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October 2014

Right, off to Lincoln to do my only bit of teaching this term while on leave for OLH work. Tom McCarthy's /C/ as dystopia.

... it's a curiously interventionist subsidy. Aren't we supposed to believe in small States and invisible hands or something?

I mean, I'd far rather we all got it than that they just had it taken away. Given this government's market orientation, though...

If the rest of us proposed a really expensive way of doing contact time & that the gov should underwrite it we'd be laughed out of the room.

To be honest, I still find it incredible/outrageous that Oxbridge gets a specific extra grant to run its tutorial system.

The publisher is worse than usual and won't even make the specific issue OA. That said there's probably some merit if it reaches new people.

Come up against that most frustrating of situations again. Been asked to write something on OA for a subscription journal.

Hm. Someone is using my email ID to DDOS a v specific API. Abuse coming from @warwickuni, @uniofbeds, @FerrisState, @HopeCollege + other IPs

To clarify from last night - I think there's value in book reviews and even in preserving them. Just don't think slow sub jrnls right place.

OA exposes that our libraries pay a cost per article, even in a subscription ecosystem (where it's just masked). Do we want reviews there?

Increasingly wonder about the relevance of book reviews in academic humanities journals. Certainly are training ground for writing in jrnls.

Very pleased that my forthcoming book has a DOI. Even more pleased that you'll be able to freely access it at the resolved DOI URL.

Travel companies: in most cases, who really "enjoys" a flight or train journey? Endure tedium & often discomfort for destination.

Doing two talks for open access week, one in Lisbon on Tuesday and the other in Oxford on Wednesday. Hope to see some of you!

You know what really shouldn't be hard to write as an open source app? An APC management platform for institutions. #rainydayproject

John Lydon was last in news when he said "woman, shut up while a man is talking". Now he's telling us to vote it's OK, though. Right? #no

It is bad luck to ever give a timescale on tech. That said, we think about 3-4 weeks until @openlibhums submission platform launch!

Bloomsbury Academic annual report implies they are doing well out of academic books (but doesn't disaggregate from "professional" division).

That said, they continue to be published, even by commercial entities. Assuming max sales, 200 * £50 = £10k return per book.

Monograph landscape complex, greater desire to publish than read, print-runs of about 200. Doesn't seem market-viable, I agree.

Her novels strike me as fairly sadistic in some ways (authorial torturing of reader). Perhaps returning readers are just masochists, though.

Seems that the latest Sarah Waters novel takes a different approach to ripping out readers' hearts than her previous books.

Utterly jetlagged but seeing Underworld tonight playing Dubnobasswithmyheadman for its 20th anniversary. Still hope Rez can make the set...

ResearchGate. Pros: looks slick; cunning gamification; genuinely social. Cons: no direct ePrints import; bit LinkedIn; sounds like a scandal

I keep waiting for the gut-wrenching betrayal/twist that must surely be coming in Sarah Waters's latest... #payingguests

T&F: "we believe [copyright] assignment enhances the reputation and prestige of the journal". What is the basis of this belief?

Just seen a tweet saying that PhD candidates usually select on basis of university rankings. Grim. Pseudo-objectivity over supervisor fit.

Figure out how to factor huge numbers tomorrow and much of our security comes tumbling down. Nothing new here, I just am always surprised.

I frequently find it astonishing that our contemporary cryptography relies upon the fact that certain mathematical operations are hard today

Last night in the US. Tomorrow, on to Canada! Do come to my talk at the University of Manitoba on Thursday if you're around.

Lots of discussion of @DavidRArmitage & @joguldi's History Manifesto here + on Facebook. More than most monographs. Open access + marketing?

“@joguldi ... London friends, see you tomorrow at the IHR (especially you @j_w_baker) and Wed. at @LSEpublicevents!” <go to this if you can!

Also, no mention of international contexts: not all of us have the "tenure" mode. Grad students in UK can't wait until after to publish.

Sure, decry the metric of publications for hiring, but this just plays into it by making publication /only/ about appraisal.

Got the lonesome traveller feel in Chicago this evening. I did manage to get to the Art Institute earlier, which was great, though.

I have a small mention in the piece, though, and it still makes me feel very strange. I survived, though, so it's OK! @blobelwarming