NEW RESOURCES

Cerebral Palsy Alliance: World’s largest genomics database for cerebral palsy launched. “An international group of researchers has come together to launch CP Commons, a world-first collaborative database to progress understanding of the genome’s role in causing cerebral palsy. The CP Commons is a unique international resource where researchers from around the world will be able to deposit, exchange and access clinical and genomic data.”

McMaster University: Library releases guide on avoiding predatory publishers and conferences. “Deceptive publishers, commonly referred to as ‘predatory journals’, are for-profit entities that purport to publish high-quality academic research, but do not follow accepted scholarly practices. The McMaster online resource, available on the library website, will help the research community spot a predatory publisher or conference. Among the features of the guide are an overview of deceptive publishers, a checklist on how to avoid predatory publishers, a conference checker tool and links to additional resources.”

Cornell Chronicle: New cell database paints fuller picture of muscle repair. “When a muscle becomes injured, it repairs itself using a flurry of cellular activity, with stem cells splitting and differentiating into many types of specialized cells, each playing an important role in the healing process. Biologists have struggled to study rare and transient muscle cells involved in the process, but Cornell engineers have lifted the curtain on these elusive dynamics with the launch of scMuscle, one of the largest single-cell databases of its kind.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Library of Congress: Reflecting On a Year of Selected Datasets. “The Selected Datasets Collection was publicly launched June 2020 as part of the Library’s ongoing efforts to support emerging data-driven styles of research. Since then, our initial offering of twenty datasets has grown to nearly 200 unique items, and we’ve continued to refine the technical workflows by which content is prepared and delivered to users via loc.gov. We are pleased to share how these workflows have allowed the Library to provide access to certain LC-published datasets, in addition to highlighting some of the new items added to the Selected Datasets Collection.”

The Bergen Record: More historic burial grounds for African Americans discovered in New Jersey. “How many African American burial sites are there in New Jersey? As it turns out, there are more than the 50-plus sites that were identified in an unofficial database published by NorthJersey.com and the USA Today Network in August. Readers responded to a request for other African American burial sites that were not included in the initial article and provided additional locations not previously known. Some still exist but are no longer active while others have been repurposed.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Coda Story: Kashmir’s vanishing newspaper archives. “In a long-troubled region of India, articles critical of the national government are being erased from the websites of local news outlets. Journalists believe that pressure from New Delhi is to blame.” Sounds like something Turkey would do.

SECURITY & LEGAL

Daily Maverick: The ‘Pandora Papers’: Effective use of open-source data can be a treasure trove to curb potential for corruption in South Africa. “The Pandora Papers and its 2016 predecessor, the Panama Papers, were based on leaked data. But the development of investigative databases to hold public bodies such as municipal authorities or police departments to account, and open-source investigation tools (OSINT), make it easier for investigators to follow the electronic clues.”

Motherboard: Someone Made a Pirate Bay for NFTs. “It’s the duty of those with right-clicker mentality to save every NFT they see. But right-click saving the thousands of JPEGs of Bored Apes and Lazy Lions out there tiring work. That’s why Australian artists and programmer Geoffrey Huntley created The NFT Bay—a new torrent site where anyone can download 15 terabytes of JPEGs from a single source.”

CNET: FBI and CISA issue holiday ransomware, cyberattack warning. “The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a warning on Monday to remind organizations to stay alert and take precautions against ransomware and cyberattacks this holiday season.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Psychology Today: Why Body-Positive Social Media May Be Good for You. “In a new experiment, researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia) investigated whether body-positive social media could cause improvements in people’s body image, and, if so, what factors might explain who benefits most.”

New York University: Warnings May Reduce Hate Speech on Twitter. “Warning Twitter users about potential adverse consequences of their use of hate speech can decrease their subsequent posting of hateful language for a week, a new study by NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics shows.” Good morning, Internet…

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