Schindler’s science: a shift towards sustainable sands?
September 7, 2010
David William Schindler OC, D.Phil., FRSC, FRS (born August 3, 1940) is one of the world’s leading limnologists. He holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Schindler was born August 3, 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota and grew up in Minnesota lake country. He holds dual citizenship in Canada and the USA. After completing his bachelor’s degree in zoology from North Dakota State in 1962 he studied aquatic ecology at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. He worked first under Nikolaas Niko Tinbergen. But it was while working under Charles Sutherland Elton, one of the founders of ecology, who also established and led Oxford University’s Bureau of Animal Population, that he began formulating an interdisciplinary ecosystem approach to study water and ecology. Dr. Schindler was an assistant professor in the Biology Department at Trent University from 1966 to 1968. From 1968 to 1989, he founded and directed the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario. This long-term study of freshwater is part of Schindler’s large body of scientific work which has influenced public policies regarding the protection of freshwater including the regulation of toxins and the limitation of eutrophication (excessive algal blooms) and acid rain in Canada, the USA and Europe.
This post, my new delicious entries, a Google Map in the making, and a considerable contribution to wikipedia article (above) and related articles on world renowned limnologist David W. Schindler are in response to the Calgary Herald article (2010-08-30) by Deborah Yedlin criticizing Schindler’s science.
A report by Erin N. Kelly, David W. Schindler, Peter V. Hodson, Jeffrey W. Short, Roseanna Radmanovich, Charlene C. Nielsen entitled “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries” was published 2010-08-24 in the prestigious and influential journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which the team of scientists show that the oil sands industry releases the 13 elements considered priority pollutants (PPE) under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act, via air and water, to the Athabasca River and its watershed.
“Contrary to claims made by industry and government in the popular press, the oil sands industry substantially increases loadings of toxic PPE to the AR and its tributaries via air and water pathways. This increase confirms the serious defects of RAMP (11–13), which has not detected such patterns in the AR watershed. Detailed long-term monitoring is essential to distinguish the sources of these contaminants and control their potential impacts on environmental and human health (13). A robust monitoring program to measure exposure and health of fish, wildlife, and humans should be implemented in the region affected by oil sands development (38, 39) (Kelly et al).”
The scientific journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is second only to the Journal of Biological Chemistry in the list of Top Ten Most-Cited Journals (All Fields), 1999-2009. Journals are ranked by total citations, based on papers published and cited in Thomson Reuters-indexed journals between January 1, 1999 and April 30, 2009 [*].
Yedlin has her finger on the pulse of the business world in general and the oil industry in particular but she is not a scientist. David W. Schindler is.
As I began to search out material to add to the paltry wikipedia entry I found mention of c. 250-300 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has nine honorary doctorates from universities within Canada and the United States. The list of provincial, national and international awards is lengthy.
I began to hear his name associated with best practices in the early 1990s when my husband was working on his MA then his PhD where terms like the ecosystem approach and water resource management were part of our everyday conversations. In recent years I have consulted his work to understand the Wabano Lake phenomenon.
The oil industry in Alberta is currently under attack by a well-orchestrated Rethink Alberta campaign which reminds me of the anti-sealhunt ads, posters, postcards. Nervous investors may reconsider placing money in funds associated with industries under heavy scrutiny by major companies and major campaigns. Many are convinced that the oil industry is immune to these attacks and will continue with business as usual, pushing for lax regulations and publicly-funded financial incentives to move ahead as fast as possible with expansion. Indeed potential customers for oilsands oil include governments of countries like Korea, Japan, China who my not be swayed by public outcry over dirty oil.
There is a crisis of confidence in science, or at least in big science. Yet more than ever we need legitimate scientific knowledge claims to guide public policies particularly in those areas in which industry and the market fail us the most, in matters related to the environment.
To be continued
Links
A Timeline of Selected Events
1940 Schindler was born August 3, 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota.
1958 Charles S. Elton’s book entitled The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants was published by the University of Chicago Press. Schindler was influenced by his early reading of this book when he was a studying under limnology professor, Gabriel Comita at North Dakota State University in the summer of 1958(?). Schindler argues that Elton’s book is better written and more useful than Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (Zagorski 2006-05-09).
