishers and libraries are very different, making true partnerships difficult to achieve.
Book Domino Chain World Record
To launch their summer reading project, the Seattle Public Library went for a world’s record.
Scholarly Kitchen Podcast: Making Sense of MOOCs
An interview with the University of Utah librarian and Scholarly Kitchen Chef Rick Anderson about the potential impact of Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs).