February 2012

Library research databases have the worst UI in the whole world

Google-Trained Minds Can’t Deal with Terrible Research Database UI
“The librarians quoted here understand most of the key problems, and are especially sharp about “the myth of the digital native” — about which see also this deeply sobering Metafilter thread — but there’s one vital issue they’re neglecting: research databases have the worst user interfaces in the whole world.”

Lifespan of a fact

From radio program “On the Media”

In 2005, The Believer Magazine paired a contributing writer with a fact checker. Seven years later some version of their epic, contentious back and forth; first about facts, then about the genre of non-fiction and finally about the nature of truth itself – is a book. Essayist John D’Agata and erstwhile fact-checker Jim Fingal speak with Brooke about The Lifespan of a Fact.

Read transcript, listen to piece, or download MP3 here.

LISTen: An LISNews.org Program — Episode #188

After a trip to visit Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and pick up computer parts on the way back, LISTen is finally posted. The episode can be directly downloaded here.

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Starring the Computer film database

The next time you’re working at the reference desk and someone wants to know what kind of computer was used in the classic 1973 movie “Invasion of the Bee Girls,” well, now you have a place to turn. ” The Verge directs your attention to the Starring the Computer which describes itself as, “…a website dedicated to the use of computers in film and television. Each appearance is catalogued and rated on its importance (ie. how important it is to the plot), realism (how close its appearance and capabilities are to the real thing) and visibility (how good a look does one get of it). Fictional computers don’t count (unless they are built out of bits of real computer), so no HAL9000 – sorry.”

Elsevier withdraws support for the RWA

Elsevier withdraws support for the RWA
At Elsevier, we have always focused on serving the global research community and ensuring the best possible access to research publications and data. In recent weeks, our support for the Research Works Act has caused some in the community to question that commitment.

We have heard expressions of support from publishers and scholarly societies for the principle behind the legislation. However, we have also heard from some Elsevier journal authors, editors and reviewers who were concerned that the Act seemed inconsistent with Elsevier’s long-standing support for expanding options for free and low-cost public access to scholarly literature. That was certainly not our intention in supporting it. This perception runs counter to our commitment to making published research widely accessible, coming at a time when we continue to expand our access options for authors and develop advanced technologies to enable the sharing and distribution of research results.

LISTen #188 Delayed

Due to intense file manipulation operations after a near-hit systems crash, programming will be released later in the day on or near 2300 UTC on Monday, February 27, 2012. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

The US Should Not Be Burning Books

Commentary from Allison Stanger, the Chair of the Political Science Department at Middlebury College on the situation in Afghanistan that arose after American servicemen were found to have burned Qurans.

Book burning is not something typically associated with freedom-of-speech-loving America. When books are burned in a country desperately in need of more books, where only 43% of men and 12% of women are literate, it should prompt questions.

I want to believe that the burning of Qurans was an unintended mistake. But surely any soldier based in Afghanistan after a decade-long American intervention knows that the desecration of the Koran is an inflammatory and offensive act in a Muslim country.

President Obama’s apology has done little to contain the mounting rage in Afghanistan that led to a march on the presidential palace after Friday prayers, the Saturday killings of two U.S. officers on the job in Afghan ministries and the subsequent withdrawal of NATO advisors from Afghanistan. But this latest incident provides further evidence that our armed forces have begun to lose touch with why we are fighting in the first place.

Their frustration is understandable, but we should never implicitly condone American soldiers burning books as a means to defending freedom. We should not attack those who apologize for such an act. The cost of losing what we are fighting to uphold is far too high. Thankfully, President Obama understands that.