MITPressLog

Wednesday Blog Watch: Academic Library Blogs

2008-07-23T15:14:43-04:00

Carnegie Mellon University's Librarian News page frequently lists "interesting new books" - and, more often than not, an MIT Press book is on the list. This time around it's Robotics: Science and Systems III.
But it got us to thinking about academic library blogs, and how many academic libraries have them, and what they are about. It wasn't long before we found (through Blogging Library Wiki) a list of over 400 Academic Library Blogs.

Some highlights:

Yale's Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Poetry at Beinecke Library news.
"California Policy Inbox" from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Library
"Transforming Scholarly Communication" (about open access, scholarly publishing, copyright and other issues) from the University of Houston
"Reading Girl Speaks" from the Oberlin College Library
Smithsonian Libraries news
MIT Library News
University of Waterloo's Musagetes Architectural Library news
Harvard's Kennedy School Library Blog (links to some great research websites)
Philadelphia University Library's "Get it at Gutman"
University of Pisa History & Philosophy Library news
University of North Texas Dallas Campus Virtual Library Blog.

A Game Looking at the Reality of Climate Change

2008-07-22T11:35:37-04:00

Eric Klopfer, director of MIT's Scheller Teacher Education Program and author of Augmented Learning describes TimeLab, the program's most recent Augmented Reality Game:

TimeLab starts with a video that sets the players 100 years in the future when global climate change has wreaked havoc on Cambridge. They are then sent back in time to present day to study ballot initiatives that could potentially remediate the effects of global climate change in the future. Players walk around the MIT campus and surrounding areas collecting information (real and virtual) on methods of reducing climate change and the impact of climate change on Cambridge. For example, at one point they look across the Charles River to the Hancock Tower that currently uses a beacon to provide information about the weather, and consider whether a more comprehensive weather warning system could be of use to warn future area residents of frequent severe weather. As players stand on Memorial Drive near the MIT campus, they consider how 100 years in the future that location is often under water from floods, and think about ways that those floods could be prevented. In the end, the players choose a number of ballot initiatives that they must debate, and through some simple game mechanics ultimately find out whether those measures are approved and what impact they have.

Timelab (sponsored by The Center for Future Civic Media) has been played with a number of groups including parents and kids and the Cambridge Science Festival, adults as part of The Center for Future Civic Media, and MIT students as part of a class. The most recent implementation was this past Wednesday when a class of 20 middle school students from Gloucester came to MIT as part of a summer camp. Over the course of three hours the students explored the campus, learned about the potential impacts of climate change on Cambridge, and debated how to mitigate these impacts. The students were very enthusiastic in their response to the game, as they enjoyed exploring the campus, playing a game and learning. The teachers also enjoyed the game and cited the unique ability to engage students in problems of both scientific and social/political impact as a critical and positive attribute of the game.

To learn more about MIT's AR project here. We've already mentioned this, but you can also read an interview with Klopfer about his work on Henry Jenkins blog.

World Policy Journal Launches a Blog

2008-07-21T12:49:08-04:00

The World Policy Journal has launched a blog, with contributions from staff at the World Policy Institute, including editor-in-chief, David A. Andelman. The blog features commentary on timely issues of international relations, with topics focusing on the shortcomings of the United Nations; the merits of diplomacy with opposing powers, and Israeli/Syrian negotiations.

The World Policy Institute has a Facebook page too. Check them both out!

New Dean of UC Berkeley's Hass School of Business

2008-07-18T13:54:45-04:00

Richard K. Lyons, the chief learning officer of Goldman Sachs, New York, was named the 14th dean of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau announced today.

Lyons holds a professorship at the Haas School and served as acting dean of the school in 2004/05. He succeeds Tom Campbell, an economist, a former Stanford Law School professor, and former Congressman, who led the Haas School since 2002. Lyons is the author of The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates .

Congratulations Professor Lyons! More information on Lyons and his new position (including a brief video) can be found here.

