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Blogspeaks


		About me
	BLOG DESCRIPTION	This section will include interesting blog posts relevant to the publishing industry, particularly STM publishing.


	Blogs selected for Week August 23 to August 29
	1. *Blog Topic – Google and Microsoft Fight for Search Future — Whatever It May Be* *Posted by Erik Sherman in the Bnet Blog,* the post discusses the search industry with Google, Macrisoft and Yahoo! as the main players. The number of searches performed in the US were down 16 percent year over year. Why? Social networks offer an alternative. Instead of trying to concoct the right mix of search terms and then sift through the overwhelming number of responses, most certainly including the mass of content mill porridge, they just ask people they know. Or sort of know. Erik Sherman is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer. Before going into journalism, he was head of product marketing at a publicly-held technology company and later was an independent business consultant. *The blog post says (quote) -* The search industry is far more turbulent than it has seemed. Certainty that bordered on complacency started with Google’s overwhelming market share. Everyone assume that past success guaranteed future performance. And the company still has an enormous chunk of the market. Bing was up 2 percent from last month and 51 percent from a year ago. As Bing begins to power not just the U.S. portion of Yahoo’s search, but all of it, it suggests that Microsoft, which was the butt of jokes for a long time, could have 28 percent of the market. No, that still wouldn’t be an equal to Google, but it’s a big improvement from last year and it’s moving in a threatening direction. But then, back in February I thought that Google acted as though the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo was a danger...... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Today’s UK Researchers: E-journals Dominate, Access Not an Issue, Skimming Increasing* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent study published by the Research Information Network. The study evaluates the use and role of e-journals in UK researchers’ professional lives. It builds on an earlier study of the computer logs of researchers in the UK by adding interviews, observations, and an online questionnaire so that the earlier findings could be placed in context. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* So, this is an interesting study of UK researchers, but nothing earth-shattering. The good news is that journals are more important in the professional lives of researchers than ever. But how journals are accessed and used has changed significantly. Among many interesting findings is that these researchers do much of their research outside of normal office hours, with some laughing outright at the suggestion that there are “normal office hours” anymore. One major finding of the study is that e-journals are the primary way of accessing the journal literature. Another is that access to journals has improved dramatically....... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Why Are eReader Apps Stuck in the DOS Era?* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post highlights a simple missing feature in today’s highly sought after ereader devices. Its is surprising that with today's state-of-the-art ereaders, you can't do something as simple as have the screen split into two panes for different views into the same book, let alone having two different books open at the same time. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* Why am I highlighting such a simple missing feature? Because it shows just how far we still need to go to implement common print reading capabilities in today's ereader apps. I'm still a huge advocate for richer content models that truly leverage the ereader device itself, but I'd love to see Amazon, Apple or anyone else who's paying attention to build more basic functionality into their apps. As it currently stands, every time I open the Kindle or iBooks apps on my iPad I feel like I'm using a time machine, heading back to the late 80's when DOS was king, only one app at a time could be opened on my 80286 computer, the music was bad and the hair was big.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Is Your Survey Data Lying to You?* *Posted By Jeevan Padiyar in the Tools of Change for Publishing Blog,* the post looks at what biases have been introduced into a study before using its data to make a decision. Bias is systematic favoritism in the data collection process which causes misleading results. Two types of bias are hazards in studies: selection bias and measurement bias. Jeevan Padiyar is a technology entrepreneur and product strategist with ten years experience in e-commerce and product development. He is passionate about using data to validate growth strategies for new market penetration. *The blog post says (quote) -* As the book industry continues to change, we are inundated with statistics about user behavior. These statistical nuggets are great because in isolation they give us a glimpse into why people do what they do, and how we can adjust our business to match market needs. But how often do we blindly accept data because it comes with pretty graphs and sound bites that seem to make sense? Probably more often than we'd like to admit.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – The SSP IN Conference — An INfernal Event!* *Posted by Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the forthcoming SSP IN meeting. The author expresses his concerns regarding the topic of the meeting - Imagining the ‘Dream E-Tool’ for Education and Training. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote) -* Indeed, I was aghast when my grand-nephew Chesterton rung me on Alexander Graham Bell’s phone (an example of an “innovation” that has done nothing but disturb the peace since it has infected nearly every household in our great republic) to inform me that Harvard now requires its students to use Babbage machines to write their essays! And now I discover that a Society of which I am a member, is not only not opposing this “electronic education,” but instead is actively encouraging it!.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/30/2010, at 7:46:54 PM - Comments (1), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 16 to August 22
	1. *Blog Topic – Teaching the End of Print — Using Books Poised on the Edge of Oblivion* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses an article by C.W. Anderson, a teacher at the College of Staten Island, in the Atlantic about putting together a syllabus for a course on “Print Culture.” The Internet, e-readers, email, text messaging, and so forth may have effectively placed the terminal bookend on the print era, so that now we can examine what was special about the era defined by the print book and its offshoots. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* As a teacher and essayist, Anderson is straddling the eras himself, using books as references but introducing blogs and online articles to challenge them. His Atlantic article is highly enriched by links that could not have existed in print. His approach is completely modern, normal in today’s communication environment, and displays exactly the kind of mixing he talks about. Two other recent articles discuss why the book as a print artifact is so troubled, poised on a precipice. Mike Shatzkin observes and/or argues in a recent post that while the print book was essentially perfected hundreds of years ago, e-books are improving regularly. Reactionaries who claim they will never give up the printed book are neglecting this important aspect..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – The Truth About Paid Models* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses the importance of balancing free vs. paid content as well as making sure advertising is a component of the overall revenue picture. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* Whoever said that free and paid models had to be mutually exclusive? Publishers don't need to "switch" to a paid model. Subscription elements should simply be added to better monetize the website as a whole. The key for any publication is finding the optimal mix of free vs. paid content that is right for their site. And it's rarely 100% one or the other.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Amazon, Google, Apple define the future of publishing* *Posted by Jonny Evans in the Apple Holic blog,* the post discusses why eReader devices are rapidly disappearing from the market to be replaced by more multi-functional devices such as the iPad. Evans is a freelance journalist. *The blog post says (quote) -* Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle (and to a lesser extent the Nook) have managed to bring awareness of eReading to the mass market. This will have the most immediate impact across education markets, where you can expect Apple's soon-to-ship 7-inch iPads to sell in massive quantities in the months ahead, as kids get them for their text books in cash-strapped US schools. (The initial cost of the device may be higher, but there's savings to be made in eBook purchases in such huge quantities)...... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Teaching the End of Print — Using Books Poised on the Edge of Oblivion* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent article by Zoe Corbyn in this week’s Nature News. The article titled “An easy way to boost citations,” reports on a study of more than 50,000 papers published in the journal Science. Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication.. *The blog post says (quote) -* Webster’s findings are based on statistical correlation — a simple measure of the association between two variables — and his plots look pretty impressive. But there is something odd about this relationship. I’ve never consciously cited papers because they include long reference lists. In fact, if you ask me about some of my favorite papers — the ones I cite over and over again — I’d be at a loss to give you even a ballpark estimate of their reference length. Number of references never comes into my mind as a rationale for citing an article. So why the correlation?..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/23/2010, at 7:21:09 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 9 to August 15
	1. *Blog Topic – Ending the Supplemental Data “Arms Race”* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the Society for Neuroscience’s recent decision to stop accepting and hosting supplemental data with journal articles. Since 2003, when the Journal of Neuroscience began accepting supplemental data, the average size of these files has grown exponentially and is rapidly approaching the size of the articles themselves. Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication. *The blog post says (quote) -* there are no viable alternatives to simply ending the practice of accepting supplemental materials. Limits on the number of additional tables and figures are simply arbitrary; stating that only “important” additions be included makes enforcement impractical. The journal sees no alternative to ending the practice entirely. This doesn’t mean that authors cannot host their own supplementary data, with links from the article — the journal simply will not vouch for their validity or persistence.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Digital Publishing & POD: What's "Good Enough"?* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses what is ‘good enough’ in the digital and print-on-demand (POD) worlds? Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc.... *The blog post says (quote) -* Are we over-thinking this? I don't need an offset-quality (or near offset-quality) copy of The Bronx Zoo to be happy. I'd take a copy machine-quality one. And with FedEx/Kinko's outlets everywhere, why hasn't a partnership between brick-and-mortar bookstores and Kinko's developed by now? Borders doesn't have the book? No problem. Pay at the counter (or online) and pick up a copy machine-quality version as you pass Kinko's on your way home. No time to stop at Kinko's? They'll be glad to put your copy on a FedEx Ground truck that's heading to your neighborhood later today anyway; for an additional small fee they'll bring it to you, that same day..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – It’s Going Too Fast — Can Embargoes Manage the Real-time Web?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses if embargo still works. Journal embargoes have been criticized for years as ineffectual and unnecessary. However, that criticism usually came from sources that wanted to exploit the information themselves (newspaper reporters, for instance), many times because these competitors published at a higher frequency than journals, needed information, and held a speed advantage. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing.. *The blog post says (quote) -* Now, when information is instantaneous and the real-time Web is at work, attention is what has to be managed. Publishers still play a role in garnering attention, but that takes more than just a brand for most information. And this means setting a pulse, creating packages, and setting expectations. Positional effects were discovered in arXiv last year. Packaging, timing, and release points matter to awareness and attention, and these effects can compound over time..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Publishing Formats for Digital Books* *Posted by Ronald Firquain in articlewrap.com,* the post discusses how publishing e-Books will continue to experience growth and technological advancements even while traditionally printed books and literature materials still have the greater market in terms of popularity and market share. It is clear that this medium of virtual publishing is here to stay and perhaps will gain more strength in the future. Ronald Firquain is a writer, marketer, entrepreneur, webmaster and has 16 years of computer knowledge... *The blog post says (quote) -* Before that though, we already see some advantages and disadvantages in traditional printing of books to publishing e-Books. While the main disadvantage of e-Books over paperback is the fact that not all electronic books can be read by the same e-Book reader. This means that you will need to have different e-Book reader devices to support all types of electronic books that are published. On the other hand, publishing e-Books have many benefits, one of which is the fact that it is an affordable alternative to printing in full color. Some e-Book formats support a full book layout, which can include images that will register beautifully on the screen of the e-Book reader device. It would cost quite a lot to print full colored layouts for traditional hardbound or paperback books. While in publishing e-Books, the full colored image is rendered into the format needed and can be continuously distributed to readers without having to use a single sheet of paper or several liters of ink...... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/16/2010, at 9:01:43 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 2 to August 8
	1. *Blog Topic – Are Blogging Networks Compatible with Publishing Business Plans?* *Posted by David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at the value, or lack of value, of aggregating bloggers into big social networks. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* Seed Media’s approach, as far as I can tell from the outside, has been to aggregate content and use that to drive traffic to feed their fledgling advertising network. In the same vein, I’ve never been quite sure of the Nature Network’s goals, though one would assume they’re interested in promoting the brand, and further cementing NPG’s position as a center of the scientific communication. If that sounds vague to you, then welcome to the world of Web 2.0 business models... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – We need open access to published medical research* *Posted by Josh NNT in the Number Needed to Treat Blog,* the post looks at a recent report according to which Free Access to U.S. Research Papers Could Yield $1 Billion in Benefits. Josh is a second year medical student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.. *The blog post says (quote) -* Fundamentally, the publishers must realize they need to adapt. Just like the music industry and now the newspapers and magazines, medical journals must figure out how to leverage technology to deliver their content more efficiently. They also need to understand their customers better. I am a relatively large consumer of published medical research. I use it for writing research articles, researching topics for clinical application, keeping up with the latests developments in certain fields and, occasionally, blogging. Do you know what happens when I come up against a login screen that wants to charge me $30 for a single article?.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Why Publisher Resistance To Creating Ebooks Needs To Stop* *Posted in the Electronic Book Reader Blog,* the post looks at why many book publishers are resisting the ebook format. It’s understandable why they might be wary, but someone needs to get the message to them that they are doing far more harm than good. The evidence is clear, ebooks are definitely the way to go these days. *The blog post says (quote) -* Many producers thought that opening up digital versions for sale would lead to more piracy. They turned out to be wrong, because people were more than willing to pay for the music once it was made available (look at how popular iTunes is!). This goes to show that companies need to stay with the times and give people what they want to keep up with customer demands. Another reason certain publishers are concerned about ebooks is because they haven’t done the research to know that it makes a lot of business sense..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Leading Your Content to the Money — A New Equation for Selling Content to Consumers* *Posted by Alix Vance in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at why content providers are turning their attention to consumer markets as a potential source of business growth. Alix Vance was Executive Director of the Reference Information Group at CQ Press from 2007-2009 where she led strategic development for First Street. *The blog post says (quote) -* In order to focus their attention on big institutional content deals, publishers have traditionally relied on third-party service providers (agents and the like) to conduct business with individual end-users. However, with institutional budgets in decline, content providers are turning their attention to consumer markets as a potential source of business growth. Asserting themselves in the consumer space will require a new type of sales and marketing acumen and visibility into consumer behavior, which recognizes and responds to the many new ways that consumers are seeking to interact with vendors and each other in online environments.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/9/2010, at 6:52:46 PM - Comments (1), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 26 to August 1
	1. *Blog Topic – Amazon writes new chapter in its strategy* *Posted by Kenneth Li in the Financial Times,* the post discusses how Amazon has tried to cement its position as an unconventional player in the publishing world that intends to exploit opportunities at the edge of the industry. Amazon has not discouraged literary agencies and authors from working with publishers, but what they have been doing is saying ‘We’re another option’. *The blog post says (quote) -* Executives from Amazon, which makes the popular Kindle e-reader, did not discuss striking deals directly with authors, which they are doing on a limited basis, or about becoming a publisher itself, said one agent familiar with the proceedings: “They had no interest in being a publisher. But, a month later, “that all changed”. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – “The Reinvention of Journalism” — Just Code for “Reinvention of the Status Quo”?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a document recently released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which summarizes and elaborates upon public meetings and events held to elicit ideas to “support the reinvention of journalism.” Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Even given the benefit of the doubt, the FTC document almost immediately devolves into a set of assumptions that are clearly off-base. For instance, while acknowledging that radio and television news are different and vibrant in their own right, they limit the discussion of journalism to “the perspective of newspapers to exemplify the issues facing journalism as a whole.” What? CNN is having trouble getting grocery coupon inserts in its Sunday edition? NPR is having trouble attracting job ads? The news business is not embodied by newspapers... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Book Publicity and Marketing: How Soon was Yesterday?* *Posted by Kevin Smokler in the O'Reilly TOC Blog,* the post discusses how much promotion authors did on their own vs. fulfilling marketing obligations set up by their publishers. Kevin Smokler is an author, journalist, speaker and entrepreneur. He's the editor of the anthology Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times (Basic Books, June 2005), which was a San Francisco Chronicle notable book of 2005. *The blog post says (quote) -* Does that mean that publishers and authors will be working twice as hard to get half as much? Most likely. But we also need a larger definition of "much." If all marketing efforts--from lead title down to self-published author--are ultimately and only measured by sales, then we are tacitly saying that in fact nothing has changed, which we know isn't true. Naturally we shouldn't market books for our health. But perhaps there is another way to win, to have sales generate from deepening relationships with readers and books and authors a more consistent presence in the entertainment fabric of our lives. That's an "everything's changed" worth trying for.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – The Mandate of Open Access Institutional Repository Managers* *Posted By open access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog,* the post discusses how Open Access (OA) Institutional Repository (IR) managers can maximize the accessibility, visibility, usage and impact of their institution's research output. Open Access IR managers need to remind themselves that their mandate is to see to it that their IRs are filled with OA's target content (peer-reviewed research journal articles), and not to seek or provide alternative "business models" for journal publishing.. *The blog post says (quote) -* But publishers cannot be mandated to provide gold OA. And the funds to pay for gold OA cannot be mandated while they are still tied up in paying for subscriptions (and while the asking price for gold OA is designed to preserve publishers' current revenue streams and modus operandi, come what may). The road to green OA is wide open, and traversing it is entirely in the hands of researchers (and their institutions and funders). The road to gold OA is not wide open; it costs money, and it is in the hands of publishers, not researchers. And the potential money to pay for gold OA is currently tied up in institutions' subscription fees, which are being paid to publishers, by institutions' libraries..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – How Will eBookstores Earn Your Loyalty?* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses how with so many ebook retailers just a click away from each other, what must they do to earn your business on a repeat basis? Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc.. *The blog post says (quote) -* Up to now all I've been talking about is books. What about magazines and newspapers though? When I bought my Kindle v1 I thought it would be a way to always have my newspapers and magazines on the road. Unfortunately for Amazon, the user experience for newspapers and magazines was awful, so I quickly dropped my subscriptions. Although most of these publishers are trying to go direct to customers (e.g., iPad apps), there will also be subscriptions through larger e-tailers. Part of this has to do with discovery, which is why print magazines/newspapers are still at your local convenience store. How could e-tailers leverage these products to make their site/reader the most compelling one available?.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/2/2010, at 6:21:20 PM - Comments (1), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 19 to July 25
	1. *Blog Topic – E-book Sales Beat Hardcover Sales at Amazon: Tipping Point or Fluke?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses Amazon’s recent announcement that sales of its Kindle reader have tripled since they discounted the price from $259 to $189. The company also announced that that during the past three months, e-book sales outpaced hardcover book sales by a ratio of 143:100. Whether the combination of trends has resulted in more books being sold by Amazon isn’t clear. But the trend toward e-books continues unabated. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* How fast is change happening for publishers, bookstores, and authors? In a recent post, Mike Shatzkin speculates that within five years bricks-and-mortar bookstores will lose significant marketshare, falling from today’s 72% rate to around 25%. While “bookstores” remain open and available, the signs of the marketshare drop are apparent to anyone who has recently been inside one, only to find it cluttered with clothing, knick-knacks, snacks, and sundries.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – E-Readers Getting Rolled Under Tablet Juggernaut* *Posted by MB Quirk in The Consumerist Blog,* the post looks at how the success of ereaders like the Kindle have encouraged companies to copy them and make their own e-readers. turns out that wasn't such a good idea. Seems if you're not Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Sony, your e-reader model won't survive the onslaught of tablets like the iPad... *The blog post says (quote) -* The damage is being done as a result of price cuts from big retailers like Amazon and the frenzy over tablets that can do more than let you read Moby Dick. The next step? Consumers are so crazy over tablets, companies are surely already working on their own versions of tablets, like the $35 model India announced this week. E-readers aren't going anywhere just yet, however, as Amazon announced this week that the sale of digital books had overtaken the demand for paper books. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Privatising the Peer Review Process?* *Posted by Tom Webb in Nature Networks Mola Mola Blog,* the post discusses how to fix the peer review process by privatizing the reviewer commons. Tom is a Royal Society University Research Fellow.. *The blog post says (quote) -* The peer review system is breaking down and will soon be in crisis: increasing numbers of submitted manuscripts mean that demand for reviews is outstripping supply. This is a classic "tragedy of the commons," in which individuals have every incentive to exploit the "reviewer commons" by submitting manuscripts, but little or no incentive to contribute reviews. The result is a system increasingly dominated by "cheats" (individuals who submit papers without doing proportionate reviewing), with increasingly random and potentially biased results as more and more manuscripts are rejected without external review. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – No Deposit, No Diploma: How Graduate Schools and Libraries Restrict Access to Dissertations and Theses* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses restricted access to Dissertations and Theses by graduate schools and libraries. According to the author Information policy is no different from the Strange Laws of Old England that persist even when technology and social mores have changed. If universities and libraries are serious about making research publicly available, they should consider revising old policies to actively promote this goal. Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication. *The blog post says (quote) -* In my search for the answers, I discovered that many of the people involved in making this policy have either left Cornell or died. Those who remain, like the Thesis Advisor, simply continue the tradition, citing a warning that public access will dash any hope of future publication. A graduate student with any hope — even remote — of publishing after publication of his or her thesis should agree to embargo. And yet, I could not. I concluded that after spending a year on writing a public document, only to make it as inaccessible as possible, was antithetical to the purpose it was intended to fulfill. Indeed, consigning to lock up a dissertation on open access seemed inconsistent, if not downright hypocritical.. (unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/26/2010, at 9:25:52 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 12 to July 18
	1. *Blog Topic – Post-Publication Review: Does It Add Anything New and Useful?* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at if post-publication review adds anything new and useful. Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication... *The blog post says (quote) -* Speculating on why an expert rating system claimed to involve the “leading researchers” in science operated so poorly, Wardle offered several explanations. First, coverage of the ecological literature in F1000 is spotty, with some subfields completely ignored. Second, he believes there is evidence of cronyism in the system where F1000 section heads appoint their collaborators, colleagues and recent PhD graduates, many of whom share similar views on controversial topics........ *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – The Rapidly Shifting Ebook Retailer Landscape* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses a recent NY Times article about Google's possible role in the ebook retailer world. It's important to note that Google Editions is a program that's been talked about for a couple of years but still hasn't materialized. The latest rumor is it will launch very soon. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* The NY Times article linked to above talks about how Google could change the game by cozying up to the independent booksellers. Interesting idea. I've always thought the independents should have banded together years ago to create an uber virtual bookstore chain, both online and as brick-and-mortars. Think of it as a federation of indies. Networked together they'd stand a much better chance of competing with Amazon, B&N and Borders, for example...... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – iPad alternatives: Where are they now?* *Posted by Chris Meadows in the Teleread Blog,* the post discusses iPad and 14 possible alternatives that were listed by TechCrunch’s CrunchGear section a few months ago. Writer Matt Burns has now gone back to ask “Where are they now?.” *The blog post says (quote) -* Of the 14, only 7 have made it to release, and most of those proved to be subpar experiences in one way or another. The ones that get the closest to approval are the Axiotron ModBook (a $1849 Macbook kitbashed into tablet form factor) and the $600 Viliv X70 Windows XP tablet (which still has some problems)....... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – The RIN Report on Researchers and Web 2.0: If You Build It . . . Well, You Know the Rest* *Posted by David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recently released RIN report on the use and relevance of Web 2.0 for researchers. RIN’s report was commissioned from a research group at the University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* If you’ve been paying attention to actual researcher behavior rather than listening to the online hype, this should come as no surprise. The results of the study are well in-line with everything we’ve seen for the last few years (see previous columns here, here, here, and here). Predictions that new online technologies will revolutionize the way scientists and other researchers work have so far failed to come true. If the landscape is likely to change over time, then a new toolset is needed to spur that change, as the current offerings have been judged as uninteresting or of low value to the academic community. Creating the right toolset is apparently a higher hurdle than was expected......... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/19/2010, at 6:45:37 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 5 to July 11
	1. *Blog Topic – The DISCLOSE Act: New Media, Old Politics, and the Fight for Public Data* *Posted by Alix Vance in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how advances in networked data technologies in the new media and research sectors have made new kinds of relational analysis possible. Alix Vance was Executive Director of the Reference Information Group at CQ Press from 2007-2009 where she led strategic development for First Street. *The blog post says (quote) -* Media and tech companies stand to gain if DISCLOSE is passed because they will be the architects of an emerging class of utilities built upon data made public through the Open Government Initiative. Many are already aligned with DISCLOSE and Sunlight, which computes commercially and philosophically, due to the alignment of interests in providing free access to millions, if not billions, of data records..... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Social Media And The Book Publishing Industry ? Doom Or Salvation?* *Posted in the Webmaster 9 Blog,* the post discusses how Social Media makes information producible, accessible and spreads it easily, quickly and without barriers of entry. According to the author, social media will bring changes within the publishing industry. Big changes.. *The blog post says (quote) -* Looking at the emerging landscape of online publishing all of the mentioned contribution is available to authors online and seems much more economic by nature than the capital-intense publishing industry – it seems digital content makes production a commodity. Making use of online collaboration and web 2.0 technology lots of crowd-sourced book sites like FastPencil allow authors to skip the traditional publishing route entirely (and control their own promotion) to self-publish their eBooks... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – The Pepsi Syndrome: Did ScienceBlogs Sell Out, or Was This Just Business As Usual?* *Posted by David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the recent announcement by ScienceBlogs to initiate a new blog — Food Frontiers, a paid, sponsored blog about nutrition written by employees of PepsiCo. Multiple bloggers either suspended their blogs or quit ScienceBlogs altogether over their concerns that adding this blog undermined the credibility of the platform and their credibility as individual writers. Eventually, ScienceBlogs caved under the pressure and removed Pepsi’s blog. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* Social media in general has a history of difficulty in finding working business models. You can’t charge for content, so alternative revenue streams must pay the bills. This is less a problem for smaller, low-budget sites not run for profit, but for big, high-profile sites backed by investors, pressure mounts over time to supply the return those investors demand. Often the business model is in clear opposition to the best interests of the site’s users. Facebook is the current best example, and their recent moves toward eliminating privacy and selling user data to advertisers and others have come under scrutiny. Despite the recent uproar, Facebook activity doesn’t seem to be declining all that much, and users have weighed the balance, deciding that the service provided is useful enough to overcome the negative baggage that it brings. World of Warcraft users are facing similar issues.... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Enhanced E-books: The Added Value of Apps* *Posted by Debbie Whittemore in the Suite101.com Blog,* the post discusses how the added-value of Apps to enhanced e-books challenges authors, publishers, agents, and consumers in the rapidly changing environment of the book industry. Debbie is a contributing Writer for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), a trade association which represents over 300 bookstores and thousands of booksellers in 11 SE states. *The blog post says (quote) -* Enhanced Editions was established just days after Apple launched the App store in 2008. Seeing the opportunity of both the iPhone as a multimedia device, and the App store as a distribution channel, they set as their mission to make the reading software that Apple themselves should make, but were not. They tailor make ebooks for the iPhone... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/12/2010, at 6:42:11 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 28 to July 4
	1. *Blog Topic – Ebooks: An Overlooked Goldmine?* *Posted by Scott Lindsay in the Internet-9.Com Blog,* the post discusses ebooks as an incredible investment tool. Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. *The blog post says (quote) -* While it is true that anyone CAN develop an ebook it is equally true that not every ebook is a best seller. Many individuals see ebooks as an opportunity for wealth development, but either don’t spend enough time developing the ebook, they lack the skills to write or they have chose a topic that is either overdone or holds little interest in the market. Many non-writing business owners have worked with freelance writers to develop a product on their behalf. This is done on a write-for-hire basis. In essence an author will draft the ebook contents and the business owner will assign their name to the finished product having purchased all rights to the work from the author.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – The Future of Textbook Publishing in the Digital Age — New Publisher Workflows* *Posted by Paul Biba in the TeleRead Blog,* the post discusses the need for new publisher workflows in the coming decade.. This is the conclusion of The Xplanation’s series of posts on the future of textbook publishing in the digital age. *The blog post says (quote) -* A focus on digital content that leads to greater product diversity and flexibility, will force textbook publishers to introduce a number of changes in both conceptualizing and managing their content. The most significant difference will be that, in the future, profitable textbook publishing companies will adopt a “digital-first” strategy that focuses first on the digital collection of content, separate from any print or other specific product concepts. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Top Trends, Part 1* *Posted by Roy Tennant in the LibraryJournal Blog,* the post an article published in College and Research Libraries News. discusses the need for new publisher workflows in the coming decade.. The article titled ‘2010 Top Ten Trends in Academic Libraries’ is informative, logical, and enhanced with explanation and documentation, says the author. Roy Tennant is Senior Program Manager for OCLC Programs and Research in Mountain View, CA. *The blog post says (quote) -* The ACRL Research, Planning and Review Committee, a component of the Research Coordinating Committee, is responsible for creating and updating a continuous and dynamic environmental scan for the association that encompasses trends in academic librarianship, higher education, and the broader environment. As a part of this effort, the committee develops a list of the top ten trends that are affecting academic libraries now and in the near future.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – The future of libraries and ebooks* *Posted by Kathryn Greenhill in the Librarians Matter Blog,* the post discusses the future of libraries as vibrant social spaces that are so important to the community they support. Kathryn Greenhill works as Special Services Librarian at Cottesloe- Peppermint Grove-Mosman Park Library in Western Australia. *The blog post says (quote) -* We need to understand transliteracy and the new way of understanding imagined worlds that have traditionally been available only through books. For example, the world of Harry Potter can be accessed through books, gaming, movies, online, Lego and more. Reading is only one part of this information/sense-making world. We need to position ourselves as an asset to our community when it comes to ebooks and related issues like copyright, formats, what to read, etc.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/5/2010, at 7:33:47 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 21 to June 27
