August 2014

Many of the messages presented in respectable scientific publications are, in fact, based on various forms of rumors. Some of these rumors appear so frequently, and in such complex, colorful, and entertaining ways that we can think of them as academic urban legends. The explanation for this phenomenon is usually that authors have lazily, sloppily, or fraudulently employed sources, and peer reviewers and editors have not discovered these weaknesses in the manuscripts during evaluation. To illustrate this phenomenon, I draw upon a remarkable case in which a decimal point error appears to have misled millions into believing that spinach is a good nutritional source of iron. Through this example, I demonstrate how an academic urban legend can be conceived and born, and can continue to grow and reproduce within academia and beyond.
http://sss.sagepub.com/content/44/4/638.long

https://github.com/GITenberg/
GITenberg
Project GITenberg is a Free and Open, Collaborative, Trackable and Scriptable digital library. It leverages the power of the Git version control system and the collaborative potential of Github to make books more open.
https://gitenberg.github.io/
Currently there are over 20,000 some odd books in GITenberg.
a collaborative, trackable, scriptable digital library using Git

At the Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library, clustered volumes fill only half of many long, red shelves; the rest stand empty. In the adult nonfiction section, some shelves are completely barren.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/07/bpl-push-reduce-books-community-branches-stirs-complaints/Hx9dCXFaUBv91yIr9gVkxO/story.html
The library, in Roxbury, once brimmed with books. But officials have been steadily culling its collection the past few months as part of a push by BPL administrators to dispose of up to 180,000 little-used volumes from shelves and archives of branches citywide by year’s end. Library officials say the reductions help assure that patrons can comfortably sift through a modern selection that serves their needs.

https://www.causes.com/campaigns/77615-save-kidlinks-teenlinks-birthtosix

Hennepin County Library is planning to shut down the KidLinks and TeenLinks websites. Tell the Hennepin County Commissioners to support children and teens by continuing to provide reading development through these outstanding online resources.

In the nearly 60 years since the federal government became the official caretaker of former U.S. presidents’ historical documents, presidential libraries have engaged in a delicate dance to keep the private foundations that build them and the taxpayers who keep them running from stepping on each other’s toes.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-presidential-libraries-funding-met-20140808-story.html

Teaches ninth-graders about masturbation, like they’ve never heard of it before
California parents are complaining that a new sex-education book for ninth-graders has way too much hot, naked sex in it.
http://time.com/3094386/sex-ed-teens-fremont-parents-virginity/

If you’ve been patiently waiting for a library copy of a best-seller like “The Fault in Our Stars,” the City of Omaha’s proposed budget for next year might come with some bad news.

The plan headed to the City Council for a public hearing Tuesday comes with a cut for the city’s libraries; the department’s $13.1 million budget is down about 5 percent from last year.

To avoid cutting staff or library hours, officials have plans to reduce the library’s materials budget — which means fewer opportunities to buy new books, e-books, DVDs and other materials, and longer wait times for some of the most popular titles.

Full article:
http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/omaha-s-proposed-budget-would-cut-funding-for-libraries/article_60198bcb-202d-5e3d-8fd3-16b3776b236b.html

More than 900 authors have signed an open letter condemning Amazon’s boycott of Hachette authors over the online retailer’s contractual dispute with the publisher.

Full piece here.

With every advance in technology, skeptics lament the loss of a more meaningful and simpler time, arguing that attention spans are shrinking and critical thinking is corroding. But in his book, Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better, journalist Clive Thompson offers a different take. Brooke spoke with Thompson last year about how all of the YouTube videos, blogs, Twitter feeds, and Wikipedia pages have produced a unique human intelligence.