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  • 1.  Consider Donating your Old Statistics Books

    Posted 02-10-2016 19:39
      |   view attached

    Hi, all.

    Please see the attached message on donating books to the Library of Alexandria. This program seems like a very good way to help current and future researchers in Africa and the Middle East. I spoke with Ron LaPorte to get some additional details, which I have included below.  

    They are looking for the following types of books:

    1. Statistics
    2. Research methods
    3. Clinical trials
    4. Computational methods (e.g. SAS or R books) that focus on the above areas, though not pure computer science for now (e.g. how to program in C or Fortran, unless it addresses above areas)

    Eventually, these books will make their way to Egypt to be catalogued and housed at the main library, or one of the 30 regional supporting libraries of the Library of Alexandria.

    While Ron and Mary are requesting the dusty, old and unused books from your bookshelf, if you are a recent author, please consider donating one of the complimentary copies of your book that you may have received from the publisher. While statistics hasn’t changed too quickly over time, access to recent texts would certainly benefit the Library. Also, if possible, please consider asking your institution (company or university) to consider donating any old titles.

    If interested, please email Ron and Mary directly (emails are in the attached file). In your email, please provide a count of the number of books that you can potentially donate. Going further, if you can supply a list of the titles and authors, this extra step will be appreciated.

    Right now, Ron and Mary are only trying to identify interested individuals and the potential number of books to be donated. Once this list is compiled, Ron and Mary will work to develop and communicate the logistics of getting your books to the Library of Alexandria.

    I hope you will consider participating in this worthwhile program. It’s a great opportunity to help others, as well as promote statistics and good research methodology.

    Best wishes,

    Richard C. Zink

    Publications Officer

    Biopharmaceutical Section

    American Statistical Association

    ------------------------------
    Richard Zink
    Principal Research Statistician Developer
    JMP Life Sciences
    SAS Institute, Inc.
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    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Library of Alexandria.pdf   98 KB 1 version


  • 2.  RE: Consider Donating your Old Statistics Books

    Posted 02-11-2016 12:41
    I strongly encourage people to consider supporting Ron and Mary's efforts to populate libraries with statistics books and/or journals.
     
    In 2014, I responded to this list about an in progress donation I was making of ~40 years of journals to a South African University Department. The bottom line was joy on both sides with recipients gaining a greatly augmented statistics library, and our home not receiving the equivalent of 15 bankers' boxes of journals. JStor and other online resources look after our needs very well in North America.
     
    There are several bottom line points for consideration:
     
    1.  Country you are sending from and to: there were no taxes due to send "personal effects" from Canada to South Africa. 
     
    2.  Custom clearance charges: even without taxes, there are charges for incoming to clear customs, which vary greatly according to which company handles the paperwork, processing. Working through local customs clearance perhaps associated with University or other not-for-profit regular importer will lower the cost substantially.
     
    3.  Preparing materials for shipment: commercial experts can prepare skids that will arrive intact for not very much; I used an international exporter associated with an aid group that I'd worked with for decades. The few hundred dollars was worth every cent!
     
    4.  Coverage of shipping costs: a charitable receipt was possible for shipping costs incurred, which facilitated the process. 
     
    The points above are offered to encourage and help the intended great actions of Ron and Mary.
     
    Best wishes,
    Judy-Anne Chapman, P.Stat., PStat® (ASA)
     
     
     



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Consider Donating your Old Statistics Books

    Posted 02-15-2016 14:06

    Local libraries (university or public) are another good place to donate statistics books.  It is especially helpful if their collections have a gap in that area. 

    This can benefit those in your community who currently need additional resources and those who are interested in pursuing statistics.  As a country we are lagging behind in math and statistics and often need to reach overseas for graduate students and professionals that can help us fill that gap. Let's make some progress in encouraging statistics locally as well.

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    Sean Kanter

    Original Message