	1. *Blog Topic – Why do we still have the old system of peer review?* *Posted by Philip Gibbs in the viXra log Blog,* the post discusses if peer review is needed? If so, should it, and can it be wrestled from the grasp of big business? Could it be done differently? According to the author, a proper system of open peer review would have to go beyond basic rating and commenting. viXra log is a blog for the viXra.org e-print archive. It provides news for the site as well as articles and news about science in general. *The blog post says (quote) -* The existing peer-review process is imperfect in many ways aside from its cost. Good papers are rejected by peer-review and this has a real effect on the pace of acceptance. A good case study would be the science of climate research where some people argue that peer review has become corrupted and is biased towards one side of an important scientific debate. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Stage Five Book Publishing — How to Go Beyond “Sustainability” and Into “Viability”* *Posted by Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a presentation at the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) annual conference. The topic was Sustainability and the Future of Scholarly Communications. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote) -* I am not a big fan of the concept of sustainability. It implies stasis, as though what we have is what we want to have. For most of the university presses that participated in the conference, it’s hard to believe that the current situation is very attractive, with ongoing reductions in library purchases of monographs and increased pressure by university administrators on press subsidies... *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Clash of the Titans: The Battle To Become The Mobile Search Leader* *Posted by Krishna Subramanian in TechCrunch,* the post look at the mobile search strategies of players such as Apple, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. According to the author, mobile search is still one of the big unclaimed prizes on the mobile web. Krishna Subramanian is co-founder of mobile ad exchange Mobclix. *The blog post says (quote) -* Mobile search is here, whether you want to believe it or not. Take Apple’s recent acquisition of Siri for a small sum of around $200 million to $250 million. It will be pretty easy to use that as the nucleus for an Apple-owned local search product for mobile. Not to mention the valuation is around the same price tag as what it paid for Quattro Wireless. As the market grows, Yahoo!, Google, Bing and Apple will become more cut throat. Don’t expect to see Bing ads on Google Mobile Ads or Apple featuring Yahoo!. Likewise, we may not see as many new Google and Bing apps in the App Store in the near future. But they will keep pushing forward as much as they can. After all, they probably don’t have much time before Mr. Jobs begins to think differently about mobile search.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – The iPhone 4 Unboxed: Early Observations for Publishers* *Posted by Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post focus on what the new iPhone 4 means for publishers, and particularly STM and scholarly publishers. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote) -* Why does this matter to publishers? First, images from journals and books will look amazing on this screen. They will probably look better than they do on a desktop monitor, laptop display, or in print. Many STM publishers have a lot of images covering a panoply of the visual world: astronomy, fluid dynamics, medicine, microbiology, zoology, chemistry, and so on. Image-centric apps will really stand out. But a simple image view of an article on the mobile Web will also be pleasure to view with this screen. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – Liz Wager warms to qualitative research* *Posted by Liz Wager in the BMJ Group Blog,* the post offers glimpses of a study investigating local people’s views about a change in national policy on first-line treatment for malaria. The paper hasn’t been submitted yet. Liz Wager is a freelance medical writer, editor, and trainer. She is the current chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). *The blog post says (quote) -* The best fit is a term that applies to all sorts of fevers, colds and stomach upsets. So it is hardly surprising that the population is sometimes confused about what treatment they are getting and sometimes calls the antimalarials “Panadols” or uses pain killers to treat malaria. Then there is the problem of getting any message to a rural, poorly educated population. Radio sounds promising but I was surprised to read that this was likely to reach men rather than women. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/28/2010, at 10:53:45 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 14 to June 20
	1. *Blog Topic – The Impact Factor of Open Access journals: data and trends* *Posted by Helena Bukvova in the Helena’s Research Blog,* the post discusses a presentation from Elena Giglia from University of Turin. Giglia, though aware of the problems of citation-based Impact Factor, chooses this indicator to study the impact of open access, because it is a well-established and accepted measure. Helena works as a scientific assistant at Dresden University of Technology at the Chair for Information Management. *The blog post says (quote) -* The exact methodology and results can be found in the article in the conference proceedings. But all in all, the conclusion of the study is that open access research are doing quite well in terms of Impact Factor, given their relative newcomer status. Elena Giglia concluded, that open access journals can compete with ‘traditional’ journals. Although her study has focused on ‘gold’ open access. However, in discussion, Elena Giglia also noted that ‘green’ open access appears to lead to higher citation rates. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Mobile Searches Estimated To Grow To 20 Percent Of Total By 2012* *Posted by Erick Schonfeld in TechCrunch,* the post discusses a new report by RBC analyst Ross Sandler. The report estimates that Mobile search could grow from 9 percent of all queries this year to 20 percent by 2012. There is still a huge gap between mobile’s share of overall search queries and its share of search advertising. *The blog post says (quote) -* One big advantage the new generation of smartphones have over PCs in terms of search advertising is that the screen real estate devoted to search ads is much bigger. A single search ad on a PC takes up about 4 percent of the screen real estate, whereas a single search ad on a smartphone takes up about 20 percent of the screen. The relatively larger size of the ads results in higher click-through rates on mobile (as much as 3 to 5 times as much). On the iPhone, one search ad takes up 22 percent of the screen, and if two search ads are served up it takes up nearly half (48 percent). For Android, those numbers are 18 percent and 38 percent for one and two search ads, respectively. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – The Subordination of Browsers, Search, and Links: Will Apps and Mobile Redefine Our Digital Lives?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent article from the Atlantic that hits on a theme that’s been developing throughout 2010 - a potentially major shift in customer preferences, digital time, and spending habits that all publishers should note. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* And while PC sales still vastly outstrip iPad sales by about 60:1, most PCs are replacements these days. The installed base is being upgraded, but not growing much. The segments that are growing? Laptops, netbooks — you know, mobile devices. Also, hardware sales are a poor proxy for time spent. Where and how people are using computers, and how they expect them to work — these are the things that are changing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – eBooks and DRM: libraries advocating for what?* *Posted by Kathryn Greenhill in the Librarians Matter Blog,* the post discusses the difficulties of Digital Rights Management wrt ebooks. Lack of easy usage- and not copyright protection- is what is behind strict and ridiculous DRM controls on ebook services available for library subscription. Kathryn Greenhill works as Special Services Librarian at Cottesloe- Peppermint Grove-Mosman Park Library in Western Australia. *The blog post says (quote) -* To me the logical model is for libraries to pool their funds and create a single consortia that purchases and manages access to ebooks (and other eResources while they are at it). Authentication issues could be solved by having a single library card for all users of the system, or – again with consortial funds – adapting a cross-authentication system like Shibboleth so that authentication can happen between disparate local systems and the ebook providers. Let’s not get too giddy, so we’ll just limit this to a state by state effort in Australia (although the national licensing “One Library” model being proposed by the National and State Libraries Australasia looks promising). *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – The POD Booby Trap and the Lure of Open Access Books* *Posted by Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how print on demand has broadened the reach of publishers, putting specialized titles into the hands of readers who may not have been able to get them before. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote) -* POD has improved profits for publishers, increased access for readers, and given authors a window opening onto a larger and enduring audience; and all this while reducing costs and eliminating the complicated logistics of inventory management. Alas, when we fall in love with a new technology, we do so head first, with both feet, head over heels, or with any other gymnastic metaphor you care to provide. POD solves some important problems, but it does not solve all problems. Nor is it necessarily or inevitably the only solution to some problems.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/21/2010, at 6:16:13 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 7 to June 13
	1. *Blog Topic – Another reason why a new publishing model is needed* *Posted by Marc Cadotte in the EEB & Flow Blog,* the post discusses the need for a new publishing model. Authors seldom see any of the financial return from publisher profits. On the other hand, publishers provide a level of distribution and visibility for our work, which individual authors could not match. *The blog post says (quote) -* The finances and ethics of scientific publishing are complex, and there is an inherent tension between commercial publishers and academics and their institutions. On the one hand, we as scientists are (most often) using public money to carry out research, usually in the public interest, and then we typically publish in for-profit journals that restrict public access to our publications. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – The Latest “Library as Purchaser” Crisis: Are We Fighting the Wrong Battle?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses site licensing for publishers and librarians. For publishers, site licensing became a tactic based on revenue and library relationships. For librarians, site licensing became a tactical bridge into the future, but a bridge built only with one plank. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Both librarians and publishers were not acting strategically when they settled on the site license, and there have been substantial implications to the resulting tactical choices. For publishers, site licensing led to a loss of contact with actual customers — readers — which is starting to make marketing departments and publishers squirm all the more in this era of social media, device-based publishing, and other individual consumption choices. For libraries, budget reallocation has been the story of the era, with materials budgets shifting to site licensing. There has also been a perceptual price to pay, with faculty seeing the library now as a glorified purchasing department rather than an intellectual partner. Now, publishers are beginning to look beyond the library for revenues owing to flat or declining budgets. Librarians aren’t an appropriate arbiter of a revenue model beyond the librarian-managed site license, and the site license is shrinking. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – eBook Indexes & User Interface Features* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses the uber index idea, and the effort required to create and implement it, particularly in the e-reader app. According to Wikert, it is a viable solution for rich content, but maybe it's not something we'll see in the short term. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* Let's start with a "back" button in the e-reader, to take you back to where you just came from. Every time I've clicked on a link in an ebook and it takes me to an earlier/later spot, there's no easy way to go back. (Note: Regarding the back button, I'm talking specifically about the iBooks reader on the iPad.) Or how about when you're in the index and you click on an entry, hop to it but it's not what you were looking for? You're stuck on that page and you have to manually find your spot back in the index again. Imagine a web browser without a back button. Pretty awful, right? So why do we have to live with e-readers without back buttons? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Academic publishing is archaic* *Posted by Daniel Lemire in Daniel Lemire's Blog,* the post discusses the term the term information overload. According to the author, the abundance of information is never a problem. The real problem is the lack of efficient strategies to index, summarize, filter, cross-reference and archive information. Daniel Lemire is a Full Professor at the University of Quebec and an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Brunswick. *The blog post says (quote) -* What I find fascinating is the historical perspective: while still useful, the alphabetical index is hardly exciting anymore. It has been supplanted by full text search (in e-books). There are still reference books (such as dictionaries), but they are being replaced with online tools. Information overload continues to generate many inventions: the search engine (such as Google), the recommender system (as on Amazon.com), and the social networks (such as Twitter). Literally, these tools expand our minds. We become smarter. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – Apple’s iPhone 4 and iOS4: What Do They Mean for Publishers?* *Posted by David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the fourth generation iPhone and the latest iteration of Apple’s iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch OS, now dubbed “iOS4″. While you can get a full rundown of all the new features at sites like Ars Technica, publishers should pay particular attention to a few key points, most revolving around iBooks and the iBookstore. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* Will this mean a massive jump in Apple’s share of the e-book market? It’s hard to say. Each of those 100 million devices can also run the Kindle app, along with apps from Barnes and Noble and other e-book sellers. Apple may have a big advantage over other sellers though, because readers can buy new books from within the iBooks app itself. Kindle app users have to leave the app, visit Amazon via the Safari web browser, and make their purchases there. Don’t underestimate the importance of this. The power of in-app purchasing is evident from the music download market, where Apple holds a 70% share. Amazon, which usually offers better prices on mp3 downloads, has only 12% of the market. Clearly price is not a differentiator in this market, but convenience is. Will those extra purchasing steps be as difficult to overcome in the e-book market as well? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/14/2010, at 7:27:05 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 31 to June 6
	1. *Blog Topic – Making Lending and Vending Work for Publishers, Librarians, and Users* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a keynote address provided by Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive during the the SSP’s 2010 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The motivation for his talk was to outline a plan to make lending and vending work for publishers, librarians, and users. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Libraries, which rent services now instead of owning books and provides customer service instead of materials intermediation, are being disenfranchised, despite their importance to the information sphere, Kahle claims. He feels librarians are important allies in creating the distributed space publishers will benefit from in the future. Kahle then spoke about books on the Internet, choosing books as a convenient way to focus the discussion. I think this was a good choice, because books are where the action is these days. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – The future of scientific publishing* *Posted by Wim Weber in the BMJ Group Blogs,* the post provides details on the 3rd European Conference on Scientific Publishing in Biomedicine and Medicine. The principal aim of the European Conference on Scientific Publishing in Biomedicine and Medicine series is to broaden researchers' understanding and knowledge of the rapid changes in the scientific communication and publishing environment and its direct impact on the research community. Wim Weber is the european research editor, BMJ. *The blog post says (quote) -* There is too much information now; Ben Goldacre, medical writer in London, told us that a GP would need 600 hours per month to read all the relevant literature that appears each month. A month only has 720 hours. He elaborated on the idea put forward by Richard Smith and Ian Roberts, that results of clinical trials should not be published in journals, but rather the data should be published in a predetermined database. Eventual interpretations could then be published in journals. This would speed up dissemination of knowledge and decrease the spin that authors (and their funders) often put on their work. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Why publishers should forget about iPad apps (for now)* *Posted by Ashley Norrison in the ShinyShiny.tv Blog,* the post discusses whether publishers need to bother with iPad apps. According to the author, publishers might need to think again about how they use the iPad. Ashley Norris is former co-founder of early UK blog network Shiny Media. *The blog post says (quote) -* There's an awful lot of hysteria surrounding the iPad at the moment, but with that hysteria there's a lot of nonsense too. I am not sure that publishers have fully grasped the implications of what producing iPad magazines really means. I think now that any publisher wanting to produce an iPad app needs to think about what extra functionality they can deliver on top of their content. If they don't then people just won't pay money for straight content delivered in a way that now seems outdated. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – In Search of Sustainability: Business Models in Publishing* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a presentation by Brett Rubinstein, Library Sales Director from Springer. According to him, while library budgets have remained flat, article output is increasing at 3% per year. Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication.. *The blog post says (quote) -* The Big Deal provides little flexibility for libraries, Rubinstein declared. On the other hand, the pay-to-publish Open Access model has not demonstrated a viable alternative. Uptake for Springer’s Open Choice program is between 1 to 2%, reported Rubinstein. There is a disparity between scientists who advocate the Open Access model that those willing to pay for it. Given Springer’s investment in Open Access, author pays experiments have not panned out the way they expected. Rubinstein doesn’t believe there is enough flexibility in library budgets to sufficiently support author payments. He outlined a few other experimental models of access, cautious not to advocate one option over another. Springer’s approach is clearly experimental, throwing lots of options against the wall and “seeing which one’s stick. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/7/2010, at 7:56:51 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 24 to May 30
	1. *Blog Topic – Blogs, Twitter, and YouTube: Just Amplifiers of Traditional Media, or a New Set of Filters?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a new study from the Pew Foundation’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study finds that blogs and Twitter are serving as news amplification tools, but what they’re amplifying is largely the traditional East Coast press. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Despite this, blogs shared the lead story with traditional media in just 13 of the 49 weeks studied, while Twitter shared the traditional news media agenda in just 4 weeks of the 29 weeks in which Twitter was studied. But despite a different agenda being propagated in social media, it may be that mainstream media continues to mimic itself instead of taking a clue from its audience, which is increasingly getting news tips from social sources like blogs and Twitter. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Open Access Publishing and Scholarly Values* *Posted By Kathleen Fitzpatrick in the Planned Obsolescence Blog,* the post discusses open access publishing and the reasons scholars might resist it developing right now. Fitzpatrick is Associate Professor, Department of Media Studies, Pomona College. *The blog post says (quote) -* At many institutions, in fact, the criteria for assessing a scholar’s research for tenure and promotion includes some statement about that scholar’s “impact” on the field at a national or international level, and we treat the peer-review process as though it can give us information about such impact. But the fact of an article or a monograph’s having been published by a reputable journal/press that employed the mechanisms of peer review as we currently know it — this can only ever give us binary information, and binary information based on an extraordinarily small sample size. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Survey Finds Dedicated E-Readers to be "Toast"* *Posted by Roy Tennant in the LibraryJournal Blog,* the post discusses the Bookseller's third annual survey of UK consumer reading habits, according to which e-readers are still not appealing to the vast majority of the reading public. Roy Tennant is Senior Program Manager for OCLC Programs and Research in Mountain View, CA. *The blog post says (quote) -* Only 26% of respondents had ever heard of a Kindle, and only 41% knew what a Sony Reader was. The iPad fared much better—60% had heard of it—incredible given that the bulk of the survey was done in March and that the UK launch isn't until Friday. More worrying, is that a combined 70% said they would 'definitely not' (32.3%) or were 'unlikely' to (36.8%) to buy any sort of e-reader in the coming year. Our survey, it should be noted, was conducted online and repsondents had to be book readers. So we're talking about bookish folk, and not the Luddite end of the market. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Publishing in Open Access Education Journals: The Authors' Perspectives* *Posted by Brendan Rapple in the Scholarly Communication News@BC Blog,* the post discusses an article published in the April, 2010 issue of Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian. Bryna Coonin and Leigh M. Younce authored the article "Publishing in Open Access Education Journals: The Authors’ Perspectives. According to the article, Open access publishing is now an accepted method of scholarly communication. However, the greatest traction for open access publishing thus far has been in the sciences. *The blog post says (quote) -* Increasingly, open access overall represents a leading edge in scholarly publishing rather than the “fringe.” However, an understanding (and acceptance) of open access journal publishing as a viable outlet for scholarly publishing is still quite dependent on the research and publishing cultures within the disciplines. It may be helpful for liaison librarians to keep in mind that issues concerning open access crystallize at different times for different individuals. For some, clarification develops as scholars become more aware of scholarly communication generally. Others may give the matter little or no thought until open access is discussed in a forum within their narrow discipline, among colleagues they hold in high regard. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – Trade Publishing and Ebooks: W(h)ither the Supply Chain?* *Posted by Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses why traditional trade publishing is banking into a flat spin to destruction. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote) -* In recent years, publishers have largely ceded developmental editing to agents. Copyediting, book design, and composition services are widely available without need of traditional publishers. Distribution to all of the major ebooksellers can be found via any number of self-publishing service providers or, as discussed above, via direct relationships. Ebooksellers are increasingly providing international distribution, and agents can negotiate any translation rights. This leaves publishers in the role of providing advances against royalties and marketing. Author advances would not even appear as a rounding error on the balance sheets of companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple… *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/31/2010, at 5:49:54 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 17 to May 23
	1. *Blog Topic – On Not Conflating Open Data (OD) With Open Access (OA)* *Posted By open access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog,* the post discusses why it is important to distinguish OA (Open Access to refereed research journal articles) from Open Data (Open Access to research data, OD. It is important to bear in mind that the fundamental motivation for OA is research access and progress, not research archiving and preservation (although those are of course important too). Data must of course be archived and preserved as well, but that, again, is not OD. *The blog post says (quote) -* All researchers, without exception, want to maximise access to their refereed research findings as soon as they are accepted for publication by a refereed journal, in order to maximise their uptake, usage and impact. Otherwise they would not be providing access to them, by publishing them. The impact of their research findings is what their careers, as well as research progress, are all about. But raw data are not research findings until they have been data-mined and analysed. Hence, by the same token (except in rare exceptions), researchers are not merely data-gatherers, collecting data so that others can go on to do the data-mining and analysis. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Measuring Up: Gaining Customer Insight vs. Getting Lost in Business Complexity* *Posted By Alix Vance in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses digital reference monetization, networked data models, device use, and the underpinnings of a 360-degree customer view. Vance is the founder and principal of Architrave Consulting (www.architraveconsulting.com), a company that provides services in three core business areas: sales and marketing; digital transition management; and business assessment and improvement. *The blog post says (quote) -* Measuring and assessing customer activity farther afield remains elusive, particularly in connection with content resale or licensing. In addition to crunching data emanating from customer activity at a central site or server location, information businesses will also require mechanisms for pulling bespoke usage data back to the main repository. This may include information about device-based user activity and, ideally, will draw upon standardized data APIs from channel partners and licensees. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – iPad Usability: Confusing, a Prevalence of Print Metaphors, and Weird Interaction Models* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses usability issues with the iPad, publishers reactions and why usability is a potentially big problem for the device. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -Publishers are reacting in myriad ways, from building apps to waiting it out. But most are planning on doing something to cater to the device. My favorite recent bit of irrational exuberance over the device came at a meeting when another publisher gushed about how radical the device could be, then described an app that was about as interesting as a dried sardine in a sink drain. It certainly wasn’t focused on usability. (unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – What is a reference manager?* *Posted By Martin Fenner in the Gobblegygook Blog,* the post discusses the forthcoming the Innovations in Reference Management event. Fenner’s presentation will focus on three emerging areas - Use of mobile devices for reference management, Social networks as discovery tools and Integration of unique author identifiers (specifically ORCID) into reference management tools. Fenner is Clinical Fellow in Oncology at Hannover Medical School. *The blog post says (quote) -* At their core all reference managers are databases that store references. They should allow the user to create or import all required reference types, find duplicate records, and connect references by the same author or published in the same journal. I don't think any reference manager completely supports even this small feature set (most of them don't do author disambiguation). And we rarely use reference managers in a much broader sense, e.g. for storing important blog posts or references to research datasets (as suggested by Cameron Neylon). *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/24/2010, at 6:48:28 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 10 to May 16
	1. *Blog Topic – Reaching New Audiences* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses why Magazine, newspaper and book publishers are too focused on applying the same old, tired business rules. Maintaining your current customer base is critical to any business, but the number of existing customers is generally a fraction of the total potential base. We're somewhere in the midst of an inflection point in the content business. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* This is a stage where existing models are challenged, new ones are created, leaders can be toppled and the proverbial "guy in a garage" can completely reinvent things. So why are so many publishers trying to apply all the old rules? Time notes that they're only selling single issues right now and that a subscription model is coming. Just because you can sell print copies at a newsstand for $5 each doesn't mean you should charge the same for single digital issues, especially when there's little to no value added. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – E-Readers Will Take Centerstage If Prices Drop, Yet Publishers Still Have Two Left Feet* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a new survey from the Boston Consulting Group. According to the survey, consumers are aware of e-readers, interested in multi-purpose e-reading devices, and planning to buy one in the next three years, but prices have to come down to around $200 first. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Meanwhile, publishers are “trying to apply the old rules,” according to Joe Wikert — and he’s right. Instead of changing things up, publishing to formats exploiting the capabilities of current or forthcoming e-readers, pricing things appropriately, finding ways to go direct, or solving the use-case, publishing are engaging in shovelware again. So, for something that 49% of readers expect to own by 2013, we’re just going to wait? Haven’t we learned anything in the past decade?. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – The Stick and the Carrot: Why Direct Incentives in Science are Dangerous* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at if incentives motivate scientists to participate in social media. Phil Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication. *The blog post says (quote) -* What is not acknowledged is that science is based on a strong indirect incentive called reputation. I call it an indirect incentive because reputation is an intangible reward. Reputation can be exchanged for a good job, a grant, an editorial position, but it isn’t worth anything itself. Reputation plus a small coffee at Starbucks still costs you $1.90. Reputation is the coin that drives science and explains its publication system. Unlike authors of fiction, who write to be compensated financially for their manuscripts, scientists gift their manuscripts to publishers — some even paying the publisher to take it — in return for the public dissemination of their work. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – When Open Source Projects Go Wrong* *Posted by Roy Tennant in the LibraryJournal Blog,* the post looks at how to prevent open source projects from going wrong. The post provides a list of list of things important to the success and longevity of open source projects. Roy Tennant is Senior Program Manager for OCLC Programs and Research in Mountain View, CA. *The blog post says (quote) -* open source is not a silver bullet. It is an option among other options. It has its positives and negatives, just like proprietary software does. The most important things for any library to know is where support will be coming from and how any enhancements will be handled. Whether you decide to go with the PTFS version of Koha or the non-PTFS version, you would do well to understand these issues well. Meanwhile, the rest of us can perhaps take an object lesson from this experience, and see to our own open source projects. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – The Future of the Publishing Industry: A Brief guide Green Publishing* *Posted in the Info Matrix Blog,* the post discusses the publishing industry’s efforts to keep down the destructive environmental ramifications of developing printed final products. Carbon neutral publishing advocates are ordering that companies look for safer platforms to circulate their publications. One of the methods in which publishing houses have been inspired to curtail their environmental influence is through online publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Green publishing is available in many varieties although at the head of the movement are the use of recycled paper and computerised publications. Eco-friendly publishing confronts the concerns of the paper-making process by lowering pollution resulting from machines using recycled more readily than virgin fibre, and employing non-chlorine-based products to decolourise paper. Green Press Initiative estimated that replacing post-consumer recycled paper for virgin fibre could preserve 24 trees per ton, trimming the consequential greenhouse gas discharges by as much as 38%. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/17/2010, at 6:01:18 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 3 to May 9
	1. *Blog Topic – eReaders and Digital Bookstores* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses a couple of articles, which according to the author, are must-reads for anyone in the publishing industry. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* It's so easy to load an ePub file onto an iPad. I wonder how many iPad owners realize you can buy ePub products that look just as good in the iBook reader as the ones you buy from Apple. Speaking of which, when are more publishers going to start selling these files right off their own websites? I'm still amazed at the number of publishers who are so wedded to DRM that they can't imagine creating that direct relationship with their customers by selling non-DRM'd content on their own site. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 2. *Blog Topic – Has Publishing Revealed the Achilles’ Heel of Webist Political Philosophies?* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses an article titled ‘The Internet as Social Movement: A Brief History of Webism,’ published in the magazine called n+1. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* When I first encountered the Mosaic browser, my first instinct was to make a commercial product from it. After all, a distribution, presentation, and publishing tool that created worldwide, instant, interactive, commercial possibilities seemed like a major windfall for business and publishing. So build a commercial offering I did, and within months, I had customers buying digital products from all over, including in Antarctica. Antarctica! It was amazing to contemplate the business implications. (unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 3. *Blog Topic – Group Purchasing Opportunity for Hospital & Academic Libraries in the GMR* *Posted in the Krafty Librarian,* the post discusses opportunities for hospital and academic medical libraries within the Greater Midwest Region (GMR) to be part of group purchasing packages. As budgets shrink many librarians are looking for ways to get more bang for their buck and one is to purchase things as a group. *The blog post says (quote) -* The E-Licensing Working Group of the RAC at the GMR has been in contact with the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) about possibly offering group purchasing of health-related online packages (ebooks, ejournals, databases, etc) to all GMR members in the 10-state region. In order to determine which packages might be initially offered to GMR members, we would like you to complete a questionnaire. (unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 4. *Blog Topic – A Future of Touch and Gestures: New Interfaces Driving Scientific Information Presentation* *Posted By Alix Vance in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how important it is for information experts to begin to grasp not only how multitouch technology supports limited information interactions, such as those delivered by iPhone app, but what course this sets for future content and data experiences. Vance is the founder and principal of Architrave Consulting (www.architraveconsulting.com), a company that provides services in three core business areas: sales and marketing; digital transition management; and business assessment and improvement. *The blog post says (quote) -* As these technologies continue to improve, they will significantly alter the ways we work with and experience information, including images and data. We will increasingly transition from environments governed by the restrictions of mice and keyboards to more fluid and interactive environments — in the vein of Wii, iPad, and iPhone — that support a more fluid, intuitive, and experiential exploration of scientific and non-scientific content and media. While timelines are uncertain, expect that consumers of our information will include traditionalists/linear thinkers and visual/experiential thinkers, all of whom will increasingly require that we meet them “where they are” by providing a suite of mechanisms for interacting with content of various types. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/10/2010, at 5:32:11 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 26 to May 2
	1. *Blog Topic – STM Association Spring Conference: Are Publishers Listening?* *Posted By Ann Michael in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the 2010 STM Spring Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Michael is founder and principal consultant at DeltaThink. *The blog post says (quote) -* Patron-driven acquisition allows a library to pay only for the content they use, a very attractive idea. According to data that Deborah quoted, after four years in the library collection, 40% of books purchased have never been checked out and 26% have been checked out only once. While these statistics were taken from Brown University, Deborah said they were representative of most university libraries. With their patron-driven acquisition pilot, the college paid nothing for the first five minutes a book was reviewed, 10-15% of the list price the first and second times the material was viewed for more than five minutes, and the book was purchased at list price on its third use. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 2. *Blog Topic – "UKSG 2010, Librarians and Open Access"* *Posted By Charlie Rapple in UKSG liveserials blog,* the post provides snapshots of the UKSG conference. The post adds useful examples from experience to some of the issues discussed at the conference. Charlie Rapple is Head of Marketing Development at TBI Communications Ltd. *The blog post says (quote) -* All of this has lead to me looking at open access from a different angle. In my own role, I am actively encouraging researchers at my institution to both publish their research following an open access model, and to deposit their work in our repository. I've been doing this for about a year and a half now, we have our open access mandate in place, and I thought that encouraging researchers to make their paper open access would eventually lead to the tipping point where open access journal publishing would overtake subscription based. It's a lot more complicated than that though, isn't it? As well as the researchers being convinced, there is also the much less talked about hurdle (and from what I've seen it's a big one) of librarians who are still happy to follow the subscription based journal publishing model. I don't mean this to be a criticism of library budget holders and serials librarians who are working very hard to negotiate with publishers to retain access to as many journal titles as they can with their ever-decreasing budgets. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 3. *Blog Topic – How Are institutional research repositories relatively less important for the sciences?* *Posted By Colin Smith in the Open Research Online Blog,* the post discusses if institutional research repositories serve as much of a purpose for Science as they do for other disciplines? Colin Smith is Research Repository Manager, Open Research Online (ORO) Open University. *The blog post says (quote) -* What is clear, however, is that even if scientific research is relatively less well accessed in institutional repositories now, it is extremely unlikely to remain the case. All the signs are that the aforementioned seamless access to electronic resources will decline over the coming years, simply because libraries cannot keep pace with the volume and cost of journals. In the wake of this, scientists will also need to become more innovative in the way they search for literature, as well as disseminate their own work for the benefits of their peers facing the same access problems. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 4. *Blog Topic – eBook Wars Continue* *Posted by Isaac Fitzgerald in The Rumpus Blog,* the post discusses the latest in the book pricing war. Fitzgerald is the managing editor of The Rumpus. *The blog post says (quote) -* “In the latest round of the book pricing wars, Amazon.com Inc. has begun selling a number of new hardcover books published this month by Pearson PLC’s Penguin Group (USA) for only $9.99 amid a dispute between the two companies over electronic books. Because “Penguin stopped providing digital editions of new titles to Amazon as of April 1″ due to eBook pricing issues, the online mega-retailer is cutting prices on actual books from the publisher. Stay classy, Amazon.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/3/2010, at 6:36:12 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 19 to April 25
