Avalanche! Coming! Now! Close to the borders of unpredictability

Earthquakes, evolution, avalanches—even something as simple as grains of sand tumbling down a pile: so many phenomena of nature seem to resist prediction. We still cannot tell when geological stresses will release themselves in a major quake or when the last extra grain of sand will make half the heap avalanche down. But have statisticians been looking in the wrong place? Or are these critical phenomena really inherently unpredictable? They are close to the borders, but still in predictable land, says Osvanny Ramos , one of the authors of an experiment to prove it.     

Dreadful crime! Deer-keeper feloniously resisted!

In 1837, a child under the age of 12 was prosecuted for what was officially described as "Misdemeanor—Administering Poison to Harass and Annoy." The boy or girl, whose name is unknown, was acquitted. Tom Fanshawe delves into Dickensian crime statistics and finds atrocious murders and a threshing machine destroyed.     

Moo-cow! Mummy! More! How do children learn so many words?

Learning the words of your language is a huge challenge for children. In particular, it is a challenge of scale. At least 40,000 words have to be learnt. At 18 months a child's vocabulary starts to explode. How do they do it? Bob McMurray says it is all to down to statistics.     

An Interview with Ben Brown,Co-founder of So New Media and Publisher of Words! Words! Words!

Abstract

With this installment of “They Might Be Giants,” Michael Brown talks with Ben Brown (no relation) about publishing books (ten so far!) and magazines (issue 3 of Words! Words! Words! is about to be released), while at the same time working nine-to-five at a really boring tech job. It's a do-it-yourselfer's dream come true. Serials Review 2002; 28:344–348.     

Bay! Bar charts

Allan Reese has often asserted that authors and editors appear less able to proofread graphs than text. It is hard to prove such a claim except by parading examples that, had they been expressed in text, would fall into the category that Private Eye calls "Colemanballs"—things you would never say with brain fully engaged. Here, he provides a few such examples.     

An Interview with Ben Brown, Co-founder of So New Media and Publisher of Words! Words! Words!

With this installment of “They Might Be Giants,” Michael Brown talks with Ben Brown (no relation) about publishing books (ten so far!) and magazines (issue 3 of Words! Words! Words! is about to be released), while at the same time working nine-to-five at a really boring tech job. It's a do-it-yourselfer's dream come true. Serials Review 2002; 28:344–348.     

Teach statistics? You bet!

The study of statistics has a reputation among students for being difficult, irrelevant, boring and an unwanted compulsory intrusion into their studies—and that reputation is sometimes deserved. But it does not have to be that way. John Croucher used sport and gambling to transform his lecture theatre, and turned the teaching of statistics into an astonishing Australian success story.     

Don't Be Frightened: It's Just a Backlog of Government Documents Serials Records

ABSTRACT

This article summarizes the presentation by Elisabeth Garner at the 26th annual North Carolina Serials Conference in 2017. Garner described the workflow she developed to reconcile previously cataloged government document serial records with newly updated U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) catalog records from MARCIVE, Inc., through the Cataloging Record Distribution Program (CRDP).     

Just say no to data listings!

Sponsor companies often create voluminous static listings for Clinical Study Reports (CSRs) and regulatory submissions, and possibly for internal use to review participant-level data. This is likely due to the perception that they are required and/or lack of knowledge of various alternatives. However, there are other ways of viewing clinical study data that can provide an improved user experience, and are made possible by standard data structures such as the Study Data Tabulation Model (SDTM). The purpose of this paper is to explore some alternatives to providing a complete set of static listings and make a case for sponsors to begin considering these alternatives. We will discuss the recommendations from the PHUSE white paper, “Data Listings in Clinical Study Reports.”     

Chaos: But Not in Both Directions!

This paper will informally explore the reversal of some stochastic autoregressive processes, which lead to deterministically chaotic processes. Correspondingly, the stochastic reversal of map models is shown to lead to a new class of invariant distribution. Finally, some connections between congruential recursions and independence in discretized chaotic processes are illustrated.     

Go,Team! Using Teams to Manage Electronic Resources

The increasing prevalence of ejournals in library collections has impacted many aspects of library operations. Libraries have had to rethink workflows, processes, staffing needs, and other factors to account for the differences between print and online journals. The management of ejournals can often cross departmental boundaries and bring into question current workflow. To address the changing landscape of journal management, the University at Albany Libraries developed two teams: one to implement batchloading ejournal records and a second to address ongoing management and related policies. As a result of using a team approach for these responsibilities, the University Libraries was able to streamline processes, reduce duplication of effort across departments, coordinate policies and procedures, improve communication, and develop best practices.     

Batten Down the Hatches! Collection Management in Rough Seas

Abstract

Rising rates in publishing combined with flat funding can make it challenging to maintain the library’s collection within an academic library. Add in university-wide funding reductions, and libraries must further reduce expenditures to balance the budget. This article will present a case study on the steps and initiatives deployed at the William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library to address impacts to the library’s collection budget for fiscal year 2020. Issues covered will focus on the decision-making process, working with vendors, and communicating with library stakeholders.     

My statistician could have painted that! A statistical inquiry into modern art

How good are modern artists? Is great abstract art by modern masters a true expression of genius, or could a child, or a chimpanzee—or a statistician—do better? Mikhail Simkin makes a statistical inquiry into masterpieces and doodles to find out.