Big Time Publishing Fun With Metadata
It is by their own admission a primitive application of the semantic web, but where Harper's is heading is definitely in the right direction. Expore this item, and imagine it listing the contents not of one but of 100 selected publications. More...

U.S. Policy Restricts Scientific Publishing by Researchers in Countries Under Trade Embargo
Five countries are under current U.S. trade embargos: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Sudan. Following investigations by the IEEE a couple of weeks ago, it turns out that these embargos include academic 'services' such as the editing of scientific papers. The U.S. government decision has embroiled the organization and raised concerns among other international organizations that they, too, will be subject to the same restrictions. More...

The Potential of Personal Publishing in Education II: How’s It Going & What’s Working?
This look at the use of weblogs in learning takes a close, critical look and the results aren't all peaches and cream. The most telling link is to the list of updated schoolblogs, showing (as of my reading) that out of the 2,400 or so listed, the most recent update was back in July. More...

In Search of Solutions for Scholarly Publishing
Trandscript of the discussion with Cathy Davidson, author of the article Understanding the Economic Burden of Scholarly Publishing, covered here last week. Some fascinating (and puzzling) comments: "In the short run, once commercial publishers find they cannot price-gauge, I'm sure they will get out of the business." Um, no, that's not how it works. More...

Traffic Overwhelms New Online Science Journal
Imagine. An academic journal on the subject of biology gets a million hits in a single day. Biology, even! In what may mark the most popular day in the history of the subject, the Public Library of Science Biology journal, the first to be launched by PLoS, was swamped by the widespread interest on its first day. More...

On-line Publishing in the 21st Century
Nice article about the contradictions between traditional publication models and the possibilities inherent in the web. The two mix together, notes the author, about as well as oil and water. So long as they see no role for themselves, publishers will continue to complain (incorrectly) that the new distribution model is flawed. But their role post-internet is becoming clearer. More...