	1. *Blog Topic – Payment Models* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses the need to create more product entry points that appeal to the masses with low initial prices that offer a great value proposition. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* There's still a huge difference between grabbing a free app and paying for one, even if it's only 99 cents. I'm still pretty stingy here and I want to feel confident I wasn't snookered into paying for something that's not even worth a dollar. The problem in the book publishing world is that we haven't found a good content model for the sub-$5 purchase. Customers don't want to buy chapters, so don't kid yourself about that model. And sure, you can do the quick-and-dirty print-to-e conversion and sell it for a fraction of the print price, but that's not much of a future. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 2. *Blog Topic – Why Dynamic Publishing is a Game Changer for Tech Doc* *Posted by Mark Lancaster in the SDL Blog,* the post discusses the massive paradigm shift in how companies will have to deliver technical information in this internet age. Mark Lancaster is CEO at SDL International. *The blog post says (quote) -* The term “dynamic publishing” has been around the industry for over a decade. What is new, however, is that dynamic publishing capabilities are now being demanded and developed, not just for marketing and brand information on websites, but for the stream of technical and R&D information, such as technical publications, training manuals and support information. Many customer satisfaction studies indicate how frustrated customers are trying to find and use technical information about the products they purchased. They complain about conflicting information on the website or not finding the right website. They lose patience trying to download a large PDF or search it for the right information. In frustration, they pick up the phone to make a call to the company’s call center or worse, return the product completely. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 3. *Blog Topic – Mobile Devices and Privacy — Why It’s So Easy to Swap Personal Information to Satisfy an Itch* *Posted By Alix Vance in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the demand within the information and marketing industries for mobile business models, tools, and products. According to the author, there’s a remarkable lack of clarity about what the term “mobile” actually describes. Vance is the founder and principal of Architrave Consulting, a company that provides services in three core business areas: sales and marketing; digital transition management; and business assessment and improvement. *The blog post says (quote) -* Anyone with a laptop and wireless connection or data card has had remote-computing access for years. E-content delivery by handheld phone is nothing new. Companies like eBooks.com and Nokia have offered this option, via MobiPocket formats, for five years or more. What everyone is excited about, actually, is the nearly ubiquitous nature of global wireless access via transportable devices — including but not limited to Kindles, iPhones, Andriods, and iPads — and the fact that we have experienced a paradigm shift in users’ commercial expectations and requirements. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 4. *Blog Topic – Open access costs and benefits for universities: report available* *Posted By Paul Davey in the UK PubMed Central blog,* the post discusses a report titled 'Modelling Scholarly Communication Options: Costs and Benefits for Universities' by Alma Swan. Swan claims that the move to Open Access can 'disrupt systems and processes that have been in place for a very long time' (page i, Executive Summary) but the report makes it clear that it will be worth the effort, economically, in the longer term. *The blog post says (quote) -* The report includes analysis of the savings that could be made (or losses incurred) when adopting different OA routes, but in general argues the case for there being many advantageous cost savings to be made. One extremely important aspect for the researcher is the potential for OA to increase visibility, which 'translates into a high level of usage, measured by the number of downloads from repositories or from publishers' websites wherever articles are provided through these website in an openly accessible way. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/26/2010, at 7:15:14 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 12 to April 18
	1. *Blog Topic – Should editors punish misbehaving authors?* *Posted by Liz Wager in the BMJ Group Blog,* the post discusses the role of journals in punishing miscreant authors. Liz Wager is a freelance medical writer, editor, and trainer. She is the current chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). *The blog post says (quote) -* The main purpose of retractions is to correct the literature and ensure its integrity rather than to punish authors who misbehave”. One reason I don’t like the idea of retracting all versions of a paper which has been repeatedly published is that it deprives readers of potentially useful information. Surely, it makes sense to leave the primary version in print and to reprimand the authors by having the redundant subsequent versions retracted?. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – One Report, Two Findings: Library Roles Changing, Open Access Not Compelling* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses libraries as information purchasing agents inside academic institutions rather than intellectual partners. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Library buildings seem to be the most disintermediated part of the traditional library offering, with only a fraction of respondents relying on it to initiate research. Yet libraries as gateways to knowledge are still viewed as important, with nearly 60% of respondents citing this role as a key function. But it’s a diminishing function — in 2003, 70% agreed it was a key function. Meanwhile, the perception among scholar of libraries as purchasing entities has increased from 80% in 2003 to 90% in 2009. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – A library for the 21st Century - is e-only finally a possibility?* *Posted by Mark O'Loughlin in the LiveSerials Blog,* the post discusses how e-journals have evolved to a position where online subscription is now recommended over print where available. Monica Crump and Neil O'Brien presented on their work at NUI Galway where they have taken the decision to move towards the 'promised land' of a library with e-only journals whereever possible. *The blog post says (quote) -* This is a legacy project and when complete they hope to be up to 75% e-only by this summer. Moving away from practices which began in the 19th Century and creating a library for the 21st century has meant making big changes (staffing; job descriptions etc) to ensure the library team have the necessary skills. The renewals process too has been so complex that it has taken Swets longer than usual to finish...with some still outstanding. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Editorial Peer Reviewers' Recommendations at a General Medical Journal: Are They Reliable and Do Editors Care?* *Posted By Martin Fenner in the Gobblegygook Blog,* the post discusses how good research on peer review can help to improve the peer review process. Fenner is Clinical Fellow in Oncology at Hannover Medical School. *The blog post says (quote) -* Several studies have shown that most rejected manuscripts will eventually be published somewhere else. One important reason is that publication space in journals is no longer a scarcity as it was before electronic publishing became widespread. This means that the ultimate decision whether or not something will be published in a peer-reviewed journal rests with the authors and not the editors or reviewers. Reviewers should keep this in mind. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – Traffic Isn’t Revenue: Twitter and Ning Reach Different Crossroads* *Posted by David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the need for a functional business model for social media ventures to continue to exist. According to the author it is important to have a plan to turn all that traffic into revenue. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* Advertising revenue was originally seen as the cure-all for web businesses (it was Ning’s original plan to pay for everything by selling ads). Over time, those ads have become devalued to a point where this is only a viable strategy for an extremely small number of players, really the top sites that generate massive levels of traffic. Twitter would certainly fall into that category, so their approach, “Promoted Tweets,” is probably the right move. It seems innocuous enough, and far from the sort of intrusive advertising like pop-up ads that anger users. The question, though, is whether this sort of advertising is going to be effective. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/19/2010, at 8:36:26 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 5 to April 11
	1. *Blog Topic – Rules of Thumb for Social Media in Science* *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post describes a recent talk on ‘Social Media in STM: How Are the New Tools Being Used?.’ According to David, social media has a major image problem to conquer, as publishers see it as a distraction and detriment for their students, slowing progress on their research. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* Scholarly publishing has suddenly become a hot commodity in some ways. There are hordes of startups and established companies that are looking for high value online content to exploit. Scholarly publishing is one of the few areas that has made a successful transition from print to online without completely destroying our business model. For the moment at least, readers are still willing to pay for access to our material and that creates a strong draw for Web 2.0 companies. But there are a lot of parallels to the dot com era, and we need to carefully examine and understand the behaviors and needs of our market in order to assess which of these offerings are useful and worth pursuing. In the age of Web 2.0, this can be difficult, as it is an age of self-promotion and salesmanship. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Measuring the health of science journalism* *Posted By Helen Jaques in the BMJ Group Blog,* the post discusses an event on the state of science journalism called “Science in the media: rude or ailing health?“ Rather than a discussion on how science is being reported in the media, the debate thrashed out the role of mainstream science journalism compared with blogs and other forms of science communication. Helen Jaques is a technical editor for the BMJ. *The blog post says (quote) -* The aim was to discuss a report by the Science Media Centre: Science and the Media: Securing the Future. Encouragingly, the working group “found more reason to champion specialist science reporting in the UK than to despair” and “judged science in the media to be in rude health.” Nevertheless, the report makes recommendations for improving areas such as scientific training, science broadcasting, openness and transparency, and future science journalism. The report didn’t involve a full public consultation so last week’s debate was a chance for other interested parties to comment. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Why Publishers’ Brands Matter* *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the strongly held view that publishers add no value to the process of editorial development and the dissemination of materials. According to the author, brands matter because authors think they do. The best brands attract the best authors — a virtuous circle, in which good authors strengthen brands and brands confer their aura on authors. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote) -* In the book world, the argument is that no one buys a book because of the name of a publisher; it’s the author’s name that counts. These arguments have implications. If publishers’ brands have little or no value, then publishers can be dis-intermediated. An author can deposit an article into an open access repository and then let Google do the marketing; a book author can work directly with Amazon and collect royalties of 70% on revenue, potentially dwarfing the income of the highly educated fools who write books for such firms as Random House or Springer. All this talk puts publishers into the humiliating position of having to jump up and down, shouting, “I matter! I matter!” There is so much glee on the part of those who believe that publishers and their brands do not matter that it almost seems uncompassionate to tell them that they are wrong. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Can eBooks Save University Presses?* *Posted in the An American Editor Blog,* the post discusses the role of university presses in the world of scholarly nonfiction publishing. Like many other small businesses, they are suffering in today’s economy — and have been suffering even when economic times have been good. University presses (UPs) bring prestige to a university and publish work that the for-profit commercial publishers, like Hachette and Random House, often will not publish because expected sales are so low and the reading audience so narrow and/or small. *The blog post says (quote) -* So that raises the question of the role of ebooks in the future of UPs. There are lots of hurdles that need to be overcome, not least of which is establishing an authoritative version (see Will eBooks Return Us to the Days of the Scribe? and eBooks and the Never-Ending Rewrite for a discussion of the problems of constant revising). The printed book is a resource to which all readers can look and see exactly the same content; the ebook is a resource that has the potential to never be settled thus even readers who look at an ebook have no assurance that they are seeing the same content. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/12/2010, at 6:15:23 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week March 29 to April 4
	1. *Blog Topic – Improving Peer Review: Let’s Provide an Ingredients List for Our Readers* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post describes peer review and what it really consists of. According to the author, Peer review is a tool, not a standard. And not all tools are made of the same stuff. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Peer review is a major signal of quality, yet even major brokers in it hesitate to describe it beyond the fact that it can be achieved by sending out manuscripts for review by peers. But the label of “peer review” can be used in ways that sometimes seem downright misleading — one version is not like another, and some forms strike me as so cursory or ill-managed that they hardly qualify for the description. Yet, we never get beyond those magical two words “peer review,” so we never know what it really consists of.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Let's make science metrics more scientific* *Posted By Martin Fenner in the Gobblegygook Blog,* the post discusses an opinion piece by Julia Lane, Program Director of the Science of Science and Innovation Policy Program at the National Science Foundation, in the March 25 edition of Nature. She argues that the current systems of measurement are inadequate, as they have several inherent problems and do not capture the full spectrum of scientific activities. Good scientific metrics are difficult, but without them we risk making the wrong decisions about funding and academic positions. Fenner is Clinical Fellow in Oncology at Hannover Medical School. *The blog post says (quote) -* The article emphasizes that is not enough to think about how to best collect and report scientific output, but that it is equally important to understand what these data mean and how to use them, and this may differ from field to field. Knowledge creation is complex and measuring this can not be reduced to counting scientific papers and the number of times they are cited. Social scientists and economists should be involved in this step. Julia Lane suggests an international platform supported by funding agencies in which ideas and potential solutions for science metrics can be discussed. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – What is Your Library’s Mission and What Does It Mean to Users?* *Posted By Michelle Kraft in the Krafty Librarian Blog,* the post discusses mission statements, specifically how libraries describe their business and how they communicate their value in an effective manner. Kraft has been a medical librarian since 1998 and is currently the medical librarian for a hospital system in Ohio. *The blog post says (quote) -* Often times our mission statements don’t describe what our users are going to get out of the library or how our customers benefit from our services. So often our mission statements talk about collaboration, leadership, etc. but it doesn’t always translate to what we do for our users very well. We need to connect what we do and how it benefits the users to better justify our case to our users and our leadership. George’s and Joan speak about several great and not so great mission statements in libraries and other industries. George’s example of a UK Academic Library’s 5 word mantra to describe the library to users, “Save time. Get better grades” is great.. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Finally! An Open Access Publishing App for the iPhone* *Posted by Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses OAapp (pronounced “oh-app”), the first academic publishing application specifically built around smart phone technology. The new Internet start-up hopes to cash in on the open access movement by offering a stripped-down publishing service for the iPhone. Phil Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication. *The blog post says (quote) -* OAaap offers little more than automated publishing. Documents are uploaded to a public server in Bangalore, India along with Medline-compliant metadata supplied by the author. OAapp accepts manuscripts prepared in standard MS Word, LaTeX, or texted directly into one’s phone. The app allows cell phone pics to be inserted directly into the manuscript. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/5/2010, at 7:59:29 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week March 22 to March 28
	1. *Blog Topic – Web 2.0 overtakes Web 1.0: get with it* *Posted By Richard Smith in the BMJ Group’s Blog,* the post discusses how the days of simply using the internet passively to access or find information are ending. The internet is now about relationships and interaction. This has profound implications for everybody, including journals, traditional media, politicians, and doctors. *The blog post says (quote) -* Yet far too many of the people over 50 that I meet turn their noses up at social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter: “they are for young people, timewasters full of trivia.” Well, they aren’t: they are a toehold in the future. If you are one of those people who reluctantly began to use keyboards, email, and the internet and hoped that would be enough, you’re wrong. You now have to make the next step and join a social networking site—or head for the cocktails in Paris. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Shoveling from Two Piles: How Will Publishers Solve the Conundrum of the iPad?* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses if publishers will repeat the print shovelware errors of the past or will they make their tablet editions shovelware versions of their .com, .org, or .net?, with the iPad set to hit the market in just under two weeks’ time. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* For a few reasons, publishers may be tempted to shovel from both print and current online sources given the current environment. And that creates a conundrum. Rules being put in place may make print an attractive pile to shovel from. That position could severely limit both the commercial upside (tablet ads become an extension of print ad sales, not a new channel) while constraining the design of the replica edition by so closely aligning it with print. Of course, there are loopholes in that the replica edition can contain more ads and more and different content — it seems it just has to have the print shoveled over, then it can be dressed up. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Science Journals Need to Enter 21st Century, Social Networking Not Yet the Answer* *Posted By Aaron Saenz in the Singularity Hub Blog,* the post discusses how social networking could accelerate the exchange of scientific information. Many have tried to bring social networking to scientists thinking that such a forum could upgrade peer review for the 21st century, but these networks have failed. Aaron Saenz is Senior Editor at Singularity Hub. *The blog post says (quote) -* The accepted system for exchanging scientific information is publishing in a prestigious scientific journal. That journal system has been around since 1665 – it is slow and rewards work unevenly. It’s only survived because it provides a fairly reliable means (peer review) of knowing which scientific papers are worth believing. What we need is a system to bring that peer review online and into real time. The faster scientists can share with and critique each other, the faster scientific progress proceeds. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – From Me to You: Selling Books on a Direct Basis* *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a bigger shift in the publishing landscape: from indirect or “channel” marketing to direct sales (from the publisher directly to the consumer). Historically, “print” has been connected to indirect channel sales, but it’s increasingly clear that “e-books” is likely to be direct-marketed. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote) -* Curiously, in many respects online bookselling closely resembles bricks-and-mortar bookselling. Amazon is as much an intermediary as Barnes & Noble, its chief rival in the United States, and whether online or off, most intermediaries primarily sell print. As the Internet continues its disruption of the traditional book business, we should expect to see: more print books sold online; more digital versions of books, which will disproportionately be sold online; and the growth of sales made on a direct basis. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/29/2010, at 8:22:40 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week March 15 to March 21
	1. *Blog Topic – Taking forward the Publisher Interface Study* *Posted by Nicole in the JISC Access Management Team Blog,* the post provides updates on the Publisher Interface Study undertaken for JISC by Cardiff University and JISC Collections. The study reviews end user scenarios for accessing protected resources and the general problem of "Discovery" inherent when using Federated access, examining current methods and terminology in place that attempt to solve the problem. *The blog post says (quote) -* The TERENA REFEDs group has set up a small working group to take forward the recommendations from the report. This will be in three stages: The creation of a full business case aligned to the recommendations, with a particular focus on affordability and achievability for the sector (including publishers and institutions); Following on from the acceptance (or indeed rejection!) of the business case, the development of appropriate branding and style guide using design experts; and Roll-out and dissemination as appropriate. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – If You Can’t Stand the Heat: Open Dialog and Open Access* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post is dedicated to those who won’t engage in an open dialog when people are skeptical or critical of their ideas and evidence, and who instead resort to unseemly tactics in attempts to get their way. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Behind-the-scenes calls seeking to create pressure to censure our authors or have them repudiate posts aren’t appropriate ways to disagree, especially when it involves a freely accessible blog that clearly promotes commentary from all quarters. People with differing opinions who attempt political end-runs are effectively sneaking around behind the backs of the readers of the Scholarly Kitchen. To me, it’s wrong for a few people to try to appropriate the debate. Instead, they should participate in it. If you have ideas and opinions, there is nothing about the Scholarly Kitchen or how it’s run that will stop you from being heard. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – How Will the iPad Affect Content and App Pricing?* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses the different user experience between the iPhone and iPad as well as how not only apps can (and will) be priced differently, but content as well. According to Joe, the additional display surface on an iPad (vs. an iPhone) will lead to opportunities for richer applications and content. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc.. *The blog post says (quote) -* Publishers currently spend a lot of time trying to figure out the best user experience on the smaller screen. Reference material in particular is tricky because you want to pack as much into one screen as possible. Not only is that less of an issue with the iPad, the larger display lends itself to some clever things publishers will be able to do to enhance that smaller-screen content. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Money and Motivation: Will Content Survive the Age of Sharing and Collaboration?* *Posted By Alix Vance in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the survival of content in an increasingly collaborative and tech-centric information environment. As publishers migrate towards less-defined content sales units, they are also encountering new challenges relative to contributor compensation. Alix) Vance is the founder and principal of Architrave Consulting (www.architraveconsulting.com), a company that provides services in three core business areas: sales and marketing; digital transition management; and business assessment and improvement. *The blog post says (quote) -* There’s also a shift in what is being commercialized. Is it content or eyeballs? Osbourne notes that the user data and folksonomic tags compiled on the back-end of socially networked information platforms will support further analysis, with great potential learning about systemic relationships, user behavior, and user preferences. We’ve already seen innumerable examples of this on the Web, where companies make content and tools freely available in order to leverage the subscriber access and usage information obtained on the back-end. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – E-Books in the Sciences: If We Buy It Will They Use It?* *Posted By Michelle Kraft in the Krafty Librarian Blog,* the post discusses an article that recently appeared in Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship. The article notes that despite the fact that 52% of the faculty are aware of York’s ebook packages and 44% have used ebooks, only 20% of those responding faculty recommend or actively encourage their students to use e-book materials. Kraft has been a medical librarian since 1998 and is currently the medical librarian for a hospital system in Ohio. *The blog post says (quote) -* These are just two of the many things that I found interesting in this article. There is a clear disconnect between what patrons perceive about their ebook library holdings (access, copyright, usage, etc.) and patrons have are not reading academic ebooks like people are reading popular ebook titles. I think that is a revelation to some librarians and many publishers. However, if you think about it….Since when has anybody read a textbook like a popular literature book? Just because it is online doesn’t mean the content lends itself to the whole book reading or even reading an entire chapter online. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/22/2010, at 5:37:31 PM - Comments (1), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week March 8 to March 14
	1. *Blog Topic – FAM for Public Libraries?* *Posted by Nicole in the JISC Access Management Team Blog,* the post discusses how it might be possible to make federated access management work for public libraries. According to the author, it does make sense for public libraries to look at using FAM. Barcode access processes are often clunky, often insecure and it is yet another system for both libraries and publishers to have to manage. *The blog post says (quote) -* A more interesting model might be to exploit the planned interfederation between the UK federation and the Government Gateway. This will allow people with a ‘citizen’ credential within the Government Gateway to access resources within the UK federation. If we then assume that these citizen accounts contain some sort of standard location information (i.e. I live or work within the boundaries of Greater Manchester) it would be very easy to authorise all users against a regionally negotiated licence as opposed to a member negotiated licence. This could be achieved with very little expenditure on technical infrastructure by libraries, local authorities or publishers, but would require a change in the way the libraries negotiate licences. That surely has to be an interesting approach to explore? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Rewriting the History of the Open Access Debate* *Posted By Philip Davis in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the latest report from Key Perspectives publishing consultant Alma Swan. The report, “The Open Access Citation Advantage: Studies and Results To Date“ is freely available from the University of Southampton’s institutional archive and has been widely promoted on several listservs by open access evangelist Stevan Harnad. Phil Davis is Executive Editor of the Scholarly Kitchen, and is a doctoral student at Cornell University specializing in scientific communication. *The blog post says (quote) -* Meta-analysis is set of powerful statistical techniques for analyzing the literature. Its main function is to increase the statistical power of observation by combining separate empirical studies into one über-analysis. It’s assumed, however, that the studies are comparable (for instance, the same drug given to a random group of patients with multiple myeloma), but conducted at different times in different locales. This is not the case with the empirical literature on open access and citations. Most of the studies to date are observational (simply observing the citation performance of two sets of articles), and most of these use no statistical controls to adjust for confounding variables. Some of the studies have focused on the effect of OA publishing, while others on OA self-archiving. To date, there is still only one published randomized controlled trial. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Is there an alphabetical bias citations?* *Posted in the RePEc Blog,* the post looks at if there is a bias in citations against alphabetically challenged authors? Possibly, but it is not a large one, the post says. *The blog post says (quote) -* In Economics, there is a tradition to list multiple authors in alphabetical order, unless exceptional circumstances call for a different order. This implies that “alphaberically challenged” authors often get forgotten, either because they disappear in “et al.” or because they become also-rans. RePEc manages to correct for “et al.” in citations, but it is possible that because later co-authors get less name recognitions, they also get less cited when sole authors. Using data from authors registered in RePEc, here is are some simple statistics that could shed some light, or raise some new questions. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Science Blogging as a Public Outreach Tool — Unfulfilled Potential or Unrealistic Expectation?* *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the role of science blogs in promoting public engagement with science. David Crotty is the Executive Editor of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a biology methods journal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. *The blog post says (quote) -* Science blogs are a heterogeneous lot, ranging from personal diaries of life in the lab to sites offering technical tips and professional advice, with many stops in between on the hot-button science issues of the day. Different blogs serve different purposes, but one common justification for science blogging is that it can serve as a way for scientists to speak directly with the public, as a tool for engaging non-scientists, keeping them up to date with current discoveries and promoting the enormous value of research. A recent study in the Journal of Science Communication, however, points out that science blogs are failing to provide this useful service. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – How do researchers use online journals?* *Posted By Martin Fenner in the Gobblegygook Blog,* the post discusses a presentation by Ian Rowlands on how researchers find and use electronic journals. Fenner is Clinical Fellow in Oncology at Hannover Medical School. *The blog post says (quote) -* This should not come as a surprise, as life sciences users typically read abstracts in specialized databases, particularly PubMed. But maybe Journal publishers should stop displaying papers in an abstract view, saving users and themselves some effort. PLoS journals don't have an abstract view, but the Biomed Central journals (which are also Open Access) do. Subscription journals (including Nature) typically display the abstract instead of fulltext to users without subscription access, so there is also no need for a separate abstract view for them. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/15/2010, at 7:17:39 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week March 1 to March 7
	1. *Blog Topic – Why it is important for media articles to link to scientific papers* *Posted by Coturnix in A Blog Around the Clock Blog,* the post discusses why everyone who publishes online should include a link to the scientific paper described in the article. According to the author, the traditional media has still not caught on to the Ethic of the Link, which is an essential aspect of ethics of online communication. Coturnix is the Online Discussion Expert for PLoS. *The blog post says (quote) -* The resistance to post links is an atavism, a remnant of an old age before the Web. I know (because I asked many times) many good science journalists keep trying to add links, but the editors say No. The current ecosystem of science communication has a scientific paper at its core, additions to the paper (e.g., notes, comments and ratings, as well as Supplemental materials, videos posted on Scivee.tv, etc) as a shell, and incoming and outgoing links - trackbacks, cited papers, citing papers, links to other papers in the same Collection, links to other papers with the same keywords, and yes, incoming links from the media - as connections building a network: the entire inter-connected ecosystem of scientific knowledge.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Cultural Upheaval: It’s Still Print vs. Online As Major Magazines Go Digital* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at if leadership at major magazines, seeing a twitch in print ad spending, are ready to spend $90 million to run ads promoting print, are they willing to spend enough money or time structuring and editing their online editions to make them truly viable? Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* The higher a magazine’s circulation and monthly Web traffic, the more likely it was to have an independent Web editor making budget and content decisions. Who made budgetary decisions did seem to matter. If publishers or independent Web editors made budgetary decisions, sites did better. If the print editor made budgetary decisions, sites did worse. This suggests to me that publications that have better brands and bigger budgets are transitioning more effectively online. There’s really no surprise there, but also to me somewhat a loss of the promise of online changing things up. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – The End of Ebooks* *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses a presentation by Bob Pritchett, President/CEO of Logos, at the Tools of Change conference. The presentation, ‘Network Effects Promote Premium Pricing’ ?, makes one to stop thinking about standalone ebooks and focus more on the larger network product opportunities. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote) -* When was the last time you had that feeling with an ebook or app? Have you ever had that feeling in an ebook? I haven't, and that's because most publishers are just selling an individual ebook, not a network of content. What makes the Logos product so powerful is that they've spent a lot of time curating their content, building links across products and thinking about how their customers can get the most out of it. They're not selling individual titles as much as they're selling access to their larger service. (unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Shirky at NFAIS: How Abundance Breaks Everything* *Posted By Ann Michael in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the opening keynote by Clay Shirky at the NFAIS Annual Conference. According to Shirky, the fact that our customers are connected matters, but the fact that they’re networked matters even more. Michael is founder and principal consultant at DeltaThink. *The blog post says (quote) -* Think about that statement for a minute. “Society knows how to react to scarcity.” We know how to ration, save, and preserve when we need to do so. It’s much harder to set priorities and find our path when information abounds. We may drown. We may get side-tracked. We may shut down. But, in any case, abundance confuses and distracts us more than scarcity does. Perhaps there are ways in some cases to incrementally adjust what we’re doing. But when true revolution is required, can the old be preserved as anything more than a memory? Can it do anything more than inform? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – Access Preservation of Scholarly Journals: A Publisher's View* *Posted By Mark Lord in The Academic Publishing Blog,* the post discusses about access preservation in a world where the archival copy or the version of record is perhaps going to be the online version rather than the print version. Mark Lord is Marketing and Development Manager at the Academic Publishing division of PEP. *The blog post says (quote) -* was asked to speak about Access Preservation of scholarly journals. It was an interesting topic for me as we have recently begun offering online only subscriptions, which has meant that we have had to start thinking a lot more about access preservation in a world where the archival copy or the version of record is perhaps going to be the online version rather than the print version.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/8/2010, at 4:11:50 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Febrauary 22 to Febrauary 28
