jdupuis | May 4, 2012This seems like a fun one for May the Fourth: Jedis disappointed with new "energy-saving" lightsabers
Jedi knights have expressed anger at plans to phase out traditional lightsabers in favour of new, more environmentally-friendly models.
'These new lightsabers are rubbish,' complained Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. 'They take ages to light up and when they do you can barely see anything with them.'
*snip*
'I refuse to switch to these new low energy sabers,' said a typically petulant Luke Skywalker. 'By the time they've reached full brightness you may have already had your hand chopped off by a…
jdupuis | May 4, 2012
The tweetbomb and the ethics of attention
Did One-Sided Legal Advice Lead To The Terrible Copyright Deal For Canadian Universities?
How we use our mobile devices
Ebooks and Ereaders: Where do I Start and Which One Do I Choose?
Ebooks Appetizer #2: Ebooks in the Library
Ebooks Appetizer #3 - Ebook File Types
How to Spot the Future
Here's Why Google and Facebook Might Completely Disappear in the Next 5 Years
Sign the Petition at ebooksforlibraries.com!
Massive Open Online Courses: How "The Social" Alters the Relationship Between Learners and Facilitators
Why e-books will soon be obsolete (and…
jdupuis | May 3, 2012The Canadian Journalists for Free Expression has just awarded the Harper Conservative government here in Canada a failing grade in promoting free expression.
Federal scientists' freedom of expression: F
Canada's control over the communications of federally funded scientists is alarming. Climate change science coverage in the media has plummeted by 80 per cent since 200, drastically reducing information available to Canadians. Some scientists have been denied permission to talk to the media about their research even after it was published in peer-reviewed journals.
Not to mention that the…
jdupuis | May 2, 2012
The worth of creativity: From jerk to troll in three easy steps
Your Roger Corman Future
Where Would We Be Without Libraries? Or An Open Letter to Publishers, by Leah Petersen
Let in the Riffraff: In Praise of the New York Public Library's Renovation Plan
The digital world has invigorated publishing, not doomed it
The Consolation of Philosophy: An update by the author of "A Universe from Nothing" on his thoughts, as a theoretical physicist, about the value of the discipline of philosophy
project curve, part seven: open access publishing for learner engagement (aka oa ftw).
Retail DRM Is an…
jdupuis | May 1, 2012A fantastic quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson:
The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And along the way, lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.
The source of which seems to be…
jdupuis | April 30, 2012
Why DRM is a Toothless Boogeyman, Ebooks are like Video Games, and Amazon is the Winner
Shaking Up the Lecture
Geist: The most expensive copyright insurance policy in Canadian history
Open Letter Regarding the Agreement Reached Between Access Copyright and the AUCC
The Library of Utopia (Google Book Search is floundering)
Stop Telling Students to Study for Exams
What Makes a Book a Book?
What's Required for eBooks to Carry the Day
The innovation we need to see before eBooks can completely replace pBooks
Services More Meaningful Than Ebooks
What Your Klout Score Really Means
For Books,…
jdupuis | April 27, 2012David Suzuki is a icon for the Canadian environmental movement. He's like our Al Gore and Rachel Carson all rolled up into one. I read and reviewed his memoirs a while back and they are terrific.
When he talks, sensible people listen.
This blog post by Suzuki and Ian Hanington hit my in box this morning: Environmental rules should be better, not easier
Few people would argue against making environmental review processes and regulations more efficient -- as long as they're effective. But changes announced in the recent federal budget don't do that. Instead, they make it easier for the federal…
jdupuis | April 27, 2012Klout is kind of evil. Basically, it's the impact factor for the Web, where this random company uses a mysterious algorithm to quantify and rank people's standing on social media -- Twitter, Facebook, etc.
There's been some interesting commentary about it on teh interwebs these lasts few days, such as It's terrifying how important your Klout score has become, Klout Is Important Even If You Aren't Using It and What Your Klout Score Really Means. Lots of interesting and mostly measured and rational commentary and analysis.
And along comes Klouchebag.com into the fray and blows it all up.
From…
jdupuis | April 25, 2012
Harvard Faculty Advisory Council Memorandum on Journal Pricing: Major Periodical Subscriptions Cannot Be Sustained
"No, we can't"
A proposal for the library of the future
Harvard: we have a problem
Harvard Library: subscriptions too costly, faculty should go open access
Could Harvard Library's "untenable situation" regarding journal costs help move scholars toward open access?
Saying Costly Subscriptions 'Cannot Be Sustained,' Harvard Library Committee Urges Open Access
Harvard's library can't afford journal subscriptions
Harvard Library to faculty: we're going broke unless you go open…
jdupuis | April 23, 2012As I mentioned last week, on Tuesday, April 17 I was part of a workshop on Creative Commons our Scholarly Communications Committee put on for York library staff. My section was on open data and the Panton Principles. While not directly related to Creative Commons, we thought talking a bit about an application area for licensing in general and a specific case where CC is applied would be interesting for staff. We figured it would be the least engaging part of the workshop so I agreed to go last and use any time that was left.
Rather unexpectedly, the idea of data licensing and in particular…
jdupuis | April 22, 2012
Persistent myths about open access scientific publishing
Prepping Grad Students for Jobs
Rewarding Teaching Innovation
Ask a Stupid Question: Why is there so much anonymity when it comes to the practices of academic discourse?
Elite Universities' Online Play
Electronic Textbooks: Why the Rush?
