DOJ Responds to Ebook Lawsuit Objections in Today’s ITI NewsLink

Effective research on the web is becoming increasingly important as a critical job skill in many work environments. Sure, anyone can enter a few words into a search box, but what sets WebSearch University alumni apart is their ability to use multiple search engines, advanced search techniques, and specialized sources to quickly hone in on relevant, reliable answers. Will you be among the power-searching pros?

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NewsBreaks

Justice Department Responds to Ebook Lawsuit Objections

by George H. Pike

In a strongly worded document, the U.S. Department of Justice responded to public comments made objecting to the department's proposed settlement of price fixing charges levied against Apple, Inc., HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and four other publishers. The charges arose out of an alleged scheme between Apple and the publishers to establish an "agency model" of ebook pricing, with a goal of defeating Amazon.com's widespread ebook discounting. Under this model, the publishers agree to follow the same pricing models in their sales to all ebook vendors including Amazon. According to the Justice Department, the scheme resulted in higher ebook prices and was a violation of federal antitrust laws.

Weekly News Digests

NEH Announces Award to Build Digital 'Library of the Future'

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced a $1 million award to support the incorporation and launch of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), a groundbreaking project that seeks to digitize and bring together the contents of our nation's libraries and archives, and make them freely available to all online.

New Home for Nature Network Blogs

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced the launch of SciLogs.com, a new English-language blogging network for scientists and science communicators. Nature Network bloggers will be among the first to take up their new home on the WordPress-based site.

Thomson Reuters to Acquire MarkMonitor

The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters announced that it signed a definitive agreement to purchase MarkMonitor, a leader in online brand protection. The completion of the acquisition is subject to standard regulatory approvals. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

NewsLink Spotlight

The Challenging Landscape of Ebooks in Libraries

by Paula J. Hane

The overall growth in digital content of all kinds, and in particular, the growing importance and acceptance of ebooks, has clearly presented great opportunities for libraries, as well as plenty of challenges. Many libraries are coping with decreasing budgets while at the same time experiencing increased demand for content and services. Challenges include limited availability of ebooks from publishers, increasing demands for tech support with ebook readers and mobile devices, cumbersome borrowing processes, and minimal discoverability of ebook content. Two recent reports shed some light on the current situation, providing interesting statistics and perspectives.

Is Bias Unavoidable in Enterprise Search? (2:07)

Synthexis President Sue Feldman discusses the preventability (or non-preventability) of bias in search in this clip from the security, privacy, and ethics panel at Enterprise Search & Discovery 2018.

Bookshelf

	Find It Fast, 6th Edition *Extracting Expert Information from Social Networks, Big Data, Tweets, and More* by Robert Berkman In Find It Fast, business research guru Robert Berkman gives expert advice on how to locate the best information sources, how to find and utilize the professionals behind those sources, and how to combine expert techniques to do fast and effective research on any subject. You'll find practical guidance on such subjects as how to know if a site is a trusted source; understanding how and why sources differ; using precision search strategies and taming information overload; and finding, evaluating, and interviewing experts. Whether you are looking for consumer information, data for a job or project, facts for starting a new business, or an answer to an obscure question, Find It Fast will help you find it. Fast! 2015/336 pp softbound \| ISBN 978-1-937290-04-7 Regular Price: $24.95 \| Web Orders: $22.45

Conference Connection

CONFERENCE CALENDAR

Dec. 6–9, The 10th Forum for Information Retrieval Evaluation (FIRE 2018)
Place: Bangalore, India
Sponsor/Organizer: Organizing committee
URL: fire.irsi.res.in/fire/2018/home

Dec. 10–12, The 11th International Conference on Informatics and Systems (INFOS 2018)
Place: Cairo, Egypt
Sponsor/Organizer: Faculty of Computers and Information, Cairo University
URL: infos.cu.edu.eg/2018

Dec. 12, The Library of the Future: Inside & Out (NISO Virtual Conference)
Place: Online only
Sponsor/Organizer: National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
URL: niso.org/events/2018/12/library-future-inside-out

Dec. 17–19, 8th World Congress on Information and Communication Technologies (WICT'18)
Place: Kochi, India
Sponsor/Organizer: Organizing committee
URL: mirlabs.org/wict18

Jan. 15–16, Academic Publishing in Europe (APE 2019)
Place: Berlin, Germany
Sponsor/Organizer: Organizing committee
URL: ape2019.eu

Jan. 19–21, 2019 International Conference on Library and Information Science (LIS 2019)
Place: Sapporo, Japan
Sponsor/Organizer: Organizing committee
URL: iconlis.org

Jan. 22–24, International BOBCATSSS Conference 2019
Place: Osijek, Croatia
Sponsor/Organizer: Osijek University, Croatia; Linnaeus University, Sweden; Uppsala University, Sweden; The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
URL: bobcatsss2019.ffos.hr/about.html

Jan. 25–29, 2019 ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits
Place: Seattle, Wa.
Sponsor/Organizer: American Library Association (ALA)
URL: ala.org/conferencesevents/midwinter-meeting

... View our complete conference calendar here.

ITI Blogs

If you regularly read blogs, add these to your reader:

ITI Conference Blog – libconf.com – covering ITI's library conferences worldwide.

ILI365/InfoToday Europe Blog – infotoday.eu – news and ideas for, and by, innovative info pros from around the world, throughout the year.

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, covering everything from ASR to VUI, with lots of links, threads, and even a few pictures thrown in for good measure.

This newsletter is published by Information Today, Inc.
Editor: Brandi Scardilli
Website: http://www.infotoday.com/NewsLink
Email: bscardilli@infotoday.com