Category Archives: Librarianship

Absolutely fabulist: The computer program that writes fables | CNET

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Forget a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters, researchers have created a computer program that writes fables by itself.

It might be a long way from “A Tale of Two Cities”, but researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales have developed a computer program that is capable of writing its own fables.

The Moral Storytelling System, known as MOSS, has been developed by Margaret Sarlej, a PhD candidate at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW, led by Australian Research Fellow and artificial intelligence expert Dr Malcolm Ryan.

While humans are capable of creating simple or complex stories without a second thought, Sarlej said this is a skill that computers can’t easily emulate.

READ MORE: Absolutely fabulist: The computer program that writes fables | CNET.

Museums And Heritage Sites In Syria Are Under Siege | Co.Design

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Museums And Heritage Sites In Syria Are Under Siege | Co.Design | business + design

The civil war devastating Syria and spilling into Iraq has claimed yet another casualty: museums and cultural heritage sites. As evidence of destruction mounts, the international community is moving to action…

…To minimize the damage, U.S. museums are partnering with the Syrian Interim Government’s Heritage Task Force to train local curators and civilians in emergency packing and other practices designed to safeguard cultural treasures.

READ MORE: Museums And Heritage Sites In Syria Are Under Siege | Co.Design | business + design.

Best Fabulist Books | Flavorwire

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Best Fabulist Books – Flavorwire

Fabulism, it seems, is having a moment — although whether it’s truly a trend is up for debate. Some might say it’s been right there, purring along all this time, while others might blink and wonder what you’re talking about. Such is always the case with magic. But whether you’re a newbie or an old hat, there are always new corners of the fantastic to discover.

READ: Best Fabulist Books | Flavorwire.

Nearly 100 percent of libraries offer tech training and STEM programs, study finds | DistrictDispatch

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According to a new study from the American Library Association ALA, nearly 100 percent of America’s public libraries offer workforce development training programs, online job resources, and technology skills training. Combined with maker spaces, coding classes, and programs dedicated to entrepreneurship and small business development, libraries are equipping U.S. communities with the resources and skills needed to succeed in today’s – and tomorrow’s – global marketplace.

READ: Nearly 100 percent of libraries offer tech training and STEM programs, study finds | DistrictDispatch

Comixology DRM-Free Comics | $1 for Access to 15,000 Marvel Comics | Gizmodo

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You Can Finally Download DRM-Free Comic Book Backups From Comixology | Gizmodo
The biggest digital comic book distributor in all of digital comics land, Comixology, just took a relatively unprecedented move for a platform its size. Customers will now be able to download DRM-free backups—meaning when you buy a book, you’ll finally get to own it, too.

You Can Access 15,000 Marvel Comics Right Now For a Buck | Gizmodo
As we all prepare our brains and Twitter feeds for the unstoppable flood of comics and entertainment news that will pour out of San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel announced some news in the quiet before the storm. Now, for 99 cents, readers can gain access to Marvel Unlimited, the publisher’s treasure trove of 15,000 issues from current series (well, at least six months old) and classic golden- and silver-age titles. You can also store up to 12 issues offline so you can read without a reliable Wi-Fi connection. As long as you have a Mac, PC, iOS, or Android device, you’re in business.

 

Bibliotheca Bible Project Blows Up On Kickstarter With Chapterless Bible | HuffPo

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Graphic artist and book designer Adam Lewis Greene has envisioned a Bible without chapters and his idea has found incredible success on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter. He hopes his design will emphasize the role of the Bible as a great literary text by taking away conventions which have been added to increase its usability as a tool for study.

The website describes Bibliotheca as “The entire biblical library in four elegant volumes, designed purely for reading. The text is reverently treated in classic typographic style, free of all added conventions such as chapter numbers, verse numbers, section headers, cross references and notes.”

READ: Bibliotheca Bible Project Blows Up On Kickstarter With Chapterless Bible | HuffPo

Apple Secretly Acquired “Pandora For Books” Startup BookLamp To Battle Amazon | TechCrunch

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I hope this acquisition translates into a viable book recommendation/review community for Apple’s iBooks. It isn’t a good thing that GoodReads is the dominant book recommendation service, specially with Amazon owning stakes in both GoodReads and LibraryThing. 

READ: Apple Secretly Acquired “Pandora For Books” Startup BookLamp To Battle Amazon | TechCrunch

Read the books that inspired Darwins theory of evolution | Engadget

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Charles Darwins Galapagos expedition is one of the most famous scientific voyages in history and now you can see how he fed his mind aboard the Beagle. Darwin Online, which houses the world’s largest Darwin collection, has now published in PDF format what it believes to be all 404 books that Darwin had access to on the ships library. They comprise some 195,000 pages with 5,000 corresponding illustrations in French, English and Spanish from encyclopedias, history books, literature and even a racy Spanish novel. Darwin called his years aboard the Beagle a crucial a period that helped him create his seminal theory of evolution, On the Origin of Species. Though you may not have as much time as Darwin did on the infamously long trip, its worth a look just for the spectacular hand-drawn illustrations.

Access links here: Read the books that inspired Darwins theory of evolution | Engadget

These scorpions are probably hiding in your bookcase | SPLOID

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If you have old vintage books, you may have some book scorpions in your bookcase. Actually, you really should want to have them, even if they look scary and gross. Book scorpions protect your old books—they love to munch on the book lice that eat the glue which holds old books together.

A book scorpion or pseudoscorpion is not a true scorpion, hence its name. Theyre often mistaken for bedbugs, in fact, causing many people to kill them, which is obviously a big mistake for your collection of vintage encyclopedias. A book scorpion is also very tiny—too tiny to hurt you, so dont worry about being pinched when you pull out your original signed copy of The Metamorphosis.

READ MORE: These scorpions are probably hiding in your bookcase | SPLOID

The real Jane Austen immortalised as waxwork | CNET

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Working from a single confirmed portrait of the Regency author, a forensic artist has created what she believes to be the most accurate representation of Jane Austen possible. READ: The real Jane Austen immortalised as waxwork | CNET