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Weekly News Digest
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October 25, 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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ACS Plans Earth and Space Chemistry Journal
The American Chemical Society’s (ACS) publications division announced the forthcoming release of ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, “a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal that will unite the diverse and global community of scientists who explore the complex chemical nature of materials and processes that occur on Earth, within our solar system and the universe beyond,” according to the press release. Launching in 2017, it will cover fields such as geochemistry and atmospheric and marine chemistry, as well as present discussions about the important role chemistry plays in fields such as geology, astronomy, and oceanography.For more information, read the press release.
Pallante Out as Register of Copyrights
In a surprising move, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden removed Maria Pallante from her U.S. Copyright Office post as the U.S. Register of Copyrights. Karyn Temple Claggett, who served as Associate Register of Copyrights and director of policy and international affairs for the Copyright Office, became Acting Register of Copyrights.The Register of Copyrights is the director of the Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress (LC). In addition to issuing and managing copyright registrations, the Copyright Office provides critical law and policy services as well as legislative support to Congress. While the Librarian of Congress is a presidential appointment and is subject to congressional approval, the Register of Copyrights is directly appointed by the Librarian of Congress. Pallante was appointed in 2011 by previous Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Some industry watchers expressed their reservations. Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of the Copyright Alliance, tells Yahoo that he is “surprised and concerned by [the] news.” Billboard.com describes creative community executives and lobbyists as surprised and dismayed. One source tells Billboard, “The people in the creative community are furious about the fact that this was done. …” It also reports on the abruptness of the move, citing sources who say that Pallante had been “asked to step down” and was “locked out of the Library of Congress computer system. …” The LC will conduct a national search for a permanent Register of Copyrights. —George H. Pike
figshare Releases Report on Open Data
figshare produced a report on 2,000 global researchers that assesses open data and sharing practices. “The State of Open Data” finds that “80% of researchers value data citation as much as, or more than article citation,” according to Digital Science’s blog post announcing the report. Other findings show that about 75% of researchers have made research data openly available in the past, researchers at any career stage (from Ph.D. students to professors) are equally aware of open data usage, and more than 50% of researchers would like more guidance on how to comply with funders’ open data policies.For more information, read the blog post.
Library of Congress Overhauls Its Homepage
The Library of Congress (LC) is remodeling its homepage, loc.gov. The new site will go live on Nov. 1, 2016, with “more content and expertise from around the Library,” according to the press release. It will be mobile-friendly (with more responsive design) and update frequently, and it will feature improved global navigation.For more information, read the press release.
U.S. Data Federation Aims to Coordinate and Standardize Government Data
FedScoop posted an article introducing the U.S. Data Federation, a new initiative from the GSA (General Services Administration) that collects standardized open data from the federal government and coordinates it among specific topics. Data providers can use it to see if their data fits into predetermined standards and view examples of successful standardized data from various agencies. The federation will soon add tools for using a preferred data standard and a maturity model to track its progress.For more information, read the article.
Alexander Street Digitizes Margaret Mead Papers
Thanks to an agreement with the Library of Congress, Alexander Street will digitize and distribute selections from one of the library’s largest and most-consulted collections of personal works, the Margaret Mead Papers and South Pacific Ethnographic Archives, 1838–1996 (including Mead’s original fieldwork from anthropological trips to Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and other places). The 30,000-plus pages from the Margaret Mead Papers will become part of Alexander Street’s Anthropological Fieldwork Online, making them accessible to a wider audience.For more information, read the press release.
SirsiDynix Improves BLUEcloud Acquisitions
SirsiDynix launched the alpha version of its BLUEcloud Acquisitions solution for the South Australian Public Library Network, SirsiDynix’s development partner that was closely involved with the solution’s creation. This update includes added functionality (such as searching and managing orders) for streamlining the collection development and acquisitions process. It offers concentrated control of all steps in the acquisitions process, including purchasing, budgeting, and receipt and invoice handling. SirsiDynix will soon make the solution generally available.For more information, read the press release.
Zepheira Converts State Library Records Into Linked Data
Zepheira announced that thanks to a partnership with the Library of Michigan and MCLS (Midwest Collaborative for Library Services), the Michigan eLibrary is the first to move to the Library.Link Network, which means transforming the library catalog’s bibliographic data (about 20 million MARC records) into linked data. The network makes library resources more visible on the web.For more information, read the press release.
Blackboard Buys Accessibility-Focused Company
Blackboard acquired Fronteer, a U.K. company with the flagship product Ally, which helps educators make course content more accessible and provides comprehensive reporting on the current state of this content’s accessibility throughout an institution. Blackboard, which aims to become an accessibility partner to its customer institutions, will make Ally available to all institutions, even if they use non-Blackboard products.For more information, read the press release.
STEM Publisher Creates OA Portal
STEM publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. launched Liebert Open Access, a platform for its OA publications and services. Researchers can use its intuitive interface and tools to find free content published in Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.’s peer-reviewed journals. They can browse articles (which are published daily), read blog posts, and view the portfolio of fully OA journals, as well as access information on Creative Commons licensing, research funder policies, and details about submitting articles for publication.For more information, read the press release.
Kudos Integration Gives Atypon Publishers More Visibility and Greater Access to Metrics
Kudos integrated Atypon’s Literatum publishing platform into its service, including a special enhancement that facilitates data loading from Literatum. With Kudos, authors can easily distribute their articles on social media, increase their articles’ visibility, and track the attention articles get. Atypon publishers that use Kudos can set up an automated Kudos feed to deposit metadata from their articles directly from Literatum. Soon, publishers will also be able to transfer ebook metadata and usage data from Literatum to Kudos.For more information, read the blog post.
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Brandi Scardilli
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