Latest Information Industry News and Resources
Rare Japanese Scrolls Gifted to University of Hawaii’s Hamilton Library
From the University of Hawaii: The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library received two rare Japanese scrolls from Deborah Rudolf, wife of the late John Harvard Hawley. The scrolls, entitled 鯨魚覧笑録 (Geigyoran shoroku), were created in 1819 and depict the entire process of … [Read More...]
TSLAC Director Mark Smith on “Libraries and the E-Book Market–Where Do We Stand?”
From a Blog Post by Mark Smith, Director, Texas State Libraries and Archives Commission Director: I am currently attending the American Library Association Midwinter conference in Philadelphia. This morning I sat in on a meeting with Mr. John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan Publishing and a room full of … [Read More...]
Books: “The Girl Who Ran Auschwitz’s Secret Library”
From The Jerusalem Post/TheMedia Line: Dita Kraus was 14 years old when she was given a most unusual task in World War II’s largest and most notorious concentration camp: Manage and distribute a clandestine collection of books among the prisoners in Auschwitz’s so-called family camp. In a new … [Read More...]
In U.S., Library Visits Outpaced Trips to Movies in 2019 According to New Findings From Gallup
From Gallup: Visiting the library remains the most common cultural activity Americans engage in, by far. The average 10.5 trips to the library U.S. adults report taking in 2019 exceeds their participation in eight other common leisure activities. Americans attend live music or theatrical events and … [Read More...]
Stolen 40 Years Ago, Rare Christopher Columbus Letter Recovered by Delaware Investigators
From the Delaware News Journal: After arriving in the Americas, Christopher Columbus penned a letter about his find to Spain's King Ferdinand, a letter that would later be published to spread the news throughout Europe. For the fourth time in the past four years, federal agents and attorneys in … [Read More...]
Wiley Provides Free Access to Coronavirus Research
From Wiley: John Wiley & Sons will provide free access to all articles related to the coronavirus in support of the outbreak relief efforts in China. Wiley has identified 54 relevant articles. These important pieces of literature will remain free until April 2020 and the window of time will be … [Read More...]
Virtual Reality: “Introducing ‘Rebuilding Notre Dame,’ a New VR Documentary For Oculus”
From a Facebook/Oculus Announcement: Dating back to the 12th century, Notre Dame is a cultural landmark steeped in historic as well as religious significance. The cathedral caught fire on April 15, 2019, resulting in the destruction of its trademark spire. Since then, this popular tourist attraction … [Read More...]
Research Tools: Map Tracks Coronavirus Outbreak in Near Real Time, Downloadable Data Also Available
From Johns Hopkins University: The Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering has built and is regularly updating an online dashboard for tracking the worldwide spread of the coronavirus outbreak that began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Lauren Gardner, a civil engineering … [Read More...]
University of Illinois Library and iSchool Diversity Committees Receive Grant to Support Programs on “Becoming a Trans Inclusive Library”
From the University of Illinois: The University Library's Diversity Committee and the iSchool's Diversity Committee are recipients of a Strategic Programs Initiative Funds grant to support programs on "Becoming a Trans Inclusive Library." The Strategic Programs Initiative Funds are offered by the … [Read More...]
Architecture: City Of Los Angeles Department Of Cultural Affairs Launches Online Archive For Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House
From Broadway World: The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), with support from the California Arts Council, announces the Hollyhock House Digital Archive. The archive, which is free and open to the public, encompasses over 500 works that include original drawings, blueprints, … [Read More...]
Roundup (ALA Midwinter Meeting 2020 Edition)
Friday, January 24, 2020 EBSCO Submissions for the 2020 John Cotton Dana Award Are Now Open & Information Services Announces Submissions Open for the 2020 EBSCO Solar Grant Ex Libris Ex Libris to Expand Its Offering with the Cloud-Based, User-Centric Rapido Resource Sharing Solution NISO … [Read More...]
New Data on the Adoption, Use of Smart Speakers in the U.S. Published; Spoken Word Audio Listening up 20% From 2014
From National Public Radio and Edison Research: New data from the latest installment of The Smart Audio Report (Winter 2020) from NPR and Edison Research confirms that smart speaker adoption continues to grow in the U.S. with 60M adults A18+ (24% of the population) now owning a smart speaker. And … [Read More...]
Design Revealed for Ottawa Public Library – Library and Archives Canada Joint Facility
From Library and Archives Canada: The design is the direct result of an unprecedented public co-design process that asked Ottawa residents, Indigenous communities, and Canadians from across the country to provide inspiration at every stage. This collaborative engagement process helped shape all … [Read More...]
ACM Signs New Transformative Open Access Agreements with MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Iowa State, and California Digital Library
From the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM): ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, entered into transformative open access agreements with several of its largest institutional customers, including the University of California (UC), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Massachusetts … [Read More...]
Report: “Google’s Latest User-Hostile Design Change Makes Ads and Search Results Look Identical”
UPDATED POST January 24, 2020 Google is Backtracking on its Controversial Desktop Search Results Redesign (via The Verge) ---END UPDATE-- From TechCrunch by Natasha Lomas: Did you notice a recent change to how Google search results are displayed on the desktop? I noticed something last week — … [Read More...]
Google Dataset Search Comes Out of Beta, New Features Added
UPDATE: Here's the Official Google Announcement with Today's Dataset Search News From The Verge: Dataset Search launched in September 2018, with Google hoping to slowly unify the fragmented world of online, open-access data. Although many institutions like universities, governments, and labs … [Read More...]
W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Releases Updated Version of Website Accessibility Evaluation Report Generator
From the WAI Website: The Accessibility Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) has published an updated version of WCAG-EM Report ToolWebsite Accessibility Evaluation Report Generator. The tool helps you generate website accessibility evaluation reports according to Website Accessibility … [Read More...]
University of California and Journal of Medical Internet Research Launch Pilot to Advance Open Access to UC Research
From the University of California Office of Scholarly Research: The University of California and JMIR Publications today announced a two-year partnership that will make it easier and more affordable for researchers from all 10 UC campuses to publish in one of JMIR’s 30+ open access journals. The … [Read More...]
New Issue Brief: “It’s Not What Libraries Hold; It’s Who Libraries Serve: Seeking a User-Centered Future for Academic Libraries”
The following issue brief was published today by OhioLINK and Ithaka S+R. Title It’s Not What Libraries Hold; It’s Who Libraries Serve: Seeking a User-Centered Future for Academic Libraries Authors Gwen Evans Executive Director, OhioLINK Roger C. Schonfeld Director, Libraries, Scholarly … [Read More...]
Publishing: Reagan Arthur to Head Knopf; Maya Mavjee Returns to PRH
From Publisher's Weekly: Penguin Random House U.S. CEO Madeline McIntosh has announced the new leadership team for both Alfred A. Knopf, Pantheon, and Schocken, as well as for the entire Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. The appointments come a little more than three weeks after the death of Sonny … [Read More...]
