Participation Value and Shelf-Life for Journal Articles
Discussion forums built around academic journal articles haven’t seen much usage from readers. Lessons learned from the behavior of sports fans may provide some insight into the reasons why.
NIH Funds a Social Network for Scientists — Is It Likely to Succeed?
The NIH spends $12.2 million funding a social network for scientists. Is this any more likely to succeed than all the other recent failures?
Scientists Still Not Joining Social Networks
Scientists are proving uninterested in the many new social networks aimed at their communities. Are we still in the early days of building momentum, or are these networks fatally flawed?
“Did You Know?” 4.0 — Convergence and Communications
Another “Did You Know?” video has appeared, this time talking about convergence. Maybe it also shows that with each video, we’re closer to the future that once astounded us.
“Content Nation” — Self-promotion in the Age of 2.0 Buzzwords
A 2.0 Publishing talk delivers little more than anecdotes, buzzwords, and a narrative that conflates technological, biological, and cultural evolution. Does “Content Nation” really deliver a new view of publishing? Or just a business model borrowed from Web 2.0?
Retrofitting Scholarly Communications
As scholarly communication moves from its frankly printer-centric reality of today, publishers will be faced with many more rounds of improvement to their digital information. Is ePub an answer?
Questioning the Attention Economy
Rupert Murdoch’s plans to charge for access to his newspapers has been widely criticized as it will cut the material out of the wider online conversation. But what good is it to be part of a conversation that doesn’t bring in any revenue?
Service or Content? Another False Choice
The more arguments I hear about service vs. content, the clearer it seems that this is a false choice.
The “Article of the Future” — Just Lipstick Again?
Elsevier’s “Article of the Future” prototypes appear, and only spotlight the underlying conceptual problems for a traditional, article-centric publisher.
Successful Web 2.0 Business Models
We’ve all read declaration after declaration that the publishing business model is dead and needs to be replaced by a new one. So far, no one seems to have any idea exactly what that new business model should be. A few recent examples are examined….
Bing and Wave: New Technologies with Different Aims
Two new technologies are introduced, with very different scope and aims. As publishers, we need to think more like Wave and less like Bing.
The End of “Free”
Has free access to content outlived its usefulness as a way of getting noticed?
The WSJ’s Payment Curbstop
The WSJ shows just how it’s missing the boat with its latest announcement about micropayments.
When Tools Dominate Tasks
A recent study shows that article tagging actually decreases recall of content. This points out the inelegance of most social media tools, where the act of using the tool becomes paramount over the activity it’s supposed to aid.
By Way of Introduction….
David Crotty introduces himself and provides insights into what drives him.