The Weekly Wrap: August 31, 2025

This was the first full week of classes at my university. As expected, most of the questions I answered were directional and library orientation in nature. And, sadly, still telling students that, no, the library does not have their textbooks. 

Every year, this is a battle. Students either think or are told by faculty that the library has their textbooks. We rarely have their textbooks. If we do have the textbook, we have one copy. That copy is usually an older edition.

Now, why doesn't the library have textbooks? Well, a lot of the time publishers won't even sell them to us. If we can buy them, they are just as expensive (or MORE expensive) for us as they are for students. Library budgets simply can't support buying the textbooks assigned in every class. It's something we'd LOVE to offer, but market forces are against us.

This is why we are constantly telling faculty they should adopt OER. Open educational resources are just as good as commercial textbooks, are free to access, available the first day, AND the library can immediately direct students to the full-text of of the selected works. Plus, unlike rented textbooks, students have access forever which is better for transitioning between courses in their major.

But commercial still dominates because they come with premade ancillary materials like slides, quizzes, and homework platforms. It's a lot of work to transition to OER so I understand why faculty are hesitant.

These questions will calm down in about a week. But, right now, it's giving me a chance to explain the publishing world to students who don't get why they can buy the book but the library can't. 

Yeah... I'm not happy about it either, students.

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• Apparently, I've misunderstood Murphy's Law my whole life. [Sketchplanations]
• The right to exist in public space. [Men Yell at Me]
• Interesting ways to flavor your coffee. [The Takeout]

• As expected, AI and copyright is a bit of a mess. [The Indicator]
• The man who got the US military off the ground. [Noble Blood]
• What's going on with music festivals? [Booming]
• The history behind fear of swimming. [Code Switch]

• Freelance is a mostly middling action-comedy starring John Cena and Allison Brie. In some scenes, you could see the stunt coordination choreography in action. Also, for an action flick, the beginning pacing was oddly slow. It was almost like they were drawing out scenes to make the run time longer. But one character, the "villain," carried this film in both terms of acting and character motivation. That was a surprising delight to watch. [Netflix]
• If you want to test your lungs, I recommend watching Last Breath. This true story, about a repair diver who gets stuck under water, has very tight storytelling and pacing. As the movie progresses, it's impossible not to notice your own breathing. This one is also a fascinating glimpse at the logistics of a job I've never heard of. [Amazon Prime]
• The Husband tossed on the documentary Bitconned as a kind of throwaway watch. At first, I didn't really pay attention, but I was sucked in as it progressed. This documentary looks at a bitcoin scam that reinforces the idea that maybe you shouldn't believe everything on the internet. The main person profiled is "such a charming character." You're almost impressed by how awful and unrepentant he is.  [Netflix]
• For our series binge we started The Last of Us. I can't say anything more than has already been said about this series. It's remarkably good and that Nick Offerman-led episode is an exquisite gut punch. Zombies, even fungus zombies, still make me jumpy though. [HBO Max]

• Gnocchi skillet with chicken sausage and tomatoes is supposed to be made on the stove top. I ignored those directions, tossed everything on a sheet pan, and roasted it in the oven. Easy and delicious. I topped my bowl with a dusting of parmesan cheese. [The Kitchn]
• Our grocery store carries a pretty good selection of chorizo. I picked up a ground El Salvadorian version for corn and chorizo tacos. This took all of 15 minutes to make. I skipped fresh corn for frozen. We topped ours with just a lime crema. Some queso fresco would have been good too. [WaPo - gift link]