Over four years, Archer and Jockers fed 5,000 fiction titles published over the last 30 years into computers and trained them to “read”—to determine where sentences begin and end, to identify parts of speech, to map out plots. They then used so-called machine classification algorithms to isolate the features most common in bestsellers. READ MORE: Algorithms Could Save Book Publishing—But Ruin Novels | WIRED
Category Archives: Librarianship
#3D ‘unwrapping’ tools let scientists read an ancient Hebrew scroll | Mashable #archives #manuscripts #digitization #science
Source: Seales et. al, Science Advances 21 Sep 2016: Vol. 2, no. 9, e1601247, Fig. 2 Completed virtual unwrapping for the En-Gedi scroll.
New software tools have enabled scientists to read an ancient, damaged Hebrew scroll without ever unfurling the fragile, disintegrating parchment.
The digitization techniques, known as “volume cartography,” transformed what were the charred remains of the nearly 2,000-year-old En-Gedi scroll into legible columns of handwritten text from the book of Leviticus, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
“We are reading a real scroll that hasn’t been read for millennia,” said Brent Seales, who helped develop the cartography techniques and is a computer sciences professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
READ MORE: 3D ‘unwrapping’ tools let scientists read an ancient Hebrew scroll | Mashable
Sex and sexuality: The Jane Austen game breaking the MMO rules | engadget #Austen #MMOG #gaming #RPG #transmedia
Ever, Jane is an online role-playing game set in the dramatic, romantic worlds of Jane Austen. It invites players to attend sophisticated dinner parties and fancy balls, share gossip, keep secrets, fall in love, get married and climb the ribbon-lined social ladder of Regency-era England. It is definitely not a sex game, though sometimes players get wrapped up in this universe of exquisite gowns and forbidden desire, and they simply can’t help themselves.
“Let’s just say that we had to put in private chat,” Ever, Jane creator Judy Tyrer says with a laugh. READ MORE: Sex and sexuality: The Jane Austen game breaking the MMO rules | engadget
Post Disclosure: I supported the Ever, Jane Kickstarter campaign by giving a small donation. Downloaded the beta version but unable to run software properly yet on my 2010 MacBook Pro Intel OS X Yosemite. Note to self: Buy new computer so I can play Ever, Jane.
MIT uses #radiation to read closed books | engadget #books #tech #imaging #manuscripts #archives
There are some books that are simply too delicate to crack open — the last thing you want to do is destroy an ornate medieval Bible simply because you’re curious about its contents. If MIT has its way, though, you won’t have to stay away. Its scientists have crafted a computational imaging system that can read the individual pages of a book while it’s closed. Their technology scans a book using terahertz radiation, and relies on the tiny, 20-micrometer air gaps between pages to identify and scan those pages one by one. A letter interpretation algorithm (of the sort that can defeat captchas) helps make sense of any distorted or incomplete text. READ MORE: MIT uses radiation to read closed books | engadget
Controversial Maya Codex Is the Real Deal After All | Gizmodo
Scientists have been arguing over the authenticity of an ancient document called the Grolier Codex for 50 years. A new analysis published in a special section of the journal Maya Archaeology has concluded that the codex is indeed genuine, making it the oldest surviving manuscript from the pre-Colombian era. READ MORE: Controversial Maya Codex Is the Real Deal After All | Gizmodo
Are Librarians becoming Data Analysts? | Linex Systems #Librarians #data #analysis #analytics #dataanalysts #analysts
Right now, one of the most discussed trends is that of data – big data, small data, data analytics, predictive data. It’s all relevant, it’s all important and it should be on all our radars. Data is constantly growing and, as it does, we are finding new ways to harness it and fulfill our potential. Within this, two significant themes emerge which we shall explore here:
- Using data to improve your current awareness service
- Your current awareness service including more data, and different types of data
Read More: Are Librarians becoming Data Analysts? | Linex Systems
My Comment: An excellent article providing an overview of some services data analysts may provide. My role as a Research Analyst includes the following data related activities: analyzing data sets to provide insights to the public and fulfill client requests; using data to tell stories; analyzing click rates to determine content relevancy; peer comparison; crafting factual statements for business development and marketing collateral and presentations; sourcing, organizing and managing data sets; and the list goes on!
You People Wouldn’t Believe the Type Design in Blade Runner | WIRED #typefaces #fonts #typedesign #typography #film #OCD #subjectmatterexpert
DAVE ADDEY DOESN’T just watch movies. He dissects them.
Addey is the creator of Typeset In The Future, a website devoted entirely to fonts in science fiction. Why yes, it is a bastion of gloriously esoteric nerdery. It all began when Addey, a lifelong science fiction fan, started noticing the same font in every movie he watched: Eurostile Bold Extended… READ MORE: You People Wouldn’t Believe the Type Design in Blade Runner | WIRED
Researching LIS Job Opportunities and Career Paths | Infonista #LIS #librarianship #employment #jobs #careers #research #resources
Whether you’re a student soon to graduate and getting ready to hit the job market, an employed professional seeking to make a job change, or a now-unemployed practitioner trying to identify or create new opportunities, LIS job hunting can be an adventure (feel free to substitute your preferred adjective here). READ: Infonista | Researching LIS Job Opportunities and Career Paths
Related: Librarianship Job Postings and Resources | infophile.ca
What #indigenous communities are teaching scientists about nature | Vox #science #nature #knowledge #research #oralhistory
Although biologists and indigenous people have worked together for centuries, the relationship has tended toward friction. Scientists often looked askance at traditional knowledge, sometimes with harmful consequences for both science and indigenous livelihoods…
…”The hardest thing is to sit in a room with scientists who think they’ve discovered something, but their scientific discovery just confirms what our oral histories have talked about forever,” says William Housty, a member of British Columbia’s Heiltsuk First Nation and director of Coastwatch, a science and conservation program. “That’s been the biggest hump for us to overcome, to get people to think about our culture on the same level as Western science. “Rocky though the transition has been, wildlife biologists like Polfus are today pursuing more respectful and participatory relationships with indigenous people.
READ MORE: What indigenous communities are teaching scientists about nature | Vox
Singapore now has vending machines that sell books | Mashable #books #booksellers #vending
SINGAPORE — Bookworms rejoice! BooksActually, a local independent bookstore known for its fiction and literature curations, has unveiled book vending machines at high traffic spots in Singapore. READ: Singapore now has vending machines that sell books | Mashable
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