Ghosts in the Stacks

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Sometimes, those of us with bookish dispositions wish we could spend the rest of our lives in libraries. There are libraries, however, where people claim to have seen spirits spending eternity. For this Halloween-week post, let’s consider some tales of libraries with reports of permanent patrons haunting their shelves.

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Latest on Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer and more…

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Here are a few highlights of cancer research news that have recently caught my attention:

  • Having high cholesterol and high triglycerides may increase the risk for developing prostate cancer according to researchers at Duke. More on this study can be found in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
  • Researchers at Sanford-Burnham believe that they have identified a group of RNA molecules that may serve as a better prognostic marker for prostate cancer. Their findings are published in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.
  • A new at risk group for gastrointestinal stromal tumors has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. More on their findings in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
  • Some Latina women are protected from developing breast cancer according to an international research collaboration led by researchers at UC San Francisco. More on this discovery in ScienceDaily.
  • Exposure to artificial light leads to a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Scientists at the University of Georgia discuss their findings in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health.
  • President Obama announced the recipients of the National Medical of Technology and Innovation—our Nation’s highest honors for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology.

Please feel free to contact Marisol Hernandez to share any comments.

Georgia State, Google Doctor, and the Cost of Cancer Drugs…

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Just some of the engaging items to cross my screen so far this month.

  • There is a nice post on the Wired Campus blog summing up reasons why the recent reversal of the Georgia State ruling may not be all bad for libraries. The item highlights points from two experts whose copyright news-related writing I’ve mentioned before in Blog Buzz: Kevin Smith of Duke, and Nancy Sims at the University of Minnesota.
  • CNN passed along news from Engadget that Google is testing a Chat with a Doctor option for medical symptom searches. This raises many questions and could be the subject of a very long in-depth post touching on various complex issues. Even if issues of privacy, quality and regulation were set aside, wouldn’t a paid chat service be taking advantage of the health searcher’s anxiety that it is supposedly intended to ameliorate? Continue reading →