University to bypass expensive database | Hacker News Reader

University to bypass expensive database

cbc.ca

54 pointscolinprince18 comments

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.

They might or might not be underestimating, but it is an interesting experiment nevertheless with potentially huge impact. It's easy to be a naysayer in advance, but it worked out for Wikipedia.

You think it will cost more than $141 million per year? Somehow I doubt that.

Number based on data that 4700 institutions use the data from web of science, multiplied by $30000 per year cost.

Probably not, but some number between the two seems reasonable. Depending on what goes into it and how much staff it needs, $1m wouldn't surprise me.

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?

Only, the students living in those residences have to pay for it.

http://www.upei.ca/residence/fees

I'm not sure what they consider a term, but if it's 4 months those rooms are over $1000 a month, and if it's a full year at 8 months, those rooms are still over $500 a month.

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

What about the other amenities?

I like science, I like research, I sometimes browse IEEE's database just for kicks. That does not however change

- science databases are not an amenity

- they are exorbitantly expensive! Not to mention there's something like 4 or 5, all of which you have to subscribe to!

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.

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

http://search.tourismpei.com/accommodations/search_operator_...

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.

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)

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.

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?)

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.

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.

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

The priorities of higher education.

Nice rooms, crappy education.

How does Web of Science differ from Google Scholar?

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.

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