Elsevier is in the view of some that ‘roaring lion, seeking whom he devour; as the Scripture puts it. The tender gazelle being stalked is Mendeley, described as a science sharing social network. A number of these have sprung up over the years, but some of the earlier offerings are being wound up or incorporated into other packages. CONNOTEA and UNIphy have already shuttered or are about to.  One of the hottest tickets in this market is a package called Mendeley,  which claims to have a very large number of associated scientist members, and its representatives have been very active in calling on scientists to join up. All these scientific social networks offer the opportunity to ‘share’ materials with others. In some cases, publishers have watching with slitted eyes as this sharing seems to have skated close to the line of unauthorized distribution of copyrighted documents. A scribe for The Scholarly Kitchen notes these and other points about science social networks in general and Mendeley in particular as part of a longer post on what has come as a kind of mini bombshell, if you can have one of those.  Earlier in the week, there was an announcement that Elsevier and Mendeley were deep in discussion about an acquisition. Elsevier was said to be offering 100 million USD for the company, which would become part of the publishing giant’s stable of products and services. It’s not entirely clear how the announcement came about and even whether it’s accurate. Some comments in the Kitchen post express doubts about the price, for one thing, which is considered much too high by some, but not so very high by others.  More interesting is the series of observations about what could happen afterwards. If Mendeley is acquired by a billion dollar company, possible legal actions for infringement look more enticing.  Then too, the service, once absorbed into the corporate umbrella becomes JAC Just Another Company, and loses its edgy, outsider image. Way too soon to pontificate, but as is usually the case, a post on the Kitchen is worth reading and thinking about.