Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile February 10, 2017 – January 17, 2018 R44762 “This report presents a profile of the membership of the 115th Congress (2017-2018) as of January 3, 2018. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service,… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: January 2018
US News – Is America Great Again? Data Say No
Three years of Best Countries survey results show an unmistakable trend that should alarm Americans. “Among the many things that helped define the 2016 U.S. presidential election, one slogan still rings strong: “Make America Great Again.” The Donald Trump campaign set out to regain the status that the United States had supposedly lost because of… Continue Reading
Are We There Yet? Some predictions for the future of libraries – from 1901
Barbara Fister – Inside Higher Ed: “As I was idly poking into library history, I came across something that surprised me. In a 1901 conference proceeding, Melvil Dewey predicted this would happen by 1926: Books, except a few rarities, will be regarded less as fetiches [sic] to-be protected with a kind of sacred awe, and more for use.… Continue Reading
BRASS reveals Outstanding Business Reference Sources list
‘Each year, the Business Reference Sources Committee of BRASS selects the outstanding business reference sources published since May of the previous year. This year, the committee reviewed nine entries; of these, two were designated as “Outstanding,” six as “Notable,” and one as a “Notable New Edition.” To qualify for these designations, each title must meet… Continue Reading
Cougars Officially Declared Extinct in Eastern U.S., Removed from Endangered Species List
Reuters: “Eastern cougars that once prowled North America from Michigan to South Carolina were officially declared extinct and removed from the U.S. endangered species list on Monday, eight decades after the last confirmed sighting of the wild feline predator.The large cats, also known as mountain lions, pumas or panthers, historically roamed every state east of… Continue Reading
BBC – The (almost) complete history of ‘fake news’
BBC Trending: “…Misinformation, spin, lies and deceit have of course been around forever. But what Buzzfeed’s media editor, Craig] Silverman and others uncovered was a unique marriage between social media algorithms, advertising systems, people prepared to make stuff up to earn some easy cash and an election that gripped a nation and much of the… Continue Reading
How Microsoft Academic uses knowledge to address the problem of conflation/disambiguation
Microsoft Academic post: “Entity linking is a cognitive capability essential to human communication. It contains two challenging components: first, entity conflation, where we recognize that even though an entity is referred to by different names, it is still one item; and second, entity disambiguation, where we differentiate between entities with the same name and distinguish… Continue Reading
CDC reports on impact of 2017-2018 Influenza Season
“Synopsis: – During week 2 (January 7-13, 2018), influenza activity increased in the United States. Viral Surveillance: The most frequently identified influenza virus subtype reported by public health laboratories during week 2 was influenza A(H3). The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza in clinical laboratories increased. Pneumonia and Influenza Mortality: The proportion of… Continue Reading
Facebook’s News Survey – is it real or fake news – we want to know!
BuzzFeed: “Last week, Facebook said its News Feed would prioritize links from publications its users found “trustworthy.” The company is overhauling News Feed amid ongoing criticism of its platform, which has come under fire for enabling foreign manipulation of US elections, giving rise fake news, and making people feel bad. Facebook plans to determine whether… Continue Reading
2018 Better Money Habits Millennial Report
Bank of America Survey – “When you hear the word “millennial,” it may call to mind some stereotypes: they are self-absorbed, foolish with money, not long-term planners or still dependent on their parents. But do these stereotypes hold up? That’s what we set out to find in the fifth edition of our Better Money Habits… Continue Reading
Why Birds Matter, and Are Worth Protecting
They help the environment, but they also help our souls. In 2018 we’ll explore the wonder of birds, and why we can’t live without them. National Geographic: “If you could see every bird in the world, you’d see the whole world. Things with feathers can be found in every corner of every ocean and in… Continue Reading
World Prison Population List
“This tenth edition of the World Prison Population List gives details of the number of prisoners held in 222 independent countries and dependent territories. It shows the differences in the level of imprisonment across the world and makes possible an estimate of the world prison population total. The information is the latest available at the… Continue Reading