	1. *Blog Topic – Is the Attention Economy of Scholarship Making Science Too Staid?* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses if attention in scientific publishing is creating a closed loop, raising questions of epistemology? Recent posts suggest the closed loop, founder effects, and other problems emanating from an attention economy might be introducing detrimental effects to new breakthroughs, partly because there are too many old PhDs controlling the attention tools. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote) -* Trends in funding are creating frustration among the increasing number of young PhDs. These poor souls are adjusting to the funding drought by extending their time in the trenches — according to the National Science Foundation, 45% of all recent doctorates are now taking postdoc positions prior to a faculty appointment. This contrasts with only 31% following the same path 25 years ago. And postdoc positions are increasing in length of time as well, and are often followed by a second or even third “tour of duty.” *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Scholarly Communications in the Long Tail of Knowledge* *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* the post is part of a series on how scholarly communications must transform. Scholarship, like all information systems today, should be dynamically scalable, ready to answer both high and low demand. The Long Tail provides a context for understanding why playing to this dynamic is so critical. Burton is an Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* - scholarly publishing can only do so much in the way of speciality publishing, and the trend is very much away from niche items to more general works (at least at academic presses, pressed by tough economic times). Because academic publishing truly is a business, editors have had to get more and more realistic about the bottom line. Even at specialty journals which never expect large circulation numbers, not every worthy manuscript finds an outlet. The closure of academic presses and reduced numbers of venues for scholarship has meant that many studies go unpublished that could have been if the economics of publishing were better. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Ebooks: Getting Beyond Disruption* *Posted By Ania Wieckowski in the Harvard Business Review Blog,* the post discusses O'Reilly Media's Tools of Change for Publishing conference in New York last week. With the advent of a plethora of ereading devices, the conversation was no longer about whether such devices will be viable replacements for books, but about ways to make them vastly better than books ever were. Ania Wieckowski is an Assistant Editor at the Harvard Business Review. *The blog post says (quote)* - There's no question that digital reading represents a major disruptive change that threatens publishers' bottom lines. Ebooks are vastly cheaper than physical books and therefore enormously threatening to publishers' margins. In other words, publishers need to turn from the disruptive innovations of ebooks and ereaders to the creation of sustaining innovations that improve those technologies, innovations which add new value for users. What might those kinds of sustaining innovations look like? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Platform Wars Come to the Book Business* *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the fate of books in the coming years if books are likely to be subordinated to the strategic impulses of e-commerce, hardware, and media. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote)* - technology giants — Amazon, Apple, and Google — are now implicating the book business in their attempt to establish a technical platform. These are big players — and, more importantly, smart players — for whom books are the equivalent of software applications. The idea is simple — get enough books running on your platform, and everyone will want to have access to that platform. The risk for publishers, if not the likelihood, is that they will become collateral damage. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/1/2010, at 6:10:40 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Febrauary 15 to Febrauary 21
	1. *Blog Topic – Why the iPad Marks the End of Price Controls for eBooks—and Why Publishers Have Lost* *Posted by Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how price controls for e-books will shortly be a thing of the past. While publishers seem to have won the pricing wars, unfortunately it may be a hollow victory. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote)* - Ironically, the reason publishers may ultimately not have much cause for celebration is precisely the same reason that publishers won the pricing war in the first place: the iPad is not a dedicated e-book reader. Because the iPad is not a dedicated ebook reader, there are, unfortunately, many things that users can do with the device other than read books. Unlike the Kindle, where publishers have the device all to themselves (OK, book publishers do have to share with publishers of newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, and even a blog or two — but at least they are all publications), iPad users will be able to surf the Web, play games, watch movies, view their photo collections, listen to music, watch TV, send e-mail, work on a presentation, or access over 100,000 applications that do any number of distracting things. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Scholarly Communications must be Scalable* *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* the post is part of a series on how scholarly communications must transform. This post explains that scholarship in the digital age must be scalable. Burton is an Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* - Scalability has become an absolutely necessary attribute for technological information systems today. I'm claiming that this trait is of equal importance for the information system that is scholarship. Here is the bottom line: As digital modes of communicating knowledge edge out the print-based publishing, any learned communication that is not made to scale will shrink in its audiences and relevance, whereas scholarship that embraces scalability will be far more dynamic, flexible, and responsive -- a manifestly superior mode of knowledge. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Culture Trumps Technology: The UC Berkeley Scholarly Communication Report* *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a five-year study into the values, motivations, and communication behaviors of scholars and their associates at research institutions across the US. The reoccurring theme in the report is that academia is a highly conservative system, largely determined by disciplinary norms and organized around external peer-review and assessment. *The blog post says (quote)* - What is surprising is why so many publishers and new commercial venues have jumped into the Web 2.0 space hoping they could do for scholars what Facebook did to teenagers and relying on a Zeitgeist of ‘build it and they will come.’ Yes, teenagers become adults, but they often drop their teenage habits through the socialization of the classroom and the enculturation of academic culture. Yet, the report stops short of suggesting that scholarly communication is fixed and immutable. Academic culture changes — albeit slowly — and scholarship evolves with it. New technologies come to market. Most fail or are largely ignored. A few survive because they address a disciplinary need, manage to attract enough early adopters, and through a combination of persistence, marketing, and sheer luck, end up becoming a standard practice. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – What is this "settled science" of which you speak?* *Posted By James Hrynyshyn in the Scienceblogs Blog,* the post discusses two articles published in two leading North American newspapers referring to the notion that there is such a thing as ‘settled science.’ Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist based in western North Carolina. *The blog post says (quote)* - Both offerings betrayed a solid lack of understanding, not only of recent events involving recent allegations of errors in IPCC reports, but also of how science works, further reinforcing the thesis that journalists who write about science really should take a few courses in the subject first. More troubling, though, is the fact that both writers just don't seem to get the nature of the scientific process. Science is never completely "settled." Of course, much our understanding of the way the universe works has long been nailed down to the point where there's little to no controversy among scientists. But even on the most fundamental matters generally taught to students as an established fact, there are always scientists poking around the edges, looking for flaws in the ointment. Nothing is ever settled. Indeed, almost every scientist makes his or her living challenging what others have already agreed. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 2/22/2010, at 7:33:04 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Febrauary 8 to Febrauary 14
	1. *Blog Topic – Distribution Doesn’t Matter? Content Vessels Are Irrelevant? Device Makers and Broadband Providers Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank* *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the impact of broadband and other devices in escalating the costs for information. But during the initial days of online fever, publishers became convinced to two fallacies — distribution would be free, so it wasn’t going to be a major commercial factor; and the containers for content wouldn’t matter since they’d just be network terminals and devices. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - A long time ago, in a publishing universe far, far away, publishers had it good. They controlled content, distribution, and manufacturing. They became experts at using the postal system, and charged for it. They became experts at making beautiful vessels for content, and charged for them. And whether the content they sent was ephemeral (news) or enduring (books), they charged for it. Everything they did cost money, and because they owned the addressable audience by virtue of controlling distribution, they could charge for that, as well — and advertisers paid. The digital revolution wrested two major aspects of publishing from publishers — distribution and manufacturing (and, increasingly, the attention of the audience). Publishers still mail stuff and print stuff, but print’s not nearly as sexy as it used to be and the mail’s slow and inefficient. It’s like a slow-motion liquidation sale, watching these two former advantages deplete themselves of value. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Publishing Books as licenses – print and ebooks both* *Posted by Jay Lake in the Jay Lake Blog,* the post discusses a general perception that ebooks have no incremental cost, and therefore should tend to be free. This assumption ignores sunk costs in book acquisition and production, as well as ongoing royalties to authors. It’s also based on misperceptions about the value of physical objects versus virtual objects. Jay Lake is a speculative fiction writer and author of hundreds of short stories and many novels *The blog post says (quote)* - When you purchase an ebook, depending on the DRM wrappers on the book, your rights of transferability may vary. Likewise back up copying, resale and so forth can be influenced by both DRM and the EULA associated with your ebook reader and the software compilation that represents the ebook publication itself. But you still don’t own the copyright, again, you have only purchased a license to that story in the from of an author’s copyright. Because fundamentally, that’s what the author sells to the publisher. A license to reproduce the copyright. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. *Blog Topic – Why Are Scholarly Journals Costly even with Electronic Publishing?* *Posted by Paul Biba in the TeleRead Blog,* the post looks at a recent article discussing reasons for the high costs of scholarly journals. The article notes that while journal literature has long played a prominent role in the scholarly communication chain, in recent decades, however, the scholarly communication system has been facing a crisis due to the ever-escalating costs of journals. *The blog post says (quote)* - This paper examines the reasons for the high costs of scholarly journals. … Two of the features of the journal publishing industry cited a decade ago and still valid today are a “lack of competition” and “perverse incentives.” The “first-copy cost” is reported to be the main reason for high journal prices both in print and electronic publishing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. *Blog Topic – Science and Web 2.0: Talking About Science vs. Doing Science* *Posted by David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses why tools for communication have failed to capture the interest of most scientists. Tools for doing science are much harder to envision and build. But these sorts of tools are much more likely to see uptake and use by the community, simply because scientists are more interested in doing science than they are in talking about science. *The blog post says (quote)* - Even without new online technologies, scientists already spend a substantial portion of their time communicating. They share results with peers, plan future experiments with collaborators, give talks, write papers, teach, etc. New social media endeavors ask scientists to devote even more time to communication, but it’s unclear where participants are supposed to find that time. Every second spent blogging, chatting on FriendFeed, or leaving comments on a PLoS paper is a second taken away from other activities. Those other activities have direct rewards towards advancement. It’s hard to justify dropping them for activities backed by vague promises that “you will be one of the early adopters and will be recognized and respected for this in the future.” That’s a tough gamble for most to take, and scientists are unlikely to risk current status for a leg up in the event that sweeping societal changes occur in how we fund, employ, and judge scientific achievement. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – The death of the sponsored supplement* *Posted by Andrew Spong in the STweM Blog,* the post discusses how scholarly publishers can take little solace from the future prospects for their non-subscription products, while subscription-based revenue generating models have problems of their own. Andrew Spong is Consultant, STweM. *The blog post says (quote)* - The time has long since passed when it was still possible to sell three quarters of a million copies of a journal reprint to a single pharma company whose legions of sales reps would work in hunt groups, raining down half a dozen copies upon each healthcare practitioner in the United States in the hope that at least one of them may serve as a mug coaster on its way into the wastepaper basket. Entities such as ISMPP are fighting a losing battle in trying to convince those who are not directly involved in the publication planning process that ghost writing doesn’t happen, that their activities aren’t designed to look like traditional academic work, but perform largely to market products, or that the entire enterprise isn’t tainted by association with other equally dubious scholarly publishing practices. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 2/15/2010, at 5:52:19 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Febrauary 1 to Febrauary 7
	1.Blog Topic – Science editorial on who takes responsibility for the research in a paper *Posted by Virginia Barbour in the COPE Blog,* the post discusses an editorial in the journal Science. The editorial laid out ideas for ‘Promoting Scientific Standards’ including dealing with the issue of who takes responsibility for parts of a research project. Barbour is Acting Secretary at Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE). *The blog post says (quote)* - The journal feels that requiring a single individual to accept this responsibility “has become increasingly unrealistic, considering that a large fraction of publications now contain contributions from groups with very different expertise—and that half of the papers published in 2009 by Science had authors from more than one nation.” Is this the way to go, or should journals still try to have one person act as the guarantor? Thisis what the GPP guidelines continue to recommend. Are there example fromdisciplines outside of biomedicine who have other practices?". *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Stem cell scientists’ criticisms of peer review *Posted by Liz Wager in the BMJ Group Blogs,* the post discusses an open letter written by Stem cell researchers from some major international institutions to journal editors complaining that they have received unreasonable and obstructive reviews. Liz Wager is a freelance medical writer, editor, and trainer. She is the current chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). *The blog post says (quote)* - According to broadcast interviews, the researchers claim that peer review is sometimes used by their competitors to block or delay publication, for example by requiring further experiments to be done. The people behind the letter suggest such abuses of peer review might be prevented if journals published reviewers’ comments alongside articles. They note that the EMBO Journal has adopted this policy and, in fact, BioMed Central’s medical journals have been doing it for years, and go one step further by publishing the reviewers’ names (whereas the stem-cell scientists suggested the reviews should be anonymous). Of course, publishing reviewers’ comments won’t do anything for papers that are rejected but it’s certainly an interesting proposal.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Rethinking Open Data Initiatives: It Turns Out Open Data Costs Money, Needs a Purpose *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at how reviewing reams of data and preparing them for publication seems likely to dwarf article peer-review requirements in both the time needed and the intensity of effort. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - There are movements afoot to create an era of open data standards, with proponents arguing that publishers should be doing more to support open data. Governments, visionaries, and technologists are all promoting the seemingly wholesome and harmless notion that direct access to the underlying data is virtuous and necessary, and by using the term “open,” the illusion is that all we have to do is stop keeping it closed, and the data will flow without a problem. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Why Publishers Should Jump on the iPad Bandwagon *Posted by Joe Wikert in the Publishing 2020 Blogs,* the post compares the functionality of the Kindle to what Apple's iPad will offer. The Apple model only differs if publishers are willing to make the investment in new forms of content, not just the written word. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc. *The blog post says (quote)* - I don't mean to suggest that the iPad is guaranteed to become a runaway hit. It's not the device I'm enamored with as much as the capabilities the device represents. Others will undoubtedly mimic it and offer similar functionality at a lower price. And while some consumers will stick with the Kindle platform, the way forward is one with full color, video capability and a connectivity option that's built for more than just downloading books. Here's something else to keep in mind with the iPad: It's not just an ereader. Whereas the Kindle is a one-trick pony, the iPad enters the game with more than 140,000 other uses. OK, I've only got a couple dozen of those apps on my iPhone, but that's roughly a couple of dozen more things than I can do on my Kindle!. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5.Blog Topic – Where Is the Money in Custom Publishing? Your Answer Depends on How You Define It *Posted by Ann Michael in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a panel discussion on custom publishing at the Software & Information Industry Association’s Information Industry Summit. What did the panelists think about the future of custom publishing? Michael is founder and principal consultant at DeltaThink,. *The blog post says (quote)* - In my opinion, custom doesn’t just mean working with the content as-is or the content of only one publisher. Now that takes custom publishing in a whole new direction. User-generated content, user-generated data about content, and user-generated compilations of content within and across publishers is really the ultimate in custom publishing. It’s a far cry from bundling up chapters from a few different books, articles from a journal, or content from just one source. The future of custom is all about rich, discoverable content and a model that puts the user’s hands on the steering wheel. Until we get there, publishers will always be trying to anticipate user’s needs, and we will never be able to do so completely.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 2/8/2010, at 5:05:05 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week January 26 to January 31
	1.Blog Topic – Information Subscriptions Continue to Evolve and Thrive — Why Are Publishers Slow to Adapt? *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how subscriptions to publishers old packages are losing value and appeal, and the notion of an annual subscription is outmoded. According to the post, Subscriptions are thriving all around, yet we continue with old practices or move slowly to change standard approaches. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - Publishers used to be masters of the subscription model, but now our subscriptions have become cumbersome and clunky. Since we sell annual subscriptions, the trend is to drive prices annual down in the consumer space, almost to suicidal levels. Yet when the Huffington Post went on the Kindle, it charged $1.99 per month — about three times the annual cost of a print subscription to Wired was last year (thanks to Wired’s overly aggressive pricing practices). The Huffington Post delivers nothing but pixels, and to an expensive device. Yet thousands were happy to pay — after all, $1.99 per month is next to nothing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Why Dedicated E-Book Readers Will Not Die *Posted by Ficbot in the TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home Blog,* the post looks at if there is still going to be a demand for dedicated ebook readers With all the new ‘convergence’ devices coming out these days—cell phone/media/gaming all in one. Would anyone buy a Kindle or a Sony or a Whatever when they could just read a book on their cell phone or magical tablet? *The blog post says (quote)* - Yes. There is still a demand and will continue to be, but in a different fashion. The days of jumping on the bandwagon with a generic ‘reader’ device just to get in the game may be gone, but I think what we will see in the ‘dedicated device’ market will be an increasing specialization. Companies won’t make ‘general’ readers for casual customers, who may not read enough to justify a dedicated device and won’t care about fancier features. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Six Things Publishers Should Be Able To Do With Content *Posted by Dave Kellog in the Kellblog Blog,* the post looks at list of six things that publishers should be able to do with their content. The scope includes publishers of any ilk, professional publishers for whom content is their business and "accidental" publishers -- i.e., enterprises whose primary business is not content publishing. Kellog is CEO of Mark Logic Corporation. *The blog post says (quote)* - So, if content either is your business or is mission-critical to it, then here are the six things you should be able to do with it: Integrate it, Enrich it, Slice and dice it, Deliver it, Analyze it and Contextualize it. When information providers can do these six things with their content, they are ready to move successfully "post web 2.0" online age. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Do E-books Create Personal Brands? *Posted by Roger Parker in the Personal Branding Blog,* the post looks at How effective are e-books as personal branding tools? This is a particularly timely question since e-books and e-book readers are more and more in the news. *The blog post says (quote)* - What are the implications of the growing popularity of e-books? Does this mean you no longer need a printed book to build your personal brand? Is an e-book, by itself, enough to brand you as a subject area expert, opening the doors to new opportunities and driving new clients and pre-sold prospects to your business? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 2/1/2010, at 4:48:33 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week January 18 to January 25
	1. Blog Topic – Lifelines and Funeral Rites in the Publishing World *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses how publishing world is going through life and death experiences with plenty of closures and shut downs. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote)* - Ultimately, which move is savvier? Clearly, the Stanford move. They are cutting their losses. In a risky, dynamic business environment with deflated valuations and mediocre media forecasts, it would be possible to talk yourself into getting a magazine like Editor & Publisher at a bargain basement price. To do so, you’d have to believe in calm seas ahead — after all, as another sea-faring man once said, what could possibly go wrong?. (unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2. Blog Topic – EBook Publishing Growth – Myth or Reality! Posted By Larry Vingelman in the Technology Toolkit Blog, the post looks at how eBook publishing is leading the way to less expensive books distributed quicker to a global market. Larry Vingelman is a well known business consultant and publisher. The blog post says (quote) - Back in June of 2009 it was said that the eBook publishing world had produced sales that were 150% higher than the previous year. Currently, and this might sound crazy, but eBook sales made up 3% of the total book sales which is really astounding. Considering that not all books are eBookable with current reader technology: much of the juvie list, many illustrated books, and books where graphic material is important will not be produced as eBooks. Consequently, the number is higher for straight narrative titles maybe as high as 8%. (unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3. Blog Topic – A Treatise On The Future of Publishing Posted By John F Schneider in the Schneiderism Blog, the post looks at how print as a distribution platform has been disrupted by change at the end of the 20th century. Schneider works to lead organizations through change to connect with their audiences and create value. The blog post says (quote) - My advice to publishers is to stop trying to protect legacy platforms and legacy thinking. Stop focusing on site traffic and acquiring audience. Get back to the heart of what is of value, refocus yourself on the content that you are creating and ostensibly trying to provide. Understand that our behaviours in how we interact with information have fundamentally changed. This is not a fad, it is the new reality, and the normal you have experienced for the balance of your career will not be returning. The time to accomodate this new reality is right now. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. Blog Topic – *Apple’s disruption of the ebook market has nothing to do with the tablet* Posted by Mike Shatzkin in The Idea Logical Blog, the post discusses recent media reports that publishers have worked out an agreement with Apple to switch from a “wholesale” model to an “agency” model for ebook sales. how publishing world is going through life and death experiences with plenty of closures and shut downs. Mike Shatzkin is the Founder of The Idea Logical Company. He leads all of the company’s consulting efforts and created the original published work which led to the company’s content creation activities. The blog post says (quote) - If the reporting by Publishers Lunch today is accurate (and I’ve never known it not to be), publishers may have used the entry of Apple into the ebook arena as an opportunity to change the entire paradigm of ebook distribution for major books. And while the great excitement about Apple and ebooks has been based on hopes that the new Apple Tablet that the world expects to be announced next week will add a lot of new ebook consumers, the change in the sales protocols will probably have a much more profound impact on the ebook market than the device. Or at least that’s how it looks from here. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 1/25/2010, at 5:43:20 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Jan 11 to Jan 17
	1.Blog Topic – Going Legit: The Difficult Path from Piracy to Partnership *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at how turning social networking websites into sustainable, revenue-generating businesses remains a difficult prospect, although they continue to proliferate. *The blog post says (quote)* - This process of legitimacy — becoming an actual business rather than a challenge to be faced somewhere down the line — is doubly difficult for sites based on filesharing. The legal issues surrounding the redistribution of copyrighted material are often ignored during the network building process — the focus is on providing functionality for the user. But when the network is ready to move up to the big leagues, to start partnering with and generating revenue from deep-pocketed companies and institutions, a lack of adherence to copyright law can be a major barrier to success. (unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Why Even the Most Pirated E-Books of 2010 Won't Bring Down Publishing *Posted by Lydia Dishman in the BNET Blog,* the post looks at how e-book sales could be the next barometer to measure the strength — or weakness — of publishing. It’s a small but growing number that has publishers worried about the future of the industry, for two reasons: E-books are cheap, and they’re easy to rip off and distribute (illegally) for free. *The blog post says (quote)* - To fight back, some publishers are delaying release of potential bestsellers and others are simply refusing to create digital editions. The NYT’s David Pogue argues that this is an exercise in silliness and notes after conducting an experiment with his own Windows book, that while it was “pirated to the skies” sales actually rose.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Ontologies to facilitate revolution in scientific publishing *Posted by Spero melior in the Ontology Blog,* the post discusses an article in Science entitled Strategic Reading, Ontologies, and the Future of Scientific Publishing. Authors Allen Renear and Carole Palmer argue that ontologies will facilitate a revolution in scientific publishing whereby scientists will interact increasingly with the literature on a particular topic as whole and less frequently with entire, individual articles. *The blog post says (quote)* - The revolution in scientific publishing that has been promised since the 1980s is about to take place. Scientists have always read strategically, working with many articles simultaneously to search, filter, scan, link, annotate, and analyze fragments of content. Accelerated and enhanced by reading tools that take advantage of ontologies, reading practices will become even more rapid and indirect, transforming the ways in which scientists engage the literature and shaping the evolution of scientific publishing.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – The Greater Flexibility of Publishing With E-Books *Posted by Nicolas Gremion in Publishing and Printing Blog,* the post discusses how e-books have afforded so much flexibility to the publishing process. Before e-books really hit their stride, the only real option for a writer or author was to go to a printer or publisher and endure the long and arduous ordeal of going from a rough manuscript to a paper and ink publication. Nicolas Gremion is the CEO of Paradise Publishers Inc. owners of Free-eBooks.net *The blog post says (quote)* - E-books have replaced traditional books that run the whole gamut and range from small poetry chapbooks to full-fledged novels and comprehensive technical manuals. If you can imagine it in print – from a 5,000 word speech you want to share through an e-book to a series of how-to e-books that teach someone how to build a house or launch a business – you can accomplish your goals in record time through the rapidly expanding global e-book industry.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 1/18/2010, at 4:08:46 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Jan 4 to Jan 10
	1.Blog Topic – Fighting Fire with Fire — The Only Remaining Option? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the need for publishers to start acting like system-wielding businesses instead of content repositories. Otherwise, they will be curiosities in the tar pits of the Systems Age, and soon enough, the crude oil these systems use to fuel their vehicles. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - Pressures will mount on publishers to deal with applications, augmented reality approaches, data feeds, and system-level implementations of all sorts. Whether this means more back-end systems, more front-end systems, or both, publishers will need to invest in systems, not content. Content is cheap and easy to get and make compared to systems in this age. (Note: I said “compared to.” I’m not arguing that content is cheap and easy to get so that is should be free or anything like that — I’m saying that systems are comparatively expensive and hard to scale, due to novelty, scope, unfamiliarity, and many other factors [lack of standards, rapidly evolving customer needs and expectations, and more].) *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Academic Libraries, eBooks Nobody Reads & OITPL *Posted By Eric Rumsey in the Seeing the picture Blog,* the post discusses Dan D’Agostino’s post ‘The strange case of academic libraries and e-books nobody reads’ where he questions the investment by academic libraries in eBook packages from publishers that can be read only on computer screens. Eric Rumsey is a librarian and web developer at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa. *The blog post says (quote)* - Just as studies were beginning to show that readers will not read extended pieces of text on computer screens and would use these e-book collections simply for searching, not reading, the Kindle and the iPhone arrived. These devices have shown that dedicated e-readers and smart phones are e-book platforms par excellence; they make e-books work. But unfortunately for academic libraries they don’t work with the huge e-book collections they’ve amassed in HTML and PDF (at least not very well). The result being that as the ownership of e-readers and mobiles begins to increase across campuses, the library’s e-book collection is in danger of becoming a very expensive white elephant, underused at best and perhaps already obsolete. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Does a Citation Advantage Exist for Mandated Open Access Articles? *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post look at if institutional mandates requiring authors to self-archive their papers lead to higher citation rates? A new analysis argues that it does, yet closer inspection may give one pause. *The blog post says (quote)* - Comparing 6,000 mandated self-archived papers deposited in four institutional repositories (Southhampton University, CERN, Queensland University of Technology, and Minho University in Portugal) with 21,000 control articles selected by title word similarity, the researchers were interested in isolating and measuring the citation effect when authors willingly deposit articles on their own accord (self-selection) versus when their institution mandates deposit. Discovering an independent citation advantage for mandated self-archived articles would suggest that open access (OA) is likely a real cause of increased citations; several articles in the past have argued that higher-quality articles are more likely to be self-archived and that the relationship between open access and increased citations is merely a spurious association (e.g. Kurtz (2005, 2007), Moed (2007), Davis (2007, 2008)). *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Who Is Reading Your E-Books? *Posted By Michelle Kraft in the Krafty Librarian Blog,* the post discusses the different factors that lead to purchase of ebooks by medical libraries vs academic libraries. Kraft has been a medical librarian since 1998 and is currently the medical librarian for a hospital system in Ohio. *The blog post says (quote)* - When I look at e-books and the way the libraries I have worked for have purchased them, I see a perhaps different rational than how many academic librarians may have purchased theirs. Or at least the way I see Dan describe how academic libraries purchase ebooks. In the medical libraries I have worked in we have really only purchased online books that we have on reserve. Books like Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, Danforth’s Obstetrics, Mandell’s Infectious Disease, etc. Our users refer to these texts when they need to look up something or answer a question. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 1/11/2010, at 3:46:27 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Dec 28 to Jan 3
	1.Blog Topic – Let’s Hear It for Reckless Enthusiasm! *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how to build infrastructure that enables an unmediated, direct connection between scholars and scholarly materials. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote)* - It may seem out of character for a proponent of scholarly publishing to promote recklessness (or even enthusiasm, for that matter), but when I look back at the events that have brought about the important and welcome changes in scholarly communications in my (long) lifetime, I fail to see a case to be made for prudence. Although most readers of this blog have been trained analytically and methodically and understand the virtue of placing one foot in front of the other, step by step, incrementally moving toward the consensually established goal, innovations of the best kind seem to take place in leaps and bounds—except when they don’t, when they crash and burn instead. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Scam Journals Uncovered by Improbable Research *Posted in the Neurocritic Blog,* the post discusses some unbelievably brash copyright violations by a set of scam journals. The APA Permissions Office was already aware of the copyright violation, and they are currently looking into it. *The blog post says (quote)* - Since two of the plagiarized articles were stolen from JPSP, I contacted both editors, Dr. Charles M. Judd and Dr. Jeffry A. Simpson. Dr. Simpson wrote back right away, advising me to contact the American Psychological Association, which holds the copyrights to all APA journals. I did send an email to the Copyright and Permission office and am waiting to hear back. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Some Memorable Dishes from the Kitchen in 2009 *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at some of the distinguishing events of 2009. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - The Kitchen is closing for 2009, and when a year comes to a close, the temptation to go retrospective is irresistible. So here, without further ado, is one possible list of posts from this past year reflecting some of the distinguishing events of 2009. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 1/4/2010, at 2:40:41 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Dec 21 to Dec 27