1961-1963 John F. Kennedy was President of the USA.
1962 After completing his bachelor’s degree in zoology from North Dakota State in 1962 he studied aquatic ecology at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. He worked first under [“Niko” Tinbergen]. But it was while working under [Sutherland Elton] that he began formulating an interdisciplinary [ecosystem approach] to study water and ecology.
1963 Lester (Mike) Pearson was Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968.
1963-1969 Lyndon B. Johnson was President of the USA.
1966 Schindler received his doctorate from Oxford University.
1966 Canadian government created the Freshwater Institute (FWI) to study the Algal blooms that were plaguing Lake Erie. The predecessor of the FWI was the Central Fisheries Research Station of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Established in Winnipeg in 1944, the station was moved to London, Ont, in 1957 and then back to Winnipeg as the FWI in 1966. New laboratory and office facilities were opened in 1973. The FWI provides facilities for fisheries and environmental research in inland and Arctic waters as well as for the non-research activities of the region, such as fish and marine mammal management and protection in the Arctic; Arctic oceans management programs; protection of fish habitat in the prairies and the Arctic; and the management of federal harbours (FWI).
1966 Fisheries scientist Waldo Johnson proposed to pollute several small lakes intentionally.
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The Canadian government set aside lakes in northern Ontario called the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). I am not sure of the exact location of these lakes but they appear to be to the south of HWY 17, East of Hwy 71 in the Dogtooth Lakes area which is in or near the Provincial Park by that name. See maps here, here and here. |
1966-1968 Schindler was an assistant professor in the Biology Department at Trent University.
1968-06 Schindler, D. W. 1968-06. “Feeding, Assimilation and Respiration Rates of Daphnia magna Under Various Environmental Conditions and their Relation to Production Estimates.” Journal of Animal Ecology. 37:2:369-385. British Ecological Society.
1968 Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada and remained in office until 1979. He was re-elected Prime Minister in 1980 and remained in office until 1984.
1968 Schindler was at the Freshwater Institute, Fisheries Research Board of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
1968 Schindler was invited to head the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario. He conducted conducting experiments on whole ecosystems to directly test the effects including eutrophication of nutrient inputs, acid rain, climate change and other human insults on boreal aquatic ecosystems. His work has been widely used in formulating ecological management policy in Canada, the USA and in Europe. The Experimental Lakes Area was set aside for large-scale, whole-lake experiments. This had never done before. The project included a stellar staff of senior scientists. The Eutrophication Section was headed by well known ecologist Jack Vallentyne, who had recruited a group of about 15 senior scientists from around the world. Schindler was “one of the two or three youngest members of the group, and it was just a terrific environment for a young scientist to be in (Zagorski 2006).”
1968 Early stages of the oil sands development.
1969 Schindler was part of a team that studied Lake Winnipeg.
1969-1974 Richard M. Nixon was President of USA.
1973 The United States Congress passed the Endangered Species Act considered to be the most comprehensive and powerful piece of environmental legislation (Orians 1993).
1973
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| Dr. David W. Schindler separated Lake 226 with a a giant shower curtain and “treated one half with carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous and the other half with carbon and nitrogen only (7). Aerial photographs captured the dramatic results: the phosphorous-treated half of the lake had become green and murky because of algal blooms, whereas the other half of the lake remained clear. Pictures can speak a thousand words, and the stark contrast of the two sides of Lake 226 caught the public’s eye and policymakers’ collective ear (Zagorski 2006-05-09).”1974-05-24 “In a now-famous experiment (Science, 24 May 1974, p. 897), the team divided Lake 226 with a plastic curtain and added phosphorus to one half. When it turned a distinctive murky green, they had their answer. It was an aerial photograph from this experiment that largely persuaded policymakers to phase out phosphorus from detergents. “I think that’s the single most powerful image in the history of limnology,” Elser says. When Schindler took the results— and the photo—to government hearings in Canada and the United States, he put ELA on the map as a hub of innovative,policy-relevant research.” |
1974 Gerald R. Ford was President of the USA from 1974-1977.
1976-1988 In the Experimental Lake Area Schindler tackled one of the most contentious issues of the day, acid rain. In a series of experiments conducted between 1976 and 1988, researchers added sulfuric and nitric acid, pollutants that lead to acid rain, to Lake 223 and others.
