I tried to post a comment on Scott’s blog about this, but it seems to have gotten lost in the ether. Probably because I’m not a LiveJournal user. Damn proprietary applications… 😡 Scott posted about an article in Library Journal by Carol Tenopir, in which Carol writes about a recent article of Scott’s (how meta). This article of Scott’s is a study of the readings used in library school courses.. Read More
I heard recently that some reviewers for journals and conferences have started using plagiarism-prevention tools such as turnitin.com when reviewing submitted manuscripts. I think it’s kind of sad that these reviewers think this is necessary, though I suppose it’s worse if it actually is necessary. But the issue of plagiarism aside, what I’m wondering about is this: scholarly publications are supposed to be original contributions to the scholarly literature. But.. Read More
I just finished The Tipping Point. You know I think it’s a good book if I keep a page of notes tucked into it while I’m reading it. (I think there has only ever been one work of fiction that I’ve done this with, & that was Snow Crash.) Anyway, my Tipping Points notes will keep me in blog entries for a while. Gladwell writes in chapter 5, the chapter.. Read More
This is from a multi-part assignment where I have my undergrads review a range of types of information sources. This is from a review of a print source: Basically, it is incredibly dull. Being dull makes something much more scientific. Oh dear. Clearly I need to back up a few steps with this class.
Googlewhackers: Two Words, One Hit, reprinted here from the Boston Globe Crazy as it sounds, Googlewhacking may be good for your mental health. “It’s excellent exercise for many brain centers,” says Allen D. Bragdon, founding editor of Games magazine and author of a number of books on enhancing brain function, including “Exercises for the Whole Brain.” “It requires a high order of a cognitive skill called ‘theory of mind,’ ”.. Read More
Paul writes that the American Dialect Society has chosen the 2004 Words of the Year. Winner in the Most Creative category is: pajamahadeen, n., bloggers who challenge and fact-check traditional media. First of all, this is a totally brilliant construction. Most Creative, indeed. But this is a phenomenon I totally don’t understand. The American Dialect Society doesn’t mean it this way, they’re just reporting… but “pajamahadeen” smacks of derision. Why.. Read More
I’m reading The Tipping Point & I just finished the chapter on Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. A couple of ideas occurred to me, & here’s where I hope that some poor PhD student in search of a dissertation topic is reading this. Question: In what ways are Connectors like Boundary Objects? What can we learn about Connectors by treating them like Boundary Objects, and vice versa? Question, inspired by my.. Read More
I went to see Malcolm Gladwell give a talk last night, on his book tour in support of Blink. (Hosted by the Regulator, held at Duke’s Sanford Institute of Public Policy.) I found out about this about 2 hours before the event so I almost didn’t go, but I’m glad I did. First of all, he’s a very entertaining speaker. He speaks like he writes, in a way: lots of.. Read More
Yesterday I sent off the final report for the NCknows evaluation. This was my first big project as a faculty member, my first as a PI. And now it’s over, and I think successfully. Or, I should say, I consider it a success, and I think the NCknows folks do too. Though I would imagine for very different reasons. This project met several of my major goals in the Tenure.. Read More
Does the Kid Stay in the Picture?, from the NY Times This article gives a brief history of Netflix, which is cool. But more interesting is this little quote buried at the very end of the article, by the founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings: “If we differentiate the Web site well enough, with rating histories and other features consumers want, that’s our strategic leverage.” This reminded me of Fred’s post.. Read More