	1.Blog Topic – Forget E-Books: The Future of the Book Is Far More Interesting *Posted by Adam Penenberg in the Fast Company Blog,* the post discusses the future of books in which immersive reading coexists with other literary, visual and auditory modes of expression. Penenberg is a journalism professor and assistant director of the Business and Economic Program at New York University. He is also contributing writer to Fast Company. *The blog post says (quote)* - Coming soon ... It's the end of the book as we know it, and you'll be just fine. But it won't be replaced by the e-book, which is, at best, a stopgap measure. Sure, a bevy of companies are releasing e-book readers-there's Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and a half dozen other chunks of not-ready-for-primetime hardware. But technology marches on through predictable patterns of development, with the initial form of a new technology mirroring what came before, until innovation and consumer demand drive it far beyond initial incremental improvements. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Search, but You May Not Find *Posted by Adam Raff in NewYork times.com,* the post discusses the Federal Communications Commission’s recently proposed “network neutrality” rules, which would prohibit Internet service providers from discriminating against or charging premiums for certain services or applications on the Web. The need for search neutrality is particularly pressing because so much market power lies in the hands of one company - Google. *The post says (quote)* - Today, search engines like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s new Bing have become the Internet’s gatekeepers, and the crucial role they play in directing users to Web sites means they are now as essential a component of its infrastructure as the physical network itself. The F.C.C. needs to look beyond network neutrality and include “search neutrality”: the principle that search engines should have no editorial policies other than that their results be comprehensive, impartial and based solely on relevance. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – The Speedy Expansion of Online News Publishing *Posted in the Lecavs Blog,* the post discusses the evolution of electronic news publishing as an influential contender within the publishing world. Electronic publishing has resulted in the gradual build up of electronic libraries, consisting of research publications online text articles and literary material. The fantastic build up of electronic publishing has introduced many readers to fresh ways of accessing reading material. *The blog post says (quote)* - Electronic publishing houses offer a large variety of publications to an even broader audience of consumers. With an untold number of digital magazines the influence of this arena could well be strong. Plentiful epublishers, online merchants and also single authors have simply captured many readers inside specific interest markets who may be hard to get to through classical the methods of content publishing as well as providing existing magazine readers with the convenience of purchasing digital publications online for instant download. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – The Unstoppable Corporate Force Meets the Immovable Social Network *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how future of media lies in increased social participation and mobile access to that media. However, events of the last few weeks have given signs that progress toward that future is not going to be smooth. *The blog post says (quote)* - Many companies are finding it increasingly difficult to align their goals in this space, as the open paths toward monetization are often in conflict with the desires of the users on whom they depend. It becomes even more difficult in a world where users have easy access to tools to organize and loudly and publicly voice their complaints. It comes as a rude awakening to the Twitter user when the friendly floating whale turns out to be a corporation more intent on making money than on making him happy, and it’s just as annoying to the executive when a freeloading user who refuses to pay for a service thinks he should be in control of running the company. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 12/28/2009, at 4:05:53 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Dec 14 to Dec 20
	1.Blog Topic – Academia and STM Publishing Have Gone Electronic *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at how purchasing patterns in the academy have irrevocably shifted from print to electronic resources. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - And there is no going back. We’re in the midst of a revolution of distribution, manufacturing, and information presentation and utilization. It’s a digital revolution. It’s a revolution that now dominates the purchasing and strategic frameworks for demand and supply. If you, your editors, or your sales forces think otherwise, tell them to wake up and smell the gigabytes. Most importantly, the days of undervaluing electronic may, quite properly, be coming to an end, as majority adoption logically leads to value shifts that will be reflected in pricing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Open Access in 2009: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly *Posted By Richard Poynder in the Open and Shut? Blog,* the post looks at the main OA developments and achievements in 2009. The post also lists 17 notable developments that took place during 2009. *The blog post says (quote)* - Whether overall 2009 will turn out to have been good or bad for the OA movement doubtless rests on what happens in 2010 and beyond. Will current momentum be maintained for instance? Will the Obama Administration come up with the right formula for the public access policies it wants to see, or will those that emerge simply ape the NIH mandate (which has its detractors). Will more governments realise what needs to be done, and do it? Will OA continue to spread behind STM journals? Will OA find a way of resolving the affordability problem? For now these are necessarily matters for speculation alone. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Why Journals? *Posted in the RePEc Blog,* this post looks at if we need journals, simply for the purpose of selecting articles, as the function of distributing articles is redundant nowadays. The author concentrates on research journals, whether open access or not. *The blog post says (quote)* - My impression is that the existence of journals is a feature of the past. Journals will die, and this will be an improvement for academic economics. The process will be sped up if new ways of channeling information are devised. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Do Medical Editors Discriminate Against Poor Authors? *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses an article, by a group of epidemiologists, which examined whether country of origin plays a role in citations to articles published in top medical journals. The article, “Differences in citation rates by country of origin for papers published in top-ranked medical journals: do they reflect inequalities in access to publication?“ appears in the online version of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. *The blog post says (quote)* - If we avoid potential methodological weaknesses and alternative explanations and take the results of this research at face value, then the top 4 medical journals have a lower bar (or quality threshold) for evaluating research emanating from developing countries. But is this interpretation fair? The fundamental problem with this line of reasoning is considering citations to be indicators of quality over indicators of attention. Accepting articles that are known to garner less attention (because they deal with health topics with little relevance to Western countries) means something very different than accepting articles of substandard quality and we should be careful with making this distinction.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 12/21/2009, at 3:20:07 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Dec 7 to Dec 13
	1.Blog Topic – ScienceBlogs and “National Geographic” — A Partnership of Online Strengths *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses recent announcements from National Geographic to close a decade-old magazine (National Geographic Adventure) and a new sales/content partnership with ScienceBlogs. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - Blogs, once dismissed as vitriolic noise of self-involved hacks, have become a mainstay of written communication and powerful, web-native content management platforms. Seeing deals like this, along with profitability, shows what can be done when people share a vision and understand the possibilities created by new approaches toward creating and engaging audiences. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Should Publishers Delay E-book Releases? *Posted By Nathan Bransford in the Nathan Bransford’s Blog,* the post discusses why publishers are delaying the e-book releases. According to most accounts, including the NY Times, publishers are receiving roughly the exact same amount for every e-book sold as they do for new hardcover sales. Bransford is a literary agent with the San Francisco office of Curtis Brown Ltd., a New York based literary agency that has been representing writers since 1914. *The blog post says (quote)* - Amazon and Sony and others are selling many e-books for $9.99, but that doesn't mean publishers are making less money per title. The e-book retailers are taking loss leaders on e-books to sell more devices. Instead this position seems to be borne out of fear of what's over the horizon: publishers are nervous that people will begin to feel that $9.99 is what all books should cost, wreaking havoc with print pricing models, and that Amazon and others will start turning the screws and demanding a bigger share of the revenue. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – The End of Book Publishing As We Know It *Posted By Michael Hyatt in the Michaelhyatt Blog,* the post discusses the changes that eBook devices will have on the publishing industry. Hyatt is Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Nelson Publishers. *The blog post says (quote)* - Publishers will need to envision multimedia content from the beginning. Once consumers get used to this kind of rich media, they will not be content to read text alone. They certainly won’t pay a premium price for it. They will expect hyperlinks, audio, video, and other multimedia bells and whistles. As a result, content providers will need to envision these elements at the ideation stage, rather than adding them as an afterthought. In this sense, magazine publishers and web content developers will have an advantage. They are already doing this. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Does Reviewing Your Peers Create Better Results Than Peer-Review? *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses if members of the National Academy of Sciences should be permitted to control the peer-review process for their own submissions? If one is concerned with citation impact, the answer is both “no” and “yes.” *The blog post says (quote)* - While direct submissions are the norm for most scientific journals, this method is relatively new for PNAS, adopted as recently as 1995. Since then, direct submissions have become the norm, with communicated submissions waning in popularity. In order to simplify and streamline the submission process, PNAS will eliminate communicated submission in July 2010. There has been some scrutiny of the communicated submission track, some arguing that it has allowed unacceptable papers to be published without adequate review. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5.Blog Topic – Making eBooks "The Next Big Thing" *Posted By Joe Wikert in Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post looks at if the price charged for e-readers is justifiable. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc *The blog post says (quote)* - Isn't it interesting how we publishers value the intellectual property but consumers (like Michael Honig) always seem to focus on the cost of goods, or lack thereof? Perception is reality though and although Amazon generally offers significantly more than 10% off the print cover price, plenty of publishers don't want to cheapen the IP and wind up pricing the ebook at or very close to the print edition. Btw, the current rule of thumb where I work is to price the DRM-free ebook bundle (including epub, mobi and PDF formats) at 80% of the print price. Is that the "right" price? Who knows, but we also experiment with even deeper discounts from time to time and it based on the results we still default to the 20%-off model. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 12/14/2009, at 2:50:13 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Nov 30 to Dec 6
	1.Blog Topic – The Scholars’ Catalog Project *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a catalog project that could serve as a marketing tool, e-commerce site, and source of bibliographical data for other projects whose aims were not so plainly economic. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote)* - The catalog will launch into a very different world from the one that existed at the time of its conception. There was no Kindle or iPhone at that time, nor were many scholarly publishers looking beyond the dissemination of PDFs intended to be printed out and read at the edge of the network. Google had not yet begun its mass digitization project, nor had anyone even hinted that Google would shortly become, through Google Editions, a central player in the publishing landscape. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Scholarly Communications must be Mobile *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* the post is part of series on how scholarly communications must transform. The author I will argues that scholarship must fit itself to mobile communications in order to be taken seriously in the future. Burton is an Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* - Mobile computing is also the future of education. Students are acculturated to and equipped with mobile phone technology beginning in grade school, and the rise of digitally mediated pedagogy will naturally lead to using cell phones to pipe in Open Educational Resources, recorded lectures, podcasts, and of course electronic versions of textbooks. The mobile phone/computer will not only serve up teaching media, but will enable constructive interactivity and superior teaching and learning environments by connecting students (locally or at a distance). *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – What Is The Future For Publishing? *Posted By Theresa M. Moore in the Theresammoore Blog,* the post discusses how important it has become for publishers, authors and self-publishing authors to soon agree on some changes to the way they do business on the internet. Theresa M. Moore is the author and publisher of science fantasy adventure and nonfiction books on a variety of related subjects such as history, mythology, and science, *The blog post says (quote)* - Major publishers are at a loss to understand why the ebooks should be priced at less than the print books. The answer is simple. The print book takes on the cost of paper, ink, layout and production costs, author royalties, advertising and promotion costs, marketing reach and press releases, the purchase of the ubiquitous ISBN and also control over territorial rights, digital rights management for samples, and so on. This cost is increased by an expectation for a wholesale discount by retailers, as much as 50 percent of the retail price. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – When Less Is More: The Upside of Paywalls and Delisting from Google *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent decision by Rupert Murdoch to move all his online properties behind a subscription paywall. He is also considering blocking Google’s access to the sites. We’ve seen many contenders trying to become the search engine for scientists. Are any of them well-heeled enough to subsidize exclusive content? *The blog post says (quote)* - Thinking in terms of scholarly publishing, most journals do indeed have an established monopoly on something valuable, and our paywalls have succeeded (some would argue that this is because they are ridiculously expensive, as so far online advertising is failing to pay the bills). But I’m surprised we haven’t seen more interest in dealmaking like this from the open access (OA) crowd, nor from the creators of community database resources. It seems like there should be some common interests here. OA-supporting researchers and publishers want to find ways to make their publications freely available. Search engines thrive on giving away products for free and using them to sell advertising. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 12/7/2009, at 5:06:09 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Nov 23 to Nov 29
	1.Blog Topic – Are Open Access and the Internet endangering business models? *Posted by Jürgen Geuter in the Tante’s Blog,* the post discusses how Internet has changed the way we access information. Business models are created by new technologies and they are killed by them. That's the "natural order" so to speak. *The blog post says (quote)* – Especially in the scientific community that gatekeeping process has been religiously defended: Scientific journals are worth so much (and are that expensive!) because they only published the high-quality stuff. Only the big papers had the great content and publishing became kind of a game to get your papers into most "high level" publications, not to reach more people (because often the audiences would largely overlap) but just to measure how much better you are in comparison to your fellow researchers. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here. 2.Blog Topic – Can the Creativity of Social Persuasion Cure “Corporate Asperger’s Syndrome”? *Posted by Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at if publishers and information providers in the digital age suffer from “corporate asperger’s syndrome”? Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – We have to design experiences that make sense, convey information, and make us more central to our users. Are these experiences likely to emerge from print journals? From flat textbooks?; Are the typical initiatives — more digital, more multimedia, more information transactions — really moving us toward the goal? Or are they just more of the same?; Are our passengers likely to ask to stay on the train longer with the rides we’re offering? Or are we having “significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests”? Do scholarly publishers, librarians, and others suffer from their own version of asperger’s syndrome? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – The Future of Books: A World of Format Choice *Posted by Roy Tennant in the LibraryJournal Blog,* the post discusses whether digital books will kill print. According to the author, we will forever live in a hybrid environment. Roy Tennant (roy_tennant@oclc.org) is Senior Program Manager for OCLC Programs and Research in Mountain View, CA. *The blog post says (quote)* – Some types of books are probably best in print (e.g., coffee table books), some are better in digital (e.g., textbooks), and most depend on what you want to do with them. That is, we are (and should be) entering a world of book format choice. You want your book in digital form? Fine, here it is. You want a print version of it? You can have that too. You decide. And who wouldn't like such a world? I would. I might even want both formats for some books, although it would be nice if I could get a discount in such a case. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Publisher bites aggregator? *Posted by Nico Flores in the On-Demand Media Blog,* the post discusses another post by Mark Cuban on the Murdoch/Bing rumours. By Mark's account, in the future we might see aggregators (or at least search engines) paying news publishers for exclusive rights to link to their content. *The blog post says (quote)* – But I'm still not convinced. To lure a publisher, Bing would have to offer payments in excess of the ad money the publisher gets from Google traffic (ad money from Bing traffic would count towards this, but at least for now that would be negligible). But I've argued that this money (what the publisher gets thanks for Google) is far more than what Google would lose from having a publisher sign an exclusive with Bing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5.Blog Topic – Professional and Scholarly Publishing Leads the Market for Ebooks by a Wide Margin *Posted by Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the ebook market in the US. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote)* – Given all the attention from mainstream media and the blogosphere, one would think that the publishing world revolved around trade books and that ebook readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle, are as ubiquitous as teenage girls at the latest “Twilight” movie. As the attendees at the recent SSP Digital Opportunities and Challenges Seminar learned, however, the trade book industry’s foray into the ebook market trails the professional and scholarly publishing (PSP) ebook market by a wide margin—and there is no evidence that will change in the foreseeable future. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 11/30/2009, at 5:06:40 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Nov 16 to Nov 22
	1.Blog Topic – How Many Books Dance on the Head of an e-Pin? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses an article on Jill O’Neill’s Twitter stream. The author tries to assess whether an e-book is really a book. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - But when contemplating how a manifestation becomes an item in the e-world, Koster runs aground, asking if perhaps the FRBR needs another level to accommodate the realities of e-publishing — that is, articles not captured in an issue, e-manifestations that are manipulable on the device level, and the proliferation of output standards and media. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Western Civilization and the Digital World *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* the post discusses issues confronting us in the digital age. According to the author, these issues have been encountered before, and doesn't mean that the current age isn't truly new nor that we don't have substantial changes from the past. But what it means is that there are shoulders to stand on. Burton is an Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* - Besides, if teaching and learning (like so many things now) can be time-shifted or place-shifted, why wait to begin that class a year from now? I'll post the syllabus in its present form on my blog here, but I'm hoping to reformat the syllabus and course material, placing this on Rice University's Open Educational Resource platform, Connexions. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Usefulness Trumps Fun for Search Autosuggest *Posted By Pam Harley in Silverchair’s All Semantics Blog,* the post discusses the many examples of Google Suggest inappropriateness documented online. Pam Harley is VP of Product & Market Development for Silverchair’s Semedica division, where she works to extend Silverchair’s semantic expertise with tools and services that integrate with existing platforms and workflows to allow publishers and other information providers to enrich their content to build products and applications. *The blog post says (quote)* - I’m sure you’ve experienced Google Suggest in action: as you type into the search box, Google offers suggestions that change dynamically as you type each letter of your query. The suggestions are sometimes spookily on target but many times flat-out inappropriate. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Topic – How Meaningful Are User Ratings? (This Article = 4.5 Stars!) *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how PLoS is taking something of an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach, compiling all sorts of data through a variety of methods and hoping some of it will translate into a meaningful measurement. *The blog post says (quote)* - There are, however, a lot of issues with the things PLoS has chosen to measure (and to their credit, PLoS openly admits the data are ripe for misinterpretation — see, “Interpreting The Data“). Aside from the obvious worries about gaming the system, my primary concern is that popularity is a poor measure of quality. Take a look at the most popular items on YouTube on any given day and try to convince yourself that this is the best the medium has to offer. Ratings based strictly on downloads will skew towards fields that have more participants. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 11/23/2009, at 3:35:42 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Nov 9 to Nov 15
	1.Blog Topic – Open Access Memberships: Are Libraries Paying Too Much? *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at if open access (OA) membership fees save institutions money? The author discusses a talk titled, “Cost/Benefit Analysis of BioMed Central Membership at a Large Medical Institution,” by Susan Klimley at the 2009 Charleston Conference. *The blog post says (quote)* - But figuring out which APCs were attributed to Columbia authors was no simple matter. Columbia University has many relationships with surrounding institutions like teaching hospitals, and many of these institutions don’t include “Columbia University” in their name. In addition, authors may list multiple affiliations. To make matters even more complicated, most biomedical articles are co-authored, sometimes by scores of authors located at multiple institutions. Figuring out who paid the APC wasn’t obvious. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Is the eReader Financial Model Upside Down? *Posted By Joe Wikert in Publishing 2020 Blog,* the post discusses about altering the pricing models for e-reading devices and e-content. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc *The blog post says (quote)* - What's not to like about this model? The first vendor to adopt it would likely sell a boatload of devices, maybe more than they could manufacture. It would also protect the value of the intellectual property. Amazon's $9.99 price on Kindle editions is really cheapening the value of the content. I used to think it was OK because you can't share an ebook with a friend, but B&N is about to address that problem with the Nook (sort of). I still think we publishers need to figure out how to add value to ebooks and not just live by quickie p-to-e-conversions, but that was the subject of at least one earlier post. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Breaking the Chain of Inquiry — When Journals and Journalists Fall Short *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at why did a journal author, a journal, and a reputable news publication all think it acceptable to broadcast information about a web site that facilitated file-sharing of journal articles, without naming the site? Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - In any event, my beef is with journalism and research reporting, not the organizational capabilities of a publisher. My gripe is with a blog associated with the Chronicle of Higher Education and with the author of the original study. And while you may argue that the point of the study was to shed light on the practices and potential economic effects of file-sharing, I’d counter that there’s no reason to withhold important information about the subject of the study, if only for the sake of clarity. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Audiobooks, E-readers and Accessibility *Posted By Joshua Kim in the Inside Higher ED Blog,* the post focuses on the importance of audiobooks in the academic library. Joshua Kim is senior learning technologist and an adjunct in sociology at Dartmouth College. He is also an Educause ECAR fellow and a part-time instructor at Quinnipiac University's College of Professional Studies. *The blog post says (quote)* - When it comes to advocating for audiobooks to be included in academic library collections I'll admit to some strong vested interests. I'm a huge audiobook fanatic. Too much of my money goes to Amazon to pay for my Audible platinum membership. Almost all my nonfiction reading is done via audiobook. The genius of audiobooks is that they allow reading while doing other things. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 11/16/2009, at 3:06:24 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Nov 2 to Nov 8
	1.Blog Topic – Participation Value and Shelf-Life for Journal Articles *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the two values – Participation value and Shelf-life - that have been assigned to all content. Participation value is a measure of how much engagement with others the content inspires. Shelf-life measures how long the content is available, and perhaps more importantly, how long the participation value is likely to last. *The blog post says (quote)* – Papers should have great participation value — every field of study revolves around the presentation of results, and there’s a near constant level of interpretation and reinterpretation of those results. So why aren’t there online forums overflowing with discussion as each new issue of a journal is released? Much participation is hampered by cultural issues within research communities, discussed here, particularly a hesitancy to speak openly and critically. But there are other factors involved that limit participation value. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – The beginning of the end for impact factors and journals *Posted By Richard Smith in the BMJ Group’s Blog,* the post discusses article level metrics as another step towards the extinction of most scientific journals. According to the author this will almost certainly end the tyranny of impact factors. Richard Smith is on the board of the Public Library of Science and has been an enthusiast for open access publishing for 15 years. *The blog post says (quote)* – Slowly but surely these metrics will become much superior to using the impact factor of the journal in which an article is published as a surrogate for the impact of the article itself. Although a routine practice, this is wholly unscientific because there is very little correlation between the impact of a journal and the impact of the articles it publishes—because the impact factor of the journal is driven by a few articles that are very highly cited. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Scientists Are Using Social Media Tools (and May Be Using Social Networks, Too) *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses an analysis published in the October 30th issue of Cell, where Laura Bonetta quotes a number of scientists who are using Twitter to broadcast awareness of papers they find interesting while learning about papers others find interesting. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – An adoption rate of 1/7 is a little over 14%. But you have to parse the sentence closely to see that this is probably an underestimation, possibly quite severe. First of all, it was a “quick analysis,” which I think sub-texts into “I barely scratched the surface.” Then there are the networks examined — LinkedIn and Xing, which are networks targeted at businesspeople wishing to keep their contacts up, not necessarily collaborative social networks and certainly not flexible social media tools like Twitter. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Caught in the Middle: Publishing’s Other Customers *Posted By Don Linn in the Digital Book World Blog,* the post discusses impact of pricing on midlist authors, the workhorses of most publishers’ backlists. Don Linn is former owner/CEO of Consortium Book Sales & Distribution. *The blog post says (quote)* – While I take a back seat to no one in arguing that publishers owe it to readers to provide books in all formats at reasonable prices (e.g., in most cases maintaining print prices on digital books is borderline insulting) and that the customer ultimately drives the business, it’s important to remember that publishers have another set of customers who are in play and upon whom they are equally dependent. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 11/9/2009, at 2:33:24 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Oct 26 to Nov 1
	1.Blog Topic – Will the Writing Revolution Beget a Social Revolution? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses an interesting article in SEED magazine entitled, “A Writing Revolution.” According to the article while publishers are worried about the “revolution” in publishing and what it might mean for our insular world, society as a whole may be on the verge of some revolution. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Illiteracy is relatively rare in our world, but literacy is typically defined as the ability to consume information. In the current information landscape, it will be increasingly defined as the ability to also generate information — i.e., write.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – The Next-Gen Repository: Part II *Posted By Roy Tennant in the Library Journal Blog,* the post seeks to lift the hood of the technical infrastructure, which he is doing with the help of Lisa Schiff of the technical team that worked for two years on this major refactoring of eScholarship. Tennant is Senior Program Manager for OCLC Programs and Research. *The blog post says (quote)* – Some other things they accomplished were to classify the papers into a subject taxonomy and identify those that were peer reviewed. This meant retrospectively classifying some 30,000 papers. We hired an intern to create a training and test set by manually tagging a selection of the content with subject terms from the Academic Disciplines Taxonomy from the National Academies. We used those documents to train and test a KEA classifier, which we ran against the legacy documents. KEA is an algorithm for keyword extraction.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – NIH Funds a Social Network for Scientists — Is It Likely to Succeed? *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent decision by the National Institute of Health to fund a financing a network that some are calling ‘Facebook for scientists’. If there’s any hope for success for such a network, the NIH is probably the best bet as the host and organizer. *The blog post says (quote)* – They’ve already got the massive database covering the literature in PubMed. Unlike most of the companies and publishers trying to capitalize on this space, the NIH can create a truly neutral system, one that isn’t limited to featuring one company’s products or connections to only one publisher’s journals. A taxpayer-funded network would also be free from the pressure of having to find a sustainable business model to ensure survival. Of course, science is a global activity, so it’s unclear whether a US government-run network would play nicely with non-US scientists. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – In Defense of Print *Posted By Joe Konrath in the A Newbie's Guide to Publishing Blog,* the post looks at if ebooks are going to replace print books? Right now, ebooks are a supplement to print, much like audiobooks are. They're less than 2% of book sales. Some industry pros think they cater to a completely different audience than print, and the two can coexist peacefully. Other industry pros are in complete denial. *The blog post says (quote)* – I do believe ebooks are the future. I believe this based on my personal experiences in publishing, and what I know about the industry. I can also draw conclusions based on my knowledge of other media industries, namely music and newspaper, and my interest in the Internet, digital media, file sharing, and formats. I'm still in the minority. People are fond of quoting me, or pointing others in my direction, but I haven't seen any industry professionals brave enough to either agree with me, or open a debate with me to disprove my assumptions.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 11/2/2009, at 4:15:53 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Oct 19 to Oct 25
	1.Blog Topic – Welcome to a Synchronous Digital Hell *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how the real-time Web is bound to increase in importance as initiatives like Google Wave and the already familiar Twitter and Facebook offerings become more immersive. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – The transaction costs of interpersonal communication have fallen below zero: It costs more to leave the stream than to stay in it. The approaching Wave promises us the best of both worlds: the realtime immediacy of the phone call with the easy broadcasting capacity of email. Which is also, as we’ll no doubt come to discover, the worst of both worlds. Welcome to the conference call that never ends. Welcome to Wave hell.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – And Then Everything in Publishing Changed All at Once… *Posted By Nathan Bransford in the Nathan Bransford’s Blog,* the post discusses how the longtime trends that have been shaping the publishing industry are only accelerating, and everyone in the business is holding on for the ride. Bransford is a literary agent with the San Francisco office of Curtis Brown Ltd., a New York based literary agency that has been representing writers since 1914. *The blog post says (quote)* – But surely this isn't temporary. These trends have been in the makings for years, from deep discounts (now something everyone takes for granted) to competition with other cheap media to the rise of e-books to the industry's shedding of mid-list authors, their simultaneous aversion to small risks and dependence on big risks, and their increasing reliance on bestsellers, who they often overpay.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – BookServer: A Plan to Build an Open Web of Books *Posted By Sarah Perez in the Read Write Web Blog,* the post discusses a recent project called BookServer, launched by Internet Archive. The project aims to essentially create an open web of books where anyone can publish their books and make their content available via search. Sarah Perez is a technology enthusiast who worked as an I.T. Professional for many years. *The blog post says (quote)* – While the project isn't exactly a direct effort to take down Amazon's online bookstore or Google's upcoming online eBook store called Google Editions, it will provider book publishers and online libraries with the means to more effectively compete with those companies. By allowing publishers to set their own pricing and manage the distribution of their books, they will be able to take back control from Amazon and Google who would rather dictate those terms for them.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – What is “Library Bypass”? *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at how publishers will come to terms with the possibility that the sale (or lease) of one copy of a book will lead to multiple readers of that copy, undermining the market for that title. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote)* – A bypass strategy develops precisely because publishers are listening to libraries. They hear two things: first, libraries are short of funds and cannot purchase all the materials that they would like to; and, second, libraries increasingly are becoming publishing centers themselves, typically of open access material, and are casting a cold eye on yet another offering from a highly profitable publisher. A bypass strategy is a prudent means to find other ways to derive revenue from publications without imposing a further tax on a library’s strained materials budget.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 10/26/2009, at 4:31:31 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Oct 12 to Oct 18
	1.Blog Topic – The 2009 STM Frankfurt Conference *Posted By Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the annual STM Frankfurt Conference, where experts discussed the future of the industry. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote)* – In regard to the second point, I agree with Nielsen that online technology will provide increasing levels of value in science publishing in the future. However, publishers are—and always have been—a cross between content and technology companies. And while the technologies that publishers have long specialized in are fast becoming obsolete, STM publishers can retool for the online world while still retaining a deep expertise in their highly specialized content areas. The question is whether they can do it fast enough. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here. 2.Blog Topic – Digital Publishing and Libraries Through Kindle and Sony Reader *Posted by Kristine Roa in Good for the publishing heart Blog,* the post discusses how the digital revolution has transformed the publishing world. According to the author, the online world is expanding at a very overwhelming rate, and it is very much a case of get ahead, or be left behind. Roa is writer at Xlibris, a book publishing company created by authors, for authors. *The blog post says (quote)* – The advent of digital publishing clearly paved way for gadgets to take over your favorite published paperbook. Is this the good time to take stock? Because of digital books, or ebooks, there an imminent demise of a good paperback, hardback or leather bound book. The online world continues expand at a very overwhelming rate, and it is very much a case of get ahead, or be left behind. Electronic book publishing is also fast becoming the “in” thing in the publishing industry, and with the launch of the Amazon Kindle and the latest line of Sony Readers, it opens up a whole new universe of readers as well as authors. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here. 3.Blog Topic – On the future of scientific communication *Posted By Myrmecos in the Myrmecos Blog,* the post discusses the migration of taxonomy from paper journals to online databases. It is worth noting that this is reflective of a broader change in scientific communication already underway. *The blog post says (quote)* – Scientific papers are fossils, relicts from the era when writing on paper was the only medium to reliably disseminate data and ideas. Now that we have other forms of transferring information, there isn’t any reason to continue packaging all scientific output into periodical two-dimensional prints. Especially not when much of it (e.g., simulations, data visualization) is particularly ill-suited to paper. Here’s a not-very-risky prediction. Within the next decade, papers will be winnowed to something resembling press releases or commentaries. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – An Old-Age Problem Among Reviewers? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a study, presented at the Sixth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication, that sought to show that peer-reviewer quality deteriorates with age. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Overall, attempts to make scientific peer-review more scientific seem misguided. The purpose of tools like these eludes me. If it’s to create a more stable, replicable system, that seems to occur when good people with sound judgment agree about what they’re doing and create a great journal. Quantitative measures of their intramural behaviors are pretty irrelevant, and even distracting. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here.