1977 James Carter was President of the USA from 1977-1981.
1979 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans took over the management of Freshwater Institute and the Experimental Lakes which meant that departmental officials not scientists were in charge. This eventually changed the direction of research. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans focused on marine not freshwater and Experimental Lakes Project suffered from chronic underfunding.
1979-1990 Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of UK.
1980 Since 1980, “Canada’s total energy production has increased by 87 percent, while its total energy consumption has increased by only 44 percent. Almost all of Canada’s energy exports go to the United States, making it the largest source of U.S. energy imports. Canada is consistently among the top sources for U.S. oil imports, and it is the largest source of U.S. natural gas and electricity imports. Recognizing the importance of the energy trade between the two countries, both participate in the North American Energy Working Group, which seeks to improve energy integration and cooperation between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico (EIA).”
1981 “Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions: Toward a Better Understanding of the Ecological Consequences of Fossil Fuel Combustion.” Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR)
1981 Schindler was head of the Committee on the Atmosphere and the Biosphere “Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions: Toward a Better Understanding of the Ecological Consequences of Fossil Fuel Combustion.” National Academy Press.
1981 Ronald Reagan was President of the USA from 1981-1989.
1982 Schindler was President of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.
1984 Schindler was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award of the American Institute of Fisheries Biologists,
1984 Schindler was awarded the Frank Rigler Award of the Canadian Limnological Society.
1984 Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
1983 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC).
1985 G.E. Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography,
1986 “A publication by (Moon et al 1986) indicated that Suncor permitted effluent discharge of oil and grease to the Athabasca River at 420 kg per day (Moon et al 1986). Sometimes, operation problems resulted in excessive effluent discharge into the river (Moon et al 1986) In addition to water-born effluents, the two oil sands extraction plants (Suncor and Syncrude) emitted massive amounts of particulates in the atmosphere. Particulates mass emissions from the Suncor powerhouse stack ranged from 547 to 780 kg per hour; the Syncrude Canada main stacks mass emissions ranged from 713 to 1067 kg per hour (Moon et al 1986) cited in (Chen 2009-02).”
“This study examined trace metal levels in scalp hair taken from 122 children and 27 adult residents of three small northern Alberta (Canada) Indian villages, one of which is situated close to the world’s first tar sands oil extraction plants. The three communities studied were: Fort McKay (the exposed village), Fort Chipewyan (also in the tar sands ecosystem but distant from the plants), and Garden River (not in the tar sands ecosystem). Inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectroscopy was used to determine hair sample metal content. Nineteen metals were included in data analysis. Children from Fort McKay had the highest average hair lead, cadmium and nickel levels. Chromium levels were approximately equal in hair from Fort McKay and Garden River children, and significantly elevated above levels found in the hair of Fort Chipewyan children. Children from Garden River showed highest hair levels of eight metals: vanadium, aluminum, iron, manganese, barium, zinc, magnesium and calcium. Fort Chipewyan children had the highest hair levels of copper, but the lowest levels of all other metals. Among adults, hair lead, nickel and cadmium levels were highest in Fort McKay residents, while phosphorous and vanadium were highest in hair from Garden River residents. Bioaccumulation of lead, cadmium, nickel and chromium in hair from Fort McKay residents may be related to exposure to extraction plant pollution. Plant stack emissions are known to contain appreciable amounts of lead, nickel and chromium. Spills into the Athabasca River, until recently the source of Fort McKay drinking water, have been reported from plant wastewater holding ponds, known to contain elevated levels of lead, nickel and cadmium. An increased number of significant metal—metal correlations in hair metal levels for Fort McKay children suggests a richer source of multiple metal exposure, relative to children in the other two communities (Moon et al 1986).”
