Social Media
jdupuis | December 17, 2010For those that haven't heard about the NASA/arsenic bacteria story that's been exploding all over the science blogosphere over the last couple of weeks, I like the summary over at Jonathan Eisen's Tree of Life blog:
NASA announced a major press conference
at the conference they discussed a new Science paper claiming to show the discovery of a microbe that could replace much/some of its phosphate with arsenic
initial press coverage of the paper was very positive and discussed the work as having profound implications for understanding of life in the universe - though some scientists in some of…
jdupuis | December 16, 2010Two recent announcements that are worth noting here.
The first is for Digital Science, a Macmillan / Nature Publishing Group project involving some of the usual science online suspects like Timo Hannay and Kaitlin Thaney and some others in a really dynamic-looking multi-disciplinary team.
The press release is here and the about page here.
Digital Science provides software and information to support researchers and research administrators in their everyday work, with the ultimate aim of making science more productive through the use of technology. As well as developing our own solutions, we…
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 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…
jdupuis | November 21, 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 Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, is from May 28, 2008.
I have also read Shirky's Cognitive Surplus and mostly like it quite a lot. A review is still brewing for that one and I…
jdupuis | November 19, 2010Another list for your reading and collection development pleasure. This one concentrates on more business-y books so I've only chosen the ones that relate more to social media/technology. It's 10 Business Books In 2010 from Cloud Computing.
Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky
Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead by Charlene Li
The New Polymath: Profiles in Compound-Technology Innovations by Vinnie Mirchandani
The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick…
jdupuis | November 5, 2010York University Computer Science & Engineering professor Anestis Toptsis was kind enough recently to invite me to speak to his CSE 3000 Professional Practice in Computing class.
He gave me two lecture sessions this term, one to talk about library-ish stuff. In other words, what third year students need to know about finding conference and journal articles (and other stuff too) for their assignments and projects. You can find my notes here, in the lecture 1 section.
In the second session, which I gave yesterday, he basically let me talk about anything that interested me. So, of course,…
jdupuis | November 3, 2010For your reading and collection development pleasure. It's been so long since I last did one of these listings, I actually have another one coming up in a day or so.
Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia by Joseph Michael Reagle Jr. (ISBN-13: 978-0262014472)
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is built by a community--a community of Wikipedians who are expected to "assume good faith" when interacting with one another. In Good Faith Collaboration, Joseph Reagle examines this unique collaborative culture.
Wikipedia, says Reagle, is not the first effort to create a freely shared,…
jdupuis | October 27, 2010A week or two ago, in a comment on the Blogging Groups and Ethics post, I lamented that I always seem to be reading the same librarianish blogs, not mixing it up too much. I wished that we might have a blogging community to assemble around, or at least a good aggregator.
Well, Bora Zivkovic challenged me in the comments to at very least aggregate scitech librarian blogs for the ScienceBlogging.org site.
It's taken me a while, but I've done it.
Using the list I previously created for the List of Science & Technology Librarian Blogs I created a Friendfeed group which Bora has since…
jdupuis | October 18, 2010The kind librarians at Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario have invited me to help them celebrate Open Access Week!
Their rather impressive lineup of OA Week events (and I'm not just saying this because I'm involved, believe me) is here.
My part is a talk I'm giving on Wednesday:
Wednesday, October 20 2-3:30
Exploring Open Science
Join John Dupuis, Head of the Steacie Science & Engineering Library, York University, for a discussion of how Science and Technology academics and publishers are responding to the growing open access movement and the changing nature of research in…
jdupuis | October 15, 2010The latest Cites & Insights (v10i11) is out and in it Walt Crawford explores some of the recent developments in the blogging landscape in a section called The Zeitgeist: Blogging Groups and Ethics. It's a very good overview and analysis of what's going on both in the science and librarian blogospheres.
It's well worth checking out. Some highlights:
Blogging Groups and Ethics
Do you blame Roy Tennant when the Annoyed Librarian writes posts that undermine librarianship and libraries?
I'm guessing you don't. Whoever the Library Journal incarnation of the Annoyed Librarian might or might…
jdupuis | September 15, 2010I know I'm sure as hell having a hard time keeping up with all the comings and goings. If anything, the impression is probably that the lights are practically out and we're all singing Old Lang Syne. This, of course, is far from the case. The lights are still on, we're most of us blogging away.
Here's a list compiled from the Blog Index page and from the drop down on every page. I'm also only including reasonably active blogs, ones with posts since January 1, 2010.
