Shanghai rankings rattle European universities
(google.com): Research fraud and limited academic freedom make China an unlikely arbiter for international university excellence, but a Shanghai school's rankings are making Europe's education ministers sweat. France's higher education minister travelled to Jiaotong University's suburban campus last month to discuss the rankings, the Norwegian education minister came last year… Read More
It’s Going Too Fast — Can Embargoes Manage the Real-time Web?
(scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org): Expectations are changing. You can feel it in our publishing cultures, a change that’s been percolating for years — publish-ahead-of-print or online-first or papers in press or fast-track or red swift or what have you, these ways of meeting the need for speed just continue to compound. But even… Read More
Are eBooks More Eco-Friendly Than Printed Books?
(daemonsbooks.com): One argument heard against e-readers like Kindles and nooks is that they are environmentally unfriendly when compared with the printed book. This argument always seemed counterintuitive because of all the paper, and therefore trees, required to make books. On the other hand, e-readers require electricity to run and will… Read More
Why e-readers will soon cost less than $100
(slate.com): Late last month, Amazon unveiled a new version of its Kindle e-book reader that, like every new Kindle, is thinner, lighter, and smaller than the previous one. It's also the cheapest Kindle ever—the new Wi-Fi version sells for just $139. A year ago, Amazon was selling the 3G Kindle—a… Read More
IPad Owners Prefer Reading on Device Over Print
(designtaxi.com): People who own Apple’s iPad prefer reading on their tablet over print material, according to a survey conducted by Cooper Murphy Webb in the UK. 41% of the 1,034 UK iPad owners surveyed say they’d rather read ebooks on the iPad as opposed to physical versions. Newspapers and magazines… Read More
Do Academic Scientists Share Information with Their Colleagues? Not Necessarily
(Turkishweekly.com): Sharing of information is critical to scientific progress, but scientists have private incentive to avoid disclosing research. This column analyses the benefits and costs of sharing, both one-to-one and with the general scientific community, and assesses how government funding and scholarly competition shape sharing decisions. Read More
Professional and Scholarly Publishing Leads the Market for Ebooks by a Wide Margin
(Scholarlykitchen.com): 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… Read More
Sharing Data Securely to Foster Product Development
(ARNnet.com): Boston Scientific wants to tear down barriers that prevent product developers from accessing the research that went into its successful medical devices so that they can create new products faster. But making data too easily accessible could open the way to theft of information potentially worth millions or billions… Read More
ResearchGATE and Its Savvy Use of the Web
(Businessweek.com): ResearchGATE links medical researchers from around the world—and is driving homegrown, locally relevant innovation in developing nations. It takes the social networking concepts underlying popular services such as Facebook and LinkedIn and applies them to the research community. The Web site is now emerging as a potentially powerful link… Read More
New ALA Report Details Economic Trends in Libraries and 2010 Outlook
(ala.org): According to a new report prepared by the American Library Association (ALA), libraries of all types are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn while managing sky-high use. Compiled from a broad range of available sources, The Condition of Libraries: 1999-2009 presents U.S. economic trends (2009), and summarizes trends… Read More