1988 Schindler was awarded the Naumann-Thienemann Medal of the International Limnological Society,
1989 Schindler left the Experimental Lakes Project which he had founded and managed since 1968.
1989-90 Schindler was a federal member of the Alberta Pacific Review Panel.
1989 Robert Hecky replaced Schindler as Director of the Experimental Lakes Project.
1989 George H. W. Bush President of the USA 1989-1993
1989-present “Dr. Schindler holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. He has studied the effects of climate warming, alien fish stocks, airborne contaminants and other human impacts on freshwaters of the Rocky Mountains.
1990 The U.S. Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act that helped reduce acid rain (Science, 6 November 1998, p. 1024).
1990 Environmentalist, specialist in biosphere pollutants and water chemistry, David William Schindler received an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Victoria (1990).
1992 Dr. David Schindler received the Stockholm Prize, aquatic science’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for research studies carried out by the Freshwater Institute (FWI) at the Institute’s Experimental Lakes area field station in northwestern Ontario.
1993 Jean Chretien was Prime Minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.
1993 Bill Clinton was elected as President of the USA and remained in office until 2001.
1993 Schindler was awarded the Manning Award of Distinction for Innovation in Science.
1994 Schindler was awarded the first Romanowski Medal of the Royal Society of Canada.
1996 The Canadian federal government tried to shut Experimental Lakes Project and Director Robert Hecky resigned in protest.
1998 Schindler was awarded the Volvo Environment Prize.
1997 The Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) is a joint environmental monitoring program that assesses the health of rivers and lakes in the oil sands region of northeastern Alberta. The RAMP Regional Study Area (RSA) is defined by the northeastern Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The RAMP RSA is bounded by the Alberta-Saskatchewan border on the east, the Alberta-Northwest Territories to the northeast, the Wood Buffalo National Park to the northwest and various demarcations including the Athabasca River and Cold Lake Air Weapons Range to the south. Within the Regional Study area is the Focal Study area and this area is defined by the watersheds in which oil sands development is occuring or will occur as well as portions of the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers found within the RSA. RAMP has focused on these main aquatic systems: The Athabasca River and Peace Athabasca delta. Tributaries to the Athabasca River including the Steepbank, Clearwater -Christina, Hangingstone, Ells, Tar, Firebag, Calumet, Muskeg, MacKay Rivers as well as several smaller tributaries Wetlands and lakes occurring near current and proposed oil sands developments (Isadore’s Lake, Shipyard Lake, McClelland Lake and Kearl Lake. Acid sensitive lakes in northeastern Alberta. Regional Lakes important to fisheries (RAMP website).
1997-2009 Dr. Hans Peterson founded the Safe Drinking Water Foundation (SDWF), a small non-profit foundation that specializes in helping aboriginal communities with their water problems and in educating students about protecting freshwaters. In 2010 Schindler chaired the board of directors of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation.
1991 Schindler was awarded the first Stockholm Water Prize.
2000 Schindler was awarded the NSERC Award of Excellence in Research.
2000-2003 Schindler was a member of Environment Canada’s Science and Technology Advisory Board.
2001-01 George W. Bush was elected as President of the United States.
2001 Schindler was nominated as membership of the Royal Society of London in 2000 and named as Fellow in 2001 (FRS).
2001 Schindler was awarded the Environment Canada’s Vollenweider Lectureship.
2001 Schindler was awarded the Canadian Nature Federation’s Douglas Pimlott Award for Conservation.
2001 Schindler was awarded the National Science and Engineering Research Council’s Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada’s highest scientific honor.
2003 Paul Martin was Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
2003 Schindler received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
2003-05 Schindler received the Killam prize, awarded for outstanding career achievements.
2004-01 Schindler was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
2004 Schindler was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
2004 Schindler was elected as one of 100 Edmontonians of the Century, in honour of Edmonton’s centennial year.
2005 Schindler chaired Alberta Environment’s 2005 review of Lake Wabamun.
2005 Schindler was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal.
2005 The RAMP report claimed there was no negative impact of the Oil Sands development on the regional water system.
2006 Stephen Harper was elected as Prime Minister of Canada.
2006 “Canada is a net exporter of oil, natural gas, coal, and electricity. It is one of the most important sources for U.S. energy imports. Canada is consistently the top supplier of oil imports to the United States. Canada produced 19.3 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) of total energy, the fifth-largest amount in the world. In 2006, the largest source of energy consumption in Canada was oil (32 percent), followed by hydroelectricity (25 percent) and natural gas (24 percent). Both coal (10 percent) and nuclear (7 percent) constitute a smaller share of the country’s overall energy mix (EIA).”
