Thursday 24 July 2008

More..various news

  • Google launched Knol this week, taking on Wikipedia although it does take a different approach, making authors more visible than on Wikipedia, with more emphasis on authority and reputation. Individuals can contribute but I'm not clear how contributions are validated - it recommends contributors write a bio to establish credentials and you can set permissions for others to edit your "knol" - but essentially it seems to be up to the reader to judge based on the writer's credentials. It also lets writers select IPR options, defaulting to Creative Commons. A lot of the knols there now relate to health so I'd be interested to know more about their quality framework.
  • Steve Prentice from Gartner tells the BBC that the days of interacting with your computer via your mouse are numbered
  • New Scientist reports "UK to get superfast broadband by 2012" (speeds of up to 100 megabits per second) -
  • CILIP Gazette 11-24 July includes a feature on the latest TFPL Connect event, exploring implications of a recent CMI report on the world of work in 2018. Delegates discussed the move towards portfolio working; the role of knowledge managers; flexible working; increasing emphasis on "alliance-building", strategic planning and political skills.
  • Central Office for Information releases guidelines on inclusion for public sector websites
  • Interesting article reporting on James Evans' research in Science, Great minds think (too much) alike suggesting that access to more journal literature is actually resulting in fewer citations
  • Article in Times Higher reporting on the suggestion by Bahram Bekhradnia, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute that HEFCE's new Research Excellence Framework should be based on peer review not solely data metrics
  • IWR reports: Nearly £10 million has been awarded to preserve low use journals for those in UK Higher Education. The new initiative, UK Research Reserve (UKRR) aims to improve access to the journal information for researchers as well as better preserve the body of work.

1 comment:

Barbra said...

I think Knol will be a very interesting development. I wonder how many people will procrastinate on posting because they need to write an author bio? I have a site www.HowToWriteBio.com that provides fill-in-the-blank bio templates (for the article "author box") for a wide range of professions. Your readers may find the resources there helpful.