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Federal Statistical Programs in Jeopardy
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by Barbie E. Keiser
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Information Today, Inc. has been monitoring events related to the passage of federal agency budgets as these decisions and Congressional votes have an impact on statistical programs and publications that our readers rely on to do their jobs. Last year, InfoToday Newsbreaks covered the possible de-funding of data.gov and the discontinuation of Statistical Abstracts, recently rescued by ProQuest. Last month, we addressed the fight in Congress over continued funding to conduct the American Community Survey (ACS). The Census Bureau is not the only data source frequently tapped by information professionals (among others) in jeopardy. Nearly every federal agency has some statistical program that will be affected by budget cuts.
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OverDrive to Provide Streaming Audiobooks to Libraries and Schools
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OverDrive announced that it will update its audiobook download services to include new options for readers to instantly "See Book—Hear Book." Scheduled for launch later this year, streaming audiobooks will be available on a wide range of internet-connected devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers. This instant-access technology will eliminate long downloads before listening to popular audiobooks from libraries and schools throughout the OverDrive network. The Listen Now option will complement the download options already in use.
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EBSCO’s New Medical Ebook Collections
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EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) released three new medical ebook collections featuring Doody's recommended content. Doody's is an authoritative medical book review service designed to assist medical libraries and institutions with their purchasing decisions. Librarians can select titles and build a collection to meet their institution's specific medical research needs.
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eLife Selects HighWire Platform for New Open Access Journal
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eLife, the new funder-researcher collaboration in science communication, selected HighWire Press as the platform for its new open access journal for life and biomedical science. First announced in summer 2011, eLife is a researcher-led initiative for the best in science and science communication. Backed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust, the initiative's first aim is to launch an open access journal for outstanding advances in life science and biomedicine, which is also a platform for experimentation and showcasing innovation in research communication.
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Worldreader Aims for ‘Books for All’
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by Paula J. Hane
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Worldreader is a U.S. and European nonprofit whose mission is to make digital books available to children in the developing world, so millions of people can improve their lives. Reports indicate that 50% of schools in sub-Saharan Africa have few or no books (SACMEQ II), slowing learning and societal advancement. As of May 2012, Worldreader had put more than 100,000 ebooks—and the life-changing, power-creating ideas contained within them—into the hands of 1,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa.
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If you regularly read blogs, add these to your reader:
ITI Books Blog – booksblog.infotoday.com – news, observations, and commentary from the authors, editors, and publishers of Information Today, Inc.'s many book offerings.
ITI Conference Blog – libconf.com – covering ITI's library conferences worldwide.
Library Stuff – librarystuff.net – the library blog dedicated to resources for keeping current and professional development, written by Steven M. Cohen.
InfoToday Europe Blog – infotodayeurope.com – The latest news, analysis and opinion on the information industry in Europe and the UK.
Business of Video blog – blog.streamingmedia.com – Daily posts about the online video industry, business trends and analysis, market data, and research as well as the online video business models in the media and entertainment, broadcast, publishing, advertising and enterprise industries.
destinationCRM Blog – destinationcrmblog.com – a blog from the editors of CRM magazine, dedicated to providing Customer Relationship Management information in a timely manner to connect decision makers and providers.
SpeechTech Blog – speechtechblog.com – updates on speech technology and its applications in daily life. Covers everything from ASR to VUI, with lots of links, threads, and even a few pictures thrown in for good measure.
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Paula Hane's New Chapter
Effective June 1, Paula J. Hane is giving up her assignment as News Bureau Chief at Information Today, Inc. (ITI), where she was engaged to provide editorial direction to the ITI NewsBreaks service hosted on infotoday.com. She also wrote for Information Today and the Cyberskeptic’s Guide to Internet Research. She has been associated with the company for 16½ years and was previously the Editor of Database magazine for Online, Inc. She will continue to accept freelance editorial and writing assignments.
The responsibility for producing news commentaries and in-depth analyses for the infotoday.com website will be integrated into the workflow of the Information Today newspaper, with Barbara Brynko as Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director. Assisting Barbara will be Brandi Scardilli as Managing Editor.
Vendors should continue to send information industry and product news items to Information Today: Barbara Brynko (Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director) at bbrynko@infotoday.com. Library technology news should continue to be sent to Computers in Libraries magazine at cilnews@infotoday.com. As always, freelance writers are encouraged to submit story ideas directly to the editors.
We wish Paula success in her new ventures and thank her for her many years of great work as News Bureau Chief at ITI. Paula can be reached at paulajeanhane@gmail.com.
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