2006 Schindler was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement “In recognition of his discoveries, made through interdisciplinary experimental research and ecological hypothesis testing, that contribute to understanding how anthropogenic stressors affect the health of freshwater ecosystems.”
2006 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Ruth Patrick Award.
2006-05-09 Schindler and Donahue published their findings in the The National Academy of Sciences of the USA on “An impending water crisis in Canada’s western prairie provinces.”
2006 Dr. John O’Connor, a physician working in Fort Chipewyan, reported a high number of cases of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer, as well as high rates of other cancers (Chen 2009-02).
2007-03-22 At the University of British Columbia guest speaker Dr. Schindler presented his paper entitled “Western Canada’s Freshwater Supply in the 21st Century” in which he argued that Canada’s western prairie provinces (WPP) will experience severe water shortages as a result of natural drought, climate warming, damage to natural drainage patterns and human demands for water.
2007-11 Kevin P. Timoney’s report, “funded by the Nunee Health Board Society evaluated environmental contaminants in the area surrounding Fort Chipewyan. From 2001 to 2005, concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) rose within the sediment around Lake Athabasca. The report indicated that the treated drinking water in Fort Chipewyan was safe, but described high levels of arsenic, mercury and PAHs in fish, which is the main diet of many people in Fort Chipewyan, especially members of its Aboriginal communities (Chen 2009-02).”
2008 Schindler was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence.
2008 Schindler co-authored the book entitled The Algal Bowl: Overfertilization of the World’s Freshwaters and Estuaries with J.R. Vallentyne. In it they describes in accessible language the causes of algal blooms and ways that this excessive production could be avoided and even reversed.
2008-10-26/28 Schindler was a guest speaker along with other internationally distinguished scientists specializing in Lake Winnipeg’s watershed issues who presented at a conference at the University of Winnipeg entitled The Red Zone: Currents, Chemicals and Change Symposium held in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2008 An anonymous donor endowed the $1 million David Schindler Professorship in Aquatic Science which will ensure that Trent University will be able to attract and retain the finest faculty in perpetuity.
2008(?) Schindler served on the Board of Directors of the provincial Safety, Security and Environment Institute.
2008(?) Schindler chaired the International Review Committee for the Alberta Ingenuity Water Research Center.
2009-05 Schindler received the Royal Canadian Institute’s Sandford Fleming Medal for public communication of science.
2009-02 Alberta Health Services (AHS) released a study entitled Cancer Incidence Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 1995-2006 by Yiqun Chen. The study found that cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were 30% higher than expected and that community residents had a much higher likelihood of suffering from rare auto-immune diseases than other Albertans.
2009-12-03 Schindler, David W. 2009-12-03. “Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Issues in the Canadian Boreal Biome: The Cumulative Effects of Human Disturbance and Changing Climate.” IAP: The Global Network of Science Academies
2010-08-24. A report by Kelly, Erin N. Kelly, David W. Schindler, Peter V. Hodson, Jeffrey W. Short, Roseanna Radmanovich, Charlene C. Nielsen entitled “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.” was published in the prestigious and influential journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
2010-01-12 Schindler presented IAP Conference on Biodiversity in London.
Academic and Honorary Degrees
Awards and Honours
Service in the International Scientific Community
Selected Webliography
Selected Awards and Honours
References
Related Reading
Elton, Charles S. 1958. The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. University of Chicago Press.
Yedlin, Deborah. 2010-08-31. “Athabasca water study misses bigger picture.” Calgary Herald.
Chen, Yiqun. 2009-02. Cancer Incidence Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 1995-2006 . Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Moon J, Smith TJ, Tamaro S, Enarson D, Fadl S, Davison AJ et al. “Trace metals in scalp hair of children and adults in three Alberta Indian villages.” Sci Total Environ 1986; 54:107-125.
