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February 2018

One of the most hilarious things about Elsevier's SCOPUS is that once they've decided to index a journal, they write to the publisher asking for a free subscription so they can mine it. Not even kidding.

Sigh. I don't want to strike. I love my job & the work I get to do. Our management at Birkbeck (who are really great) have publicly called for a return to meaningful talks. But the pension downgrading is untenable & it is a national action. #solidarity #ucustrike

Taylor and Francis claiming that they've worked hard to make their processes more frictionless for OA. Alongside, I presume, their recent suggestion of paywalling older material and excluding it from library subscriptions? #frictionless #whefevents

PS did you know that HEFCE has an open-access mandate proposed for the REF after next (mid 2020s) for monographs? #whefevents

This morning I will be speaking on OA monographs at an expensive closed event. Wouldn't normally do this, but it's a good way to reach university management and policymakers, who will almost certainly be in attendance.

An amusing experience buying a television today.

Man in the shop: what TV do you have at the moment?
Me: we don't have a TV.
Him, speaking slowly: do you have "the Internet"?

Master of Birkbeck, University of London: "I am now stating publicly that both sides should return to the negotiating table and conduct meaningful negotiations with the preferred outcome being the retention of defined benefit scheme in an affordable form." @ucu @UniversitiesUK

Looks as though @ajrbyers has got the prototype flexi-flow workflow modification working in Janeway. Allows customisable workflows. Exciting!

The other day I was told that a department had decided as a policy not to draw on university funds for gold OA because they objected to propping up the scholarly publishing industry. They didn't seem that keen on my suggestion of cancelling all their subscriptions though.

Pleased to say that @jwyg and I have a contract for our open-access edited book with the MIT Press: Old Traditions and New Technologies: The Pasts, Presents, and Futures of Open Scholarly Communication

This week: OA working group, lots of OLH admin, some PhD supervisions, book discussions with @jwyg, the @CHASE_DTP Brief Encounters journal issue launch. Then: move house!

While preparing for a house move we found our Some Poasyum programme from many years back now, on what would have been @russellhobanorg's 93rd birthday. #SA4QE @sa4qe