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Context to multiculturalism and diversity
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From: Charles Bayless <charles.bayless_at_gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:00:52 -0500
I know we are transitioning the conversation shortly. I came across several articles in the course of this month that related in some fashion to aspects of the conversation regarding identity, multiculturalism, diversity and publishing. I sent some of them on at the time but they apparently got bounced back; I am guessing because of the urls. I am resending them now without the urls. I think there is sufficient headline information that if you copy and paste, the article should be the first google result returned.
Cheap Words by George Packer in the 2/17/14 New Yorker - An article critical of Amazon and the democratization and the disintermediation of publishing and potential loss of quality. Puts some context on what publishers are dealing with.
"(He declined to be interviewed for this article.)" by Ann Althouse - A blog post which is in contrast, more critical (especially among the commenters) of the traditional Big Five publishers.
The Ten Awful Truths -- and the Ten Wonderful Truths -- About Book Publishing by B.J. Gallagher at Huffington Post - Attempts to put some numerical boundaries around what is happening. It is worth noting that the ten awful truths are hard empirical realities and trade-offs whereas the ten wonderful truths have a make-lemonade air of desperate optimism.
Early Warning Confirmed from the Annie E. Casey Foundation - Data confirming that reading capability at third grade is a major predictor of whether a child graduates high school or not.
The Experience of One New York City High School Cohort: Opportunities, Successes, and Challenges by Aaron Churchill - Reading proficiently at third-grade is the difference between a high school graduation rate of 90% versus 30%. Accentuates how consequential the simple capability of reading proficiently is compared to most other concerns.
5 Psychological Studies that Require a Second Look by Todd B. Kashdan - Highlights that science and knowledge are an evolutionary process subject to high failure rates. In other words, no one ever can with confidence state that there is only a single view of anything, particularly history, and expect that statement to be true. There are always alternate interpretations, some of which will turn out to be true. Attempting to restrict access to books because they are deemed inconsistent with a particular view of history or quality is anathema to the pursuit of better knowledge.
Publishers withdraw more than 120 gibberish papers by Richard Van Noorden - The propensity, even in empirical fields, for the propagation of false information. Elsewhere, there is an extensive body of research indicating that 25-50% of hard sciences papers in peer reviewed journals are either never replicated or withdrawn because of methodological problems or data integrity issues. In the social sciences, the failure rates are markedly higher. Just another reinforcement that all beliefs and knowledge are precarious and contingent.
Winners Take All, but Can't We Still Dream? By Robert H. Frank in the New York Times - Explanation of the winner-take-all-phenomenon and its effect in all fields. Both Long-tail and Winner-take-all are material influences in the dynamics of what gets published and how it is marketed.
Lots of spin, advocacy, extraneous agendas, untested assumptions, etc. in all articles but they give a feel for the context and the complexity of intertwining issues when we discuss multiculturalism, identity, community, etc. in children's literature.
300,000 new titles or reissued editions each year
2,700,000 non-traditional titles (self-published books, public domain books, POD books)
440,000,000 copies sold (~4 per household), fiction and nonfiction.
Only 6% of new titles sell more than 5,000 copies
Charles
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:00:52 -0500
I know we are transitioning the conversation shortly. I came across several articles in the course of this month that related in some fashion to aspects of the conversation regarding identity, multiculturalism, diversity and publishing. I sent some of them on at the time but they apparently got bounced back; I am guessing because of the urls. I am resending them now without the urls. I think there is sufficient headline information that if you copy and paste, the article should be the first google result returned.
Cheap Words by George Packer in the 2/17/14 New Yorker - An article critical of Amazon and the democratization and the disintermediation of publishing and potential loss of quality. Puts some context on what publishers are dealing with.
"(He declined to be interviewed for this article.)" by Ann Althouse - A blog post which is in contrast, more critical (especially among the commenters) of the traditional Big Five publishers.
The Ten Awful Truths -- and the Ten Wonderful Truths -- About Book Publishing by B.J. Gallagher at Huffington Post - Attempts to put some numerical boundaries around what is happening. It is worth noting that the ten awful truths are hard empirical realities and trade-offs whereas the ten wonderful truths have a make-lemonade air of desperate optimism.
Early Warning Confirmed from the Annie E. Casey Foundation - Data confirming that reading capability at third grade is a major predictor of whether a child graduates high school or not.
The Experience of One New York City High School Cohort: Opportunities, Successes, and Challenges by Aaron Churchill - Reading proficiently at third-grade is the difference between a high school graduation rate of 90% versus 30%. Accentuates how consequential the simple capability of reading proficiently is compared to most other concerns.
5 Psychological Studies that Require a Second Look by Todd B. Kashdan - Highlights that science and knowledge are an evolutionary process subject to high failure rates. In other words, no one ever can with confidence state that there is only a single view of anything, particularly history, and expect that statement to be true. There are always alternate interpretations, some of which will turn out to be true. Attempting to restrict access to books because they are deemed inconsistent with a particular view of history or quality is anathema to the pursuit of better knowledge.
Publishers withdraw more than 120 gibberish papers by Richard Van Noorden - The propensity, even in empirical fields, for the propagation of false information. Elsewhere, there is an extensive body of research indicating that 25-50% of hard sciences papers in peer reviewed journals are either never replicated or withdrawn because of methodological problems or data integrity issues. In the social sciences, the failure rates are markedly higher. Just another reinforcement that all beliefs and knowledge are precarious and contingent.
Winners Take All, but Can't We Still Dream? By Robert H. Frank in the New York Times - Explanation of the winner-take-all-phenomenon and its effect in all fields. Both Long-tail and Winner-take-all are material influences in the dynamics of what gets published and how it is marketed.
Lots of spin, advocacy, extraneous agendas, untested assumptions, etc. in all articles but they give a feel for the context and the complexity of intertwining issues when we discuss multiculturalism, identity, community, etc. in children's literature.
300,000 new titles or reissued editions each year
2,700,000 non-traditional titles (self-published books, public domain books, POD books)
440,000,000 copies sold (~4 per household), fiction and nonfiction.
Only 6% of new titles sell more than 5,000 copies
Charles
---
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Received on Thu 27 Feb 2014 11:02:56 AM CST
