Group items tagged

A fairly concerning article about how a student taking a course with his wife didn't see the need to buy a second textbook for the class. However, with the textbook came a mandatory access code for supplementary materials and also to get access to the online discussion board and homework submission system. The student was unable to purchase the access code itself. This highlights an ongoing problem with software and digital access; publishers may legally be in their rights that every user is only granted access to a work and then to only one person, but users expect to be able to buy used books, old software, and so on. By essentially and artificially eliminating the secondary market of used/older materials publishers may increase their revenue per user but also increase user dissatisfaction and distrust.

An article that notes the dwindling demand for general information specialists at the Free Library of Phildadelphia, which used to field 400 phone calls a day among a rotating staff of 14 librarians, and is now done to 1 librarian and 9 assistants who deal with only a handful of phone calls and more often do front line customer service and technical support work, with many information requests now handled by online chat.

A look at the logistics how an open access journal may be set up-- as you can see, it's both cheap and easy, which which may give pause to some people who would otherwise submit articles.  For that reason, the first thing that Eve stresses is to place high priority on the quality of your board and reviewers, to give your new title some legitimacy.

PeerJ on the surface sounds like an interesting concept where members pay to have their materials published and therefore have a lower overall cost to use and still allows academics to publish. However, this sounds similar to another article I read a few months ago of an explosion of "scholarly" journals that were little more than vanity presses. In particular I'm concerned about how a "qualified academic editor" will find peer reviewers, with little details on how the process will work or the qualifications of everyone involved.

Thew controversy was mainly about Amazon, and it was as interesting reading the comments as well as the article. Amazon is creating "fulfillment centers" in states for shipping items to consumers, and may even be looking at creating their own delivery service. The business model Amazon uses is very lean with low paid workers, and the American Booksellers Associations claims that for every $10 million that shifts from physical brick-and-mortar stores to Amazon 33 jobs are lost.

I've posted a few articles about the Little Free Libraries, it's good to see that they are starting to catch on as a trend.

Reports of bedbug demise have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

That's a relief. I was itchy just thinking about that.

Two important new developments in access to public funded research, the FASTR Act that requires copies of articles done under NIH research to be deposited into PubMed, and a White House directive for federal agencies to develop public access policies for research and digital data.

A twofold interest in this article, one that we forget we don't own or manage website content services. With older software installed on a PC we could continue as long as it was supported or useful, an online service can simply be pulled. The other is that with multiple sources and sites now that aggregate material RSS feeds may finally be declining in popularity and use.

Another article about what may be the short term existence of dedicated e-readers compared to tablets. Realistically an e-reader only offers a lightweight dedicated platform and for some models an e-Ink display that isn't practical for most tablets that do video and color.

An article that makes some good points about copyright, namely that the information we need to access, repair, or modify equipment we own is often copyrighted in itself. Which means by virtue of copyright we are unable to access the service manuals, error codes, or diagnostic tools we need to do anything with a technological device. The author makes a point that while works of art may be restricted by we own a performance right to it, physical objects we own outright.

A somewhat hopeful article pointing out that the interest in e-book readers is leveling off while print continues, and that if anything things such as online self-publishing have helped as it reduces the risk for commercial publishers in recruiting new authors.

A concerning article about the rate of theft at the Austin public library. Surprising is how only recently have borrowing limits been enacted and patrons required to renew their cards A collections agency is used for delinquent accounts, but there is little mention of a security system or how much is lost due to simple theft.

An article about the world of prison libraries and how they help detainees with learning, job placement, and constructive entertainment such as performing in plays.

A somewhat gloomy article tangentially mentioning libraries but focusing more on how the revolution of robots and automation in industry has carried over to software in today's information processing jobs, and that even in recent good economic times jobs continue to be lost.

A somewhat limited article about "ethnic cleansing" on the Internet. What I can agree with is the prospect of countries making their own versions of popular websites such as Youtube, the larger question that has been debated since the beginning of the Internet is who should decide about material outside the borders of a country that it may still try to control.

A fairly truthful article about the situation facing libraries today; that since most people like libraries they have few true enemies, and with no enemies there are no real allies.

An article covering the online legacy we leave behind once we've passed away, and who or how it is managed. Companies are gradually becoming more aware and making some concessions towards "digital estate planning" but there are still legal concerns or grey areas, such as a surviving parent using an accessing the social media account of a child who had died.

An interestingly philosophical article about burning books--namely books that no longer serve a purpose or have nay worth, but also questioning the purpose of the Encyclopedia, both when they were new but also today.

An article about the decline of processing centers for deciphering bad addresses. Where once there had been 55 there are now 2 and will soon be 1. The result has been the Post Office is one of the leaders in optical character recognition. What I find troubling is the speed they are operating at--3 seconds an image at 1,200 an hour, which leads to barely enough time to make a correction, and only to correct the most obvious mistakes.