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Volume Two ofA History of the Book in Americadocuments the development of a distinctive culture of print in the new American republic.Between 1790 and 1840 printing and publishing expanded, and literate publics provided a ready market for novels, almanacs, newspapers, tracts, and periodicals. Government, business, and reform drove the dissemination of print. Through laws and subsidies, state and federal authorities promoted an informed citizenry. Entrepreneurs responded to rising demand by investing in new technologies and altering the conduct of publishing. Voluntary societies launched libraries, lyceums, and schools, and relied on print to spread religion, redeem morals, and advance benevolent goals. Out of all this ferment emerged new and diverse communities of citizens linked together in a decentralized print culture where citizenship meant literacy and print meant power. Yet in a diverse and far-flung nation, regional differences persisted, and older forms of oral and handwritten communication offered alternatives to print. The early republic was a world of mixed media.Contributors:Elizabeth Barnes, College of William and MaryGeorgia B. Barnhill, American Antiquarian SocietyJohn L. Brooke, The Ohio State UniversityDona Brown, University of VermontRichard D. Brown, University of ConnecticutKenneth E. Carpenter, Harvard University LibrariesScott E. Casper, University of Nevada, RenoMary Kupiec Cayton, Miami UniversityJoanne Dobson, Brewster, New YorkJames N. Green, Library Company of PhiladelphiaDean Grodzins, Massachusetts Historical SocietyRobert A. Gross, University of ConnecticutGrey Gundaker, College of William and MaryLeon Jackson, University of South CarolinaRichard R. John, Columbia UniversityMary Kelley, University of MichiganJack Larkin, Clark UniversityDavid Leverenz, University of FloridaMeredith L. McGill, Rutgers UniversityCharles Monaghan, Charlottesville, VirginiaE. Jennifer Monaghan, Brooklyn College of The City University of New YorkGerald F. Moran, University of Michigan-DearbornKaren Nipps, Harvard UniversityDavid Paul Nord, Indiana UniversityBarry O'Connell, Amherst CollegeJeffrey L. Pasley, University of Missouri-ColumbiaWilliam S. Pretzer, Central Michigan UniversityA. Gregg Roeber, Pennsylvania State UniversityDavid S. Shields, University of South CarolinaAndie Tucher, Columbia UniversityMaris A. Vinovskis, University of MichiganSandra A. Zagarell, Oberlin College

Senior Instructors and Assistant Professors in their first academic appointment may not have all the tools for an efficient start to their careers. Although many institutions provide access to mentoring programs and seminars on faculty development, the timing and format of the offerings often conflict with ongoing responsibilities of the faculty, particularly clinical faculty. We established a collaboration between the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the University of Rochester Medical Center Office for Faculty Development with the goal of developing a week-long Junior Faculty Core Curriculum that would better suit faculty schedules. We convened focus groups and with their help, identified themes for inclusion in the course. Speakers were identified from among local senior faculty. University leadership was enlisted in promoting the course. Individual speakers and course content were evaluated daily, at the end of the week-long course, and 6 months later. Planning for subsequent years incorporated the feedback. Yearly evaluations and subsequent course modification continued. Junior faculty from nearly every department in the Medical Center were represented. There was high learner satisfaction and participation however several limitations were identified and addressed in subsequent years. The focus on principles and available resources, not specific skills or content was appropriate. Daily interactions among participants from a wide variety of departments fostered networking among faculty who may not otherwise have met and discussed common interests. The ultimate value of such an early, intensive faculty development program will depend on whether it equips junior faculty to organize, develop, and achieve their academic goals better than alternative formats. This will require further study.

ObjectivesInterpretation of CIs in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) with treatment effects that are not statistically significant can distinguish between results that are ‘negative’ (the data are not consistent with a clinically meaningful treatment effect) or ‘inconclusive’ (the data remain consistent with the possibility of a clinically meaningful treatment effect). This interpretation is important to ensure that potentially beneficial treatments are not prematurely abandoned in future research or clinical practice based on invalid conclusions.DesignSystematic review of RCT reports published in 2014 in Annals of Internal Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine and The Lancet (n=247).Results85 of 99 articles with statistically non-significant results reported CIs for the treatment effect. Only 17 of those 99 articles interpreted the CI. Of the 22 articles in which CIs indicated an inconclusive result, only four acknowledged that the study could not rule out a clinically meaningful treatment effect.ConclusionsInterpretation of CIs is important but occurs infrequently in study reports of trials with treatment effects that are not statistically significant. Increased author interpretation of CIs could improve application of RCT results. Reporting recommendations are provided.

To examine whether primary reports of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in six high-impact, general medical journals reported (1) whether or not a Data Monitoring Committee/Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DMC/DSMB) was used and (2) the composition of the responsibilities of the reported DSMB/DMCs. Systematic review of RCTs published in 2014 in Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, NEJM, JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, and Lancet. Of the 294 articles identified, 174 (59%) mentioned using a DMC/DSMB. Of these 174, 126 (72%) indicated at least one responsibility of the DMC/DSMB, 26% listed the names of the DMC/DSMB members, and another 14% listed both their names and affiliations. Only one article stated that a DSMB was not used. The remaining 119 articles did not report whether or not a DMC/DSMB was used, although 59 had previously stated in a clinical trials registry entry or a published protocol that a DMC/DSMB was to be used. Considering the major role that DMC/DSMBs play in protecting participant safety, data quality, and interim analyses in RCTs, we recommend that authors of publications of RCTs report whether a DMC/DSMB was used and the responsibilities and members of DMC/DSMBs to increase transparency regarding study conduct.

Gross features Henry David Thoreau who likes to present himself as a laborer, whatever and whomever he wished. When not at his writing desk, Thoreau enjoyed the liberty of the meadows and the woods. There he was likely to find the ne'er-do-well hunters and fishermen with whom he loved to talk. Not for him the polite ladies and gentlemen in village parlors. Thoreau's preferred company consisted of disreputable woodsmen, common farmers, and Irish laborers-men who were \"racy in speech and personal in character,\" as one contemporary noted.

The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World carries the interrelated stories of publishing, writing, and reading from the beginning of the colonial period in America up to 1790. Three major themes run through the volume: the persisting connections between the book trade in the Old World and the New, evidenced in modes of intellectual and cultural exchange and the dominance of imported, chiefly English books; the gradual emergence of a competitive book trade in which newspapers were the largest form of production; and the institution of a \"\"culture of the Word,\"\" organized around an essentially theological understanding of print, authorship, and reading, complemented by other frameworks of meaning that included the culture of republicanism. \"\"The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World\"\" also traces the histories of literary and learned culture, censorship and \"\"freedom of the press,\"\" and literacy and orality.