The Ultimate Guide to the Invisible Web
December 19, 2006
There’s information out there that is actually not (yet) indexed in the big search engines such as Google. The non-indexable part of the Web is called the Dark, Deep, Hidden or Invisible Web. Fortunately, the Invisible Web is getting easier to search, with tools beyond the standard “big three” search engines. According to recently published PhD dissertation (Shestakov 2008:5), the query-based dynamic portion of the Web known as the deep Web remained poorly indexed by search engines even in 2008.
Shestakov refined distinction between Deep, Hidden or Invisible Web,
“There is a slight uncertainty in the terms defining the part of the Web that is accessible via web search interfaces to databases. In literature, one can observe the following three terms: invisible Web [97], hidden Web [46 hidden behind web search interfaces], and deep Web [25]. The first term, invisible Web, is a superior to latter two terms as it refers to all kind of web pages which are non-indexed or badly indexed by search engines (i.e., non-indexable Web). The terms hidden Web and deep Web are generally interchangeable, and it is only a matter of preference which to choose. In this thesis we use the term deep Web and define it as web pages generated as results of queries issued via search interfaces to databases available online. In this way, the deep Web is a large part but still part of the invisible Web (Shestakov 2008:5).”
Garcia claimed Texas-based university professor Jill H. Ellsworth (d.2002), Internet consultant for Fortune 500 companies, coined the term “Invisible Web” in 1996 to refer to websites that are not registered with any search engine. ” “Ellsworth is co-author with her husband, Matthew V. Ellsworth, of The Internet Business Book (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1994), Marketing on the Internet: Multimedia Strategies for the World Wide Web (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), and Using CompuServe. She has also explored education on the Internet, and contributed chapters on business and education to the massive tome, The Internet Unleashed.”
[S]igns of an unsuccessful or poor site are easily identified, says Jill Ellsworth. “Without picking on any particular sites, I’ll give you a couple of characteristics. It would be a site that’s possibly reasonably designed, but they didn’t bother to register it with any of the search engines. So, no one can find them! You’re hidden. I call that the invisible Web. Ellsworth also makes reference to the “dead Web,” which no one has visited for a long time, and which hasn’t been regularly updated (Garcia 1996).
I distinguish between the Invisible Web and the Deep Internet. Much of the research that is promoted by social media continues to focus primarily on business models of marketability not just findability.
The Deep Internet 2008 continues to be at cross purposes with the motivations of social minded authors. Too many foundational texts and articles that could be so useful to robust conversations in civil society are restricted to those with access codes to the deep internet, the dark place of open source and Web 2.0+. It would be hoped that writings and work written about key individuals concerned about ethics, economics, psychoanalysis, sociology, cultural studies . . . would be made available through the Creative Commons License 3.5, preferred by many engaged thinkers including many academics in 2008. Many of the services of the Deep Internet operate within the private sector model as user-pay. Others are restricted to those who are members of exclusive academic associations, the insular knowledge elite, who also operate with obligatory membership fees. JSTOR for example has its references behind a paywall. It provides summaries and a small section of text for free.
In a recent on-line search for biographical information on Zygmunt Bauman, for example a number of sites refer to Deep Internet sites: http://sociologyonline.net. One of the first sources available is http://www.megaessays.com.
“sociologizing makes sense only in as far as it helps humanity” and “sociology is first and foremost a moral enterprise,”
“To think sociologically can render us more sensitive and tolerant of diversity. Thus to think sociologically means to understand a little more fully the people around us in terms of their hopes and desires and their worries and concerns (Bauman & May, 2001).”
A pioneer in knowledge management, Professor Kim Veltman of SUMS, traced a history of major projects collections of recorded knowledge that changed the world sometimes taking centuries to construct. He argued that commercial offerings with short-term albeit, useful and profitable solutions lack the essential long-term vision. Digital media, full digital scanning and preservation, electronic networks could enable future generations in every corner of the world to access, study and appreciate all the significant literary, artistic, and scientific works of mankind. He is concerned that privatization of this communal memory is already underway and without intervention will only increase, effectively limiting access to those who have means. We have the means to shed light on the deep Internet. Is there the will?
