New Model for Scholarly Publishing

Ex-Lemmingworks. ##.

Inside Higher Ed :: New Model for Scholarly Publishing

It’s hard to attend scholarly meetings these days without someone talking about the “crisis of scholarly publishing,” which goes something like this: Libraries can’t afford to buy new scholarly books; in turn, university presses can’t afford to publish books no one can buy and so cut back on their sales of monographs; in turn, junior professors can’t get their first books published and have a tough time getting tenure.

Rice University on Thursday announced a plan to shake up those interconnected problems. Rice University Press, which was killed in 1996, will be revived. But unlike every other university press, it will publish all of its books online only. People will be able to read the books for no charge and to download them for a modest fee. Editors will solicit manuscripts and peer review panels will vet submissions — all in ways that are similar to the systems in traditional publishing.

Personally, I don’t know why people don’t use Open Journal Systems which I’ve been using for a few years with The Harrow. Of course, the real problem is that if your tenure committee will not count electronic publications, it is all just a waste of time. That is until after you get tenure. [Thanks for pointing me to this Rochelle!]

That’s a Cell

Ex-Lemmingworks. ##.

This is from one of Yuka’s Mixi friends. Mixi is a popular BBS style social tool in Japan, and one of her anonymous friends posted this as a way of indicating the personality of someone he met. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen really personalized cellphones like this in my neck of the woods.

[click for larger.]

The Power of Nightmares

Ex-Lemmingworks. ##.

CBC is showing the 2004 The Power of Nightmares: the rise of the politics of fear this weekend.

The Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organized terrorist network is an illusion. Director Adam Curtis theorizes that it’s a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media. At the heart of his story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists.

I’ll be at a BBQ with Vlad and Masako, so I’ll miss it, but I’m really curious to see how they present this argument. I’ve been watching the politics of fear all my life, but never so much as now, when it runs just about everyone’s life.

ARTROOM… Saatchi Gallery

Ex-Lemmingworks. ##.

Thanks to Azoix for telling me aobut the Saatchi Gallery’s ARTROOM… where kids can make and display art online. It looks similar to kidpix, and they’ll accept submissions for the gallery. AGO’s got something interesting on portraits, but I can’t remember where I put that info.

Mosquito Ringtone

Ex-Lemmingworks. ##.

You are a thirtysomething

You’re a little frustrated that you can’t hear all the tones that the young ‘uns can but will be more than happy if it means you don’t have to listen to their damn ringtones on the bus anymore. The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 14.9kHz

Test your own hearing at Ultrasonic ringtones

It’s nice to be 30 something, while in my mid-40s. I think I could hear higher pitches, but since I have tinnitus in both ears, and 30% hearing loss in my left, it is hard to tell. 14.9 is just below one of my tinnitus pitches, so perhaps the next level above is what I hear everyday anyway.