Peer review and plagiarism
Redesigning the Reference course and Crowdsourcing a library-school syllabus
Contract hacking and community organizing and Provocative proposal to force scholarly publishers to respect open-access wishes of their unpaid contributors
Why you should stop using social reader…
jdupuis | April 20, 2012I am somehow attracted to stories that are both incredibly sad and at the same time incredibly hilarious.
A character defect, I know. There must even be some sort of name for the condition, like ludustristophilia. Or something.
Anyways, this one really qualifies: 7 inventors killed by their inventions. It's kind of like the Darwin Awards, but twisted and distorted by a funhouse mirror.
The life of an inventor is not an easy one. First you have to come up with a good idea that solves a problem in a way that no one has thought of before, and then you need to design and engineer your idea to…
jdupuis | April 16, 2012As part of a workshop on Creative Commons, I'm doing a short presentation on Open Data and The Panton Principles this week to various members of our staff. I thought I'd share some of the resources I've consulted during my preparations. I'm using textmining of journal articles as a example so I'm including a few resources along those lines as well.
The Panton Principles
Why does Dryad use CC0?
#sparc2012 a manifesto in absentia for Open Data
Information mining from Springer full-text: I ask for freedom
Textmining Update: Max Haussler's Questions to publishers: They have a duty to reply…
jdupuis | April 14, 2012
The Emergence of a Citation Cartel
Ask the Chefs: "What's the Biggest Elephant in the Room?"
Review: "How Economics Shapes Science," by Paula Stephan
Interview with Paula Stephan -- Economics, Science, and Doing Better
Maxing out the curve on ebook adoption
Everything you need to know about today's e-book lawsuit in one post
Are Apps The Future of Book Publishing?
UKSG conference: Libraries: enacting change (libraries as leaders in altmetrics)
The BRIGHT Future of Libraries - a Rant
Culture Change for Learning
E-Books: What Next?
Authors use Kickstarter to begin new publishing company
Dear…
jdupuis | April 13, 2012Yes, well, we've all had days like that, where we've admired our furry friends' abilities to wonder through life, tail-wagging, mouth-drooling, yip-yapping.
Fortunately, today is not one of those for me as I'm quietly at home preparing for a presentation next week and working on an ebooks post which will hopefully see the light of day one of these decades.
Oh, yes, but then I do check my email and want to be a dog.
Scientist discovers "being a dog" is key to reducing stress
'Modern life gives people far too many things to worry about,' claims Dr Nigella Gresley. 'But it may already be too…
jdupuis | April 13, 2012
Paper books vs. e-books: I still can't decide
Is blogging and tweeting about research papers worth it? The Verdict
Open Access To Scientific information: Policy Guidelines Released by UNESCO
Receptivity to Library Involvement in Scientific Data Curation: A Case Study at the University of Colorado Boulder
How Librarians Can Successfully Navigate the 7 Cs of Social Media
Why Gamification Can't Be Stopped
How Teamwork Can Damage Productivity
Weighing the costs of conferencing
Ebooks 101: DRM (Digital Rights Management)
'A Model Discipline' (poly sci & "physics envy")
The Conundrum of…
jdupuis | April 12, 2012
The Decline and Fall of the Library Empire
Do Librarians Work Hard Enough?
Academia, Libraries, Work, and the Public Good
Library-only 2.0 is dead. Long live Library 2.0!
What Will Library/Information/Knowledge Graduates Be Doing 25 Years Hence?
The Last Enclosures (Washington Post article response)
Answering questions about library impact on student learning
Libraries as software - dematerialising, platforms and returning to first principles
An Elite University ... From Scratch?
A New "Elite University" Gets $25 Million in Seed Funding
Dear CEOs and senior managers, it's no longer ok…
jdupuis | April 11, 2012It's probably best to start with what Marc J. Kuchner's new book -- Marketing for Scientists: How to Shine in Tough Times -- isn't.
It isn't a social media jackass recipe book for "Success through Twitter." It isn't a detailed treatise on marketing theory. It doesn't come with a guarantee of grants, publications and prizes if you follow it's instructions. In fact, it's hardly about Twitter or blogs or Facebook or Pinterest or any of that stuff at all.
Instead, it's a primer on why getting your message out is a good idea.
Marketing for humans, in other words, where humans = scientists.
Kuchner…
jdupuis | April 6, 2012I love me some private eye novels, that's for sure. I also love me some lists of books.
So combining them is pure heaven!
Anyways, an old friend of mine, Kevin Burton Smith, the proprietor of The Thrilling Detective web site and zine decided to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the site by running a poll to find out his reader's 14 all time favourite private eye novels.
On April 1st he published the results. And here they are:
THE 14 BEST PRIVATE EYE NOVELS OF ALL TIME
(Links on the private eye's name lead to the profile on Kevin's site. Check it out!)
The Taste of Ashes by Howard Browne (…
jdupuis | April 5, 2012
My Paleo Media Diet: Turning off, opting out, and disconnecting to save my brain for the things I really want to use it for.
What she Really said: Fighting Sexist Jokes the Geeky Way
Mobile and the news media's imploding business model
Bigger Than Agency, Bigger Than E-Books: The Case Against Apple and Publishers
Martin Sorrell: Internet Has Created More Value Than It Has Destroyed
A Slow-Books Manifesto
Are College Professors and Librarians Digital Pirates?
Authentic Librarianship and the Question of Service
Taking the Long View with First Year Writers
A Whip to Beat Us With (Amazon, Apple…