	posted by : scope, on 10/19/2009, at 2:29:33 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Oct 5 to Oct 11
	1.Blog Topic – Social Media: The Next Great Gateway for Content Discovery? *Posted By Jon Gibs in the Nielsenwire Blog,* the post discusses the various ways people adopt to discover content online. Social media has not only changed the way consumers communicate and gather on the Web, but also impacted content discovery and navigation in a big way. The post looks at how social media is poised to take the place of portals and search as the hub of online navigation. Jon Gibs is VP, Media Analytics for Nielsen. *The blog post says (quote)* - there is a segment of the online population that uses social media as a core navigation and information discovery tool — roughly 18 percent of users see it as core to finding new information. While still a smaller percentage than those who use search engines or portals like Yahoo! or MSN, it is a significant figure. And as social media usage continues to increase (unique visitors to Twitter.com increased 959% YOY in August) I can only expect this figure to grow.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here. 2.Blog Topic – Is It Print That’s Dying? Or Mass Media? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent article by Rex Hammock in Publishing Executive. Citing statistics such as how magazine readership has increased 8% this century, Hammock notes that formats like magazines, newspapers, and the like aren’t themselves dying, but the business models supporting them are. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - Now, you might argue that when we say “print is dying,” we’re just using shorthand for “the print business model is dying,” but I don’t think so. My observations are that people really have conflated print into the equation, as if the format itself is vanishing from the face of the Earth. Yet what’s dying about the print model is most likely the mass media aspect that dominant print operations depended upon — the notion that one broadcast can satisfy the information needs of a common audience. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here. 3.Blog Topic – Web 2.0 Fails to Excite Today’s Researchers *Posted in the Resource Shelf Blog,* the post discusses an article by David Stuart which looks at how, despite the huge potential of Web 2.0 technologies for the transforming of the research and publishing process, adoption is seemingly a slow affair within the world of scholarly publishing. David Stuart is an independent web analyst and consultant and honorary member of the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. *The blog post says (quote)* - It is hard to imagine a group more suited to the opportunities of Web 2.0 technologies than academics, especially when it comes to conducting and publishing research. The importance of collaboration to the scholarly process is so widely recognised that it is often now a prerequisite of funding. The potential of academic research to have a significant impact on the wider economy has not only led funding councils to stipulate that publicly-funded research papers are made freely available online, but has also seen them encourage researchers to come up with new and innovative methods of distributing research findings.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here. 4.Blog Topic – Theses and early draft deposit in repositories: is that publication? *Posted By Jenny Delasalle in the WRAP repository Blog,* the post looks at is repository deposit of a work constitutes publication and as such jeopardise the chances of publication by a more prestigious/established/profitable method and another agent. Jenny Delasalle is E-Repositories Manager at the University of Warwick. *The blog post says (quote)* - Quality issues aside, if an author were to write a paper with the intention of submitting it to a journal but wanted to make it available on OA as soon as possible through repository deposit (never happened yet although we've had some that have been accepted and are forthcoming), I would advise that author to look at the journal publisher's copyright agreement that s/he would be asked to sign. I know of at least one publisher who would consider repository deposit of the paper to constitute a prior publication, thus preventing the author from being able to sign the copyright form stating that it had not previously been published elsewhere: this was the British Psychological Society, who I investigated over a year ago. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here. 5.Blog Topic – Been Avoiding Social Media? It Just Kicked In Your Door *Posted By Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses Sidewiki, a browser plug-in that lets users leave comments on any page on the Web. Those comments will then be visible to any other user with the plug-in. Your readers are now in control of the conversation about your organization and your publications. Your readers are now in control of the conversation on your Web site. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote)* - If your publication doesn’t enable readers to comment on your online journal articles, book chapters, newsletters, or home page, it does now. Perhaps your organization is still thinking through the best way to experiment with commenting. Perhaps your organization, thoughtfully, wants to ensure that authors and/or editors have a chance to respond to comments. Maybe you are weighing the pros and cons of commenting on your publication site versus encouraging comments on Twitter or Facebook or a subject-specific site like Sermo or ResearchGate.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here.
	posted by : scope, on 10/12/2009, at 2:56:22 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Sep 28 to Oct 4
	1.Blog Topic – Has the Disruption of Publishing Already Occurred? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses a provocative post by Fake Steve Jobs about a possible Apple tablet content device taking publishers to task for lack of creativity. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote)* - Companies like Apple, Amazon, Smashwords, Adobe, Automattic (makers of WordPress), Sony, and the hundreds and thousands of feeder firms and millions of users of the communication tools and platforms they’ve built would probably already dwarf the publishing industry in aggregate revenues, and certainly outflank us in strategic clarity, funding capacity, and engineering capabilities. It’s especially obvious when you consider that publishers used to specialize in the technology and distribution systems of publishing. In fact, moreso than with content, things are what traditional publishers monetized (”. . . the publishing world is not genuinely concerned with ideas and authors, it’s concerned with selling objects (books, magazines, etc.)”). *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Giving Up the Ghost *Posted By Mark Barrett in the Ditchwalk Blog, the post discusses why the nascent online/independent/self-publishing industry needs to take a clear stand against ghostwriting. Barrett a professional freelance writer. The blog post says (quote)* - Let me stress that this is not a moral argument, but rather a practical one. Independent authors need to establish credibility. It’s the key component that will allow consumers to move away from chain-driven, brand-driven points of purchase to less centralized forms of distribution. And yes, I recognize the paradox: the bookstores are already happy to sell this kind of fraud, so why can’t online authors engage in the same sort of duplicity? The answer is that online authors need to err on the side of honesty and integrity in order to support not only their own work, but the internet as both a medium and distribution platform.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Unsustainable: OA Publishing in the Humanities and Social Sciences *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses the recently released study of the costs of journal publishing in the humanities and social sciences. The study was based on a detailed analysis of the publishing costs and revenue streams of eight humanities and social science and journals. The blog post says (quote)* - While few of these journals print in color, or include tables, figures, images, and supporting datasets (as are common in scientific publishing), it’s surprising to discover just how expensive it is to publish an article in the humanities and social sciences. The cost per page published in 2007 averaged $526, nearly double the costs reported on a similar study on scientific journals. Given that HSS articles are much longer on average than their scientific counterparts, this amounts to nearly $10,000 per published article. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Economist on "Mobile Marvels" in Emerging Markets *Posted by Andrew Savikas in the O'Reilly TOC Blog, the post discusses the changes happening as we move to the age of the mobile web, especially in emerging markets. Savikas is the VP of Digital Initiatives at O'Reilly Media. The blog post says (quote)* - when we talk about mobile it's usually in the context of mobile reading and media, that's just a small piece of what's happening as we move to the age of the mobile web, especially in emerging markets. How long will it be before everyone on Earth has a mobile phone? "It looks highly likely that global mobile cellular teledensity will surpass 100% within the next decade, and probably earlier," says Hamadoun Touré, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, a body set up in 1865 to regulate international telecoms.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 10/5/2009, at 6:49:50 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Sep 21 to Sep 27
	1.Blog Topic – A Fusion of Science 2.0, Open Science, Research 2.0 and Social Networking *Posted By Hope Leman in the Next Generation Science Blog,* the post looks at the whole subject of Science 2.0 and online social networking communities for scientists. Hope Leman is a writer and cofounder of Next Generation Science. *The blog post says (quote)* - Maybe this isn’t a social network for scientists at all, for it says on its site, “What is Nature Precedings? Nature Precedings is a permanent, citable archive for pre-publication research and preliminary findings. It is a place for researchers to share documents, including presentations, posters, white papers, technical papers, supplementary findings, and non-peer-reviewed manuscripts. It provides a rapid way to share preliminary findings, disseminate emerging results, solicit community feedback, and claim priority over discoveries. It also makes such material easy to archive, share and cite.” *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – A New Word: “Diffintermediation” *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the SSP IN meeting discussing the disintermediation of librarians and others in the traditional value chains, yet reflecting on the fact that intermediaries. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - Diffintermediation speaks to the changes we’re experiencing as intermediaries ourselves. Does peer-review hold the same value as it used to? Is it changing? What does apomediation portend for us? Do the sources we rely on want speed and distribution differences we are struggling to support? Diffintermediation also speaks to the chance to manage the change. Disintermediation suggests a helpless stance, an absolute, binary loss. Diffintermediation suggests change and the ability to respond and remain relevant and useful. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Blogging geoscience meetings *Posted By Kim Hannula in the ScienceBlogs Blog,* the post looks at potential problems with conference blogging. Over the past year, as live-blogging and live-tweeting conferences have become more common, scientific societies have had to figure out what to do about bloggers. Kim Hannula is a geology professor at a public liberal arts college in the Rockies. *The blog post says (quote)* - But geology isn't biomedicine. Our work isn't covered as much in the press, and there isn't a discipline-wide fear of being scooped, and conference talks are often about fairly mature studies (including work that's in press). Still, when I read the press guideline's for this year's Geological Society of America annual meeting, I was concerned about how they applied to me. Would it be ok to write about interesting sessions, or to discuss material not included in press releases? So I sent an e-mail to the people coordinating the press passes, and asked about blogging policies. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – There is no single future for scientific journals *Posted By Michael Nielsen in the Michael Nielsen Blog,* the post discusses the future of scientific journals. The point of view seems to be that there have been journals in the past, and now we have this interesting new medium – the internet – so the big question is how journals are going to evolve, or (if slightly more ambitious) what we’re going to replace them with? Michael Nielsen is one of the pioneers of quantum computation. *The blog post says (quote)* - The problem with this point of view is that computers and the network are extraordinarily flexible. If you believe AI enthusiasts, computers will eventually end up smarter than us, along pretty much every axis. Imagine a medium that’s smarter, more flexible, and faster than us. What could it be used to do? Of course, the dreams of the AI enthusiasts are quite some ways off. But even now, the internet is an extraordinarly flexible medium. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5.Blog Topic – Peer Review Survey 2009 *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the Preliminary findings of the 2009 Peer Review Survey which were released earlier this month. Anyone who reviews articles shouldn’t find these results surprising. *The blog post says (quote)* - There is little training for reviewers, and they often receive little or no compensation for their work. While there are benefits to knowing what your peers are working on and being able to influence the gatekeeping process, much of the time spent reviewing manuscript could be put into activities that result in greater rewards, like authorship. Moreover, one often feels that providing a timely and comprehensive review is often rewarded with yet another request for review.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 9/28/2009, at 3:45:44 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Sep 14 Sep 20
	1.Blog Topic – Google Makes Nice with News Publishers *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post is a review of Google’s relationship with publishers. It points out the inefficiencies and calls them both more “novelty” than useful. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* - The relationship has been uneasy for years. With Google News and other aggregation services, Google improved searchability and discoverability outside the boundaries of news entities to such an extent that the package called a “newspaper” lost its inherent value — single articles could be very valuable, but monetizing these in a meaningful way was impossible because they were unpredictable and easily supplanted by meta-coverage. (unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – An Adless Recovery? The Rise of Social Media as a Major Marketing Investment *Posted By John Blossom in the Shore Communication’s Contentblogger Blog,* the post looks at the rise of social media as a major marketing tool. With many forecasts beginning to predict a bottom of sorts in the ad-supported content market, can an ad recovery be too far behind? *The blog post says (quote)* - With capabilities such as these, advertising becomes less of a critical tool to formulate messages that can be spread widely and effectively to the most important and influential market participants. Instead of focusing on "spinning" markets through ad campaigns, engaging markets through social media tools and empowering clients to have influence over their peer purchasers can enable companies to empower peers and product specialists whose influence can be more direct and immediate on sales processes than ads placed in online content of general interest. Why bother paying a prominent media figure like a sports hero, for example, to get people charged up about a new product or service via ads when influential peers whose opinions are trusted by others can do it for you for free? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Cornell Open-Access Publication Fund Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,the post discusses the recent compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity, signed by five universities. is a review of Google’s relationship with publishers. The Cornell University Library issued its own narrative, which relies on different rationales. *The blog post says (quote)* - The argument for creating these funds is clearly about fairness – as embodied in the name, “Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity.” If institutions support subscription-access forms of publication, they should also support free access through author payments. Stuart Shieber and others have repeatedly used the phrase “leveling the playing field” to embody this principle. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 9/21/2009, at 3:01:08 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week Sep 7 to Sep 13
	1.Blog Topic – It Depends on What "Semantic" Is: NetBase And Natural Language Processing Hit Hiccups with HealthBase *Posted By John Blossom in the Shore Communication’s Contentblogger Blog,* the post discusses how using the language structure of content and queries to infer more than merely the presence of key terms or concepts can get a little tricky with content on the open Web. *The blog post says (quote)* - The idea of exploring sources of content using semantic tools to parse out possible causal relationships can be made to work, but these technologies need a lot of pre-defined context to guide their efforts. For example, semantic analysis tools tend to work well on documents that are either highly structured - say, a research paper abstract or a news article in which a lede paragraph contains key information in a fairly structured pattern. To get semantic processing working on more unstructured sources of content such as emails, Web pages and other more open-ended content formats requires a lot of "training data," documents that are typical of successful matches for a given domain of information.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – E-books: Tasting Blood in the Water *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses new e-reader devices and the possibilities of new textbook approaches. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* -The e-book and e-reader space is beginning to feel like the handheld business did a few years ago — a lot of companies jockeying for position, adoption rates that get your attention, deals being struck for long-term plays, and yet a sense that the mainstream breakthrough has not quite arrived. But it feels closer than ever — approaching slowly, swimming constantly, seeking, sensing.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Ethical pitfalls in academic publishing *Posted By Margaret Somerville in MercatorNet,* the post discusses ethical questions evolving not only in medical science, but in publishing as well. Margaret Somerville is director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University. *The blog post says (quote)* - Much has changed in the past few years with respect to the ethics of academic publishing. Practices that were considered normal just a few years ago, such as placing on research articles the names of people who did not participate directly in the research (for instance, a principal investigator whose only connection with the research was that his research grant supported it) are now considered unethical.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – New Technologies and the Need for Standards *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post argues that one essential way to move the e-book market forward is to settle on a standard file format, the most likely being ePub, despite its many obvious deficiencies. *The blog post says (quote)* - The market will eventually decide on dominant devices, or at least dominant features that will become common across devices, and I’m not sure there’s anything we can do to speed that process. A set of e-reader standards however, will go a long way toward moving things forward. With standards established, publishers will be able to focus on our core strengths, developing great content and information resources. That certainly beats spending all our time balancing cost versus marketshare numbers for specific devices, endlessly tweaking code and wasting our efforts creating and re-creating the same resources for each new device.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 9/14/2009, at 2:53:27 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 31 to Sep 6
	1.Blog Topic – Learning from Books — Lessons for STM Publishers *Posted By Kent Anderson in The Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post takes a look at how mass-market book publishing is undergoing major upheaval more quickly than the experts expected. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* –It was the age of information scarcity, so gatekeepers on manufacturing were also gatekeepers on taste. Now, digital publishing (including it’s cousin, print-on-demand [POD] publishing) — with its boundless capacity, disaggregated production value chain, and liberated distribution channels — is eroding these boundaries, and very quickly.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 2.Blog Topic – Doubling Down on Print: Magazine Launches Uptick in A Crunched Economy *Posted By John Blossom in the Shore Communication’s Contentblogger Blog,* the post discusses the efforts that are being undertaken these days to launch new print titles. Certainly print media has its fair share of die-hards, and, well, when it's what you do well and you want to keep doing it, it's not likely that you're going to stop any time soon. *The blog post says (quote)* –For one thing, you'll notice that the list of magazines being launched includes a strong mix of private-labeled publications for stores, enthusiast organizations and other types of very focused market niches with loyal followings and a strong desire for relevant content. These are the kinds of niches in which print media has done very well historically and also the types of publications where captive audiences are going to appeal to many advertisers and marketers. It may be less expensive to advertise online, but when you own the audience for a particular niche anyway, why not capture the value for advertisers as effectively as possible? When you're involved deeply with a very focused topic or geography, print offers a way to get very personal with an audience that still appeals to many audiences and advertisers.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 3.Blog Topic – SSP IN — INteract, INspire, and Innovate *Posted By Michael Clarke in The Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the forthcoming conference SSP IN., to be hosted by the Society for Scholarly Publishing. Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote)* – This year’s IN conference will focus on the topic of disruptive change in scholarly publishing. New technologies, new business models, cultural shifts, and the recent economic climate are combining to create both challenges and opportunities for those organizations engaged in the scholarly communication enterprise. IN is designed to help publishing professionals think through the implications of the trends shaping our industry and strategies for thriving in these uncertain times.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 4.Blog Topic – Scholarly Communications must be Syndicated *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* this post focuses how and why scholarship of the digital age must be syndicated to be significant. Burton is an Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* –Scholarly journals that go online but which keep their content from being syndicated through RSS feeds, just like those that let knowledge remain hidden behind toll-access barriers, are information silos. Scholars who send their hard-won knowledge to information silos do not really care about the impact of their work, even if they claim that work is published in a "high-impact journal." Impact is not going to be grandfathered into the digital age if those redoubtable outlets still carrying that clout from the print days do not retool the information they publish so that it can circulate in the maximized way that RSS feeds enable.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 9/7/2009, at 5:01:34 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 24 to August 30
	1.Blog Topic – Do Publishing Associations Match Publishing Realities? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent post from Outsell, a consultancy specialising in publishers and information providers, that talks about the need for a “Media Publishing Association,” a new type of organization that moves beyond print boundaries and traditional trade definitions to embrace the realities we’re all facing today. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Each of these organizations is struggling to balance interests within the scholarly communication realm, from librarians and information consumers to publishers and information producers. And there is a large amount of crossover between the organizations, year in and year out — speakers appear in multiple venues, topics are covered repeatedly over a 1-3 year period, and sometimes it seems like a travel club going from meeting to meeting. Is it time for consolidation in the association world, with a focus not on traditional constituencies and concerns but on the markets? Should we embrace all media and seek to value it, rather than defending the media of the past? Should we do this together? Is there a better way forward? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – The threat to science publishing *Posted By Aimee Whitcroft in the Science Media Centre Blog,* the post provides a well balanced view of accessibility issues is Scientific publishing. It discusses scientific blogging as one of the most important and noticeable, agents of this change. Whitcroft is Media Advisor at Science Media Centre. *The blog post says (quote)* – The debate over whether scientific research should be freely accessible or not is a heated one, with very little signs of a resolution either way anytime soon. Its proponents say that freely available scientific research advances the cause and progression of science. Its detractors says that without journals (most of which are subscription-based), there would be no peer-review process, and hence no quality control. It’s not that simple, however. One of the most important, and perhaps noticeable, agents of this change is scientific blogging: blogs written by scientists about their own and others’ work.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Scholarly Communications must be Open *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* the post is the second of a series discussing how scholarly communications must transform in the digital age. It discusses the topic of openness -- a concept that includes but goes broader than Open Access publishing. Burton is an Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* – The sort of openness upon which online culture thrives is at odds with the way academia has structured the authentication and dissemination of information. Yet scholars are relying upon the digital environment heavily (as everyone now does who has any access to it), sensing new opportunities for knowledge just as others see new opportunities online for business or politics.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Naughty Twins and the Impact of Journals *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how publishing identical copies of articles in separate journals and observing their performance would solve the problem in measuring the effect of the journal on the articles published within. But multiple publication is largely considered an unethical practice. *The blog post says (quote)* – Republication happens, and the outcome of these duplicate articles creates a natural experiment upon which to answer the question of how much citation impact a journal exerts on its articles. In their manuscript, “The impact factor’s Matthew effect: a natural experiment in bibliometrics,” released August 21st on the arXiv, Vincent Larivière and Yves Gingras, both at the University of Quebec in Montreal analyzed 4,532 pairs of identical papers published in two different journals. By comparing identical papers, the authors were able to control for article quality and focus on the citation effect of the journal. Their approach is no different than measuring the effect of environment on human development when identical twins are raised in separate households. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/31/2009, at 2:03:21 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 17 to August 23
	1.Blog Topic – Who is killing science on the Web? Publishers or Scientists? *Posted By Jason Hoyt in the Mendeley Blog,* the post discusses why are things so bad with science on the Web and who or what is responsible for this mess. Hoyt is Research Director at Mendeley.com *The blog post says (quote)* – Two groups are responsible: Scientists and, as you can tell, Publishers. decide what is and isn’t fit for publishing. They decide when and where you can self-archive manuscripts and supplementary data. They mesmerize and trap us with the lure of journal impact factors like a baby unable to wean itself. Until opinion leaders in the scientific community come out and acknowledge that the way forward is through Open Data and Open Publishing on the Web, there will be little change. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Pubget: Time-saver or Content Aggregator? *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses Pubget as an important source of potential bias when comparing the efforts of scholarly publishers and the interests of their readers. *The blog post says (quote)* – While I have no doubt that Pubget will become more sophisticated and useful as a literature tool, I see the this service as the first of many upcoming attempts to aggregate, repackage, and redistribute the academic literature. And unlike Google Books, no one had to do any scanning. I would not be surprised by the appearance of similar services which aggregate peer-reviewed manuscripts deposited into PubMed Central as part of the NIH Public Access mandate, or a commercial service which scrapes institutional repositories for journal manuscripts, removing the institutional branding in the process. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Two Stories from the Management Trap *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the management trap of disruptive technology. The post illustrates the issue with the help of two stories. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – The management trap of disruptive technology is insidious because, like all good traps, it doesn’t look like one at first. It looks prudent and fits a corporate culture of conservative, data-driven management. But incumbents can’t recommend change because it would mean recommending something less profitable, less accepted, and less proven than what they’re already doing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Book Returnability *Posted by pubconvict in Good for the publishing heart Blog,* the post discusses how publishing companies and bookstores today are striving hard to gain leverage in the competitive position and the growth of the industry made them consider the necessity of a book returnability program…. *The blog post says (quote)* – Publishing books with a long shelf life is only effective if you can maintain their availability over the long run, and print-on-demand certainly achieves that goal. The concern of having a return program only surfaces if the topic of marketing your book turns to those online bookstores. If you plan to ignore the offline bookstores, then perhaps a book returnable program might not be necessary. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/24/2009, at 3:58:14 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 10 to August 16
	1.Blog Topic – Google Knol — Vanity Publishing Fails Again *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent article about the decline and potential demise of Google Knol. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Well, Knol indeed seems to have avoided all those pitfalls, and is now beginning the sad walk into the waves doomed online properties take when their day has passed. Even the bright spots in Knol’s brief flash of promise were reflections of its ultimate failings, as Slate documented last fall detailing two entries about Sarah Palin.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Print, beware! Publishers are "on the road" to pure digital *Posted By John Timmer in the Ars Technica Blog,* the post looks at how digital publishing and open access policies are changing the face of academic publishing. Timmer is Science Editor, et Observatory moderator. *The blog post says (quote)* – Many of the trends that develop here are likely to make their way into the larger publishing market. That's what made news that broke earlier this year so striking: a leaked memo suggested that the American Chemical Society's publishing wing was almost entirely abandoning print and would focus instead on digital publishing. Since then, however, the ACS said that it will continue printing "condensed" versions of its journals for the time being.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Enterprise Publishers Confront Fallout from Earnings *Posted By John Blossom in the Shore Communication’s Contentblogger Blog,* the post discusses publishers’ outlook and aggressiveness in challenging markets. The challenges to their earnings in a tough economy are taking their toll on many of them. *The blog post says (quote)* – Traditional forms of enterprise investment in subscription information services are down, while investments in new and innovative approaches to information services are being metered out judiciously by major vendors in the midst of continuing cost control pressures. While a certain amount of down-time from investments in growth after cutbacks is understandable, I am increasingly concerned that many enterprise publishers may be ill-prepared to manage a comeback to healthy sales as the economic outlook begins to brighten. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Is Open Scholarship Too Risky for Young Scholars? *Posted By Gideon Burton in the Academic Evolution Blog,* the post discusses the old and new paradigms for scholarship, and how navigating between the old and new paradigms for scholarship is going to be tricky and will depend a lot on the particular discipline, institution, and person involved. Burton is Asst. Professor of English at Brigham Young University and former Associate Editor of BYU Studies, the university's academic quarterly journal. *The blog post says (quote)* – That is the standard line given to would-be academic innovators; however, this is an insidious proposition, since it really requires a young scholar to withdraw from any serious engagement with any community except that niche peer group who must be satisfied in order to gain tenure. By the time one does attain tenure, he or she is convinced that the public doesn't really matter, and that the only real work of consequence is what that handful of specialists acknowledges as such. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/17/2009, at 3:51:45 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week August 3 to August 9
	1.Blog Topic – Will Feudalism Fade from Knowledge Exchange? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how forces leading to the democratization of knowledge exchange and creativity continue to push at the foundations of academia and traditional publishing. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – The lords of one set of castles (librarians) must bring arms against the lords of another set of castles (publishers). Will we array our forces on the field of battle, shed blood together, and those who did not fight will think their manhoods cheap when years from now those in battle speak of that day? Perhaps there is another way — the continued democratization of knowledge exchange. Google seems to think there’s a way forward for books that doesn’t require bloodshed, but perhaps does threaten a few castles. Others seem to think there’s a way to publish thoughts about science without using the journal form.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Write, Publish and Market a Book with No Out-of-Pocket Money *Posted By KathleenGageSpeaker in the Prasusit's Blog,* the post discusses the benefits of Self-publishing and how this mode of publishing has become one of the best ways to get your manuscript to market quickly. *The blog post says (quote)* – A great model for achieving success is to self-publish and actively promote your book. Self-publishing is one of the best ways to get your manuscript to market quickly is to. Another great benefit of self-publishing is you have complete control of the creative process. You make the decisions on content, editing, cover design, title and you reap the profits. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Bibliographic Management meets Web 2.0 *Posted By Martin Fenner in the Gobbledygook Blog,* the post discusses an event on bibliographic management tools, organized by science librarians Frank Norman, Nathalie Cornee and Betsy Anagnostelis. Martin Fenner is Clinical Fellow in Oncology, Hannover Medical School. *The blog post says (quote)* – In the discussion at the end we all felt that all reference managers used that day were up to the challenge (Connotea and CiteULike couldn’t put references into a Word document, but managed the rest of the tasks perfectly), and we decided not to declare a winner. We also felt that the market is developing so fast, that a feature comparison looked very different 12 months ago (e.g. Mendeley just launched, no Web version of Zotero), and will again look very different 12 months from today. Most librarians in the room therefore felt that they probably have to support most of these tools at their institutions. We briefly talked about the cost of these tools (of the tools that were demoed, only Endnoteweb and Refworks are commercial). This might be an issue when licenses have to be renewed. I’ve set up a reference manager feature comparison chart a few months ago, and have updated this chart after the workshop.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Does Digital Cannibalize Print? Not Yet. *Posted by Andrew Savikas in the O'Reilly Radar Blog,* the post discusses that most publishers are all about securing the value of content. However, the challenge of course is working out how to secure enough value to ensure that content QUALITY is secured. Savikas is the VP of Digital Initiatives at O'Reilly Media. *The blog post says (quote)* – If there really was cannibalization happening, you'd expect to see print sales underperforming the overall computer book market, but that's not what's happening. By looking at the data and these charts we infer that while O'Reilly physical book sales are down compared to last year, this seems more the result of the drop in demand for computer books since the financial meltdown than the impact of ebook sales. Since O'Reilly is a relatively prolific publisher of econtent we would expect that ebooks would affect O'Reilly's physical book sales more than other publishers and we don't see that evidence in these results.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/10/2009, at 4:05:47 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 26 to August 2
