Blog Profile / The Open Source Paleontologist

Running Bundler on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit

This post is mostly a note to myself so that I remember how to do this next time I upgrade or reinstall my system. But, perhaps it will be of use to others.The program Bundler is one of a suite of programs that are very useful for photogrammetry on the desktop computer or laptop. Show More Summary

Mostly moving. . .

Along with Sarah Werning and Shaena Montanari, I have a new blog over at the PLOS blogs network. We're The Integrative Paleontologists - go check it out! For the most part, I'm going to be moving my activity over that-away from here on out...the occasional post outside the domain of TIPs will still land here, though.

The 2012 Paleo Project Challenge

Everyone has an unfinished project. Most of us have at least a half dozen. Those partly finished manuscripts, paintings, data sets, and preparation projects. Oh, we started out with good intentions. Maybe we even poured a productive week into it. Show More Summary

PeerJ—What Does It Mean for Paleontology?

For those following open access issues, the arrival of PeerJ has been hotly anticipated (see this link round-up). We all knew Pete Binfield--someone with years of experience in academic publishing and, until recently, publisher of PLoS ONE--was associated with the project, so it wasn't likely to be a half-baked scheme. Show More Summary

A Paleontology-Specific Impact Factor for PLoS ONE

The threads at SV-POW! are hopping right now, particularly with one commenting on open access in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. One question that came up is how much, if at all, the impact factor of PLoS ONE (4.411 for 2010) indicates the reach of paleontology papers in that journal. Show More Summary

Introducing the Dental Microwear Image Library

Dental microwear, seen in the tiny pits and scratches on a tooth, provides lots of detailed data for inferring diet and chewing behavior in animals. Analyses are often conducted by digitizing highly magnified images of the tooth surface and counting up and classifying the various microscopic features. Show More Summary

Open Access in the UK - Comment Now!

The Research Councils UK (an umbrella organization overseeing much of the public scientific funding in that country, as well as funding for the arts and other worthy ventures) is soliciting comments on a new open access policy [PDF]....Show More Summary

Curators: not just for museums anymore?

"The promise of the Internet-as-Alexandria is more than the rolling plenitude of information. It’s the ability of individuals to choreograph that information in idiosyncratic ways, the hope that individuals might feel invited by theShow More Summary

Self-archival: a good start, but not the full solution

We all want our work to be discovered, read and cited. There is little doubt that closed access systems hamper this - a paywall to an article is a hefty obstacle, and we all encounter them at least occasionally no matter how extensive our library access is. Show More Summary

The Open Museum Notebook - Torosaurus Style

A new paper on the Torosaurus / Triceratops issue was just published in PLoS ONE, bringing some additional analysis to the table. I won't comment on it any more here (I'm saving my thoughts for a formal reply on the PLoS ONE website itself), other than to refer you to my own paper and the Scannella & Horner response. Show More Summary

Restoring that sense of wonder

These can be depressing times for a paleontologist - funding is poor for most, the job market is dim for many talented friends and colleagues, and rhetoric-ridden battles for scholarly publishing rage. That's enough to suck the joy right out of the field. Show More Summary

How Big Commercial Publishers Can Help Themselves

Big commercial publishers - especially Elsevier - have been getting a lot of flack lately. There's the usual background noise about high costs of institutional subscriptions and individual PDFs for non-subscribers, and now we have concerns over SOPA, PIPA, RWA and the burgeoning Elsevier boycott. Show More Summary

PLoS ONE 2011 - Final Round-Up

Back before the new year, I reviewed all 17 of the new fossil taxa that were published in PLoS ONE during 2011. Here, I look at the general trends for paleontology in the journal, both last year and over its entire history.Topics and...Show More Summary

ScienceOnline2012 - Parting Thoughts

My thoughts on Days 2 and 3 of ScienceOnline2012are found elsewhere - here I sum up some other impressions. Twitter at ScienceOnlineThis is the first time I've actively tweeted through an entire meeting, and found it to be a worthwhile addition. Show More Summary

ScienceOnline 2012 - Day 3

In Day 3 of ScienceOnline 2012 (my second day), we had a fun mix of split sessions and common gatherings. Areas of interest for me included: Students as Messengers of Science: This discussion focused on how to engage high school and college students in science blogging. Show More Summary

ScienceOnline 2012 - Day 2

ScienceOnline is really one of those unique experiences - explicitly set up as an "UnConference," it encourages freewheeling input from all attendees, bursting the bounds of conventional presentations. In fact there really aren't presentations in the conventional sense. Show More Summary

New Fossil Species of 2011 - A PLoS ONE Retrospective

What do sauropods, primates, crabs, cats, and crocodiles have in common? They're all animals in the fossil record that had new species named in PLoS ONE this year! Chela (claw) of Geograpsus severnsi, from Paulay & Starmer, 2011 As 2011...Show More Summary

The Paleo Project Challenge

I've been woefully behind in promoting this (and Dave Hone has taken the lead in hosting it this year - thank you, Dave!), but it is time to get on with the 2011 Paleo Project Challenge. Got a nagging little project that just requires a few days of concentrated effort to finish? Quit the excuses, and just get it done! That's the whole point of this. Show More Summary

Hello, Spinops!

In case you haven't yet noticed, there's a new horned dinosaur in town: Spinops sternbergorum, yet another example of the ceratopsians' incredible evolutionary radiation. Spinops sternbergorum, as envisioned by Dmitry Bogdanov This animal has special significance for me, because it is the first new dinosaur for which I have been senior author. Show More Summary

Observations on SVP