Open Access

Gratifying that the issue of open access publishing is getting some ink in the popular press. Even if the coverage is a bit simplistic: “… it doesn’t make sense for journals to charge fees for access to primary research articles when that research is supported largely by public funding.” Open Access, from Slate

Libraries = Long Tail Aggregators

Gary and I are working on a paper on digital libraries and the idea of the library as place. We write about (among other things) the function of the library as a space for storage of materials. ILL changes this, since ILL creates a virtual storage space: when I receive a book that I requested via ILL, I have accessed material through my local library that occupies no space in.. Read More

Scholarâ„¢

The American Chemical Society is claiming that Google has infringed on the ACS’s use of the word “Scholar.” Now I’m not a lawyer, but I was under the impression that such things as the English language, common phrases, and the like are not trademark-able. Gosh, do you suppose I could trademark the phrase “information science”? Better still, how about just “science”? ACS Takes Legal Action Against Google, from Chemical &.. Read More

Anti-diffusion of innovation

Earlier this week Justin sent this email out to one of the (altogether too many) listservs I’m on: Subject: anti-rss? A co-worker showed me this discovery recently: it’s a service that allows you to purchase newspapers (from a list of 150+) at newstand prices for viewing on your computer in as good as or better than PDF format. You have to download their proprietary “newsreader” client, but then you can.. Read More

That Dale, he’s so sensitive

It’s so gratifying when a friend makes obvious progess. Dale Thompson is one of my littermates from my PhD program, whom is I regret to say is still working on the dissertation. But he just published his first diss spinoff article, and in JASIST no less! I’m kvelling. Sensitive information: A review and research agenda E. Dale Thompson & Michelle L. Kaarst-Brown http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.20121 Dale used to work for the Defense.. Read More

A nation of packrats

Britons growing ‘digitally obese’, from BBC News The next step here is clearly a new reality show called The Biggest Deleter, where contestants have to delete an iPod’s worth of data by the end of the season. In all seriousness though, cheap storage allows us all to be packrats. It makes the notion of personal digital libraries more relevant than ever. Possible RQ1: What folk classification schemes emerge from individual’s.. Read More

Reinventing the wheel: Accuracy vs. satisfaction

Apparently Medicare is just dicovering what we’ve all known in library science for decades: satisfaction and accuracy are not the same measure! A GAO study of 1-800-MEDICARE, found accuracy rates of 61%. Remarkably close to 55%, I’d say. Indeed, their methodology was practically lifted from Hernon & McClure (1986): test questions developed for the study, asked by proxies, of different answerers. And then comes my favorite part: Medicare responds with.. Read More

E > P

Everyone who I’ve ever been stuck behind in line at the grocery store while you write a check, take note: Paper checks going bye-bye? from CNN/Money The number of electronic payment transactions — by both debit and credit card — exceeded check payments last year for the first time, according to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve and electronic payments companies.

Open source for the classroom

Will Open Source Software Unlock the Potential of eLearning? from the Campus Technology site. This article contains an interesting graphic of an institution’s investment in software, comparing commercial and open source. The differences in planning and training, it seems to me, explains a whole lot about how technology is implemented in educational settings these days. This article also contains what I think is a very pithy explanation for why so.. Read More