News Snippets

When Out of Print was released, 20% of American adults own an…

Best-selling author James Patterson has decided to try to reach people who have given up on reading by bringing out a series of short books -- 150 pages or less -- that will sell for under $5 and can be read in a single sitting. Patterson will write some of the planned two-titles-per-month series, which will be published by Little, Brown, co-author some, and select the authors of the others.

The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) has published a major multi-author report entitled The Library in the Life of the User: Engaging People Where They Live and Learn. Highlights reported by compiler and co-author Lynn Silpigni Connaway People associate the library with books and do not consider the library in relation to online resources or reference services. People may not think of using libraries to get their information because they do not know that the services exist and some of the existing services are not familiar or do not fit into their workflows. The context and situation of the information need often dictates how people behave and engage with technology. Engagement and relationship building in both the online and physical environments is important for the development of successful and effective services. The abstract and a link to the full report is at http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/2015/oclcresearch-library-in-life-of-user.html

Ownership of dedicated E-book readers (Kindle, Nook, etc.) has dropped to 19% of U.S. adults, and 18% of those between 18 and 29 years of age, from a high of 32%. Tablet computer ownership has continued to grow, however, with 45% of adults, and 50% of those 18 to 29, owning tablets, while smart phones are now owned by 68% of adults and 86% of those 18 to 29. E-book sales have remained roughly constant at 510 million units,so the numbers suggest a movement from dedicated E-book readers to other devices. Device data are from the Pew Research Center report Technology Ownership:2015, October 29, 2015. E-book sales data are from the Association of American Publishers.

"In 1997, the average lifespan of a web page was 44 days; in 2003, it was 100 days. Links go bad even faster. A 2008 analysis of links in 2,700 digital resources ... found that about 8 percent of links stopped working after one year. By 2011 ... 30 percent of links in the collection were dead." Adrianne Lafrance, "Raiders of the Lost Web," The Atlantic, October 14, 2015

The editor of a Wikipedia article on medical devices discovered attempts to change the description of 13WSZXDE45TFCkyphoplasty, a back procedure, from “controversial” to “well documented and studied.” The writer was an employee of a company that manufactured the (expensive) device. So begins an Atlantic article by Joe Pinsker on "paid editing" of Wikipedia articles, and what it means for reliability of information. (theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/08/wikipedia-editors-for-pay/393926/)

According to the World Health Organization's World Heath Statistics 2013, "Literacy is a stronger predictor of individual’s health status than income, employment status, education level and racial or ethnic group.”

"…I’m a pretty unlikely candidate for internet censor, but I have just asked the students in my fall seminar to refrain from using laptops, tablets, and phones in class… … Multi-taskers often think they are like gym rats, bulking up their ability to juggle tasks, when in fact they are like alcoholics, degrading their abilities through over-consumption…" Why Clay Shirky Banned Laptops, Tablets and Phones from His Classroom, Mediashift, September 15, 2014