Cloak and Classroom, from The Chronicle of Higher Ed Anthropologists, he said, should be permitted – indeed, should feel a duty – to conduct classified research that might help the U.S. government understand global conflicts. His opponents said that secrecy had no place in academe, and that his proposal would put scholars in bed with clandestine agencies that have, at best, a spotty record of protecting human rights. … Since.. Read More
Lemurs and Education
Duke Press Release: Anne Yoder Named Duke Primate Center Director A quote from Yoder: “When I was an undergraduate at UNC, I’d always been interested in biology and in animals, but I was rather undirected and not a particularly high-performing student. But when I took a class trip to the Primate Center, it just literally blew my mind! It changed everything. I suddenly had a focus in my studies. I.. Read More
Jessamyn West
Saw Jessamyn West gave a talk today, Postcards from the Other Edge of the Digital Divide: Technological/Political Choices and the Information Poor. Actually her talk overlapped with half of my DL class, so in the spirit of democracy I let the students vote on it: their regularly scheduled program of me, or Jessamyn. I don’t know if I should be dismayed by the resounding vote in favor of Jessamyn, but.. Read More
Criminal stupidity
The moral of the story: if you want to kill someone, don’t do your research on Google. Or at the very least clear your cache. Web evidence used in murder hearing, from The Lawrence Journal-World
Why electronic resources are better, Part 2
Apparently I’m famous (infamous?) now in the campus libraries on account of my little temper tantrum the other day. Nathan Williams, our Assistant-über-librarian (Rebecca Vargha is the über-librarian), because he enjoys a challenge, offered to track down the 5 books I couldn’t find in the libraries, with the comment: If you find an electronic resource that will make this offer, please let me know. Ok, he’s got me there. No.. Read More
Dewey to LC nixed in 1937
Duke is converting from Dewey to LC, a humongous, expensive, time consuming, and multi-year project. Someone recently found in Duke’s archives a 1937 letter from Duke’s then-University Librarian J.P. Breedlove to a Dr. Branscomb, who Deborah Jakubs (the current University Librarian) thinks was the head of the library council or some such committee. Breedlove basically implores the committee not to go forward with a Dewey to LC conversion at that.. Read More
Did online content providers screw themselves?
Can Papers End the Free Ride Online?, from the NY Times … nearly a decade after newspapers began building and showcasing their Web sites, one of the most vexing questions in newspaper economics endures: should publishers charge for Web news, knowing that they may drive readers away and into the arms of the competition? Executives at The Times have suggested that the paper, which already charges for its crossword puzzle,.. Read More
Why electronic resources are better
It’s a good thing I’m a librarian or I’d be totally turned off to libraries right about now. I tend to create a list of books I want to check out, jotting call numbers on post-its, & go over to the library once a week or every other week or so. Today I went to the library for 6 books, & came away with exactly 1. Actually I went to.. Read More
Comic Books at Duke
Perkins library has an exhibit of comic books on display in their under-construction lobby. I went over to see it on Friday. It was cool. I’m a geek. Actually this was a great exhibit of early comics, there were some really classic issues represented. The first ever Superman issue (sadly, not represented online), some astoundingly jingoistic WWII issues, an early Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, an issue that was debated in.. Read More
Good Advices
I’ve mentioned before that I ride the bus to campus with a man who’s the Assistant Editor of an Elsevier journal here at UNC. We talk scholarly publishing a lot, as you might imagine. Our latest conversation has been him giving me some advice on how not to piss off journal editors. First, don’t send nasty-gram emails to the editor. That one seems obvious, but apparently it escapes some people… Read More