Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections
Today:
(650) 723-2746
Preserving the ephemeral: reflections on archiving Japanese websites
In 2015 when I applied for a grant from the Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) to initiate a web archiving program, I viewed our project from a theoretical perspective. While in the past we might collect ephemera, such as letters, small-run newsprints, or underground comics, these type of critical sources of information are now produced in the format of online websites, which are created, updated, deleted with a previously unknown speed. In order for future scholars to have access to this kind of primary resource, I thought that it was academically important to preserve online conversations t
SDR deposit of the week: the Stanford Open Policing Project
On June 19th 2017, the Stanford Open Policing Project launched its website to provide access to the data collected about police stops around the country and to provide information about research that this data is driving. Stanford Libraries is pleased to be a partner in the long-term preservation of this data, which has been deposited into the Stanford Digital Repository (SDR).
Google makes 40 years of Earth observations available to researchers with Google Earth Engine!
Last week I spent 3 days at Google for their annual Google Earth Engine Summit, learning about new features and applications of their Google Earth Engine technology. If you haven’t seen Google Earth Engine, I encourage you to go to https://earthengine.google.com and use the signup link to get an account. It’s absolutely free for non-commercial use and it’s capabilities are pretty mind-blowing.
Geospatial information and the 2018 Federal budget
President Trump released the proposed 2018 Federal budget, A New Foundation for American Greatness, on May 23, 2017. The budget request for the Department of Interior is $11.7 billion, 12 percent ($1.6 billion) below the Continuting Resolution baseline level. The proposed cuts to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are 13% or $137.8 million below the 2017 Continuing Resolution baseline level.
Software and Data Carpentries: Building Campus Capacity
One thing Stanford Libraries knows about running Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry workshops on Stanford’s campus is that workshop demand is high. Case in point: when we invited post-docs for a Data Carpentry workshop on an upcoming weekend this June, we had 120 people interested in the 40 available seats.
That’s some serious demand.
Software and Data Carpentry are sister organizations focused on teaching computing best practices to scientists. The idea is to make research faster, more efficient, and more reproducible by teaching scientists the basics of version control (usually Git), task automation (using the shell), and modular programming (typically in Python, but sometimes R). The two-day, hands-on workshops are taught by volunteer instructors, but workshop hosts are responsible for other costs, like instructor travel and food.
Julie Sweetkind-Singer
Assistant Director of Geospatial and Cartographic Services
Head of the Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections
(650) 725-1102
