
University to bypass expensive database - colinprince
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/08/10/peiscience-web-subscription-584.html
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wccrawford
I think they are underestimating the costs to manage, compile and host this
database. Nevermind the programming cost.

Having it 'open' like wikipedia is one way to skimp on the compiling, but now
you've got more managing to do.

~~~
pragmatic
Yes, of all things to cancel - the science database?

What about the other amenities?

<http://www.upei.ca/residence/andrew>

Pretty swank rooms with cable TV etc.

HIGHLIGHTS

\- each bedroom is fully furnished with a double size captain’s bed,
workstation with overhead shelves, desk chair, dresser, lockable night stand,
closet with organizer, and 27" cable TV

\- each bedroom comes with telephone and private voice mail, and wireless
internet access

\- each suite has a private washroom, mini-fridge, microwave, and kitchen sink

 _No wonder there's no money for the science database, kids are spending their
money on a luxury hotel room._

(warning old man rant ahead)

I my day, I _shared_ a single room 10x15 with another person. You learned how
to live in tight quarters.

Also my student loans were paid for quite easily.

Does anyone else think that something is wrong with higher education
priorities?

~~~
ianl
Having "swanky" residence rooms (which are paid for by the students and I'm
sure they don't loose money on these) is a selling point.

In all honesty, as someone who grew up and goes to school in the Maritimes,
not many people want to go to what is widely considered a retirement and
tourism province for higher education when more compelling options exist like
Halifax. So in order for UPEI to compete, they need to offer some other
compelling reasons (for instance, they have a highly regarded veterinary
program).

It is important to remember that these institutions are funded by enrolment.

~~~
canadiancreed
They also use those rooms for tourists as well in the summer.

[http://search.tourismpei.com/accommodations/search_operator_...](http://search.tourismpei.com/accommodations/search_operator_details.php?id=1475&sl_link_id=85&l=1)

~~~
ianl
I forgot all about that, I actually stayed in one during a visit a few summers
ago. Very nice, and pretty cheap, esp considering the fact your close to
downtown Charlottetown.

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sciurus
When I went to print this article, I saw something I hadn't seen before. I was
redirected to license.icopyright.net and given the following options

Free Print Make up to 5 copies using your home or office printer. Free
(includes ads) By printing, you agree to the terms of use.

Instant Print Make 6 or more copies using your home or office printer. Charge
based on copies; total cost from CAD 10.00 to CAD 125.00 (no ads)

Delivered Prints Receive 50 or more copies We print and deliver high-quality
color reprints within 2 business days. From CAD 0.75 to CAD 1.00 per page; CAD
50.00 order minimum (no ads)

~~~
mbreese
That is kind of odd. But to get this prompt, you need to click on the printer
icon to see the 'print' version of the article. And then they tell you: _You
print copies on the honour system; we trust that you will only make up to 5._

I've never seen this before, but it's not a bad way to do it. And if you need
an ad-free version, it's nice to know that you can get one easily.

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rwl
This sounds like a great idea, but won't it immediately run into a problem
with journal publishers? Why would journals allow papers they publish to be
indexed and included in a giant "open" database, from which they derive no
revenue?

In other words: does a free and open index of scientific knowledge also
require free and open scientific publications? (If not, why not?)

~~~
_delirium
Web of Science is actually _just_ the index; it doesn't provide access to the
full papers. I don't think the list of titles plus factual information about
which papers cited which other ones is copyrightable, though they might have a
problem if they want to include abstracts. On the other hand, Citeseer already
automatically builds such a database, which includes abstracts, and they
haven't been sued.

In my field (CS), I don't think anyone uses Web of Science anymore anyway.
We've mostly moved to using a mixture of Citeseer and Google Scholar, plus
some publisher-specific indexes like the ACM Portal and IEEE Explorer. For
paper-relationship discovery, Cite-U-Like and Mendeley also get some use.

~~~
rflrob
It may depend on the journal. I've definitely downloaded PDFs from Web of
Knowledge, with the Cell journals seeming to use it instead of having their
own archival facilities facing the web.

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pragmatic
<http://philip.greenspun.com/book-reviews/higher-education>

The priorities of higher education.

Nice rooms, crappy education.

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gallamine
How does Web of Science differ from Google Scholar?

~~~
crocowhile
It actually works.

It's what people normally use to calculate citation indexes and all other
scienceometrics and I really don't see how it has anything to do with a wiki
system.

