From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]> Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 04:20:23 +0000 OK, so I'm now starting to wonder if I've fundamentally misunderstood the proposal that's under discussion here. Everyone's comments seem to be about a system whereby the general public reviews the content of scholarly journals. I thought we were talking about a system whereby scholars rate the experiences they have with scholarly journals in their role as authors. Have I completely misunderstood? --- Rick Anderson Interim Dean, J. Willard Marriott Library University of Utah [log in to unmask] On 6/13/13 11:15 AM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >From: Carter Glass <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:17:11 -0400 > >Yes. All one needs to do is spend a little time on 'rating' sites such >as Yelp to see the the dubious value of the 'wisdom of the crowd'. > >Also, the collective IQ of the hive-mind *by definition* converges to >average. > >Carter Glass > >On 6/12/2013 9:00 AM, LIBLICENSE wrote: >> >> From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> >> Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:08:21 -0500 >> >> But if you are going to be making some decision based on such >> assessments--such as deciding whether to subscribe to or recommend a >> journal to one's clientele (or whether to promote or give tenure to a >> professor)--you need to have some basis for evaluating the >> trustworthiness of the assessors. This is entirely lacking in the case >> of student evaluators. Who is to say one student's opinion is more >> trustworthy than another's? It is often lacking in general comments in >> places like The Chronicle and InsideHigherEd also, not to mention >> blogs. That is why the service performed by publications like the >> THES when it reviewed journals is so valuable. Reviewers are chosen, >> like the reviewers for articles, on the basis of proven expertise in >> the subject area. One may choose to disagree with the assessment, but >> at least one knows that the opinion expressed is an informed opinion. >> Open reviews of journals would be as useful as book reviews on Amazon >> where one usually has no idea what qualifies the reviewer to express >> an opinion. Even popular TV shows like "The Voice" or "Dancing with >> the Stars" have panels of experts who are passing judgments on the >> performances, even though winners are chosen in large part by majority >> vote. >> >> Sandy Thatcher