Jeffrey Pomerantz

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

Radio Free Me

Yvonne pretty frequently has these great ideas that sound goofy when she has them but prescient about six months later… and here’s the latest one. A few weeks after the launch of Duke’s iPod project, and after seeing a bunch of Apple’s TV ads – you know, the ones with the silhouetted people dancing around with iPods on and those distinctive white cords flailing all over the place – Yvonne.. Read More

The Ice Palace

So at lunch the other day Paul mentioned The Ice Palace, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and has subsequently shamed me into reading it. As a Northerner who’s married to a Southern woman, it sounded to me like essential reading. (Of course, to a New Englander such as myself Virginia is practically the deep South, but from the more Southern states’ point of view, VA is practically the North.) So I’m.. 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

Brain drain, part 3

So much for grad school enrollments rising in tough economic times. Not only is it becoming more difficult for foreign students to enroll in colleges and universities in the US, but it’s becoming more difficult for students from the US as well. Students to Bear More of the Cost of College, from the NY Times

Brain drain

I’m sure that Brodhead doesn’t mean this as a swipe at the current administration, but I do. Research woes seen ahead, from the News & Observer Research is dependent on federal dollars and foreign-born graduate students — both of which are becoming scarcer. “Imagine the paradox in a world where it’s all too easy for jobs to go across borders but all too hard for intelligent people to come across.. 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