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Weekly News Digest
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November 8, 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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Kanopy Expands Into Public Libraries
Kanopy, which has 2,500-plus academic library customers, is making its collection of more than 30,000 films available to North American public libraries through a pay-per-play, upfront, or hybrid license model. Any patron belonging to a public library in the U.S. or Canada can view independent films and documentaries from around the world for free. These films include titles from the Criterion Collection, Music Box Films, Kino Lorber, and First Run Features.For more information, read the press release.
Coursera Creates New Subscription Model
Coursera introduced a new payment model, Specialization subscriptions, which allows students to purchase access to all content in a Specialization using a month-to-month plan of $39–$89 or an annual plan. This allows them to pay for only the time they spend taking the course and getting their certificate, reducing their overall costs. Coursera is adding this model to its most popular Specializations over the next few months.For more information, read the blog post.
Paxata Updates Its Data Prep Tool
Paxata expanded the capabilities of its ClicktoPrep product to Tableau and governed, self-service data provisioning to Tableau Server. “This advanced connectivity architecture allows Tableau users to seamlessly gather, prepare and publish data from personal, proprietary, public and premium data sources all within the Tableau user experience while still providing enterprise-class governance, scale and security,” according to the press release.For more information, read the press release.
code.gov Offers Resources on Open Source for Federal Agencies
According to FedScoop, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) launched code.gov, a repository for federal agencies’ open source projects. The open source code on the site can be used by other agencies as part of the new Federal Source Code Policy, which requires agencies to release at least 20% of their custom code as open source. There are nearly 50 projects from 10-plus agencies currently on the site, with more being added in the coming months. Agencies can use code.gov as a resource to help them implement the new policy, access a metadata schema for building code inventories, and find information on how create successful open source projects.For more information, read the article.
DPLA Publishes White Paper on Archival Descriptions
The Digital Public Library of America’s (DPLA) Archival Description Working Group released a white paper, “Aggregating and Representing Collections in the Digital Public Library of America,” which makes recommendations for incorporating records of “aggregate-level archival objects” into DPLA and for “providing context through collection-level metadata for digital objects, whether they originate from archives or not,” such as how the metadata is created, gathered, and displayed, according to the DPLA blog. The working group also recommends “that collection information be made more accessible in DPLA records by adding it to the DPLA’s portal.”For more information, read the blog post.
Precise Biometrics Product Will Be Added to Samsung Mobile Products
Precise Biometrics entered into a commercial software license and distribution agreement with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.’s System LSI Business to license Precise BioMatch Mobile, an algorithm solution for recognizing fingerprints on mobile devices. This agreement includes a per-unit license fee, which is volume dependent, and an annual fee for support and maintenance, which will start in 4Q 2016.For more information, read the press release.
R Street Institute Looks at Government Spending on Advertising
The R Street Institute announced its new policy study, which reports that the federal government’s “widespread use of advertising—a frequently ignored budget line-item—and other forms of communication carry significant implications for society and the separation of powers,” according to the press release. The study states that the federal government spent nearly $800 million in 2015 on advertising (for all forms of media and other resources) and public relations contracts.For more information, read the press release.
Nature Research Publishes Journal on Sustainability
Nature Research announced the January 2018 debut of Nature Sustainability, an online-only journal containing original research on how humanity can sustain life using Earth’s finite resources, including the topic’s policy dimensions and possible solutions. Covering subjects such as environmental degradation, natural resources depletion, socioeconomic inequalities, and infrastructure failures, it will open for submissions in early 2017.For more information, read the press release.
UNESCO Chair on Language Technologies Plans for the Internet of the Future
UNESCO developed an international consortium to bring together technology experts to prepare for the internet of the future—“the Internet of computers with the power to contemplate and understand human thinking,” according to the press release. The UNESCO Chair on Language Technologies (TecLin), which is coordinated and hosted by the Polytechnic University of Madrid, is tasked with working on new technologies that can be used for cultural preservation.For more information, read the press release.
IDPF and W3C Get Closer to Merger
According to Publishers Weekly, IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) members voted to approve the organization’s merger with W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), with 88% in favor. The merger still has to wait for the negotiation of definitive agreements, but the goal is to complete it by January 2017.For more information, read the article.
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Brandi Scardilli
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