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October 2016

And that's not even accounting for the challenges of citation parsing without semantic markup data etc. And disciplinary practices.

Problem with that type of study is that it assumes it can capture all research outputs. Same with metricised assessment exercises.

Have got that post-conference buzz of wanting to be able to write everything simultaneously. Loads of ideas for Aesthetics of Metadata book.

Turns out that they would! "All literary research [...] should be [for] generating profits for some enterprising sector of the economy".

Just received an unsolicited email that began: "I am a neoliberal literary researcher". I thought, nobody would really say that, would they?

#OAWeek2016 talks all done. But, on Saturday, I'll be speaking at @LitNetworks2016 at @birkbeck_eh on metadata in @DrBlacklock's I'm Jack.

Tomorrow at City, University of London I'll be speaking about the OLH's 1st year, our plans, and demonstrating our new typesetting software.

Difficult to answer concisely. Many different converging origins across a vast political spectrum seeking divergent outcomes.

Although it felt slightly hostile, favourite question at talk today (re open access) was: "where has this [oa] all come from?"

Survived my first overseas talk since serious illness today. Then met with group on London celebrating great PhD viva result. @CatherineFlay

So guess 2 situations are: you CC0 license and then transfer copyright to a publisher who gets hacked off. Or you didn't understand CC0.

Because copyright holder would have to take it to court. But that only happens on violation. And there is nothing to violate.

Overheard a session today noting that CC0 has not been tested in court. Not sure in what circumstance that could occur unless dual licensing

Had two questions in last week about why @openlibhums journals are not in @DOAJplus. We've submitted and are awaiting their reply!

Waiting for my Eurostar to board. As appealing as the Open Science conference might be, alternative 10:14 to Disneyland is tempting...

Literary Networks talk should be particularly fun. It's first public presentation of a chapter from draft book on aesthetics of metadata.

(I hope other presenters will forgive me, but I'm not going to be able to attend the whole event; don't want to overdo it on my first trip.)

Started writing that book in 2012. It was quite a painful process. My favourite chapters are those on Sarah Waters & Ishmael Reed.

The peer-reviewed book is gold OA and CC BY 4.0 licensed so you can read for free online. But the paperback is also affordable at just £16.

Feels to me like an academic digging in to defend things s/he doesn't really know about beyond his/her own experience in a university.

"Nurse, scalpel. Oh, wait, I just need to pop down my local library to check something. And then wait four days for interlibrary loan."

Reader also assumes that it's a nicety to have access in your own time. Clinicians don't have all the on-site access they need.

We could ship all this stuff around using interlibrary loan, of course, but that's a v. slow & expensive way in the age of the internet.

Where to begin? Because I'm sure your local library has all the latest £60 research monographs and obscure serials subscriptions.

Peer reviewer: "Academic research is at least as accessible to the general public as are trade books thanks to Google Scholar & libraries."

That's a bit how I felt about /The Master/ as a reader TBH. (Half joking: I do want to read /The Testament of Mary/ now).

Pleased to say that I will be joining the BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative) working group. BOAI 1 of 3 core definitions of OA in 2002.

By driving a wedge between universities and students through tuition fees. By allowing con-artist asset strippers to setup their own unis.

Yeah. They want to help. By banning foreign students except at some universities. By making universities plan for their own bankruptcy.

Just seen the cover for the forthcoming @gylphi volume on Tom McCarthy edited by @djbduncan and it's a thing of beauty. (Out soon...)

One of the most pernicious parts of tuition fee structures, I think. Pits financial security of educational institutions against students.

Not persuaded that there isn't tension between UCU inflationary pay claim and NUS call for no inflationary fee rises. I support both.

"Before June, it was necessary to watch the Treasury to understand HE policy, now it’s the Prime Minister’s Office setting the agenda"

Annotran alpha users: afraid we're going to wipe the database on Thurs to introduce breaking changes. Apologies. @elotroalex @readywriting

The grimness of British politics in recent months gives me no hope that, whatever depths to which Trump sinks, he might still get the vote.

Ridiculous hipster manchild on my train refused to swap seats to let mother sit with her daughter because "he was ok by the window".

Saw @lisadwan's /No's Knife/ today. An intense feat of performance, memory, and endurance. Strange to see Beckett's voices so bodied, too.

As expected, @FionaCandlin was fantastic. Such a rich tapestry of culture uncovered by her work; part of a richly deserved huge AHRC grant.

Looking forward to the first of our graduate lectures for the year at @BirkBeckArtsRes - @FionaCandlin on "Micromuseology"!

Doesn't it violate anti-discrimination laws for the government to specify which nationalities are allowed to work on a public project?

Attending a lunchtime talk in Birkbeck's Centre for Medical Humanities: "What is 'critical' about the critical medical humanities?"

I have a todo-list item "AC and LDL event" in a couple of weeks' time. If anyone has plausible ideas what this might be, I'm all ears.

"Embrace centre ground, May tells Tories"... The "centre ground" now including forcing firms to identify non-British workers?

Doing badly in TEF: 1. reduction of fee cap; 2. withdrawal of right to recruit overseas students. Leads to financial crises & "market exit".

Hang on, for years the Tories berated Labour for not prioritising deficit above all else, saying it was irresponsible. Now they will, too?

Something about Ferrante that sounds depressing is doing the rounds. Not going to read it to keep some faith in humanity.

Just got a reschedule letter that is seven months since my last appointment. Clinician said "it's important we see you in three months".

One of the most frustrating things about the NHS is when clerical staff re-schedule appts w/out a clinical understanding.

Today is my first official day of being a Prof. Congratulating myself on not dying between Feb and now with a pack of chocolate buttons.