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Weekly News Digest
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August 30, 2016 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today.
CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.
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Reuters Debuts Presidential Election Prediction Tool
Reuters launched States of the Nation, an interactive, continuously updated presidential election tool. Created in collaboration with the Ipsos research firm, it shows how each of the candidates’ support translates to Electoral College votes and how turnout from demographic and political groups could affect voting. The tool gets its data from a Reuters-Ipsos tracking poll that has a sample size of at least 15,000 Americans per week.Users can adjust the data to see new outcomes; for example, they can increase turnout of different voter groups by sex, race and ethnicity, income range, age, and party affiliation to see how that impacts election results. For more information, read the press release.
GPO Releases Update of Its Official History Book
The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) introduced an updated version of Keeping America Informed, its official history originally published in 2011. New photographs and historical information bring the content up-to-date for 2016 to coincide with the agency’s 155th anniversary. Other new information includes details about GPO’s relationship with President Abraham Lincoln, its experiences with a segregated federal workforce during President Woodrow Wilson’s administration, and its production of President Richard Nixon’s tape-recording transcripts. The book also recounts GPO’s appearances in movies and TV shows.For more information, read the press release.
W3C Publishes Report on Blockchains and the Web
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released a report from its June workshop on blockchains and the web. The 100-plus participants discussed topics—such as smaller blockchain primitives for increasing operability across distributed ledgers—that could be standardized or incubated. Discussions can continue in the W3C’s Blockchain Community Group.For more information, read the news.
Kudos Partners With PaperHive for Article Discovery
Kudos entered into a 6-month pilot integration with PaperHive, which will facilitate discussions around research papers by allowing users to collaboratively read, annotate, and share articles. Through this integration, Kudos will notify authors of these activities and link back to the conversation on PaperHive. Authors can then interact with readers via additional comments. Plain-language summaries by Kudos users will be visible with articles on PaperHive that are receiving comments.For more information, read the blog post.
NISO Works on API for Improving Access to Econtent
NISO (National Information Standards Organization) announced a new project that is aiming to create a flexible API framework for libraries to improve access to digital content such as ebooks. The NISO working group for the project, which is looking for participants, will build on Queens Library’s set of API requirements to create its own foundational API set that libraries can use to update and increase their tools’ convenience. It will release its framework as a NISO Recommended Practice.For more information, read the press release.
EDP Sciences Gets Chinese Distribution
EDP Sciences signed an agreement with China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corp. (CNPIEC) to allow the company to distribute EDP Sciences’ content to institutions in China via the CNPeReading Platform starting in September 2016. CNPIEC distributes print publications, ebooks, and ejournals in that country. This partnership gives EDP Sciences the opportunity to build relationships with Chinese researchers and widen its customer base.For more information, read the press release.
Gale Contributed to Education During Flint Water Crisis
Gale announced that it has raised $25,000 to support the Flint Public Library in Michigan, as well as other institutions that support children’s education, during the Flint water crisis. Employee-driven events such as bake sales and car washes raised the money, and Gale’s parent company, Cengage Learning, agreed to match the amount. Gale also provided the library with 1 year of free access to the Miss Humblebee’s Academy early literacy program.For more information, read the press release.
ProQuest Introduces Enhancements and New Options for Books and Ebooks
ProQuest is updating its book program. It has introduced new print and digital book titles (including more than 3,000 titles to Academic Complete) and launched an access-to-own acquisition model on Ebook Central. Additionally, it has added new ebook subscriptions (such as the collection of nearly 24,000 titles from university presses), an online ebook catalog (titled Ebook Central Preview), and more acquisition options for print and digital titles on the OASIS platform.For more information, read the press release.
Axiell and ODILO Offer Better Digital Content Access
Axiell joined forces with ODILO to expand libraries’ access to and management of digital content so they can offer a mix of sources that are easy to distribute to patrons. The partnership allows Axiell to give customers more choice in their content.For more information, read the press release.
IMLS Awards Grants to Organizations Serving Native Populations
IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) is providing 243 grants totaling more than $4 million to Native American and Native Hawaiian communities. Through three programs, IMLS aims to support and improve library services for these populations. Native American Library Services Basic grants will serve 226 Native American tribes, Alaska native villages, regional corporations, and village corporations. Native American Library Services Enhancement grants will go to 14 institutions that have an active Basic grant in the same fiscal year. Native Hawaiian Library Services grants will help three nonprofit organizations that serve Native Hawaiians.For more information, read the press release.
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Brandi Scardilli
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