Weekly Reader

At Sea in a Deluge of Data
"This spring, more college students than ever received baccalaureate degrees, and their career prospects are brighter than they were for last year’s graduates. Employers responding to this year’s National Association of Colleges and Employers’ "Job Outlook 2014 Survey" said they planned to increase entry-level hiring by almost 8 percent. But what they may not realize is that these seemingly techno-savvy new hires could be missing some basic yet vital research skills." -- Alison J. Head and John Wihbey, Chronicle | Commentary, 7/7/14

A Question of Quality
"If students in a face-to-face course emailed their provost with concerns that their professor had stopped lecturing, chances are that someone -- a department head or an administrator -- would intervene. But what if the students were scattered across different countries and time zones in a not-for-credit massive open online course?" -- Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed, 7/15/14

What Academic Librarians Need to Learn About the Common Core
"Today’s post is partly inspired by Steven Bell’s recent op-ed piece on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Library Journal. Bell gives an overview of CCSS and highlights its impact on libraries, not only K-12, but higher education as well. I’m very familiar with the standards, so today’s post will delve into the specifics of how CCSS will impact academic librarians, as well as information literacy programs. I will also give you some ideas about how you can support CCSS locally."-- Amanda Hovious, Designer Librarian, 7/15/14

33 Ethicists Defend Facebook’s Controversial Mood Study
"A group of bioethicists wrote in a column published on Wednesday that Facebook’s controversial study of mood manipulation was not unethical, and harsh criticism of it risks putting a chill on future research. The article was written by six ethicists, joined by 27 others."-- Andy Thomason, Chronicle | The Ticker, 7/16/14

Lessons Learned from the Facebook Study
"By now, anyone who is remotely interested knows that the Facebook data-science team, in collaboration with some researchers at Cornell University, recently published a paper reporting “experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks.” If you’ve heard about this study, you probably also know that many people are upset about it. Even the journal that published it, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has issued an “editorial expression of concern” about potential violations of ethical standards."-- Duncan J. Watts, The Chronicle | Conversations, 7/9/14

Misjudgements will drive social trials underground
"Some bioethicists have said that Facebook’s recent study of user behaviour is “scandalous”, “violates accepted research ethics” and “should never have been performed.” I write with 5 co-authors, on behalf of 27 other ethicists, to disagree with these sweeping condemnations (see go.nature.com/XI7szI). We are making this stand because the vitriolic criticism of this study could have a chilling effect on valuable research. Worse, it perpetuates the presumption that research is dangerous." -- Michelle N. Meyer, Nature | World View, 7/16/14

Random Reflections on Getting Published
"In my last article, I provided a handful of obvious tips for junior scholars on getting journal articles published. My aim wasn’t to provide a comprehensive guide to publication, but instead to highlight common (and easily rectified) issues that I see regularly as an associate editor of an academic journal. But there’s more to say. So as a follow-up, I thought I’d offer a few random reflections informed by my work as an editor and my experiences as an author." -- Kirsten Bell, Chronicle Vitae, 7/14/14