“In a world where we make tens and even hundreds of millions of titles available online, readers need digital reference rooms. [T] he good news is that publishers have made many dictionaries, encyclopaedias and other standard reference works available in electronic form. Modern libraries now typically have an online section on Electronic Reference Sources.118 Special licences with publishers mean that some of these works are available free of charge at libraries and universities. Companies such as XReferplus now offer access to 100 or 150 standard reference works.119 The less good news is that the electronic versions of these reference works are frequently so expensive that they are beyond the reach of individual scholars. Meanwhile, there has been a trend for such reference works to be owned by a few key companies. In Germany, the pioneer in this field was K. G. Saur, which publishes “nearly 2000 print, microfilm, and electronic formats.” In 1987, Saur was acquired by Reed International. In 2000, it became part of the Gale Group owned by Thomson.120 In the United States, Dialog,121 which was founded in 1967, and “provides access to over 9 terabytes or more than 6 million pages of information“, was acquired by the same Thomson Company in 2000.122 Meanwhile, Bowker123 founded in 1872, which publishes Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory (1932); and Books In Print 124 (1948-) was acquired by Xerox (1967) then Reed International (1981), then by Cambridge Information Group (2001), which has recently also acquired ProQuest Information and Learning (2006).125 Today, works such as Books in Print, are available only to institutions and are no longer available to individual subscribers. Fifty years ago, only the richest libraries could hope to achieve near comprehensive coverage of secondary literature. Today, practically no library can hope to be comprehensive and most collections are retreating. For instance, Göttingen, which had over 70,000 serials in the 1970s, now covers 30,000 serials. The California Digital Library has 21,000 electronic journals, which is impressive until we recall that Ulrich’s Periodicals Index lists 250,000 journals and serials. Meanwhile, at the University of California San Francisco, we find another modern catalogue that looks objective until we look closely and discover that of the 20 headings nine are traditional subjects and the remainder are branches of medicine (Appendix 3) … Ever since Gutenberg went bankrupt from the first printing, it has been obvious that publishers need to be attentive survival. For a very few companies this is not a problem. For instance, in 2004, Reed Elsevier126 listed an operating profit of £1126 million and profit attributable of £675 million.127 Somewhat disturbing is a trend whereby the world of longterm recorded knowledge is increasingly being framed in the terms of short-term business propositions, as if the whole of the public sphere was open to business exploitation..(Veltman 2007:12).”
Webliography and Bibliography on the Deep Internet
Bergman, Michael K. 2001. “The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value.” Taking License: Recognizing a Need to Change. Journal of Electronic Publishing. 7:1. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan University Library. August.
Ellsworth, Jill H.; Ellsworth, Matthew V. 1994. The Internet Business Book. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellsworth, Jill H.; Ellsworth, Matthew V. 1997. The Internet Business Book. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellsworth, Jill H.; Ellsworth, Matthew V. 1995. Marketing on the Internet: Multimedia Strategies for the World Wide Web. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellsworth, Jill H.; Ellsworth, Matthew V. 1996. Marketing on the Internet: Multimedia Strategies for the World Wide Web. 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellsworth, Jill H.; Ellsworth, Matthew V. Using CompuServe. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellsworth, Jill H. Chapters? The Internet Unleashed.
Garcia, Frank. 1996. “Business and Marketing on the Internet.” Masthead. 9:1. January. Alternate url @ web.archive.org
Shestakov, Dennis. 2008-05. “Search Interfaces on the Web: Querying and Characterizing”. PhD. Dissertation. Turku Centre for Computer Science. Finland.
Veltman, Kim H. 2007. “Framework for Long-term Digital Preservation from Political and Scientific Viewpoints.” Digitale Langzeitarchivierung. Strategien und Praxis europäischer Kooperation, Deutschen Nationalbibliothek, anlässlich der EU-Ratspräsidentschaft Deutschlands, 20-21. April 2007. Frankfurt: National Bibliothek.
See also Timeline: Deep Web work in progress
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