Latest posts

In which I powder my nose

Posted on 9 November 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

It’s rather disconcerting to enter a stall in a public lavatory, sit down – and see your own name staring back at you on the inner door advertising.

Loo

Does this mean I’ve really hit the big-time?

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Posted in Lablit, Silliness, Writing | Comments Off on In which I powder my nose

Customer relations

Posted on 8 November 2012 by Frank Norman

Journal publishers are more interested in librarians than they ever used to be. The move to e-journals and big deals has changed the balance between individual and institutional  subscriptions, making libraries more important to publishers than, say, fifteen years ago. Publishers are keen now to understand how librarians make spending decisions and Continue reading →

Posted in Journal publishing, Libraries and librarians | Comments Off on Customer relations

The Captured Thought

Posted on 5 November 2012 by Nicola Clayton

Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins

Do you know what happens when a behavioural scientist interested in how humans and animals think gets together with an artist whose prime interest is in the nature of imagination and consciousness? Are you interested?

Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins have had a lifetime’s experience in their respective disciplines. Continue reading →

Posted in art, Guest posts | Comments Off on The Captured Thought

That was the open access week that was

Posted on 5 November 2012 by Stephen

 A round-up of some of the issues that got an airing during Open Access (OA) Week and in the days that followed, including more rumination on the implementation and implications of the RCUK OA policy, more bad (and some good) publisher behaviour, ideas for new directions in OA publishing and, finally, an important African perspective on the rumblin Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, open access week, publishing, Stevan Harnad | Comments Off on That was the open access week that was

Beyond Beleaf

Posted on 4 November 2012 by Steve Caplan

No time to write a “real blog” what with the unbeleafable pileup to deal with in my yard. And I’m preoccupied with the US elections (see my Occam’s Corner blog tomorrow!).

there goes the weekend

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Posted in humor, leaf, leaves, there goes the weekend, trees | Comments Off on Beyond Beleaf

From Invisibility to Power

Posted on 2 November 2012 by Athene Donald

What can be done to render women in science less invisible? A few women may stand out from the crowd, both historically and at the present time, but the list of women scientists most people – by which I mean other scientists as well as the general public – are able to name tends to be remarkably short. I’ve written a couple of pieces elsewhere whic Continue reading →

Posted in nature, Royal Society, Science Culture, SpotOn London, Woman's Hour, Women in science | Comments Off on From Invisibility to Power

In which we excavate the Tubes that Time Forgot

Posted on 31 October 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

I’ve written before about “the churn”, which is a term established scientists tend to use when they want to make short-term lab contracts sound like a good thing – instead of the relentless waste of talent and reagents and constant reinventing of the wheel that they can actually be in real life. Freezers tend to epitomize this whole concept, harbor Continue reading →

Posted in The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we excavate the Tubes that Time Forgot

Library Camp UK 2012

Posted on 29 October 2012 by Frank Norman

The creative energy unleashed by an unconference is a wonderful thing. I attended LibCamp2012 recently and was surprised that a disparate bunch of people can self-assemble such a varied and interesting programme, all in one day.

I went to the first LibCamp last year. It grew out of something called GovCamp, a local government unconference. Continue reading →

Posted in LibCamp, Libraries and librarians, LibraryCamp, unconference | Comments Off on Library Camp UK 2012

Risk, Education and Politicians

Posted on 28 October 2012 by Athene Donald

As usual I’m a trifle behindhand in my reading, so only now am I catching up with the Darwin Lectures  on Risk, a series of lectures given in 2010 and now available as a book or on your Kindle). This is a fascinating compendium of chapters looking at risk from many different angles, ranging from my Cambridge colleague Mary Beard on the ancients’ vi Continue reading →

Posted in British Academy, Communicating Science, David Spiegelhalter, education, Mathematics, quantitative skills, risk, statistics | Comments Off on Risk, Education and Politicians