OA journals in the humanities. Sometimes a blast from the past is required to shake things up. I've gotten into a bit of a rut highlighting free and/or Open Access ejournals in the sciences. Here is a gem from the humanities which has been doing fine for a few years now.

Philosophers' Imprint – Fulltext v1+ (2001+); ISSN: 1533-628X

I would be remiss if I gave the impression that humanists were newly arrived on the Open Access front. Postmodern Culture has been blazing a trail in online only publishing seemingly forever, now past the mid-point of its second decade.

Postmodern Culture – Fulltext v1+ (1990+); ISSN: 1053-1920 [Open Access News]

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guess i need to get some work done on the social science and humanities publishing model that we're putting forth in august….

George asks the right question and links to an int …. George asks the right question and links to an interesting article from the BBC: Is a Degree Still Worth Having?. An insight from the UK that applies equally well over here:

“The report found that the real skills shortage was not for degree-qualified workers but for skilled technicians in construction, engineering and information technology. It criticised the government's target of 50% of young people going to university as 'arbitrary' and said it reflected the needs of neither the economy nor young people.”

Doug often wades into this one and he wrote eloquently about the same topic this week:

“The status of any given educational credental provides little value when it's in abundant supply. There are an increasing number of highly educated, debt-laden, unemployed young people who are quite unhappy with those of us who implied that a college degree was a ticket to a healthy, self-reliant life. Those days are gone.”

I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this stuff. [Jeremy Hiebert's headspaceJ -- Instructional Design and Technology]

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ask the wrong questions and get the wrong answers…. degrees are meaningless outside of the persons life. sometimes in a few circumstances they may indicate certain things about the human that possesses them, but never do they indicate anything past that. you can't ask if it's worth it, you have to ask is educating students worth it? do students find value in their education? etc. those are the questions that lead you to some understanding.

Reuters.  The US trade deficit hits a record monthly figure:  $48.3 b.  [John Robb's Weblog]

I am sure someone has this all rationalized, just like the 'budget deficits do not really matter.' But it seems to me that money we do not really have is going to other countries, leaving us with even less money we do not have. [A Man with a Ph.D. - Richard Gayle's Weblog]

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look, it is all perfectly clear, the sole question for the u.s. economy in the bush administration is 'did daddy's friends make money?', if you can say yes, you are fine. if you say no, then evil is afoot.

Coors vs. Coors. Politics1: The Coors Brewing Company distanced itself last week from the political views expressed by US Senate candidate and former company chairman Pete Coors (R-CO). The company issued a formal — and very “politically correct” — written statement expressing sharp disagreement with candidate Coors’ recent endorsement of the proposed constitutional… [Outside the Beltway]

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now, if they would change their union policy and make good beer, they'd have something going.