	1.Blog Topic – Diversion, Invention, and Socialized Medicine *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent BMJ paper by Steven Greenberg entitled, “How Citation Distortions Create Unfounded Authority.” Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Social network theory has a role in this. Beyond the appeal of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools, the effect social citation has on the expression of research, in medicine and in other fields, is another reason why publishers need to understand and learn to deploy social network solutions — to enhance collaboration, and to eliminate misleading information cascades. Social citation is the “socialized medicine” we should be worrying about in scholarly publishing. But can it be reformed? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Publishing science on the web *Posted By John Wilbanks in the ScienceBlogs Blog,* the post discusses the way we use publication in science. Wilbanks runs the Science Commons project at Creative Commons. *The blog post says (quote)* – Wikis and blogs provide almost costless registration and dissemination of new scientific communication. But resistance to wikis and blogs is a feature of science - Nature's web efforts are yet to make significant revenue despite significant individual use. Is it a matter of certification? Preservation? Cultural aspects related to the way we fund and reward scientists? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – What, exactly, is Open Science? *Posted By Dan in the OpenScience project Blog,* the post looks at how can we design or modify the scientific reward systems to make methodology, data, communication, and collaboration the natural state of affairs for scientists. *The blog post says (quote)* – In general, we’re moving towards an era of greater transparency in all of these topics (methodology, data, communication, and collaboration). The problems we face in gaining widespread support for Open Science are really about incentives and sustainability. How can we design or modify the scientific reward systems to make these four activities the natural state of affairs for scientists? Right now, there are some clear disincentives to participating in these activities. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Downloads, Citations, and Positional Effects in the arXiv *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the result of an analysis of articles deposited into the arXiv by Cornell professor and inventor of the arXiv, Paul Ginsparg and graduate student Asif-ul Haque. *The blog post says (quote)* – In determining what makes the articles in top positions more likely to be cited and read more frequently, the researchers divided their dataset — articles submitted within the first 10 minutes after 4:00 pm (”Early”) were compared to articles appearing after 4:3o pm (”Not early”). What is noteworthy with these results is that the publication of the submission list is fleetingly ephemeral, lasting only one day. It is surprising that such an early event can show up years later as a citation advantage. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 8/3/2009, at 3:12:26 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 20 to July 26
	1.Blog Topic – Service or Content? Another False Choice *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at if publishers today are in the business of providing content or service? Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Publishers have been about providing content through assemblage and distribution of printed materials — a service. Everything that was made invisible to users indicates the level of service, from securing the printing contracts, buying and warehousing the paper, and funding the postage to the editorial travails and work of running a large enterprise. Publishing is a familiar content-service hybrid. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Academic Journals in the ‘Network’ Economy *Posted By Jordan J Ballor in the Acton Institute Power Blog,* the post discusses the current state of the scholarly journal amid the challenges and opportunities in the digital age. Jordan serves as associate editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. *The blog post says (quote)* – There are a number of particular assertions made in support of this conclusion with which I would quibble. I stand by the prediction in my earlier piece, “Scholarship at the Crossroads: The Journal of Markets & Morality Case Study,” (PDF) in which I state, “for the foreseeable future electronic journals will not replace print journals, but both will exist together in a complementary fashion, each addressing different demands.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Horns of a Dilemma: Open Access or Academic Freedom *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post argues that open access publication funds create a dilemma, where librarians are forced to choose between fiscal irresponsibility and conflict with academic freedom. *The blog post says (quote)* – There are essentially two different ways in which one can govern an open access publication fund: manage it, or leave it alone. The latter is essentially what libraries have done so far. Authors submit their publication bills to the fund and a librarian simply reimburses them. Similarly, one could get “pre-approval” (just like working with health insurance companies), and the library will take care of the rest. When there are sufficient funds in these accounts, everyone is happy–faculty get what they want, which is to publish as much as they want. As long as someone other than the author pays the bill, everything is copasetic.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Giving Away Academic Books Online Can Actually Help Print Sales *Posted By David Wiley in the Chronicle of Higher Education Blog,* the post discusses the impact of “free” on academic-book distribution. David Wiley is an associate professor of instructional psychology and technology at Brigham Young University. *The blog post says (quote)* – Not all authors or publishers will choose the dual path of free online and paid print publishing. But for those who have a sense of moral obligation to disseminate their work as broadly as possible, there is good news. The common-sense notion that providing free digital copies of a work decreases its sales is incorrect in some circumstances. Additional research is needed to understand these circumstances in sufficient, actionable detail.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/27/2009, at 1:02:30 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 13 to July 19
	1.Blog Topic – Positioned to Fail the Future *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the problem facing book publishers — that is, instead of cultivating new talent and finding ways to adapt to modern reading habits, they’re hunkering down and creating a business with an over-reliance on blockbusters, essentially milking what’s left of their existing model. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Publishers often feel that they’re taking “the long view” as they cultivate authors, develop multi-year plans, and reassess their catalogs and offerings. But could that long view be an illusion? Is it just focusing on the far end of the box they’re inside? The box that seems to be cluttering up everyone’s information basement these days? Are they inherently set up to fail the future? What happens when changes threaten deep disruption? Do publishers have the tools and approaches they need to respond with a truly long view? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Scholarly publishing in Africa: the online potential, the online challenge *Posted By Lauryn Oates in the PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference Blog,* the post discusses a study conducted to improve our current largely anecdotal understanding of scientific publishing in Africa. The study involved active participants within the scholarly community - authors, editors, publishers, graduate students, faculty, scientists, librarians, IT staff and university administrators. *The blog post says (quote)* – Significantly, the study found the primary incentive for the continued publication of journals when there is no economic incentive to be reputation. There is thus an important level of drive evident, something which can resource further developments. There is growth in circulation numbers of scholarly journals.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Charting a course for STM through the many constellations of social media *Posted By Andrew Spong in the STweM Blog,* the post discusses the potential applications that social media products may have on scientific, technical and medical communities. Andrew Spong is Consultant, STweM. *The blog post says (quote)* – Social media have a happy knack of prompting creative people to produce aesthetically pleasing things. Whilst only the most trusting and easily pleased of souls may look to scholarly publishers as a source of inspiration and innovation, only the most suspicious and truculent of observers would choose to dismiss as entirely irrelevant to their interest the uses to which other industries and verticals are putting emerging new media platforms, tools and utilities. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Challenging Assumptions on Open Access Cost Savings *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the report “Open Access – What are the economic benefits? A comparison of the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Denmark,” written by John Houghton, a professor of economic policy at Victoria University in Australia. *The blog post says (quote)* – If you accept that most of the actors involved in generating scientific knowledge are located at institutions that have seamless access to the vast majority of published literature, it’s difficult to accept that open access publishing is going to speed things up. Most of the cost savings that Houghton estimates are small, but add scores of small savings together and, voilà, you arrive at a huge discount. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/20/2009, at 2:28:27 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week July 6 to July 12
	1.Blog Topic – Amazon’s Fifth Stage *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post is the final entry in a three-part series on the topic of how digital players in the consumer space — especially Amazon — may factor into the future of STM publishers. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote)* – Publishers and librarians concerned with scholarly materials should pay attention to what is developing at Amazon, as it may play a very large role in future developments for all kinds of publications. With much of scholarly communications going digital, I wonder what strategies publishers and libraries have for the actual way digital content is likely to be consumed at the edge of the network. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Dreaming the Impossible Dream? CancelAds Removes Display Ads from Online Content *Posted By Jolie O'Dell in the ReadWriteStart Blog,* the post discusses not-so-revolutionary but certainly unheard-of monetization scheme called CancelAds. According to the post, Publishers can still make money from their content even without annoying their readers with online ads. Jolie O'Dell is a journalist, blogger, and video blogger. *The blog post says (quote)* – Imagine a world where users aren't irritated by online ads, yet publishers still make money from their content. Ad-free sites are definitely more aesthetically pleasing, from a UI and design perspective. And an ad-free site would also have significantly decreased load time. But will CancelAds and their partner sites be able to make money? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Farewell to Hard Copies *Posted By Derek Lowe in In The Pipeline Blog,* the post discusses an American Chemical Society memo in which the VP of the publishing division talks about how the printed journals are going to be phased out. Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist experienced in preclinical drug discovery. *The blog post says (quote)* – I've been expecting that. I used to have a print subscription to the Journal of Organic Chemistry back in the early and mid-1990s, and I took them with me in a move in 1997. I interrupted my subscription around that time, and never got around to renewing it. By then, online access was starting to become a more convenient way to locate old articles, and as the ACS improved their archives the advantages became overwhelming. Then I got used to following the new issues online, either by going to the journal's site or by RSS feeds. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Sci Foo Camp – Day 1 *Posted By Michael Clarke in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses Day 1 at the Sci Foo Camp 2009 that began Jul 10, 2009, with opening remarks by Tim O’Reilly (of O’Reilly Media), Timo Hannay (of Nature Publishing Group), and Larry Page (of Google). Michael is the founder and principal of Clarke Publishing Group. *The blog post says (quote)* – “Foo” is an acronym for “Friends Of O’Reilly” (as in O’Reilly Media). The first Foo Camp was held in 2003 at the O’Reilly headquarters in Sebastopol. The event was conceived as an “unconference”—a gathering wherein the participants create an agenda on the spot, organizing sessions on topics that attendees find interesting. Sci Foo Camp is a distinct conference from Foo Camp. Whereas Foo Camp focuses on the future of technology, Sci Foo Camp—now in its fourth year—is about the intersection of science and technology. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/13/2009, at 3:09:51 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 28 to July 5
	1.Blog Topic – Is scientific publishing about to be disrupted? *Posted By Michael Nielsen in the Michael Nielsen Blog,* the post draw your attention to a striking difference between today’s scientific publishing landscape, and the landscape of ten years ago. Michael Nielsen is one of the pioneers of quantum computation. *The blog post says (quote)* – Scientific publishers should be terrified that some of the world’s best scientists, people at or near their research peak, people whose time is at a premium, are spending hundreds of hours each year creating original research content for their blogs, content that in many cases would be difficult or impossible to publish in a conventional journal. What we’re seeing here is a spectacular expansion in the range of the blog medium. By comparison, the journals are standing still.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – The Impact Factor: A Tool from a Bygone Era? *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses deficiencies in the calculation of Impact Factors of journals. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – There are well-known deficiencies with the IF, but I think the current deficiency that’s being revealed is the scope of it — or the lack thereof. Citation is occurring in new ways, and scientific thinking is not always propagated via the published scientific article. Take, for instance, Twitter posts and blog posts about scholarly journal articles and findings, a good many done by peers in the field. These certainly qualify, philosophically, as propagation of scientific ideas and as published records of citation, yet these don’t count in IF scores.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – Beyond Romary & Armbruster On Institutional Repositories *Posted By open access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog,* the post discusses the current system of institutional repositories. Almost all institutional repositories today are near-empty. Until and unless they are successfully filled with their target content, talk about their "answering needs" or being made "sustainable" is moot. *The blog post says (quote)* –The primary target content of both the Open Access movement and the Institutional (and Central) Repository movement is refereed research. Institutions are the universal providers of all that refereed research output, funded and unfunded, in all scholarly and scientific disciplines, worldwide. Institutions have a fundamental interest in hosting, inventorying, monitoring, managing, assessing, and showcasing their own research output, as well as in maximizing its uptake, usage and impact. Yet not only is most of the research output of most institutions failing to be deposited in the institution's own repository: most of it is not being deposited in any other repository either. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Successful Web 2.0 Business Models *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post looks at what could be be the missing step that can replace the publishing business model. discusses deficiencies in the calculation of Impact Factors of journals. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – 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. The Web 2.0 world is filled with start-ups (and well-established companies) that are building expensive new networking ventures with no obvious business plan. The idea is that you’ll wait until they catch on, then figure out how to make money from them. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 7/6/2009, at 4:07:52 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 22 to June 28
	1.Blog Topic – How Libraries Can Find Money in Clouds *Posted By Joseph Esposito in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses the impact of the current economic climate in the scholarly communications sector. Esposito is a Bio Management consultant for strategy in publishing and digital media. *The blog post says (quote)* – Libraries and their representative consortia and professional associations have circulated strongly worded memoranda about the nature of what is being called a crisis, putting their vendors, principally publishers, on notice that some subscriptions will be canceled, no price increases will be tolerated, and new products are to be avoided. I find this last point the most troubling. No new products? But that’s what’s being said.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here 2.Blog Topic – Libraries, eBooks, and the Mobile Web: A Long Ways to Go *Posted By Frederic Lardinois in the ReadWriteWeb Blog,* the post discusses a new Cambridge University report according to which students aren't interested in being able to read eBooks and eJournals on their mobile phones. Instead, users are far more interested in opening hours, location maps, contact info, and access to the library catalog. Frederic Lardinois is a Writer for ReadWriteWeb *The blog post says (quote)* – According to the researchers, libraries that serve colleges should invest in text alerting services, and text reference services instead of mobile web services. With text alerting services, users could receive alerts when books are due, for example, while text reference services would give students access to the library reference desk over SMS. The report also advises libraries to allow mobile phone use in their buildings, "as long as they are set to silent or to flight mode. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3.Blog Topic – The Freedom of Not Owning Books *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses how the quality of the Kindle experience isn’t necessarily about the e-books but about the wireless and its side-effects. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – Discussions about digital rights management (DRM) and the limitations of sharing or keeping books purchased through the Kindle hit on a certain way of realizing or feeling the value of textual material — basically, ownership. And a lot of our “book” mental model still rests on the concept of ownership. Publishers implement DRM because they’re built (currently) on the value of ownership of the work. Users want to share or keep what they’ve purchased to enjoy the rights of ownership. But the Kindle experience changes this mental model. Wireless shopping and storage make using it a very different experience. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4.Blog Topic – Open Access and the A-Bomb *Posted By Richard Poynder in the Open and Shut? Blog,* the post looks at why the first scientists to embrace Open Access (OA) were physicists. According to Poynder, economists and computer scientists aside perhaps, no other discipline can claim to have embraced OA as enthusiastically as physicists. *The blog post says (quote)* – Many have wondered why the first scientists to embrace Open Access (OA) were physicists. That physicists were the OA trailblazers is not in doubt: it was, after all, theoretical physicist Paul Ginsparg who in 1991 created the seminal physics preprint repository arXiv; and today physicists as a matter of course deposit their preprints in arXiv before sending them to a publisher.(unquote) The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/29/2009, at 3:06:14 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 15 to June 21
	1.Blog Topic – Two-Up Publishing & the Erosion of Print *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a recent announcement made by the American Chemical Society to reduce printing costs. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. *The blog post says (quote)* – I was slapping my forehead when I read about the American Chemical Society’s brilliant solution to reducing printing costs while satisfying authors, librarians, and (possibly) readers. Their insight is what I like to call a “blinding flash of the obvious” — print two pages at once by flipping them landscape and reducing them to fit. It’s what ACS is calling “rotated and condensed.” *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 2. *Blog Topic – Four roles for publishers: staying relevant when you are no longer a gatekeeper* *Posted By Andy Oram in the Tools of Change for Publishing Blog,* the post focuses on content production and the roles publishers play in adding quality. The post also discusses how publishers are affected by the presence of so much online material. Oram is editor at O’Reilly Media. *The blog post says (quote)* – Publishers still have roles to play when we are no longer gatekeepers. But we have to renew our relevance in environments where enormous amounts of information are put online by different participants, with ample facilities for commenting and linking. These new technologies and norms force us to look at every area where we traditionally boast of adding quality, and to find new ways to apply our skills. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 3. Blog Topic – “Don’t ask, don’t tell” rights retention for scholarly articles *Posted By Stuart Shieber in The Occasional Pamphlet Blog,* the post discusses the “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to online distribution by authors. Publishers officially forbid online distribution, authors do it anyway without telling the publishers, and publishers don’t ask them to stop even though it violates contractual obligations. *The blog post says (quote)* – With the availability of the internet, the marginal cost of distribution of a scholarly paper has been reduced to essentially zero. That particular economy of scale benefit that traditional print publishing relied on has disappeared. Still, participation in the traditional publication system remains important for its peer-review-based vetting system. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 4. Blog Topic – Physics Papers and the arXiv *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog,* the post discusses a presentation by Tim Ingoldsby from the American Institute of Physics at the 2009 Council of Science Editor’s Annual Meeting. In the presentation, Tim takes on a myth that has been reiterated over and over again in the case for self-archiving: that everything published in physics can be found in the arXiv. *The blog post says (quote)* – It would be naïve to believe that self-archiving has no effect on scholarly publishing. For some narrow sub-disciplines of physics, it has become part of the normal process of disseminating research findings. Generalizing the experiences of publishing in high-energy physics to the entire domain of physics is a tall order: Making a further generalization to all of scholarly publishing is even more amazing. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here 5. *Blog Topic – PEERing through the scholarly publishing gloom* *Posted By Gareth J Johnson in The UoL Library Blog,* the post discusses the PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) project. The post looks at if PEER will mediate discussions twixt the various stakeholders?; Will PEER change the way our repository functions?. *The blog post says (quote)* – Perhaps it is too early to pour cold water on what PEER can, may or will achieve – but I’ve seen these big EU wide initiatives before (I’m thinking of DRIVER) which have had only a minor impact within the UK HEI repository community. On the other hand initiatives such as the RSP or UKCoRR have had a real beneficial role directly supporting repository workers as well as performing a research and stakeholder interface function. IMHO we need more of these, and less of the long term study initiatives. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/22/2009, at 5:12:47 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 08 to June 14
	1.Blog Topic – Are the Harvard open-access policies unfair to publishers? *Posted By Stuart Shieber in The occasional pamphlet Blog, the post takes a closer look at if Harvard open-access policies are in some sense unfair to subscription-based journals. Stuart Shieber is professor of computer science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and director of the university’s Office for Scholarly Communications. The blog post says (quote)* – By way of background, the Harvard open-access policies specify that faculty authors grant a nonexclusive license to the university to distribute our articles, which can be waived for any reason at the sole discretion of the authors. The license applies immediately upon copyright vesting in the article, and thus predates any transfer of copyright to a publisher. If a publisher has a policy that is inconsistent with this license — for instance in requiring that no distributions occur until expiration of an embargo period — then it must either make an exception for an article falling under the OA policy or get the author to obtain a waiver of the license. Open-access journal publishers, who do not mandate embargoes on distribution, will not need to engage their authors in obtaining waivers. The publisher in question thought that this difference was an unfairness toward embargo-carrying subscription-based publishers because it favored open-access publishers.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 2.Blog Topic - Open Access Publisher Accepts Nonsense Manuscript for Dollars *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post calls attention to the vital importance of sound and ethical editorial practice for all scholarly publishers. The blog post says (quote)* - Would a publisher accept a completely nonsensical manuscript if the authors were willing to pay Open Access publication charges? After being spammed with invitations to publish in Bentham Science journals earlier this year, I decided to find out. Using SCIgen, a software that generates grammatically correct, "context-free" (i.e. nonsensical) papers in computer science, I quickly created an article, complete with figures, tables, and references. The manuscript was given two co-authors, David Phillips and Andrew Kent. Bentham confirmed receipt of my submission the very next day (January 30, 2009). Nearly four months later, I received a response - the article was accepted. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 3.Blog Topic – Tag networks on social sites may predict next Internet fad *Posted By Casey Johnston in the Arstechnica Blog, the post discusses a new analysis of data that reveals that, while the number of tags grows roughly in proportion to the growth of content, users can unwittingly provide bridges between networks of seemingly unrelated concepts. Casey Johnston is a student at Columbia University in Applied Physics. The blog post says (quote)* – The academic community has recently started deploying complex network theory, which involves the mathematical dissection of relationships among sometimes very disparate entities, from data to online communities. What differentiates complex network theory from regular network theory is the ability to account for unusual or subtle features in the network. Researchers have recently applied this kind of mathematical modeling to what they termed "social annotation systems," better known to the Internet as tagging. In this case, the subtle feature they're trying to detect is how the human mind creates and operates within this sort of network.” *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 4.Blog Topic – Bing and Wave: New Technologies with Different Aims *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses the scope and aims of the recently released new technologies – Bing and Wave - from Microsoft and Google. The blog post says (quote)* – Bing adds some new categorization schemes and a few interface tweaks, but nothing revolutionary. Despite the $100 million Microsoft plans to use for marketing Bing, I have a hard time seeing it taking over the search market. Wave is Google’s attempt to reinvent e-mail, an experiment on a much grander scale than Bing’s attempt to recreate and slightly extend Google. The premise behind Wave is, “What would email look like if we set out to invent it today?” *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/15/2009, at 6:28:16 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week June 01 to June 07
	1. *Blog Topic – Publishers and the Future of Reading* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses an article by Clive Thompson published in Wired entitled, 'The Future of Reading.' The article cites examples showing how books can break loose of their traditional moorings and become interactive experiences. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote)* – Despite changes in technology (including Google’s recent moves in this space), we have a distance to go. I’ve recently read many exchanges on blogs that show me how deeply invested authors are in having a finished good, a printed and bound book to hold and covet. My own experience with my novel in printed form is that there is a pleasant finality with a completed, bound (and bounded) print book. You can breathe a sigh of relief that it’s done and truly exists.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 2. *Blog Topic – Choosing a journal for the neck-posture paper: why open access is important* *Posted by Dr. Michael P. Taylor of the University of Portsmouth, in the SV-POW Blog,* the post discusses the various criteria that come in to play in picking a journal to publish your work. 'How to choose a journal' is something of relevance to all academics that doesn’t get a lot of coverage. *The blog post says (quote)* – Still, that question is a nice jumping-off point to discuss something of relevance to all academics that doesn’t get a lot of coverage: how to choose a journal. There are plenty of criteria that come in to play in picking a journal, and people will vary in how much weight their place on each. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 3. *Blog Topic – The Consumer Price Index and the Argument for OA* *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses how journal prices have been outstripping general inflation. The blog post says (quote)* – The journal price inflation comparison routinely shows up in Open Access resolutions, such as the one recently voted down by faculty at the University of Maryland. The comparison is more than just a simple statement of fact — it forms the basis of an argument that publishers are engaged in profiteering and a pronouncement that the current model of publishing is unsustainable, or more emphatically stated, "broken".(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here. 4. *Blog Topic – Who Cares About Raw Data?* *Posted By Jesse in the OpenScriptures Blog, the post discusses what is open access to raw data. Open Scriptures is committed to fostering the development of raw data on the internet so that developers will have access to the data that they need to create great web applications. The blog post says (quote)* – To the point, raw data is the essential first step in the process of presenting information in meaningful and helpful ways. Thus, even though most web users do not seem to care about raw data, in reality, they actually care a great deal. Content providers need to put their raw data online in a way that is accessible to developers so that they can do their job creating applications that make the data useful for the rest of the world.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here 5. *Blog Topic – Social Networking – Tips, Tricks, and Talent* *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses social media in publishing. The topic was part of a discussion during the SSP Annual Meeting last week. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote)* – The answer to a lot of these predicaments was almost always something like, "Get over it." The social media space is only growing, and we’re still in its infancy, with device convergence and bandwidth immersion likely to drive it deeper into our lives. It’s not going away, folks. It’s going to define the next few eras of the Web.(unquote) The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/8/2009, at 4:50:31 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 25 to May 31
	1.Blog Topic – E-reading in Academia *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen blog, the post discusses a presentation by David Seaman from Dartmouth College Library on the topic E-books and e-reading in academia. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote)* – One major observation he made is that Apple has become the de facto standard on their campus, offering a free iPod Touch to any student who buys an Apple laptop. These multi-use devices prove very useful to students, and the integrations invite usage. Single-use devices like Amazon’s Kindle are never seen on campus. Kindle’s are "what my Dad uses." Ouch.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Here 2.Blog Topic – Against Squandering Scarce Library Funds on Pre-Emptive Gold OA Without First Mandating Green OA *Posted By open access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog, the post looks at why Cornell University would want to throw $50K of scarce library funds at funding Gold OA publication without first mandating Green OA (for 99% of Cornell's annual journal article output) at no cost at all. The blog post says (quote)* – If and when all of Cornell's annual journal article output -- about 7.5K articles per year, according to Web of Science -- is made Green OA by a self-archiving mandate, and all other universities do likewise, the planet will have 100% Green OA to all journal articles. If and when the availability of universal green OA induces institutions to cancel all their journal subscriptions, then Cornell's $9M annual windfall cancellation savings will be more than enough to pay the peer review costs for Gold OA for its annual 7.5K articles. Paying a much higher price per article pre-emptively now, when the relevant funds are still tied up in subscriptions, while not even providing Green OA to 100% of Cornell's own research output, is a real head-shaker. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at – Here 3.Blog Topic – The End of "Free" *Posted By David Crotty in the Scholarly Kitchen blog, the post discusses how the word "free" has emerged as a marketing technique to get your product to stand out from its competitors. But is "free" reaching the end of its value as a marketing scheme? The blog post says (quote)* – The problem is that as more and more content is made free, the market gets crowded, and being free is no longer enough to get your content noticed. Sure, Doctorow and the bands mentioned above got a lot of press coverage for their free efforts. But what happens to the next author or band to try this method? What about the tenth? The hundredth? When there are thousands of bands offering their output for free, does this business model lose its effectiveness? *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at – Here 4.Blog Topic – Should the Foology Society sell its journals to commercial publishers *Posted By Peter Murray Rust in the A Scientist and the Web Blog, the post discusses the commercial prospects of society journals. Peter is now Reader in Molecular Informatics at the University of Cambridge and Senior Research Fellow of Churchill College. The blog post says (quote)* I still trust learned societies to behave honorably (and when they do not it is deeply upsetting). I do not now trust commercial publishers to act honorably in all circumstances. The lobbying in Congress, Parliament, Europe by commercial publishers is often directly against the interests of scientists, most notably through the draconian imposition of copyright. The PRISM affair highlighted the depths to which some publishers will go to protect their income rather than the integrity of the domain. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at – Here 5.Blog Topic – The Real-Time Web Emerges *Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen blog, the post discusses social applications like Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, blogs in a new era of the Web — the public real-time Web. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote)* – Before these came along, the real-time Web was hidden in private email exchanges and discussion boards. Any public real-time Web was too small to matter. Even things like Digg hadn't quite reached the point of major significance. This is a potentially seismic shift, but it's happening in a way that requires us to think about it rather than feel it. It's not jarring. We’re being transported by it, so we only notice it by measuring our movement against what is stationary. And, believe it or not, that stationary object might be Google.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Here
