Two more signs

1. The blogosphere is alight with the announcement from Science Commons of a protocol for implementing open access data. This Technorati search with keywords “science commons open data” throws up 528 posts, many of which are relevant. I suggest that you also follow developments via Deepak’s blog and links therein.

   Now, this is great news for those of us who care about all things open – open access, “open science”, open data; and people who follow developments in web technology. However, we need to make it relevant and accessible to the people who matter: interested research scientists with the question “how can I make my data more accessible”. Those people are unlikely to subscribe to the W3C mailing list. So rise up blogging community – start writing short, clear informative posts in non-specialist language, aimed at explaining to a bench scientist why they should care and what they should know concerning this protocol.

2. John Hawks has had a busy week following his major publication on accelerated evolution. He writes:

What I most want to point out is that the discussion on blogs is at a very high level — people are reading the paper with much more precision than I have ever experienced in the peer review process

If I could have one wish come true in 2008, it would be for more scientists in academia to realise that so-called “non-traditional” modes of publishing, debate and communication are of equal value (for me personally, higher value) to the old ways that they insist on defending, regardless of the evident flaws in those ways.