jdupuis | December 5, 2010Every year the Globe publishes a gift book guide separate from their regular list of notable books. Great for coffee table style books for that special someone. The list has a few non-science items that look particularly cool to me so I'll list those too. (Note that the online version is missing most of the books mentioned in the print version.)
The Native Trees of Canada By Leanne Shapton
Self Sufficiency for the 21st Century by Dick and James Strawbridge
Atlas of the World by Oxford University Press
Explorers: Great Tales of Adventure and Endurance by the Royal Geographical Society
The…
jdupuis | December 4, 2010
The mismeasurement of science
Beyond the Impact Factor: Building a community for more diverse measurement of research
Citizen science
Eliminate the Computer Science major
Should Profs Leave Unruly Classes?
Untouchable Cyberbullies
The economic case for open access in academic publishing
The Men Who Stole the World (about early file-sharing software pioneers)
Renewing Harvard's library system
Paying by the Pound for Journals
Would You Build a New 600 Seat Classroom?
Academia 2.0: What it is all about?
12 Common Misperceptions About Book Publishing
What role should homework play in the course…
jdupuis | December 4, 2010I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll occasionally be merging two or more shorter reviews into one post here.
This one, of The Republican War on Science, is from January 24, 2007.
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The is a fine and necessary book, one that uncovers a lot of history and a lot of current events that I certainly didn't know about. Being a Canadian…
jdupuis | December 3, 2010One of the more interesting lists every year is Strategy + Business because it gives a good selection of internet technology/innovation and social media books. I drew from various of their lists: Top Shelf, Leadership, China and Innovation.
Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance by Boris Groysberg
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson
Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead by Charlene Li
The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future by Elizabeth C. Economy
Cognitive…
jdupuis | December 3, 2010I generally try and avoid reality TV at all costs, mostly seeing as a sign of the coming apocalypse. But this new one shocks even me and seems to stretch the bounds of sanity. Sometimes I think only a wordsmith like HP Lovecraft could describe the existential horror these shows provoke.
Cracked has a scorching take on it here.
On E!'s Bridalplasty, 12 brides-to-be have to live in a house together, away from their fiancees, competing in challenges for four months. If they do well in their challenges, they'll get a new cosmetic enhancement each week but, if they do poorly, they could get…
jdupuis | December 2, 2010Another nice list.
The Facebook Effect: The Insider Story of the Company that is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick
MacroWikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams
How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee
Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio
The Eerie Silence: Are We Alone in the Universe? by Paul Davies
Through the Language Glass: How Words Colour Your World by Guy Deutscher
The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks
Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D Seeley
The Immortal Life of Henrietta…
jdupuis | December 2, 2010As usual, lots of terrific articles are included in this issue. More and more, I wonder why a scitech librarian would publish their articles anywhere else, especially in a toll access journal.
Old Words, New Meanings: A Study of Trends in Science Librarian Job Ads by Brenna K.H. Bychowski, Carolyn M. Caffrey, Mia C. Costa, Angela D. Moore, Jessamyn Sudhakaran, and Yuening Zhang, Indiana University
Increasing the Visibility of the Library within the Academic Research Enterprise by Annette M. Healy, Wayne State Universitty
Science Seeker: A New Model for Teaching Information Literacy to Entry…
jdupuis | December 1, 2010A couple of really interesting articles in InsideHigherEd the other day:
Should Profs Leave Unruly Classes?
Now two faculty members at Ryerson University, in Toronto, sparked discussion at their institution with a similar (if somewhat more lenient) policy -- and their university's administrators and faculty union have both urged them to back down, which they apparently have.
The Ryerson professors' policy was first reported last week in The Eyeopener (the student newspaper) and then was picked up by other Canadian publications. Two professors who teach an introductory engineering course in…
jdupuis | November 30, 2010This list is from SFGate / San Francisco Chronicle and is drawn from their nonfiction, architecture and nature lists.
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester
City Building: Nine Planning Principles for the Twenty-First Century by John Lund Kriken
Float!: Building on Water to Combat Urban Congestion and Climate Change by Koen Olthuis and David Keuning
Bird…
jdupuis | November 30, 2010
New Models for University Presses
What do we want copyright to do?
