Schick argues that a strong focus on the mechanics of citation early on in a student’s career puts the focus too much on the mechanical aspects of writing, rather than the content and creative aspects.  In his words, “students expend a disproportionate amount of precious time and attention trying to avoid making mistakes. Soon, they also begin to associate ‘good’ writing with mechanically following rules rather than developing good ideas.”

He doesn’t believe that we should not ask students to cite their sources; he simply believes that we need to emphasize strict following of style rules less and careful and thoughtful evaluation and integration of secondary sources more.

As you can imagine, his column sparked a healthy debate, including this Letter to the Editor, this blog post, and 175 comments on the column (and counting).

Take a look at what Schick has to say, and then tell us – what do you think?

According to BBC News, the Globe and Mail, and Silicon Republic, the bills have been quite controversial.  Proponents of the legislation argue it will stop the widespread theft of intellectual property on the Internet.  Those against the legislation suggest it threatens free speech and worry that it will hurt investment in online business.

You can check out Wikipedia during the blackout for more information: the plan is to leave articles on the legislation and the controversy available for reading.

Looking for background information on another topic but can’t get it from Wikipedia?  Check out the Background Information tab on any of the Library’s subject guides.

Rejuvenate in January by learning something new!

Check out a book from our Library New Books display.

Titles currently featured in our display will inspire a “new you” for the new year.

Learn More…

Chris Scott, a photographer who took pictures of all of the sculptures, tells the story of these gifts much better than I can.  Enjoy the story, and the photos of the beautiful sculptures that accompany it.

Thanks to Danielle, who pointed me in the direction of this story.

Need to speak Pirate for International Talk like a Pirate Day?
Ahoy, matey!

Could your English be better?
日本語話者のための英語のレッスンを見つける。

Try Mango Languages, our featured resource this month, and learn a new language today!

Learn More…

They call the study “culturomics,” which they define as “the application of massive-scale data collection analysis to the study of human culture.”  What it lets them do is chart things like how frequently the words “God” or “aargh” appear in books over time.  They argue that this allows them to get a clear picture of what people are talking about at any particular point in time, and also trace the importance of a concept over time.  Jump down to the comments posted below the talk and you’ll see that a lot of people feel this is flawed theory because it ignores word context.  I’m not sure yet what I think, but I know I’m intrigued.

The cool thing is that Google liked the tool Michel and Lieberman Aiden have been using for data analysis so much, they made a version that’s available to all of us.  So now you can go in and do your own analysis, for any word that you like.  And you can see a sample of the books the word appears in.

Try it out, and see what you think.  Just “nerdy fun” or a useful tool for looking at how culture develops and changes?

Just as a side note, it’s possible Michel’s graphs for “awesome vs. practical” are the best graphs I’ve ever seen, and the quickest visual summary of how realistic an idea is.

Biblion lets you virtually explore the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair through photos, posters, multimedia, and documents from the stacks of NYPL.

“The Fair has something for everyone, from technological innovation and classical music, to pop culture and a world dealing with the crises of war and economic hardship.”

Explore the Fair today!
Visit the Biblion website or install the free Biblion iPad app.

The event will apparently be visible through a standard telescope, so it looks like it’s time to dig yours out from the back of the closet and hope for clear skies!

Want to know more about asteroids?  Check out RDC Library’s Astronomy subject guide.

Visit our Open Guide to learn about Open Access, Open Culture, Open Education, and Open Source.

This international event recognizes and promotes publishing initiatives that make scholarly research accessible online to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

This is accomplished through Open Access (OA) journals, institutional repositories, self-archiving and a lot of hard work by academics, librarians and a variety of others who argue that free, universal access to research is a right, not a pricey privilege.

The following animated video (3:16) explains open access to research and why it’s important: