All books are equal, but some books…

When I tell people that I work as a scholar in book and publishing studies, it’s often not immediately clear to people what aspects of the book I would then study. In this post, I try to explain some key concepts through George Orwell's Animal Farm.

Fleur Praal • June 06, 2019

For practice or preaching: why do academics blog?

Blogposts can be published quickly, linking to current events and other media. They're a means to engage in an ongoing discourse, and to practice your writing (and they get read more than articles). Let's explore the many reasons why academics should blog!

Fleur Praal • November 30, 2018 • 1 comment

A Gold road paved with good intentions? What Plan S implies for Humanities OA book publishing

Eleven European countries, the Netherlands among them, have formulated a plan to enforce Open Access for all research publications by 2020, and so curb Big Publishing’s profits. It risks crushing smaller initiatives in Humanities monographs in its march...

Fleur Praal • September 06, 2018 • 1 comment

Fun, Fitness & Vanity: New Year’s Resolutions on Fiction Reading

'Reading more books' features on many 2018-New Year's resolution lists. But why? For fun, for vanity, or actually for fiction's effects in real life?

Fleur Praal • January 18, 2018

Exploring the Game of Thrones Citadel's library: Knowledge repositories in history and fantasy

Knowledge is power, and libraries are its centres of preservation, both in history and in fiction. How closely does the fantastic Game of Thrones' Citadel Library mirror equivalents from history?

Fleur Praal and Andrea Reyes Elizondo • September 07, 2017

Trust me, I’m an expert! What AirBNB and Academia have in common

With the summer holidays approaching, you'll probably feel more like browsing AirBNB than like analysing academia. Well, what luck: in this post, you can do both!

Fleur Praal • July 17, 2017

The Frankfurt Book Fair: 16th century to 2016

The Frankfurt Book Fair, held annually in October, always makes for press headlines - especially in 2016, with the Netherlands and Flanders as guests of honour. But did you know that over five hundred years of history have shaped this book industry event?

Fleur Praal • October 27, 2016

We love what we see, so make the humanities count

While LUCAS can be proud that prof. Ineke Sluiter stars in a current six-part Dutch documentary on academia, the fact that she is the only humanities scholar among twelve interviewees is cause for worry...

Fleur Praal • August 25, 2016 • 1 comment

Open Science: A Necessary Call for Action?

The EU member states’ ministers for research and innovation unanimously signed the Amsterdam Call for Action on Open Science in May. Proponents claim that mandatory open access policies champion the general public’s interests. But is that really the case?

Fleur Praal • June 23, 2016

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