A scholar tries to edit Wikipedia entries in his area of expertise. Hilarity ensues. "I opened the page and found at least a dozen statements that were factual errors, including some that contradicted their own cited sources. I found myself hesitant to write, eerily aware that the self-deputized protectors of the page were reading over my shoulder, itching to revert my edits and tutor me in Wiki-decorum."

Odd article in the Chronicle about Michael Wesch, who apparently just discovered that technology alone is not enough to make a great class: "Mr. Wesch is not swearing off technology—he still believes you can teach well with YouTube and Twitter. But at a time when using more interactive tools to replace the lecture appears to be gaining widespread acceptance, he has a new message. It doesn't matter what method you use if you do not first focus on one intangible factor: the bond between professor and student."

Geoffrey Pullum: "The conclusion I draw is that singular they is fully grammatical, at least with quantifier-like antecedents such as everyone, nobody, etc."

Sarah Ruth Jacobs, in the Chronicle: "Graduate students can no longer lay the groundwork for their careers by following a mythical path set forth long ago that is fast disappearing. Increasingly, Ph.D.'s need to step slightly outside of their fields to define themselves, produce tools, appeal to wider audiences, attain rare skill sets, and forge partnerships beyond their disciplines and even beyond academe."

Katharine Polack reminds academics that there are plenty of (good!) alternatives to the tenure track: "While our profession regularly excoriates the news media for overblown rhetoric, we seem to be better at articles that induce panic about our prospects than about, for example, jobs outside academe for which we might be suited. Just because we may not all get jobs at research institutions doesn't mean we can't contribute, and make a reasonable income to boot."

William Pannapacker, writing in the Chronicle: "Just to be clear: There is work for humanities doctorates (though perhaps not as many as are currently being produced), but there are fewer and fewer real jobs because of conscious policy decisions by colleges and universities. As a result, the handful of real jobs that remain are being pursued by thousands of qualified people — so many that the minority of candidates who get tenure-track positions might as well be considered the winners of a lottery."

William Pannapacker, writing in the Chronicle: "Some professors tell students to go to graduate school 'only if you can't imagine doing anything else.' But they usually are saying that to students who have been inside an educational institution for their entire lives. They simply do not know what else is out there. They know how to navigate school, and they think they know what it is like to be a professor."

Kurt Schick, writing in the Chronicle: "Citation style remains the most arbitrary, formulaic, and prescriptive element of academic writing taught in American high schools and colleges. Now a sacred academic shibboleth, citation persists despite the incredibly high cost-benefit ratio of trying to teach students something they (and we should also) recognize as relatively useless to them as developing writers."

Great advice from The Chronicle of Higher Education about writing grad school application essays. "Some applicants start their narrative with a quotation from a song, a poem, or a beloved book, including children's books. Whether that's because the applicant wants to convey that we can find profound wisdom in Dr. Seuss even after we grow up, or because the applicant has not read any other books, I do not want to know. "

This collection of pieces in the Chronicle should be required reading for all prospective PhD students.

Yet another article I should find the time to read...