jdupuis | May 1, 2013
Cults of Librarian Personalities
Let's upgrade undergrads to first-class citizens
Libraries and the informational future: some notes
Librarians Respond to DPLA Launch
Marketing Libraries Is like Marketing Mayonnaise
The Sibyl of Cumae (OA/costs of schol comm)
A matter of emphasis (librarians must read this post)
Send Me the Check That You Would Have Sent to Consultants This Year
Mash-Up This! Science Communication’s Image Problem
Social Media for Science Outreach – A Case Study: The Incubator Blog at Rockefeller University
Ebook anxieties increase as publishing revolution rolls on (2nd hand…
jdupuis | April 29, 2013A note for my Toronto area friends, Blogfather Bora Zivkovic will be giving a talk at York University in Toronto on May 6, 2013 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm.
Here's the info:
Science and the New Media Ecosystem
Bora Zivkovic, Blog Editor at Scientific American
Monday, May 6, 2013, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Paul Delaney Gallery, Room 320, Bethune College
York University, Toronto
Map
Abstract:
The whole media landscape is shifting and changing – newspapers on the decline with blogs, Twitter and YouTube on the rise.
Science is no different. Come listen to one of the pioneers of online science communication talk…
jdupuis | April 29, 2013What kind of place has Canada become?
The kind of place that closes world-class research facilities in the arctic and in lake country. (Thanks, Ontario!)
The kind of place where the government actively muzzles it's own scientists and librarians, the scientists for wanting to share their research and librarians who want to talk about the importance of preserving our heritage, scientific and cultural.
The kind of place where Environment Canada would take their own name off their weather service website. Really? Yeah, really.
The kind of place where the Federal Government slashes its own role…
jdupuis | April 28, 2013hardly ever does The Globe and Mail books section every Saturday feature more than one, maybe two, books that I'm interested in. They're pretty heavy on the Canlit side, with a heavy helping of the kind of public affairs books that don't really do it for me. The mystery roundup feature is usually my best bet. Well this week there were three -- count'em three -- books that really piqued my interest. And a pretty diverse bunch too, one physics, one horror fiction and another environmental non-fiction featuring the kind of intersection between food, science and policy that I find so interesting…
jdupuis | April 27, 2013I have a son who's currently a first year physics student. As you can imagine, I occasionally pass along a link or two to him pointing to stuff on the web I think he might find particularly interesting or useful. Thinking on that fact, I surmised that perhaps other science students might find those links interesting or useful as well. Hence, this series of posts here on the blog.
By necessity and circumstance, the items I've chosen will be influenced by my son's choice of major and my own interest in the usefulness of computational approaches to science and of social media for outreach and…
jdupuis | April 26, 2013I'll admit, I'm a bit of a book snob, a strange thing to say for a lifetime comics/science fiction/fantasy/horror/mystery fan, but there you go. Perhaps more precisely, I'm a snob about books versus other media.
But in my defense I'll maintain that I'm getting better as I get older -- more tolerant and accepting and less snobby. Perhaps not coincidentally, I think my takes in reading material are getting more diverse too.
In any case, let's all enjoy 30 things to tell a book snob.
1. People should never be made to feel bad about what they are reading. People who feel bad about reading will…
jdupuis | April 23, 2013
Dealing with Data: Science Librarians’ Participation in Data Management at Association of Research Libraries Institutions
Unbundling the University
Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS): Search Result : Librarians, Archivists, Conservators And Curators (511)
Open access: four ways it could enhance academic freedom
Social Justice Librarianship
Putting the “Expert” in Subject Expertise
Making Things Happen and Getting Things Done
Librarians as Partners: Moving from Research Supporters to Research Partners
Project Information Literacy: What Can Be Learned about the Information-Seeking…
jdupuis | April 19, 2013After a week like this, I think we all need something a little on the lighter side.
Mobile phone technology set to revolutionise things we already do quite easily
One of the biggest launches at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is the I-open; an app which allows you to open your front door by just twisting your phone as if it was a door handle. ‘This is breakthrough technology’, said marketing manager Chris Davies, ‘the phone’s action even works with a gloved hand which is a big advantage when compared to the friction deficit presented by traditional door handles if used with…
jdupuis | April 16, 2013Since I work at York University, I'm going to refrain from commenting on this lawsuit. However, as is my practice I'll be creating and maintaining a list of relevant articles and resources here to help me stay current on the matter.
I am not attempting to create a comprehensive list.
General
Statement of Claim against York University by Access Copyright
Monday,April 8, 2013: Canada's writers and publisherstake a stand against damaging interpretations of fair dealing by the education sector (Access Copyright press release)
Access Copyright Interim Post-Secondary Educational Institutions…
jdupuis | April 15, 2013Welcome to the most recent installment in my very occasional series of interviews with people in the publishing/science blogging/computing communities. This latest installment is with Mark Patterson, Executive Director of new OA publisher eLife. I attended an ARL Directors briefing conference call on eLife with Mark a little while back, highlighting for me just how interesting this project is and just how little I knew about it before the call.
Hence, this interview.
A huge thanks to Mark for agreeing to participate!
=============
Q0. Mark, tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended up…
jdupuis | April 13, 2013
Librarians as faculty? It's a red herring.
