DARIAH Ireland Postdoctoral Researcher, University College Cork
Former minister Mary O’Rourke penned an open letter to Simon Coveney regarding plans to roll out staffless libraries across Ireland. It’s worth a read, and I certainly think it’s worth putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and writing Minister Coveney a few more letters to complain about what most certainly is a daft idea. … Read more
As the tasks and deadlines of the new year loom I find my eyes drawn to any tweet, post, update and article that refers to being organised. I am not someone who deliberately makes New Year Resolutions due to the fact that I know I will not stick to them. I am, like many people, … Read more
*I decided that posting my Teaching Philosophy here is long overdue, so below is the most up-to-date version as of 15th December 2016* From day one my students are asked to define themselves as public scholars whose contributions are not just part of “making the grade,” but also a means of breaking down the fourth … Read more
Unfortunately, I have not been able to maintain the kind of momentum I was so optimistic about at the beginning of the month in terms of blogging on a weekly basis. Part of this is due to the demise of my beloved old laptop. It went out with a whimper instead of a bang and … Read more
It’s about that time of year again when us #AcWriMo devotees declare our intentions for the month ahead (and when newbies are about to discover the simple joy of writing as part of a global community of researchers sharing goals, tips, resources and ideas). I’m juggling a number of projects at the moment, so my … Read more
It’s Day 1 of #OAWeek2016 and I’ve just signed up to take action to open up research and scholarship during Open Access Week and beyond. This is something I am already committed to doing anyway. But the nice form on the OAWeek website allows you to tick boxes of things you can achieve within the … Read more
I tweeted about the “serious academic” debacle at the time, but decided against responding any further here or elsewhere. Many great responses were published in the days that followed (here and here for example). However, the series of tweets I posted cropped up again in my notifications feed today, so I decided to embed them … Read more
The Anthropocene has arrived, a new epoch hallmarked by mass-produced and often abused chickens, plastic pollution, and the fallout from nuclear tests: The new epoch should begin about 1950, the experts said, and was likely to be defined by the radioactive elements dispersed across the planet by nuclear bomb tests, although an array of other signals, including … Read more
“Why aren’t we all just publishing our stuff open access?!?!” This question was asked by a frustrated scholar during a dinner I recently attended following a rant about the perils of dealing with academic publishers. A number of people in the room had decades of experience in publishing their work in book form, and nostalgically … Read more
As a child, my walk home from school brought me past a boat yard every day. For years there was a boat stored there that went by the name of “Pamela Anderson.” I knew from the Baywatch craze of the time that Pamela Anderson was best known for her breast implants and her bathing suit. At … Read more