Wikipedia, Scientists and Biomedical Information

An article in the Sept 2010 issue of PLoS Computational Biology pleads with scientists to use Wikipedia to engage with the public:

For better or worse, people are guided to Wikipedia when searching the Web for biomedical information. So there is an increasing need for the scientific community to engage with Wikipedia to ensure that the information it contains is accurate and current…

For scientists, contributing to Wikipedia is an excellent way of fulfilling public engagement responsibilities and sharing expertise…

In order to help the average scientist to engage Wikipedia, the authors rec’d Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia. These are good and appropriate rules for all of us.

Book Suggestion of the Day: Where good ideas come from

Cory Doctorow, of BoingBoing, recommends Steven Johnson’s new book Where good ideas come from

For Johnson, the secret lies in the “thin air” — the unplumbed space we credit for the “sparks of brilliance” and “happy accidents” that create new connections, strategies and thoughts. And for Johnson, this thin air is anything but: rather, it is a relatively predictable outcome arising from certain pre-conditions.

…Johnson makes a convincing case that innovation is fractal.

(via)


And now for something completely different…

Here are the winners of the EU Prize for Literature announced at Frankfurt Book Fair, 2010:

Belgium: Peter Terrin, De Bewaker (The Guard)

Cyprus: Myrto Azina Chronides, To Peirama (The Experiment)

Denmark: Adda Djørup, Den mindste modstand (The least resistance)

Estonia: Tiit Aleksejev, Palveränd (The Pilgrimage)

Finland: Riku Korhonen , Lääkäriromaani (Doctor Novel)

Germany: Iris Hanika, Das Eigentliche (The Bottom Line)

Luxembourg: Jean Back, Amateur

Romania: Răzvan Rădulescu, Teodosie cel Mic (Theodosius the Small)

Slovenia: Nataša Kramberger, Nebesa v robidah: roman v zgodbah (Heaven in a blackberry bush: novel in stories)

Spain: Raquel Martínez-Gómez, Sombras de unicornio (Shadows of the unicorn)

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Goce Smilevski, Сестрата на Зигмунд Фројд (Sigmund Freud’s sister)

The [EU Prize for Literature], supported through the EU Culture programme, aims to draw attention to new talents and to promote the publication of their books in different countries, as well as celebrating European cultural diversity.

So, please help yourself to some European literature.

(via)

The National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” Fiction, 2010

From the press release

The 2010 5 Under 35 Honorees are:

  • Sarah Braunstein, The Sweet Relief of Missing Children (W.W. Norton & Co., 2011)
    Selected by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, National Book Award Fiction Finalist for
    Madeleine Is Sleeping, 2004
  • Grace Krilanovich, The Orange Eats Creeps (Two Dollar Radio, 2010)
    Selected by Scott Spencer, Fiction Finalist for A Ship Made of Paper, 2003; Fiction Finalist for Endless Love, 1980 and 1981
  • Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife (Random House, 2011)
    Selected by Colum McCann, Fiction Winner for Let the Great World Spin, 2009
  • Tiphanie Yanique, How to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf, 2010)
    Selected by Jayne Anne Phillips, Fiction Finalist for Lark and Termite, 2009
  • Paul Yoon, Once the Shore (Sarabande, 2009)
    Selected by Kate Walbert, Fiction Finalist for Our Kind, 2004