The Supreme Court Review of Gerrymandering

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NewsBreaks

by George H. Pike

The intersection of data analysis and voters' rights was before the U.S. Supreme Court last week as it took up a case exploring the constitutional limits of partisan gerrymandering. On Oct. 3, the court heard oral arguments in the case of Gill v. Whitford, a challenge to Wisconsin's 2011 legislative redistricting plan. The lawsuit claims that Republican legislators used sophisticated computer and data modeling tools to create legislative districts that were designed to give the party an overwhelming majority of seats in the state legislature. Opponents assert that Wisconsin's political geography, and not data analytics, was the driving force behind the plan.

Weekly News Digests

SirsiDynix's Online Store Donates to Hurricane Relief Efforts

SirsiDynix is donating all of the proceeds from its Power of Libraries store to ALA's Disaster Relief Fund to help libraries affected by the recent hurricanes.

ALA Puts Out Request for Applications to New Policy Corps

ALA is asking for applications to join its new ALA Policy Corps, which was launched by current president Jim Neal.

Pew Research Center Studies Reactions to Automation Technologies

Pew Research Center's Internet & Tech division released a new report, "Automation in Everyday Life," which finds that "Americans express more worry than enthusiasm about coming developments in automation. ..."

EDP Sciences Creates Journal for Young Scientists

EDP Sciences introduced Emergent Scientist, an OA, peer-reviewed journal for science students that is supported by the French Physics Society and the French Academy of Science.

Springer Nature's Bookmetrix Gets Improvements

Bookmetrix now provides better insights into the reach and impact of Springer Nature's ebook collections.

BLOG BUZZ: 'Neutrality in the Library? Don’t Give Me That …' by Beth O’Brien

NewsLink Spotlight

What's New From Pew Research Center

by Brandi Scardilli

NewsBreaks often covers the latest surveys and reports from Pew Research Center, "a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world." Its website has eight topic sections, each of which showcases the latest research, which is collected in reports, fact sheets, or other formats that extrapolate respondents' answers to cover the entire U.S. population. ... Here's a roundup of the latest news from each section.

Machine Learning, Relevancy, and Google (4:15)

Online Searcher editor-in-chief Marydee Ojala explains how some behind-the-scenes machine learning capabilities have effectively replaced advanced search features in Google in this clip from her presentation at Computers in Libraries 2019.

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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.

Streaming Media Blog – www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Blog – the go-to destination for opinion, analysis, and insights into the entire online video ecosystem, from glass to glass.

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