The Scholarly Kitchen
Usability
Why Is ClinicalTrials.gov Still Struggling?
With no clear benefits to researchers, a frustrating user experience, and no penalties for non-compliance, ClinicalTrials.gov is becoming increasingly irrelevant to clinical researchers and the world at large with each passing day. What does this mean for public access to research results? Is an obligation to patients putting themselves at risk in trials being breached? Why has it failed to live up to its potential? Continue reading
Co-opting “Official” Channels through Infrastructures for Openness
Last week, the news broke about a new service called DOAI that is designed to support open access. It is not a publishing model or a repository but rather a type of infrastructure. When a user inputs a DOI, DOAI connects the user to a freely available copy of the publication. This is the latest of … Continue reading
Guest Post: Kent Anderson UPDATED — 96 Things Publishers Do (2016 Edition)
Kent Anderson returns to update his essential list of just what it is that publishers do. Continue reading
Improving Privacy by Rethinking Architecture
Today, we grapple with privacy issues as consumers, as citizens, and as voters. As an industry, we should be thinking about how to draw not only on policy but also on technical architecture to balance privacy and innovation. When the stars align, an entirely different architecture for the control of user data is possible. What would such a shift mean for scholarly publishing and academic libraries? Continue reading
Another Big Win for Google Books (and for Researchers)
Google wins in court (again) as the Second Circuit of Appeals rules that its mass book digitization program qualifies as fair use. But Google is a commercial entity! And their files might get hacked! And their library partners are even more susceptible to copyright pirates than Google is! Yes, said the court, but. . . Continue reading
Transitioning to a More Unified Platform
Combining most if not all of a publisher’s scholarly content on a single publisher platform has not always been the norm. Oxford University Press’s transition to a new platform represents not just a one-to-one platform shift but in fact a consolidation from more to fewer platforms. This is a trend worth understanding and watching. Continue reading
Library Publishing Redux: An Unprecedented Example of a Scholar/Library/Publisher Partnership
A collaborative venture between Oxford University Press and the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library exemplifies a new approach to library publishing, one that could be replicated elsewhere with relative ease and that offers potentially huge benefits to scholarship. Continue reading
A Single User Account
Academics’ expectations for user experience are set not by reference to improvements relative to the past but increasingly in comparison with their experiences on consumer internet services and mobile devices. The best solution for research, teaching, and learning would be a single account for each user, controlled by that individual, and accepted portably across services and platforms. Continue reading
Block that PC! Forcing Your Organization to Engage the Mobile User Experience
Publishers and libraries do not completely understand how changing information consumption patterns, especially in the transition to mobile, should affect their product, infrastructure, and acquisitions strategies. Consider enticing or forcing your organization to engage more deeply with the mobile user experience. Continue reading
Grab and Go and the Gravitational Pull of Discovery
A look at Facebook’s Instant Article initiative and what it means for discovery and for publishers. Continue reading
Maintaining Relationships with Readers as They Cross Affiliations
Researchers’ multiple and changing institutional affiliations create tangible challenges, both for the researchers themselves and for scholarly publishers as well. Continue reading
Ethnography: A Scientist Discovers the Value of the Social Sciences
What do we mean by ethnographic research? In essence we are talking about a rich, multi-factorial descriptive approach. While quantitative research uses pre-existing categories in its analysis, qualitative research is open to new ways of categorizing data. We take a look at how we can use this technique to delve into the subtleties of online user behavior – a must for publishers and societies involved in new product development Continue reading
Discovery and Access in Light of the Ebola Outbreak
Several researchers recently “stumbled across” an article indicating the reasonable likelihood that Liberia would be faced with cases of Ebola. Public health officials had not acted on this known likelihood. The question is why. Continue reading
Dismantling the Stumbling Blocks that Impede Researchers’ Access to E-Resources
Content providers operate in the systems ecosystem of the licensing academic library, but they have been challenged to integrate their offerings as seamlessly into this ecosystem as would benefit researchers. To adapt, publishers need to examine not only the usability of their own platforms and how they can continue to be improved, but also how they are in practice used in scholarly research alongside other content platforms and intermediary services. As distance learning continues its inexorable growth and research practices continue to anticipate always-connected devices, it is becoming more urgent for libraries, content providers, and other intermediaries to work together to address these problems. Continue reading
Personalizing Discovery without Sacrificing Serendipity
A researcher’s core interests may be in a specific set of areas, but effective discovery also helps that researcher to stay aware of adjacent areas of interest or even potential areas of unknown interest. Personalized approaches to discovery can improve research efficiency without sacrificing serendipity. Continue reading
SXSW Interactive 2015: More Relevant Than Ever
SXSW Interactive 2015. It may be over but its impact is not. Highlights from SX and reasons why Interactive is beneficial to everyone in publishing and communication. Continue reading
Ask The Chefs: How Should a Scholarly Publisher Integrate Their Books and Journals Programs?
Do publishers need to integrate the creation, management, delivery, and discovery of different content types? What best meets customer needs, optimizes resources, and encourages innovative new content products and services? Continue reading
Taking Our Eye Off the Ball — Why Is Science Suffering in the Modern Age?
While more scientific information than ever is available, science itself is struggling for funding, for cultural footholds, and for priority in society. What has gone wrong? Continue reading
The Flatscreen Install — Moving Collaboration from Print to Digital
Would adding a big flatscreen TV to my office might make a difference? Yes, in big and important ways. Continue reading
The New Cluetrain — A Barometer for What Has Changed in the Last 15 Years
Fifteen years later, the authors of the “Cluetrain Manifesto” attempt a relevant update, with 112 new “clues.” Yet, they miss the biggest clue of all — the Internet is no longer sacred and its users know it. Continue reading
Authors
The mission of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) is "[t]o advance scholarly publishing and communication, and the professional development of its members through education, collaboration, and networking." SSP established The Scholarly Kitchen blog in February 2008 to keep SSP members and interested parties aware of new developments in publishing.
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The Scholarly Kitchen is a moderated and independent blog. Opinions on The Scholarly Kitchen are those of the authors. They are not necessarily those held by the Society for Scholarly Publishing nor by their respective employers.