Why I think faculty status for librarians is (generally) a bad idea
Library employees protest changed title
As Role of Librarians Evolves, Some Colleges End Their Faculty Status
Stratification and losing faculty status
Gender, “thought leaders”, ego, and subversion
Unpacking “faculty status”
Postscript: faculty status and “administrative bloat”
What Is the Business of Literature?
Facebook Leans In
Digital Research, Not Teaching and Ithaka report here.
Free to Profit (Coursera makes some profit)
Systematic Errors of Judgement (bias against women in…
jdupuis | April 12, 2013McSweeny's is brilliant at skewering fads. And there is no bigger fad in higher education than Massive Open Online Courses. MOOCs, as they are known.
Now I'm not quibbling with whether or not MOOCs are an interesting and potentially extremely valuable addition to the landscape of higher education, because I think they are. What I find unfortunate is how completely so many in the general public/commentariat/tech guru class seem to have so thourougly fallen under the MOOC spell, seeing all their libertarian free market dreams coming true. Almost like a cult.
Without any further ado:
Welcome to…
jdupuis | April 9, 2013I have a son who's currently a first year physics student. As you can imagine, I occasionally pass along a link or two to him pointing to stuff on the web I think he might find particularly interesting or useful. Thinking on that fact, I surmised that perhaps other science students might find those links interesting or useful as well. Hence, this series of posts here on the blog.
By necessity and circumstance, the items I've chosen will be influenced by my son's choice of major and my own interest in the usefulness of computational approaches to science and of social media for outreach and…
jdupuis | April 8, 2013Every once in a while a review copy of a book comes over the transom and it just makes your day. Nothing else that could happen is going to put a damper on the bright sunny mood that springs from such a happy moment.
One that arrived a few days ago that I can wait to read is Lance Fortnow's The Golden Ticket: P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible. Now that made my day! It's definitely next in line for reading.
A few months ago the book that definitely made such an impact when it arrived was Steve White's Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart. It immediately jumped out as an…
jdupuis | March 30, 2013
Considering the librarian tech skills gap
Ten Easy Pieces on the Profession of Librarianship
Nation's first bookless library on university campus is thriving at UTSA
Conference Report: Beyond PDF 2
Opinions, Morals and What Science Could but Shouldn’t Tell Us
Degrees of Certainty
The Ethics of MOOCs
The Brave New World of College Branding
Journal’s Editorial Board Resigns in Protest of Publisher’s Policy Toward Authors
On PyCon
I Have a Few Things to Say About Adria
If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, why are scientists from Earth?
For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and…
jdupuis | March 26, 2013I have a son who's currently a first year physics student. As you can imagine, I occasionally pass along a link or two to him pointing to stuff on the web I think he might find particularly interesting or useful. Thinking on that fact, I surmised that perhaps other science students might find those links interesting or useful as well. Hence, this series of posts here on the blog.
By necessity and circumstance, the items I've chosen will be influenced by my son's choice of major and my own interest in computational approaches to science.
Meet Science: What is "peer review"?
Gödel's Proof of…
jdupuis | March 24, 2013The Journal of Library Administration is published by Taylor & Francis, a big publishing conglomerate. According to Brian Mathews, while he was in the middle of putting together a special issue on the future of libraries he received notice that the editorial board was resigning due to conflicts with the publisher around what kind of author rights regime the journal should use. Here is the note he received from the board:
The Board believes that the licensing terms in the Taylor & Francis author agreement are too restrictive and out-of-step with the expectations of authors in the LIS…
jdupuis | March 23, 2013
What makes one a librarian?
Goodbye, Faculty Status
Library employees protest changed title: New designation for incoming employee provokes heated debate
why should librarians learn python? (a better answer)
Why Not Grow Coders from the inside of Libraries?
Alt-Ac: Breathing Life into Libraries or Eroding the Profession?
Of Hybrarians, Scholar-Librarians, Academic Refugees, & Feral Professionals
Fending off university-attacking zombies
Defining the library ... reflexively
The Powerful Art Of Resilience
Pages of History (end of the scholarly journal article?)
Topic Pages: PLoS…
jdupuis | March 22, 2013You would think that such apple pie issues as public science, basic research and the free and open exchange of scientific information would be hard to disagree with. You would think that a resolution in the Canadian parliament would to such effect would meet with resounding support, resulting in a unanimous vote, the room resounding with shouted Yays.
You would think that anyone who would vote nay to such a resolution would be a virtual pariah in an open democratic society, a society that values an informed citizenry and evidence-based decision making.
Apparently you would be wrong.…
jdupuis | March 18, 2013
Hacking at Education: TED, Technology Entrepreneurship, Uncollege, and the Hole in the Wall
Why MOOCs May Drive Up Higher Ed Costs
California Bill Seeks Campus Credit for Online Study
The great librarian identity crisis of 2013
Q&A: Dan Cohen on His Role as the Founding Executive Director of DPLA
The Basic Skills of All Librarians
Poaching jobs
Is coding an essential library skill?
Beyond the Bullet Points: Rock Stars
Why I Ignore Gurus, Sherpas, Ninjas, Mavens, and Other Sages
Cracking the Code: Librarians Acquiring Essential Coding Skills
Research Librarians Discuss New Ways to Support…