Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Link Rot

We’ve all been warned that what we put on the internet never goes away. But just because something is on the World Wide Web doesn’t necessarily mean that it will stay put. The term, “link rot” refers to hyperlinks that no longer connect to their intended pages. The intended resource may have been archived, deleted, or retracted; and the link previously pointing there is now useless. Users may be faced with a ‘404’ error, a blank page, or something completely different than they were seeking.

With the variety of information on the internet, this can mean loosing track of your favorite kitten picture or the citations given supporting Supreme Court decisions; it’s a bigger problem than many people realize. According to a study published in PLoS One, an estimated one in five academic articles published between 1997 and 2012 suffer from link rot.

 
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MSK Riders Leading the NYC Bike-to-Work Challenge and More MSK in the News…

  • According to a May 10 Metro News article, MSK employees have embraced Transportation Alternatives’ Bike to Work Challenge, “racking up 1470 miles across the city” in the first ten days. And it is not too late to join – the challenge ends on May 22.
  • On another healthy note, MSK counts itself among one of the workplaces that is a member of the Farmigo community, as was mentioned in a recent Forbes interview with the startup. Farmigo is a company that delivers healthy, farm-fresh food to consumers where they work.
  • On May 6, five MSK nurses and one patient care technician were honored with Rudin Awards for their outstanding service: Natalie Bell, Jaime McNally, Ethel Oliphant, Erica Fischer-Cartlidge, Rhonda D’Agostino, and Kimberly Chow.
  • MSK research collaborations with other cancer centers also made the news this week:
    1. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center joined a clinical trial led by MSK that will use gene therapy techniques to harness the power of pediatric patients’ own immune system to fight their leukemia.
    2. MSK’s Dr. Omar Abdel-Wahab collaborated with scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Yale University on research that revealed that a gene mutation that alters RNA splicing is likely responsible for myelodysplastic syndrome, a condition which can be a precursor to acute myeloid leukemia.
    3. Project Data Sphere, a cancer clinical trial research data sharing/integrating/analyzing technology initiative that MSK has been contributing to, turned 1 year-old on May 11.