The Elephant in the Room
(Open Access Archivangelism): The phrase "the elephant in the room" was used by a librarian at a recent UK meeting to describe the big issues we were not allowed to discuss about how the current economic crisis is affecting scholarly communication. Representatives of all stakeholder groups present - including publishers… Read More
Semantic research sets world standards
(Alphagalileo.org): European researchers have created new tools for semantic technology development which are helping to set the next generation of official standards. The tools also unblock some key bottlenecks in semantic technology. The next generation of the World Wide Web will be a cyberspace full of meaning, thanks to the… Read More
EU policy could hobble UK’s digital economy bill says FAST
(Iwr.com): The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST), the organisation that promotes the legitimate use of software and protects publishers’ rights thinks EU’s digital reform package could undermine the UK’s latest copyright anti-piracy law. According to the internet freedom provisions in the recent EU law, any disconnection of an internet user… Read More
Follow the E-Reader Money
(Portfolio.com): With ad revenue and audience on the decline, newspapers look to e-readers as a possible new revenue path. But early signs show that “win-win” deals between publishers and e-reader developers are both elusive and nonprofitable. Read More
The Place Of Peer Review In Science
Many papers that pass the peer review process turn out to be wrong. Peer review is more like an initial test than a final seal of approval. And the secretive process by which scientific papers are judged is the opposite of the core scientific value of openly examining data. Read More
Unbundling access and affordability?
Last month the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) launched a new guide called Who pays for Open Access? The guide, says SPARC, is intended to provide, "an overview of income models currently in use to support open-access journals, including a description of each model along with examples of… Read More
Social Media Help Generate Science 2.0
(Internetevolution.com): The idea that the Internet might be used for scientific collaboration shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since the Web's predecessor was originally created as a way to connect researchers at different institutions so they could solve problems together. That said, however, collaboration has accelerated over the past… Read More
Squeezing Web Sites Onto Cellphones
(wsj.com): As people spend more time on their cellphones, many companies are considering taking their message boards, user forums and blogs to mobile devices. But, issues such as how users can share programming code, which are large files, need to be resolved. Many companies, including technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co., are… Read More
Information industry is expected to grow again
(Glgroup.com): Although the information industry grew year of year the outlook for 2010 is unclear. Based on recent publications some might expect an average growth of 3 to 4 percent in 2010, but based on the formal statements of the large publishers and the status of the financial crisis, a… Read More
Lawsuit seeks information on federal surveillance of social networking sites
(computerworld.com): The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the University of California, Berkeley's Samuelson Clinic have filed a lawsuit (PDF document) against six government agencies, seeking information on their use of social networking sites for data collection and surveillance. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District… Read More
