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October 2014

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In fact, hypothes.is + OA books is going to make for a potentially amazing conversation platform.

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Right, off to Lincoln to do my only bit of teaching this term while on leave for OLH work. Tom McCarthy's /C/ as dystopia.

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... it's a curiously interventionist subsidy. Aren't we supposed to believe in small States and invisible hands or something?

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I mean, I'd far rather we all got it than that they just had it taken away. Given this government's market orientation, though...

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If the rest of us proposed a really expensive way of doing contact time & that the gov should underwrite it we'd be laughed out of the room.

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To be honest, I still find it incredible/outrageous that Oxbridge gets a specific extra grant to run its tutorial system.

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The publisher is worse than usual and won't even make the specific issue OA. That said there's probably some merit if it reaches new people.

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Come up against that most frustrating of situations again. Been asked to write something on OA for a subscription journal.

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Hm. Someone is using my email ID to DDOS a v specific API. Abuse coming from @warwickuni, @uniofbeds, @FerrisState, @HopeCollege + other IPs

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Kudos to @ernestopriego for putting together the most unusual open access week event. Mostly HSS and then, this

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Spoke today at @UniofOxford for #OAWeek about Open Access and the Humanities and @openlibhums. Some good debate!

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To clarify from last night - I think there's value in book reviews and even in preserving them. Just don't think slow sub jrnls right place.

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Much better idea are review-type blogs. Could get digital preservation/DOI via figshare or similar.

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OA exposes that our libraries pay a cost per article, even in a subscription ecosystem (where it's just masked). Do we want reviews there?

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Increasingly wonder about the relevance of book reviews in academic humanities journals. Certainly are training ground for writing in jrnls.

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Very pleased that my forthcoming book has a DOI. Even more pleased that you'll be able to freely access it at the resolved DOI URL.

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Travel companies: in most cases, who really "enjoys" a flight or train journey? Endure tedium & often discomfort for destination.

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Doing two talks for open access week, one in Lisbon on Tuesday and the other in Oxford on Wednesday. Hope to see some of you!

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My copy of @richard_littler's /Discovering Scarfolk/ arrived today. Predictably brilliant and hilarious! @ahacker

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You know what really shouldn't be hard to write as an open source app? An APC management platform for institutions. #rainydayproject

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John Lydon was last in news when he said "woman, shut up while a man is talking". Now he's telling us to vote it's OK, though. Right? #no

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It is bad luck to ever give a timescale on tech. That said, we think about 3-4 weeks until @openlibhums submission platform launch!

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Bloomsbury Academic annual report implies they are doing well out of academic books (but doesn't disaggregate from "professional" division).

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That said, they continue to be published, even by commercial entities. Assuming max sales, 200 * £50 = £10k return per book.

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Monograph landscape complex, greater desire to publish than read, print-runs of about 200. Doesn't seem market-viable, I agree.

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Ah, turns out the great Steven Weisenburger has written something on Reed (and I suspect it will reference Pynchon).

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Also, "Book of Thoth" key to /Mumbo Jumbo/ while Thoth also a central reference point for Lot 49.

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"Check out Ishmael Reed. He
knows more about it [Masonic mythopoesis] than you’ll ever find here" - GR, p. 588.

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In a different literary area, I also keep wondering about Thomas Pynchon in relation to Ishmael Reed.

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Her novels strike me as fairly sadistic in some ways (authorial torturing of reader). Perhaps returning readers are just masochists, though.

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Slow build, slow disintegration. I ended up dreading the "twist" that I thought was on its way but never came.

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Seems that the latest Sarah Waters novel takes a different approach to ripping out readers' hearts than her previous books.

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Utterly jetlagged but seeing Underworld tonight playing Dubnobasswithmyheadman for its 20th anniversary. Still hope Rez can make the set...

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ResearchGate. Pros: looks slick; cunning gamification; genuinely social. Cons: no direct ePrints import; bit LinkedIn; sounds like a scandal

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Had a great 24hrs in Canada at University of Manitoba talking OA. Now: Yo home to Bel-Air. Err, the UK I mean.

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I keep waiting for the gut-wrenching betrayal/twist that must surely be coming in Sarah Waters's latest... #payingguests

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Anyway, my article on the critique of the university in Bolaño's 2666 has been accepted. Hurrah!

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T&F: "we believe [copyright] assignment enhances the reputation and prestige of the journal". What is the basis of this belief?

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Just seen a tweet saying that PhD candidates usually select on basis of university rankings. Grim. Pseudo-objectivity over supervisor fit.

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Figure out how to factor huge numbers tomorrow and much of our security comes tumbling down. Nothing new here, I just am always surprised.

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I frequently find it astonishing that our contemporary cryptography relies upon the fact that certain mathematical operations are hard today

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Last night in the US. Tomorrow, on to Canada! Do come to my talk at the University of Manitoba on Thursday if you're around.

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Has been great to see those discussions actually linking to the chapters in question, also!

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Lots of discussion of @DavidRArmitage & @joguldi's History Manifesto here + on Facebook. More than most monographs. Open access + marketing?

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“@joguldi ... London friends, see you tomorrow at the IHR (especially you @j_w_baker) and Wed. at @LSEpublicevents!” <go to this if you can!

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Also, no mention of international contexts: not all of us have the "tenure" mode. Grad students in UK can't wait until after to publish.

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Sure, decry the metric of publications for hiring, but this just plays into it by making publication /only/ about appraisal.

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Got the lonesome traveller feel in Chicago this evening. I did manage to get to the Art Institute earlier, which was great, though.

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I have a small mention in the piece, though, and it still makes me feel very strange. I survived, though, so it's OK! @blobelwarming

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I've been watching the live stream of @blobelwarming's excellent Purge but now have to go eat.