Comments for Working Memories

Comment on Critical Reading, Online Scare Stories – and the Death Star by Rachel Roodhardt

Rachel Roodhardt — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:11:27 +0000

It’s not the first questionable petition I’ve seen from Avaaz – I spotted one a few months ago where they hadn’t done their research. I too was disappointed and I’ve been more careful with them since.

Comment on Atheism vs. Religion: can’t we have a sensible debate? by Mr. Scott

Mr. Scott — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:54:58 +0000

You know i read through this blog, and through comments, but i thought i would enlighten on a few things.
For 1. people arent posting stuff to try and make a difference in the world, if you want to make a difference then take away religion in general. Its an out dated notion that should have died out but didn’t. All it does is cause conflict between people. So for change to happen then you have to take away the things that people have problems with. Athiest have religious people, and religious people have other religious people that dont believe what they believe.

Comment on Atheism vs. Religion: can’t we have a sensible debate? by poopmandranal

poopmandranal — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:53:49 +0000

evolution explains everything..even the reason why i poop in my hand and throw it at people.;))

Comment on Critical Reading, Online Scare Stories – and the Death Star by Andrew Suffield

Andrew Suffield — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:47:39 +0000

Ugh, that’s a terrible petition.

TPPA is a nasty piece of work – people think they know what’ll be in it because it’s basically ACTA take 2, so there’s a presumption that it’ll do the same things we recently defeated in the EU parliament.

But petitions are pointless because the whole point of the ACTA secrecy, and similar attempts for TPPA, is that trade agreements are ways to pass laws in foreign countries without ever involving the citizens of that country – so none of the people who have any influence over what TPPA will contain are going to care what this petition says. (There’s a democratic deficit hiding in here somewhere)

Comment on Critical Reading, Online Scare Stories – and the Death Star by Nonconformistradical

Nonconformistradical — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:54:49 +0000

“If you teach Classical texts or history, one skill you really want to teach your students is critical reading”

The need for critical reading ability is not confined to teaching these particular subjects. I wonder if the Wakefield MMR scandal would ever have happened if Wakefield’s poor research had been exposed properly for what it was rather than hyped by sensation-seeking newspapers.

Comment on The Trouble with Universities in Wales by Welsh Higher Education Madness – Freedom Central

Welsh Higher Education Madness – Freedom Central — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 05:15:39 +0000

[...] have argued elsewhere on this blog why the new fees system in Wales is anything but equitable, and will particularly [...]

Comment on The Trouble with Universities in Wales by Welsh Higher Education Madness | Working Memories

Welsh Higher Education Madness | Working Memories — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:26:15 +0000

[...] have argued elsewhere on this blog why the new fees system in Wales is anything but equitable, and will particularly [...]

Comment on Open Access Publishing – but who will pay?* by Box

Box — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:51:23 +0000

A useful comment, Neville, but in arts and humanities a good proportion of research is not funded in any way by any institution. Take someone who has just finished a doctorate, and is teaching, paid for by the hour (with no payment over the summer, and no research budget), at one or more university, for perhaps a year, but often two or three. This is a very common scenario. She will also be busily publishing articles, and probably working on the monograph of her PhD. These will be essential for her to get a more satisfactory job, but her research time won’t be funded by anyone. In my field she’d need to publish a couple of articles a year. How will she find £2k per article? And there is also the smaller category of people who maintain a serious interest in a subject while working elsewhere, or retired. (For instance I know of a couple of lawyers who publish in serious history journals). Why should they have to pay for something that won’t even help their careers?

Comment on Open Access Publishing – but who will pay?* by England und Europäische Kommission wollen mehr Open Access

England und Europäische Kommission wollen mehr Open Access — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:30:40 +0000

[...] Eine andere, tiefgreifendere Kritik am Modell der „Golden Road“ zielt darauf, es würde lediglich die Kosten eines ineffizient gewordenen Systems umverteilen. So schreibt etwa die Historikerin Maria Pretzler in ihrem Blog: [...]

Comment on Open Access Publishing – but who will pay?* by Erlend

Erlend — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:46:18 +0000

I’m not sure publishing your research with journals is solely about “reputation”, it also touches on accuracy. It verifies (to some degree) that your research is valid and worthwhile, which is, of course, a concern of importance both to the University that employs the scholar, and to their readers who aren’t necessarily specialists in the field. Also, getting into the top journals is a statement on the importance or relevance of the research. Want to know where the cutting edge research in biology is? Go to Nature. Want to know where the latest top-notch studies in Roman history are? Go to the Journal of Roman Studies.

I think the journal model, which has served us well nigh on 15o years, is a very good one. The problem that gets people looking for alternatives is the finance. But there is no need for such expense. Open-access publishing run by the editors, without a hardback journal (which, lets face it, journal reading seems to be largely done on line now anyway…) is very inexpensive. There is little editing and typesetting required (it is done just through pdf), and the only tangible expense is, I imagine, hosting the website. The problem, as I see it, is not the journal model, but that we are stuck with the old way of how journals are produced. Although some journals (e.g. the prominent ancient history journal “Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies” have made the move away from paid for hardback journals, to online open access. May many more do so!