	posted by : scope, on 6/1/2009, at 5:07:12 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 18 to May 24
	1.Blog Topic – Galileo opened the heavens with Open Access *Posted in the Academic Evolution Blog, the post discusses how Open Access scholarship has seeped into the mainstream in spite of the resistance. The blog post says (quote)* – We should be better stewards of our instruments of knowledge--humble enough to discard systems that shut down epistemological evolution. The restrictions of conventional toll-access and peer-reviewed scholarship keep knowledge in the low orbit of what is familiar and controllable. But there are Galileos out there who have caught sight of higher worlds. They are learning to bypass systems of knowledge in order to achieve the purposes that those systems seem to have forgotten. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 2.Blog Topic –Docs at BIO: Lilly Counsel Discusses Patent Issues Regarding Personalized Medicine *Posted By Donald Zuhn in the Patent Docs Blog, the post discusses a presentation by Brian Barrett, Associate General Patent Counsel at Eli Lilly & Company, on patent-related obstacles for personalized medicine. Donald Zuhn is a Patent Docs author. The blog post says (quote)* – With regard to patent-related obstacles for personalized medicine, Mr. Barrett discussed the recent Association for Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gene patenting case, and noted that the Supreme Court has not had an opportunity to address the patentability of "isolated DNA.". *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 3.Blog Topic – Fascinating Ida *Posted By Bex Walton in the PLoS one Community Blog, the post discusses a scientific article documenting the discovery of an early primate, named Darwinius masillae. Walton is Publications Manager, PLoS ONE at Public Libary of Science. The blog post says (quote)* – Many reports in the media and in the blogosphere have questioned the use of the term "missing link" to describe this fossil and we addressed this issue in yesterday’s post. Regardless, the fact that the fossil is remarkably complete and well preserved means that it provides important information on the evolution of primates during a time period where little evidence exists. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here 4.Blog Topic – PrintFriendly Makes Blogs Printable *Posted By Pete Cashmore in the Mashable Blog, the post discusses a new site that lets you enter the URL of a webpage and get a printable version: just the content and inline images, in a very readable font. A web technology consultant, Pete Cashmore is the founder of the Mashable blog. The blog post says (quote)* – It doesn’t work perfectly: sites that have in-text widgets (like Sphere’s site previews or Blippr’s review widgets) don’t convert particularly well. PrintFriendly could compensate for these issues by allowing you to edit the document before printing. Nonetheless, it’s a handy tool to have at your fingertips should you ever need a quick printout without wasting ink. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/25/2009, at 3:16:00 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 11 to May 17
	1.Blog Topic – Against Squandering Scarce Research Funds on Pre-Emptive Gold OA Without First Mandating Green OA Posted By open access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog, the post discusses distracting focus on pre-emptive Gold OA as the biggest retardant on OA progress today. The blog post says (quote) – There is a fundamental strategic point for Open Access (OA) that cannot be made often enough, because it concerns one of the two biggest retardants on OA progress today - and the retardant that has, I think, lately become the bigger of the two. The biggest retardant on OA progress today is a distracting focus on pre-emptive Gold OA including the conflation of the journal affordability problem with the research accessibility problem, and the conflation of Gold OA with OA itself, wrongly supposing that OA or "full OA" means Gold OA -- instead of concentrating all efforts on universalizing Green OA mandates. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here. 2.Blog Topic – Dark Secrets: Open Access and Author Processing Charges *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses lack of transparency on how participating libraries are disclosing the details of their programs. The blog post says (quote)* – There was some confusion on the part of faculty of what an OA article publication charge really was. Some faculty requests were actually for page charges in conventional subscription journals; one faculty submitted a request for reprint charges; others submitted invoices to the library when they should have been directed to the external granting agency (like the HHMI). To date, no bonafide requests have been denied. (unquote) The full entry can be read at Click Here 3.Blog Topic – Towards a grudging consensus? *Posted by Fytton Rowland in the UKSG Serials Blog, the post discusses two recent reports that have addressed the issue of paying for open access, especially when it has been mandated by a research funding body. Fytton Rowland was Senior Lecturer in Publishing, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University. The blog post says (quote)* – OA can be achieved in two ways - either by publication in a journal that accepts author-side payments to provide access free of charge to readers, or by deposition of the published paper in a repository that is freely available to readers. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 4.Blog Topic – Google's Rich Snippets and the Semantic Web *Posted by Tim O'Reilly in the O'Reilly Radar Blog, the post discusses the recently introduced new feature by Google that they call Rich Snippets. If you mark up pages with certain microformats ( and soon, with RDFa), Google will take this data into account, and will provide enhanced snippets in the search results. Supported microformats in the first release include those for people and for reviews. Tim O'Reilly is the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc. The blog post says (quote)* – Rich snippets could be a turning point for the Semantic Web, since, for the first time, they create a powerful economic motivation for semantic markup. Google has told us that rich snippets significantly enhance click-through rates. That means that anyone who has been doing SEO is now going to have to add microformats and RDFa to their toolkit. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/18/2009, at 3:08:45 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week May 4 to May 10
	1.Blog Topic – When big pharma pays a publisher to publish a fake journal... *Posted By Janet D. Stemwedel in the ScienceBlogs Blog, the post discusses the recent journal controversy involving Merck and Elsevier. Janet D. Stemwedel is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. The blog post says (quote)* – If there is one thing that science-based medicine requires to function properly, it's good science and well-designed clinical trials subjected to rigorous peer review. Moreover, that review has to be unbiased, and the journals publishing them cannot be tainted with undue influence of big pharma. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 2.Blog Topic – Is Real-time the Future of the Web? *Posted By Ben Parr in the Mashable Blog, the post discusses how Web has altered the way we as a society consume information. While Internet communication has made information more accessible, social media has made it easier to organize, filter, and most of all, create. Ben is an analyst and consultant for his web/social media optimization firm Engage Analytics. The blog post says (quote)* – Information’s growth and absorption has grown at an exponential rate. Social media is even moving toward’s real-time information. With innovations like Twitter and microblogging, we’re reaching a point where the flow of information has become so heavy that the only way to really keep track of it is via real-time web tools. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 3.Blog Topic – The Freedom to Publish and the protection of Copyright *Posted By open-access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog, the post discusses a recent petition launched in Germany by Roland Reuss of the University of Heidelberg. The petition notes that the fundamental right of authors vouched for in the constitution to publish freely and of their own volition is under considerable attack and sustained threat." The blog post says (quote)* – Authors and publishers reject all attempts to, and practices that, undermine copyright. That copyright is fundamental for literature, art and science, for the basic right to freedom of research and teaching, as well as for press freedom and the freedom to publish. In the future too, it must be writers, artists, scientists, in brief, all creative people themselves, who decide if and where their works should be published. Any constraint or coercion to publish in a certain form is as unacceptable as the political toleration of pirate copies, currently being produced in huge numbers by Google. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 4.Blog Topic – Open Access and author-publisher relationships: loyalty or apprehension? *Posted By Colin Smith in the Open Research Online Blog, the post discusses the topic of making academics’ publications available Open Access. Colin Smith is Research Repository Manager, Open Research Online (ORO) Open University. The blog post says (quote)* – When thinking about barriers for Open Access from the point of view of the depositing author (note: I am talking specifically about open access archiving in repositories here, not open access publishing), then perhaps there exists this spectrum of concern, ranging from apprehension in the younger researcher at one end to loyalty in the experienced academic at the other. If this is true, then surely there must be a midpoint where authors are neither fearful of nor loyal to their publishers! Perhaps these are the people we should be targeting to embrace Open Access! *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/11/2009, at 3:58:41 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 26 to May 3
	1.Blog Topic – Library of Congress Releases Official Linked Data Site *Posted By Roy Tennant in the Library Journal Blog, the post discusses about linked data and how some librarians were beginning to make data sets available in this way. Tennant is Senior Program Manager for OCLC Programs and Research. The blog post says (quote)* –The idea behind making this data available as linked data is to enable a variety of innovative uses. By making the data and its relationships to other data available to software processes and other, related data sets, there is no telling what cool new systems and services we could create that can build on this rich set of data that has been painstakingly constructed and maintained for decades. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 2.Blog Topic – Paying for Open Access Publication Charges *Posted By Philip Davis of Cornell University in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, the post discusses the latest Research Information Network (RIN) report 'Paying for open access publication charges' The blog post says (quote)* – The rationale for creating this report is clear: The response of granting foundations, universities, and publishers to open access journals has been "haphazard." The purpose of this report is to establish guidelines and recommendations for these groups. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 3.Blog Topic – Conflicts of Interest in Open Access *Posted By open-access advocate Stevan Harnad in the Open Access Archivangelism Blog, the post discusses an independent study according to which current Green OA deposit mandates (when adopted and monitored) are having a limited impact. The blog post says (quote)* – The SQW/LISU study is simply incorrect in opining that current Green OA deposit mandates (when adopted and monitored) are "having a 'limited impact'." As objective deposit-counts for the NIH mandate have shown, the NIH deposit rate jumped from 4% to over 60% within a year of mandate adoption. Much the same is true for university self-archiving mandates. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here 4.Blog Topic – The World’s Foremost Consultant on the Future of Publishing *Posted By author Steve Helyin the The Rumpus.net Blog, the post discusses the big changes are coming to the publishing industry. The blog post says (quote)* – It’s not just the Kindle. There’s the iPhone. Blogs. Facebook. Twitter. Blortcejil. If your company doesn’t already have a business plan in place for how to deal with the coming rise of Blortcejil, you’re two years behind the curve. If you don’t even know what Blorcejil is, then you might as well pack up your typewriter and head off to Florida, because you’re as good as retired. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 5/4/2009, at 6:15:41 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 19 to April 25
	1.Blog Topic – Blended Research and Learning Object Repository: JISC Final Report—CIRCLE *Posted By Charles Bailey in the DigitalKoans Blog, the post discusses the Oxford Brookes University's Common Institutional Repositories for Collaborative Learning Environments (CIRCLE) project. Charles W. Bailey, Jr. is the publisher of Digital Scholarship. The blog post says (quote)* –The university has established a pilot repository system, linked to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that can be used for storing both teaching and research objects. The project has allowed us to look in depth at the needs of a wide range of stakeholders, including schools, researchers, Library staff, central IT staff and students. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 2.Blog Topic – Intellectual Property, Open Access, and the Developing World *Posted By Richard Poynder in the Open and Shut Blog, the post discusses the main challenges that IP poses for the developing world, and what is being done about it. Poynder is freelance journalist who writes on information technology, telecommunications, and intellectual property. The blog post says (quote)* – One of the challenges we face on a regular basis is explaining to people what we do and how it matters for small-holder, resource-poor farmers. And this is symptomatic of intellectual property (IP) management in the developing world. There are no easy answers. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 3.Blog Topic – Publisher Outreach to Bloggers: New Models *Posted By Charlotte Abbott in the Blog, Follow the Reader, the post discusses the different initiative to reach out to bloggers and build a new model for marketing and publicity? Abbott is writer at Follow the Reader. The blog post says (quote)* – Although many corporate book publishing imprints uphold a separation of church and state when it comes to publicity and online marketing, insiders admit that the distinction between the two is getting more blurry all the time. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 4.Blog Topic – Amazon vs. Google *Posted By Joe Wikert in Publishing 2020 Blog, the post discusses an article posted in the Kindle 2 Review blog comparing Amazon and Google. The article focuses on how the companies are going head-to-head, primarily in the book space. Wikert is General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media, Inc The blog post says (quote)* – I can't say I agree with 100% of the article but I'll admit there were pieces of it that made me think a bit further about the rivalry. I'm still scratching my head over this comment about Google though: The crucial thing here is that most people have no idea what the free services are costing them. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 5.Blog Topic – ticTocs Table of Content Service: New Review *Posted By Peter Jacso in the Resource Shelf Blogs, the post discusses the ticTocs Table of Content service. Dr. Péter Jacsó is a professor at the Library and Information Science Program of the Department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii. The blog post says (quote)* – ticTOCS is a state of the art version of the traditional current awareness services from RSS feeds of the Table of Contents pages of more than 14,400 scholarly journals. Even in its infancy, this service helps greatly in centralizing, personalizing and filtering the flood of information. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/27/2009, at 4:14:52 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 12 to April 18
	1.Blog Topic – If comment is cheap why is peer review so expensive? Posted By Liz Wager in the BMJ Group Blogs, the post discusses why it is apparently so easy to get people (even busy people like doctors) to chat, but so hard to persuade them to peer review. Liz Wager is a freelance writer, trainer and publications consultant who works for a number of pharmaceutical companies, communication agencies, publishers and academic institutions. The blog post says (quote) – Some of the reasons are obvious. A tweet takes seconds, but a good review can take several hours. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, but constructive reviews are often several pages. Yet peer review feels like talking to yourself. Even with open (ie signed) review, journals discourage authors and reviewers from getting in touch. Reviewers sometimes see the authors’ response but this usually feels as if it were snarled through gritted teeth and any expressions of thanks to the reviewer usually seem formulaic and flattering. (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here. 2.Blog Topic – Wikipedians to vote on Creative Commons license adoption The Wikimedia Foundation, the organisation behind the popular Wikipedia project, has invited participants to vote on whether to adopt a Creative Commons license for the site's content. This post was posted by Ryan Paul in the Ars tecnica Blog. Ryan Paul is editor of Open Ended, Ars Technica's open source software journal. *The blog post says (quote)* – Wikimedia is committed to the widest possible dissemination of free knowledge. While our terms of use have always allowed for lower barriers to re-use, their inconsistency with the license text leads to fear, uncertainty, and doubt about what is legal and what is not. It advantages those re-users who can afford legal advice and research over those who cannot. The proposed license update is designed to achieve greater interoperability and greater re-use of free knowledge world-wide in service to our vision: a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 3.Blog Topic – Where is the I in Open Content? *Posted By Nicole Harris in the JISC Access Management Blog, the post looks at some interesting questions for the OER programme to look at alongside the challenge of making content available and encouraging uptake and usage in the educational community. Nicole Harris serves as Federation Services Manager, JISC. The blog post says (quote)* – OER is very much a part of the social software / social networking / web 2.0 world that encourages people to make their stuff as widely available as possible, and encourages others to comment, annotate, reuse and repurpose that stuff. It is about changing the nature of the way we perceive content. The Open Access agenda does not as a whole look to change the concept of the published article; instead it wishes to change the business model by which the article is made available to its target audience. (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here. 4.Blog Topic – Tips for authors to improve their RePEc ranking Posted By Christian Zimmermann in the RePEc Blog, this post is about optimizing one’s ranking within RePEc, and doing so in a way that does not trigger our safeguards against cheating. Christian Zimmermann is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Connecticut. The blog post says (quote) – By far the most popular topic on this blog is material about rankings. People love to know who the best are and how they fare. This post turns out all the following points are points we actually want to encourage anyway so as to improve the quality of the data collected in RePEc. (unquote). The full entry can be read at - Click Here. 5.Blog Topic – Journalism Online: time to start paying for online news Posted By Nate Anderson in the Ars tecnica Blog, the post discusses if it is the end of ad-supported "free" online news upon us. Nate Anderson serves as senior editor in arstecnica.com. The blog post says (quote) – The Internet is quickly destroying the need for newspapers to run printing presses, distribute papers around the city, and employ newspaper carriers, but the cost savings have come with revenue losses, too: most newspapers offer their online content without subscription fees, supported only by ads. A group of media executives has just announced Journalism Online, a new way for newspapers to start charging for online subscription fees. Will it save journalism? (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/18/2009, at 3:40:12 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week April 5 to April 11
	1.Blog Topic – Concern about accepted manuscripts and the possibility of open access publishing Posted By Colin Smith in the Open Research Online Blog, the post discusses why it is safe and indeed perhaps necessary to deposit final accepted draft manuscripts in ORO. Colin Smith is Repository Manager, Open University. The blog post says (quote) – If your research is externally funded, there is an ever-increasing chance that you will be required by your funding body to make the published output from that research available in an open access form as soon as possible after publication. Depending on whom you choose to publish with, the only option open to you to comply with this may be to deposit your final accepted draft version in your institutional repository, i.e. ORO. It is worth noting that all of the UK Research Councils now place such a requirement on their grantees. (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 2. Blog Topic – NIH Open-Access Policy Turns 1 Year Old… Posted By open-access guru Gavin Baker in the Science Progress, the post looks at what impact has the policy had on science, and how has the community reacted. Gavin Baker is assistant editor of Open Access News. The blog post says (quote) – The policy has continued to garner support from the library and scientific community, as well as some scholarly publishers. The biggest names in science publishing, though, have lined up against public access. The policy requires that NIH-funded manuscripts be made freely available no later than 12 months after acceptance for publication, which closed-access publishers have asserted will damage their ability to sell subscriptions to the journals in which NIH-funded authors publish their articles. But no journal has announced it will stop accepting the work of NIH-funded scientists as a consequence. (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 3.Blog Topic – Are e-Books Already Mainstream? Posted By Kent Anderson in the Scholarly Kitchen blog, the post discusses the recent changes that have evolved in the e-book market. Kent Anderson is a Board Member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. The blog post says (quote) – As usual, our users are ahead of us. While we’ve been debating and cogitating on the future of e-books, they’ve gone mainstream.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Click Here 4.Blog Topic – Online Research Papers Database – ORO Posted By David Clover in the IT Development Blog, the post discusses the current 'ORO' research papers system which has become the University's 'official' and centralised repository for research paper information. David Clover serves as IT Development Manager for the Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology in The Open University. The blog post says (quote) – Long before the current 'ORO' research papers system was installed by the OU Library for the recent RAE, we had developed a Maths and Computing Faculty database which showed what research papers and material had been presented and published by academic and other staff. We started using our own own system in January 2004 as a database which could populate personal pro-form web pages like this one - Henryk on my IT Development Group and others like Paddy in the Maths and Stats Department. (unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 5. Blog Topic – Top 100 journals in ticTOCs tables of contents service Posted By Roddy MacLeod in The Spineless? blog, the post discusses some interesting statistics, taken from ticTOCs the journal tables of contents (TOCs) service. Roddy MacLeod is Senior Subject Librarian at the Heriot-Watt University. The blog post says (quote) – ticTOCS is a splendid, state of the art version of the traditional current awareness services from RSS feeds of the Table of Contents pages of more than 14,400 scholarly journals. It takes the pain out of learning about the content of the most recent and even upcoming issues of journals. It has some lacuna in journal coverage in spite of its wide scope, and a few software shortcomings. Even in its infancy, this service helps greatly in centralizing, personalizing and filtering the flood of information. It saves a lot of time, and offers a lot of gratification to researchers free.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/13/2009, at 3:43:55 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for the week March 29 to April 4
	1.Blog Topic – Science Publishers Stepping Up Online Community Initiatives *Posted By Steven Sieck in InfoInnovation,* the post discusses the use of social media as a latest trend among leading publishers of professional and scholarly information.Steven Sieck is President of SKS Advisors, Inc., a management consultancy that helps media and information companies accelerate innovation and capitalize more effectively on new growth opportunities. *The blog post says (quote)* – From at least 2005, when Nature Publishing Group launched its Connotea social bookmarking service, through Elsevier’s recent integration of its 2Collab collaboration tools with its flagship ScienceDirect and Scopus databases, publishers have been bringing researchers more broadly and openly into the science publishing conversation.(unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 2.Blog Topic – "If we invented the scholarly journal today, what would it look like?" *Posted By Charlie Rapple in UKSG liveserials blog,* the post discusses the role of scholarly communications in guiding future research activity.Charlie Rapple is Head of Marketing Development at TBI Communications Ltd. *The blog post says (quote)* – Editing, peer review, tenure, pricing and all these other functions around scholarly communications are currently up for grabs - access, e-science and a million other developments. The way in which scholarly artefacts are created, the form and structure they take on, the way they're searched, used, distributed and preserved - these are all changing as we speak.(unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 3.Blog Topic – Is PLOS One the future of scientific publishing? *Posted By Morgan Langille in the blog Beta Science,* the post discusses the new features recently announced by PLoS One. These changes seek to improve connectivity between peer-reviewed papers and commentary from comments, blogs, etc.Langille is a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University (SFU). *The blog post says (quote)* – I am going to have to say a tentative "Yes". I think their basis of publishing papers not on novelty, but focusing peer-review on ensuring that the methods, and conclusions drawn from the results are scientifically sound, opens many doors for how scientists publish their findings. Currently, scientists compete for a limited space in a "high-impact" journal. In the majority of cases papers are not rejected because of their methods, results, and conclusions are not valid, but due to a better paper being submitted at the same time. This competition is justified, but in this current format has various drawbacks.(unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 4.Blog Topic – EndNote & HubMed *Posted By Kheskett on the UCSanDiego Biomedical Library Blog,* the post discusses how HubMed has become an alternative way to access the information contained in PubMed. *The blog post says (quote)* – HubMed has a number of interesting features; two of them relate to getting information into EndNote. One trick, (see previous blog post) will let you copy & paste a list of citations (from Word or a PDF) into HubMed’s Citation Finder to find the full citation & abstract and import them into EndNote. *(unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 5.Blog Topic – Social search doesn't pan out for Jimmy Wales, Wikia Search *Posted By John Timmer in Arstechnica,* the post discusses how after an extended period of testing, Wikia search will only survive one year out of beta.John Timmer is Science Editor at Ars Technica. *The blog post says (quote)* – Jimmy Wales is best known for his role in founding Wikipedia, but he is also involved in Wikia, a startup focused on fostering online communities that take a wiki-like approach to community-driven content. In that role, he has to balance his commitment to open information against profitability and the potential for growth, a balancing act made more difficult by the current economic downturn. The hard economic realities hit home this week, as Wales announced the termination of a project, Wikia Search, that he has spent several years developing and promoting.(unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 4/6/2009, at 5:17:43 PM - Comments (1), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for the week March 22-28
	1. *Blog Topic – UK PubMed Central - enabling easier reporting on the outcomes of grants* *Posted at UK PubMed Central blog, the post discusses how users of the UK PubMed Central Manuscript Submission System (UKMSS) will soon be able to use a new service - 'My UKPMC' - to report on the outcomes of any grant funded by any one of the UKPMC Funders' Group member organisations. The blog post says (quote)* – Grant holders will be able to export these grant reports not only in standard .csv and xml formats but also as publicly available web pages, which will update dynamically whenever a new publication is added to either PubMed or UK PubMed Central.(unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here 2. *Blog Topic – Would the NIH policy destroy the ACS?* *Posted at blog titled Libraries of the future – feedback by Peter Murray Rust. The post discusses the NIH policy and its impact. The blog post says (quote)- it’s important to realise that Open Access is primarily a business model, and does not affect the quality or volume of publications. Papers are still peer reviewed to the same level and quality. If Rich sees the ACS journals as their favorite grant-producing engines (and that in itself is a commentary on today’s publication world) there is no a priori reason why that should change. (unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 3. *Blog Topic – Twittephemeraliness* *Posted By Jenny in the blog titled ‘the shifted librarian’, the post discusses some of the author’s experiences as regards finding content on the internet. The blog post says (quote)- Sometimes we tell people that things live forever on the internet and that anyone can find them, but I want to highlight how some important things from just a couple of months ago are becoming impossible to find. If we’re not careful, the haystack is going to disappear, never mind the needle. So if you were using a hashtag to aggregate content, thinking it would be easier to find it all again in the future, think again. You’re going to have to do something more proactive and manual than relying on Twitter’s search engine or Google. (unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here 4. *Blog Topic – On Throwing Money At Gold OA Without First Mandating Green OA, Again* *Posted at blog titled Open Access Archivangelism by Stevan Harnad. The post discusses how Pre-emptive Gold Fever seems to be spreading. The blog post says (quote)- A university should on no account spend a single penny on Gold OA fees until and unless it has first adopted a Green OA mandate to deposit all of its own refereed journal article output in its own institutional repository. (unquote)* The full entry can be read at - Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/30/2009, at 7:23:21 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments
	Blogs selected for Week March 14 to March 21
	1.Blog Topic - A Model for the Magazine Industry *Posted at blog titled Publishing 2020 blog by Joe Wikert.* The post discusses about a Safari Books like model for magazines too. Joe Wikert is the General Manager & Publisher at O'Reilly Media Inc. *The blog post says (quote)* -I'm talking about a service that starts by providing access to all the magazine content on the planet. It would be delivered wirelessly to my various devices (Kindle,iPhone, MacBook Pro, etc.) and I'd (gladly!) pay a monthly fee for it. What I'm describing is fairly close to the Safari Books Online model, only applied to magazines, not books.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Click Here 2.Blog Topic - Ideals and Business Models *Post at Really Simple Sidi blog by Rafael Sidi.* The blog post discusses about ideals and business models. Rafael Sidi is the Vice President, Product Development at Elsevier. *The blog post says (quote)* - The entry quotes Umair Haque Director of the Havas Media Lab (quote) "Forget business models. Focus on ideals. Reconceiving value creation depends on new ideals.Ideals shape what we wish to achieve in the first place: freedom, peace, fairness, justice - all are ideals vastly more powerful than mere business models. That's because they are what ensure the value we are creating is authentic, deep, meaningful value - not just the shabby, threadbare illusion of value."*(unquote)* The full entry can be read at – Click Here 3.Blog Topic - Streamy Takes Social Media Aggregation to the Next Level. Posted at ReadWriteWeb by Frederic. The post talks about a new social media aggregation tool ‘Streamy.’ Frederic is a writer at ReadWriteWeb. *The blog post says (quote)* - Streamy, which calls itself a "real-time news reading and sharing site," opened its doors today after an 18-month long private beta. Streamy is a mix between an RSS reader, a social media aggregator, and a real-time search engine. You can connect your Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Friendfeed, and Flickr accounts to Streamy, and post status updates from Streamy directly to these services. Streamy will also recommend interesting stories to you, and, thanks to its innovative user interface, sharing stories with your friends on the supported social media services is extremely easy.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Click Here 4.Blog Topic - ICSTI 2009 - Managing Data for Science *Posted at* Science Library Pad blog by Richard Akerman, technology architect and information security officer at NRC CISTI, Canada's National Science Library and Publisher. The post discusses about the conference and its participants--very briefly. *The blog post says (quote)* - The ICSTI 2009 conference has a great lineup of speakers on its programme. Many of the names you may recognize from enthusiastic blog postings of mine, so as you can imagine, I'm looking forward to going. Speakers mentioned in this blog (with a link to the relevant posting) include Francine Berman, Richard Boulderstone, Jan Brase, Lee Dirks, Liz Lyon, Paul Uhlir.(unquote) The full entry can be read at – Click Here 5.Blog Topic - Feeds, Friends and Follows: On Leadership in Social Media *Posted at* blog titled Tansparent Bundles-from Wall Street to the Web by Seth Goldstein, the Co-Founder & CEO of SocialMedia.com and also an angel advisor to a number of Web services companies. The post discusses how online attention is a scarce commodity. *The blog post says (quote)* - In social media, we are all now equally available to eachother. The cost of receiving attention has gone to zero. You have my blog address, my Facebook profile,and my Twitter account. There I am. Go ahead and consume me. Just because you can easily access my information, however, does not mean that you will. This is where the attention economy gives way to the influence economy. Determining who to pay attention to (and who to ignore) represents a new kind of social media literacy. For now, this literacy is something that we each are developing ourselves, as we muddle through friending and un-friending, following and unfollowing. This is analogous to the ad hoc discovery of web sites circa 1995, before the introduction of Netscape’s “Cool Site of the Day” and the Yahoo! directory.(unquote) The full entry can be read at - Click Here
	posted by : scope, on 3/23/2009, at 8:50:56 PM - Comments (0), Post Comments

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