WCG Common Sense has also provided a nice graphical representation of some of the recent science blogospheric ebbs and flows…
jdupuis | September 14, 2010Yet another science blogging community: Wired Science Blogs.
From Meet the New Wired Science All-Star Bloggers:
At Wired Science we are always looking for new ways to deliver you more science and more awesome. Starting today, we are bringing on a group of hand-picked, superstar science bloggers to help us do just that.
*snip*
We hope Wired will give these bloggers the platform and attention they deserve and help bring quality science blogging to the forefront of science discussion across the web. In recent weeks, several science blogging networks have sprung up, including PLoS blogs,…
jdupuis | September 1, 2010Yes, YASBC. Yet another science blogging community.
Welcome to PLoS Blogs!
From the introductory post:
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of PLoS Blogs a new network for discussing science in public; covering topics in research, culture, and publishing.
PLoS Blogs is different from other blogging networks, because it includes an equal mix of science journalists and scientists. We're excited to be welcoming our new bloggers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Deborah Blum to the network.
*snip*
Our scientists:
Take As Directed:
David Kroll, Ph.D. is a cancer pharmacologist who…
jdupuis | August 26, 2010Here's a list of the reasonably active Science & Technology library blogs I know about. I've not included medical library blogs in this post because it's not a field I'm all that knowledgeable about. That list would make a great post in it's own right, but it's not this one.
My definition of "scitech librarian blog" is pretty loose (even on the librarian part of it), but in this case I think casting a fairly wide net is probably the best plan of action.
In no particular order:
Science Intelligence and InfoPros by Herve Basset
Christina's LIS Rant by Christina Pikas
Book of Trogool by…
jdupuis | August 13, 2010I'm still enjoying my informal, semi-serious, so-funny-it-hurts Friday Fun series on the slings and arrows of online social media/networking practices.
The first three have been:
5 Signs You're Talking To A Social Media Douchebag
5 Terms Social Media Douchebags Need To Stop Using
5 Things Serious Tech People Need To Stop TweetingThis entry is probably the most serious and, oddly, the only one that doesn't revolve around the number 5.
Anyways...
Scott Berkun has a though-provoking list of things we should keep in mind when extolling the insane virtues of all that social networking and social…
jdupuis | August 6, 2010Today's Friday Fun continues the curious informal summer series of light-hearted takes on social media/network etiquette, begun two weeks ago with 5 signs you're talking with a social media douchebag and last week with 5 terms social media douchebags need to stop using.
This time around it's 5 Things Serious Tech People Need To Stop Tweeting.
Look technology friends, Twitter is a lovely thing, but when we tweet certain things we make our followers cringe and twitch towards the unfollow button. Do whatever you will, but after reading literally millions of tweets I think that if we cut out the…
kcollins | August 3, 2010We need your help to get the word out about the USA Science and Engineering Festival. Social Media cannot be done in a vacuum so we continue to ask those of you who are listening to help us get the word out through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogging. I think this is just another great example of how to help us get the word out. This blog was posted on Forbes Wolfe blog, Josh Wolfe is one of the Festival's Nifty Fifty Speakers as well as Francis Collins. Dr. Collins then gives insight into the role the USA Science and Engineering Festival will play in inspiring the future of science in…
jdupuis | July 30, 2010Yeah, last Friday I threatened a sequel and here it is.
Too much fun. And once again, looking in the mirror is a bit tough on this one. I did do a quick search on my blog posts and none of the offending phrases shows up per se. But, some seem a little too familiar.
I'm not done with the douchebags.
After I wrote the 5 Signs You're Talking To A Social Media Douchebag, I was met with heavy feedback.
Social media douchebags used social media to attack me.
Damn it.
Should've seen that one coming.
Here goes. Read 'em and weep for the future of humanity. The elaborations on the original post…
jdupuis | July 23, 2010This is soooo funny. So funny it hurts. Ok, so maybe I've been guilty of one or two of these. Ok, maybe you have too. The more you're guilty, the funnier it is.
To many, the Internet is a world full of promise.
To others, a ripe field ready to be harvested by douchebags.
Both are true.
I think the first douchebag was the knight in medieval times. You just know he clickity-clanked across the village in that dopey metal armor and thought he was so cool.
Oh look at me. I have armor!
And then he'd return to the castle and push the jester around with his joust. Jousting him in the ass,…