Blake

MIT task force releases preliminary “Future of Libraries” report

The MIT task force arranged ideas about the MIT Libraries into four “pillars,” which structure the preliminary report. They are “Community and Relationships,” involving the library’s interactions with local and global users; “Discovery and Use,” regarding the provision of information; “Stewardship and Sustainability,” involving the management and protection of MIT’s scholarly resources; and “Research and Development,” addressing the analysis of library practices and needs. The preliminary report contains 10 general recommendations in these areas.

From MIT task force releases preliminary “Future of Libraries” report | MIT News

October 25, 2016 by Blake Libraries

It’s Not Too Late to Save the Stacks

For in-depth assignments, nothing replaces the chance to introduce students face-to-face to a nonvirtual librarian who can help them navigate the research process. One invaluable lesson of standing next to a real person undertaking real-time information browsing: Students learn that good information takes time to locate. Even the experts have to problem-solve through some deadends and overgeneralized hits before finding a good source. And when something suitable turns up, students can share that eureka moment or the relief of genuine gratitude with another person. All of this takes place in the physical space of the library and its community of books and people.

From It’s Not Too Late to Save the Stacks – The Chronicle of Higher Education

October 23, 2016 by Blake Libraries

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 Bob Dylan

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016
Bob Dylan
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan

“for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

From The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 – Press Release

October 13, 2016 by Blake Uncategorized

The world’s most valuable scientific books and manuscripts – an overview of the marketplace

After several months researching the marketplace, we’ve compiled a list of the 50 most valuable scientific documents sold at auction. This article is a preview of the research and an overview of the scientific documents and manuscripts marketplaces. Over the next week we’ll reveal our findings in detail, counting down to number one in a series of articles that provide an intriguing insight into both the history of science and the value of its most important writings.

From The world’s most valuable scientific books and manuscripts – an overview of the marketplace

October 9, 2016 by Blake Books

There’s a word in Japanese for the literary affliction of buying books you don’t read

Tsundoku is the stockpiling of books never consumed. Sahoko Ichikawa, a senior lecturer in Japanese at Cornell University, explains that tsunde means “to stack things” and oku is “to leave for a while.” The word originated in Japan’s late 19th century Meiji Era from a play on words. Sometime around the turn of the century, the oku in tsunde oku was replaced with doku, meaning to read. But because tsunde doku rolls awkwardly off the tongue, the mashup version became tsundoku.

From There’s a word in Japanese for the literary affliction of buying books you don’t read — Quartz

October 9, 2016 by Blake Books

How to help libraries learn about open source

Right now, if you walked into my public library and pelted me with questions about open source—like, “What is it?” “How does it work?” “How can I use open source?”—I’d rattle off answers so fast you’d be walking out with a new tool or technology under your belt. Open source is a big world, so of course there are some things I don’t know, but guess what? We have the Internet and books right at our finger tips. Saying that you don’t know the answer is fine, and patrons will respect you for it. The key is helping them find the answer.

From How to help libraries learn about open source | Opensource.com

October 9, 2016 by Blake Internet Libraries

Inside the New York Public Library’s Last, Secret Apartments

Some have spent decades empty and neglected. “The managers would sort of meekly say to me—do you want to see the apartment?” says Iris Weinshall, the library’s chief operating officer, who at the beginning of her tenure toured all the system’s branches. The first time it happened, she had the same reaction any library lover would: There’s an apartment here? Maybe I could live in the apartment.

“They would say, look, just be careful when you go up there,” she says. “It was wild. You could have this gorgeous Carnegie…”

“And then… surprise!” says Risa Honig, the library’s head of capital planning.

From Inside the New York Public Library’s Last, Secret Apartments | Atlas Obscura

October 8, 2016 by Blake Librarians Libraries Public Libraries

WA State Dems push to unblock LGBT material at schools, libraries

Several House Democrats have put forward legislation that would ban schools and libraries from banning Internet access to LGBT material, which is sometimes blocked by filters aimed at keeping out obscene content.

The “Don’t Block LGBTQ Act,” from Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., is meant to ensure that young LGBT people are able to access material that might help them.

From Dems push to unblock LGBT material at schools, libraries | Washington Examiner

October 5, 2016 by Blake Internet Libraries School Libraries

“We set out to build the bookstore of the 21st century”

Among the factors that have made Kepler’s a sustainable operation, two stand out. First, Madan and his team have built on the store’s heritage as a place that achieves impact not just as a book retailer but also as a community center. And second, they have explored the potential of using a hybrid structure that combines for-profit and nonprofit elements.

From Turning the Page | Stanford Social Innovation Review

October 5, 2016 by Blake Books

Does Reading a Single Passage of Literary Fiction Really Improve Theory of Mind? (NO)

Fiction simulates the social world and invites us into the minds of characters. This has led various researchers to suggest that reading fiction improves our understanding of others’ cognitive and emotional states. Kidd and Castano (2013) received a great deal of attention by providing support for this claim. Their article reported that reading segments of literary fiction (but not popular fiction or nonfiction) immediately and significantly improved performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), an advanced theory-of-mind test. Here we report a replication attempt by 3 independent research groups, with 792 participants randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions (literary fiction, popular fiction, nonfiction, and no reading). In contrast to Kidd and Castano (2013), we found no significant advantage in RMET scores for literary fiction compared to any of the other conditions. However, as in Kidd and Castano and previous research, the Author Recognition Test, a measure of lifetime exposure to fiction, consistently predicted RMET scores across conditions. We conclude that the most plausible link between reading fiction and theory of mind is either that individuals with strong theory of mind are drawn to fiction and/or that a lifetime of reading gradually strengthens theory of mind, but other variables, such as verbal ability, may also be at play. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

From PsycNET – Display Record

October 5, 2016 by Blake Uncategorized