Latest Information Industry News and Resources
Dan Cohen on “The Books of College Libraries Are Turning Into Wallpaper”
A new op/ed by Dan Cohen, Vice Provost for Information Collaboration at Northeastern University and published by The Atlantic. From the Op/Ed (Full Text approx. 2300 words): Maybe students aren’t checking the books out but are still consulting them regularly within the library? This also does not … [Read More...]
Research Tools: Database of Literature on Oil Spills and Public Health
From the Consortium for Resilient Gulf Communities A searchable literature review, in spreadsheet format, on the health impacts of oil spills. The objective of the review, first published in 2016 and updated in May 2019, was to identify both what was already known about the effects of oil spills … [Read More...]
A New State Legislation Tracking Databases From NCSL: “Occupational Licensing”
A new resources from the National Conference of State Legislatures. 1. Occupational Licensing Legislation Database This database contains legislation from all 50 states covering 34 distinct occupations that have been identified based on the following criteria: Each must be licensed in at least 30 … [Read More...]
New Digital Collection: British Airways Opens Centenary Archive Collection to Celebrate ts 100-Year History
From British Airways: To mark British Airways’ centenary this year, the airline has opened its archive collection to the public for the first time to share never-before-seen memories of key moments from its 100-year history. The British Airways Centenary Archive Collection explores moments from … [Read More...]
How Finland is Fighting Fake News – In the Classroom
From the World Economic Forum: Finland has an effective weapon to combat fake news: education. The Nordic nation tops a list of European countries deemed the most resilient to disinformation, the Media Literacy Index, compiled by the Open Society Institute in Sofia. Denmark was second, followed … [Read More...]
Not Real News: Associated Press (AP) Roundup of Some “Popular But Completely Untrue Stories and Visuals” From the Past Week
From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts. This is part of The Associated … [Read More...]
Video: “BIBFRAME Goes International” (Presentation at LC)
The "BIBFRAME Goes International" seminar was recorded at the Library of Congress on April 9. 2019. Description BIBFRAME, a Library of Congress data model for bibliographic description designed to replace the MARC standards, is seeing activity around the globe. In this presentation, Library staff … [Read More...]
Video: Conference Presentation: “Research Software: A Role For Libraries – British Library”
The following video was made available online earlier today by RLUK. It was recorded at the RLUK Conference 2019 on March 22, 2019. Presenters Jez Cope Data Services Lead, British Library Dr. Torsten Reimer Head of Research Services, British Library. Description This paper discusses the role … [Read More...]
NYPL’s Schomburg Center Acquires Collection of Hip-Hop Pioneer Fred ‘Fab 5 Freddy’ Brathwaite
From the Schomburg Center/NYPL: The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem has acquired the full archive of hip-hop pioneer and pop culture icon, Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite. The archive—which spans more than 120 boxes—showcases Fab 5 … [Read More...]
Minnesota: Alexandria School District Pulls Two Books From Program
From the Alexandria Echo: In response to complaints about books some eighth-graders read as part of a language arts unit this year, Assistant Superintendent Rick Sansted announced at Monday night's Alexandria School Board meeting that parents will be part of a committee to review book selections … [Read More...]
BBC: Mona Lisa ‘Brought to Life’ With Deepfake AI
From the BBC: The subject of Leonardo da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa painting has been brought to life by AI researchers. The video, achieved from a single photo, shows the model in the portrait moving her head, eyes and mouth. The latest iteration of so-called deepfake technology came out of … [Read More...]
Research Resources: New Online Database of Court Records of Cases of Enslaved People Seeking Their Freedom
From The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education The Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently debuted an online database of more than 500 court cases in which enslaved persons had sued to gain their freedom. The Dred Scott case in 1857 is the most … [Read More...]
New Report: “Data Stewardship on the Map: A Study Of Tasks and Roles in Dutch Research Institutes
From LCRDM (National Coordination Point Research Data Management): During October 2018 through March 2019, a LCRDM task group, taking into account the prevailing uncertainty about the interpretation of data stewardship, worked on providing insight in what Dutch research institutes currently demand … [Read More...]
Wayfinding in New Zealand: A 3-D Virtual Mapping at University of Otago’s Library Now Provided at Info Kiosks
From Otago Daily Times: University students visiting one of Dunedin's most sprawling open plan buildings can now navigate their way around using a recently installed, 3-D, 360-degree virtual tour kiosk. More than a year in the making and using more than 1000 panoramic shots stitched seamlessly … [Read More...]
Social Media: Men Appear Twice as Often as Women in News Photos on Facebook (New Report From Pew Research)
From Pew Research: A new study of the images accompanying news stories posted publicly on Facebook by prominent American news media outlets finds that men appear twice as often as women do in news images, with a majority of photos showing exclusively men. The Pew Research Center analysis … [Read More...]
Video: Data Discovery in PubMed Central (PMC) and PubMed
From the National Library of Medicine: Over the last two years, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has been exploring efficient ways to link the literature with associated datasets. The nine-minute video Data Discovery in PMC and PubMed looks at the outcomes of those explorations thus far. … [Read More...]
New U.S. Population Estimates: The Fastest-Growing Cities Primarily in the South and West; Phoenix Tops List
From the U.S. Census: The South and West continue to have the fastest-growing cities in the United States, according to new population estimates for cities and towns released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Among the 15 cities or towns with the largest numeric gains between 2017 and 2018, eight … [Read More...]
A New White Paper From Sage Publishing: “The Latest Thinking About Metrics for Research Impact in the Social Sciences”
From SAGE Publishing: While measurement of science impact has traditionally been synonymous with citation counts in academic journals, such counts fail to capture the influence that research can have on policy, practice, and the public. While the social and behavioral sciences (SBS) are uniquely … [Read More...]
Roundup (May 23, 2019)
Google Introduces A New Look For Mobile Search (via Media Post) How Does Facebook Measure Fake Accounts? & Measuring Prevalence of Violating Content on Facebook (via Facebook Newsroom) Library of Virginia Needs Money to Speed Production Of Governors’ Records (via Virginia Mercury) University … [Read More...]
Research Tools: German Holocaust Archive Puts More Than 13 Million Documents Online
From the Los Angeles Times: Sixteen women at the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp were forced by the SS guards to work as prostitutes for 86 other inmates on the night of Aug. 7, 1943. Stahlheber, Zange, Rathmann, Fischer, Kolbusch and Zimmermann — the last names of some of the women — … [Read More...]
