What We're Reading, April 2013

"The 3-D Printing Revolution: Dreams Made Real, One Layer at a Time," Rachel Ehrenberg, Science News 183 (5) (March 9, 2013)
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/348429/description/The_3-D_Printing_Revolution
Status report and backgrounder on 3-D printing: "Many herald 3-D printing as a game changer, a 'disruptive' technology that will turn traditional manufacturing on its head. But the technology is also at the peak of hype."

"Welcome to the Digital Public Library of America," Dan Cohen, DPLA blog post, April 18, 2013
http://dp.la/info/2013/04/18/message-from-the-executive-director/
Co-founder and DPLA Executive Director Cohen explains the launch of and goals for the new library, including planned development.

"Defend Your Business from Patent Attacks," Simon Phipps, Open Sources blog, InfoWorld, April 12, 2013
http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/defend-your-business-patent-attacks-216344
Advice to protect business patents by taking another look at Open Invention Network and evaluating use of copyright protections as well.

"Four Pillars of Effective Communities of Practice," All of us are smarter than any of us, Chris Collison's blog, March 25, 2013
http://chriscollison.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/four-pillars-of-successful-communities-of-practice/
Shared commitment (four types = pillars) support communities of practice. Collison revisits "some of the fundamentals of knowledge management" and reflects on their "continuing importance to the field."

"Does BuzzFeed Know the Secret?" Andrew Rice, New York Magazine, April 7, 2013
http://nymag.com/news/features/buzzfeed-2013-4/
Lengthy but fascinating exploration of "Jonah Peretti's content machine" and native advertising, viral content distribution by design, and other interesting background of BuzzFeed's success.

"Enterprise Allan," Kaiyen Online, March 18, 2013
http://kaiyen.com/blog/2013/03/18/enterprise-allan/
"Having everything connected can mean doing a lot of things to accommodate one change, but it also means you can get some really amazing stuff done when it's all humming along."

"Elsevier: All Your Data Belongs to Us," Andrew Leonard, Salon, April 9, 2013
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/09/elsevier_all_your_data_belongs_to_us/
Academics who support open access expressed dismay when Elsevier bought Mendeley, "a cloud-based social media research platform." Leonard briefly compares it to Amazon's purchase of GoodReads in this short article.

"Puzzle Box: The Quest to Crack the World's Most Mysterious Malware Warhead," Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, March 14, 2013
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/the-worlds-most-mysterious-potentially-destructive-malware-is-not-stuxnet/
Report on researchers' attempts to crack the encryption in Gauss malware and speculations on the warhead. Somewhat technical.

"State U Online," Rachel Fishman, New American Foundation, April 23, 2013
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/state_u_online
State U Online identifies the most common challenges to implementing successful distance-education programs, including cost, quality, and faculty buy-in.