Price of tap water x 2000 + plastic bottles + manufactured demand = The Story of Bottled Water
Thursday Threads: Google Scholar Coverage, Effective Meetings, Librarians as Obstacles, Cable TV
Gender Bias, Sexism, and the Science Cheerleaders
Academia.edu Launches A Directory Of 12,500 Academic Journals
Using QR Codes in the Library
The idea of open
A very simple suggestion for scientists to increase their interactions w/ people in the humanities
The Problem of the Humanities
The Half-Life of Digital Formats
On Gratitude in…
jdupuis | November 29, 2010Via Bora Zivkovic, I see that there's a new blog in town -- this one devoted to the joys of scientists blogging to advance their work.
It's called Science of Blogging and it's by Peter Janiszewski and Travis Saunders who blog at Obesity Panacea.
I'll let them explain their mission:
Social media provides a tremendous outlet by which to translate and promote scientific knowledge and engage the public discourse. All scientists, researchers, clinicians, government and not-for-profit organizations have much to gain by adopting an effective and viable social media strategy.
Science of Blogging will…
jdupuis | November 28, 2010I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll occasionally be merging two or more shorter reviews into one post here.
This one includes three shorter reviews:
The Introspective Engineer by Samuel C. Florman (June 1, 2003)
Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee with Mark Fischetti (…
jdupuis | November 27, 2010If The New York Times list is the big one in the US and probably over all, then the Globe list is the big one in Canada. Interestingly, it's another list that's been a bit spotty on science coverage in the past but that seems to have reformed it's ways.
The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks…
jdupuis | November 27, 2010I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll occasionally be merging two or more shorter reviews into one post here.
This one, of A Short History of Nearly Everything, is from September 25, 2006.
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I'm a bit of two minds on this book. Really, I almost consider it two different books that I could review separately. The first, a book I…
jdupuis | November 26, 2010Whenever I'm feeling lazy about digging up something for these weekly (yes, I did just type weakly and then correct myself) posts, I always know that The Onion will save my bacon. And who knows, maybe one day The Bacon will save my onion.
In any case, submitted for your approval, Pop Culture Expert Surprisingly Not Ashamed Of Self.
Shelham, who spends 10 hours every day consuming news updates on various entertainers and then commenting on their activities on an entertainment website, has reportedly shown no signs of humiliation or self-hatred over the way she spends the bulk of her time, and…
jdupuis | November 26, 2010Another list, this time from the Chapters.Indigo.ca site.
The Tiger: A True Story Of Vengeance And Survival by John Vaillant
The Wave: In The Pursuit Of The Rogues, Freaks And Giants Of The Ocean by Susan Casey
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries,…
jdupuis | November 25, 2010It's the big one, probably the most important "best of" list of the year -- The New York Times. Often a bit spotty on it's science-y coverage, let's see how they fare this year:
Common as Air: Revolution, Art, and Ownership by Lewis Hyde
Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food By Paul Greenberg
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Insectopedia by Hugh Raffles
Long for this World: The Strange Science of Immortality by…
jdupuis | November 24, 2010A couple more shorts lists.
HistoryNet
Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad by Walter Borneman
DC-3: A Legend In Her Time-A 75th Anniversary Photographic Tribute by Bruce McAllister
Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War, from Kitty Hawk to Iraq By Stephen Budiansky
O Magazine
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
I'm always looking for recommendations and notifications of book lists as they appear in various media outlets. If you see…
jdupuis | November 24, 2010A portentous-sounding title for a not-so-portentous post, full of half-baked thoughts and idle musings.
I was just thinking about the recent Jounal of Electronic Publishing issue on Reimagining the University Press and without actually reading very much of the issue in question (ignorance is so liberating sometimes...) the most pressing question in my mind was:
So what exactly do we need university presses for anyways?
And I got to thinking some more and figured that there are probably tons of people in university presses thinking to themselves,
So what exactly do we need academic libraries…
jdupuis | November 23, 2010A terrific new edition of The Journal of Electronic Publishing (v13i2), focusing on the future of university presses and, by extension, of scholarly publishing as a whole.
A lot of terrific-looking articles:
Editor's Note for Reimagining the University Press by Phil Pochoda
Reimagining the University Press: A Checklist for Scholarly Publishers by Peter J. Doughtery
Reimagining the University Press by Kate Wittenberg
Stage Five Book Publishing by Joseph J. Esposito
Next-Generation University Publishing: A Perspective from California by Daniel Greenstein
What Might Be in Store for Universities…