Latest Information Industry News and Resources
Listen Online: A Conversation with Jer Thorp, Innovator-in-Residence at the Library of Congress
From CBC Radio in Canada: On November 8th, Canadian data artist, Jer Thorp, took over the Twitter feed of the US Library of Congress for several hours. Thorp is the Innovator-in-Residence at the Library of Congress, where he's charged with finding new ways to use and explore the massive online … [Read More...]
Funding: The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Releases FY 2018 Annual Performance and Accountability Report
From an IMLS Publication Announcement: The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced today that the agency's annual Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) is now available, showcasing key accomplishments for FY 2018. The report includes an independent financial audit and describes … [Read More...]
Draft White Paper: “ARL, Wikimedia, and Linked Open Data”; Open for Comments Through November 30
From Judy Ruttenberg at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL): In June 2018, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) charged a task force to look at Wikidata. The task force emerged from several years of discussion between ARL and the Wikimedia Foundation on where the two … [Read More...]
New Report From Pew Research Looks at Public Attitudes Toward Computer Algorithms
From the Pew Research Center: The American public expresses broad concerns over the fairness and effectiveness of computer programs making important decisions in people’s lives, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. Indeed, 58% of Americans say that computer programs will always … [Read More...]
USAID Announces Launch of New Improved Data Repository
From USAID: [On Tuesday], the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a new, improved data repository to make better use of the valuable Agency-funded data being gathered from all over the world. The Data Library (DDL) is USAID’s publicly available repository for … [Read More...]
Archives: Inside the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Legendary Music Vault
From NowToronto.com: The CBC is throwing open its vaults. At least partially. The national broadcaster has officially been making radio since 1936 and television since 1952, and in doing so, it's been projecting an image of our national identity and, often, performing our national identity … [Read More...]
PubMed Central is Now Aggregating Data Citations, Data Availability Statements and Supplementary Materials
From the NCBI Insights Blog: In the NLM Strategic Plan released earlier this year, we noted that “[c]reating efficient ways to link the literature with associated datasets enables knowledge generation and discovery.” To that end, PMC is now aggregating data citations, data availability … [Read More...]
Research Tools: Library of Congress Posts LibGuide For Finding Native American Visual Resources
From the LC "Picture This" Blog: The Library of Congress recently launched the first batch of guides in a new format, utilizing the LibGuides platform, which we hope will make learning about the collections a bit easier. [Clip] The Prints & Photographs Division’s first guide … [Read More...]
Now Available: Recap of the 2018 Open Libraries Forum Held at Internet Archive
Fast Facts About the Internet Archive's Open Libraries Project (via OL Web Site) 2.7M Books Digitized 1492 Contributing Libraries 1.2M Books Lent in 2017 From an Internet Archive Blog Post by Chris Freeland, Director of Open Libraries: On October 18 more than 50 library leaders from … [Read More...]
Colorado: Anythink to Become Early Adopter of OCLC Wise Community Engagement System for Public Libraries
From OCLC and Anythink: As part of the 2018-2022 Anythink Strategic Plan, Anythink’s vision is to be a catalyst for innovation in the Adams County community. By implementing tools like Wise, Anythink is able to further its strategic initiative to connect people to ideas by helping customers … [Read More...]
California: “At L.A. Public Library, the Compulsion to Collect is Explored in ’21 Collections: Every Object Has a Story'”
From The Los Angeles Times: Why do people collect things? The motivations are as varied as the objects people collect. Perhaps it’s loyalty to a sports team, for instance, or an obsessive desire to accumulate a single kind of object such as stamps. It may even be fueled by the “law of … [Read More...]
Educopia Publishes “Community Cultivation: A Field Guide”
From the Educopia Institute: Issued by the Educopia Institute in November 2018, this publication provides a powerful lens that can provide both emerging and established communities with ways to understand, evaluate, and plan their own growth, change, and maturation. The Field Guide is designed … [Read More...]
Facebook Publishes New Community Standards Enforcement Report
From Facebook: Today, we’re publishing our second Community Standards Enforcement Report. This second report shows our enforcement efforts on our policies against adult nudity and sexual activity, fake accounts, hate speech, spam, terrorist propaganda, and violence and graphic content, for the … [Read More...]
Binghamton University Libraries Formulate Final List of Cancellations Following Budget Cuts
From Pipe Dream (Student Newspaper at Binghamton U.): At the end of last semester, University Libraries identified $450,000 in print periodicals and electronic resources to potentially cancel after being informed it would face a 4 percent budget reduction for the upcoming year. According to the … [Read More...]
Research Article: “Are Private Universities Exempt from Student Concerns About Textbook Costs? A Survey of Students at American University”
The following article appears in the current issue of Open Praxis. Title Are Private Universities Exempt from Student Concerns About Textbook Costs? A Survey of Students at American University Authors Lindsay Renee Murphy Portland State University David Rose American … [Read More...]
DC Public Library Kicks Off Planning for Future Library Services in District of Columbia (Facilities Master Plan)
From DCPL: District residents will soon have a better idea of the current and future needs for their libraries. The DC Public Library has begun developing a Facilities Master Plan that will guide the planning, design and maintenance of the Library’s spaces over the next decade. The Library … [Read More...]
News Roundup (November 15, 2018)
1. NSF Awards $50M in Grants to Improve STEM Education 2. A Brief Look: Web Archiving at the National Library of Ireland (via IIPC) 3. New Data on What UK Institutions Pay in Article Processing Charges (via OpenAPC/JISC Collections) 4. Reverse Engineering Strange Devices Found in a … [Read More...]
DPLA Posts Update and FAQ About Recent Changes, Future Plans
Note: Much of what's mentioned in the update was also shared last Friday and Saturday in a Medium post by DPLA Executive Director, John Bracken, a letter to partners, and a presentation by Bracken at the LITA Forum. Here's our post from last Saturday with links to all of this material. From the … [Read More...]
Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is “Toxic”
From Oxford University Press: Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2018 is TOXIC Toxic adjective Poisonous; relating to or caused by poison; very bad, unpleasant, or harmful Oxford announces toxic as its Word of the Year for 2018. Defined as ‘poisonous’ and with its origins in Greek … [Read More...]
Canadian Government Announces Funding to Expand National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS); Will Make More Published Works Available in Formats Accessible for Canadians With Print Disabilities
From the Employment and Social Development Canada/Government of Canada: Today, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility announced the expansion of the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) through funding from the Government of … [Read More...]