Award News - American Environmental Policy wins Caldwell Prize

2008-07-17T15:16:50-04:00

American Environmental Policy, 1990-2006: Beyond Gridlock, by Christopher McGrory Klyza and David Sousa, is the winner of the 2008 Lynton Keith Caldwell Prize.

The Caldwell Prize is given for the best book in environmental politics and policy published in the past three years, and is awarded by the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy section of the American Political Science Association. Caldwell, an American political scientist who was a professor at Indiana University-Bloomington, has been credited with initiating environmental policy studies, as well as being the initiator of the environmental impact statement.

From Gospel to the Godfather

2008-07-17T09:30:03-04:00

Tonight, there's a concert between DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn at 8:00 pm. Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid has put together an after party for the event. It will be one of his only shows in New York this summer, as he's been busy with events for his new book, Sound Unbound. The show is a special presentation of his next film project - it's a remix of the Stax Records archive. If you don't know Stax Records, I guess you can think of it as the Motown Records of the South. Soul, Funk, Power!!! The concert will be a video remix party with rare video material from Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam and Dave, and lots of crazy rare video material from the deep soul music archives of Stax Records. Here's a video clip:

It's not to be missed! And it's FREE!

Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 North Sixth Street, Brooklyn
Doors 9:30 pm / Show 10:30 pm / 18+
Map and directions: HERE

Wednesday Blog Watch - the Silver Screen

2008-07-16T15:56:16-04:00

It's not too often that MIT Press books are made into movies (let us know if you are aware of any), but Semiotext(e) is having a blockbuster summer: Vin Diesel is starring in Babylon A.D., based on the novel Babylon Babies by Maurice G. Dantec. The film arrives in August: click here to watch the trailer.
Also, Catherine Breillat's new film has just been released in the US as The Last Mistress, starring Asia Argento. This film was chosen as a New York Times Critics' Pick, and was recently reviewed in the New Republic. The trailer can be seen here.
If you're not aware of Breillat, she is a French filmmaker/author known for her controversial and graphic depictions of sexuality and violence. One of her books, Pornocracy, has just been translated into English for the first time - it is the novel on which her 2004 film Anatomy of Hell was based.

Award News - Ships and Science wins Lyman Award

2008-07-16T09:55:08-04:00

Ships and Science: The Birth of Naval Architecture in the Scientific Revolution, 1600-1800 by Larrie D. Ferreiro is the winner of the 2007 John Lyman Award for Best Book in Science and Technology, sponsored by the North American Society for Oceanic History.
For more information about the North American Society for Oceanic History, visit their website at http://www.nasoh.org/

Award News - An Engine not a Camera wins Zelizer Award

2008-07-14T16:11:53-04:00

Donald MacKenzie’s book An Engine not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets has just won the 2008 Zelizer Distinguished Scholarship Award given by the American Sociological Association’s Section on Economic Sociology. The committee found the book to be an outstanding and innovative contribution to the social study of the financial world, and a striking illustration of the utility of a science studies' approach to economic processes.

Innovations Offers Free Online Content

2008-07-13T14:30:06-04:00

Innovations, a journal focusing on creative public policy initiatives, will offer free online content until August 31st. Founded in 2005, Innovations is the most widely read journal dealing with the interaction of technology and governance, with a focus on entrepreneurs whose projects have a public conscience, and innovators who use local solutions to address societal challenges. Click here to access Innovation’s free content. You'll find articles such as:

Realizing Rights: Fulfilling Humanity's Promise to Itself by Mary Robinson
Removing a Roadblock to Development: Transparency International Mobilizes Coalitions Against Corruption by Peter Eigen
Empowering the Rural Poor to Develop Themselves: The Barefoot Approach (Innovations Case Narrative: Barefoot College of Tilonia) by Bunker Roy, Jesse Hartigan

Innovations is edited by Philip E. Auerswald, Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy at the School of Public Policy, George Mason University; and Iqbal Z. Quadir, founding director of the MIT Program in Developmental Entrepreneurship, and founder of GrameenPhone.