For those of us in the OA community, some whiplash-inducing news broke earlier this week: Elsevier acquired bepress. I learned about the purchase from a listserv email, pointing to a blog post. My initial reaction was that surely this must be the fake news we're hearing about these days, since I hadn't seen any press releases from bepress or Elsevier, and such a partnership … [Read more...]
On staplers
Anybody who has worked at a public service desk can do two things very well: (1) quickly tell somebody how to get to the bathroom and (2) refill/unjam staplers (at the Library Services Desk, besides answering questions and checking out books, we're also pretty good at handing out pens and highlighters). Apparently we're not as good at providing stapler support as I thought: … [Read more...]
New York Times and Open Access
I was dismayed when The New York Times put up a paywall around its online content back in 2011. I get why they did it, but I was accustomed to getting their great content without the need for a credit card, username, and password. Living in central Pennsylvania, it's impossible to get home delivery (and trust me, I've tried). Several local stores and gas stations carry a … [Read more...]
#BUDSC16
I had the privilege of attending #BUDSC16 (Bucknell University Digital Scholarship Conference 2016) this past weekend, which was coordinated by some of my wonderful colleagues here in Library & Information Technology. I was not involved in the planning or coordination of the conference, so I had the guilty pleasure of being able to attend a conference at my own institution … [Read more...]
2016 Authors Reception
On the afternoon of October 4, Library & Information Technology, in partnership with the Provost's Office, hosted our annual Authors Reception, where we recognize faculty and staff who have written or edited books or book chapters. This year, we were honored to showcase 61 works by 41 authors, representing 25 departments. For a full list of submissions, click … [Read more...]
International Open Access Week 2016
Happy International Open Access Week 2016! What is Open Access? Peter Suber, a leading voice in the OA movement, describes Open Access scholarship as "digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder. OA is entirely compatible with peer review, and … [Read more...]
WMS Global Community and User Group Meeting
I just returned from the first-ever WMS Global Community & User Group Meeting (#WMSGlobal), held at the OCLC headquarters in Dublin, OH. It was a great conference, but as all worthwhile conferences go, it was a whirlwind and felt too short (leaving at 4 am on Monday and returning at midnight on Tuesday makes it seem even more like a blur). Unlike previous WMS … [Read more...]