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Weekly News Digest
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February 21, 2017 — 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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Coders Preserve Climate Data
According to WIRED, a group of University of California–Berkeley community members is saving federal climate data on nongovernmental servers. It is one of many similar groups in 20-plus cities that are archiving data from agencies such as NASA and the Department of Energy. “Diehard coders are building robust systems to monitor ongoing changes to government websites. And they’re keeping track of what’s been removed—to learn exactly when the pruning began,” the article states.For more information, read the article.
Blackboard Helps Educators Better Understand Student Performance
Blackboard partnered with Chalk.com to offer K–12 educators a digital gradebook and portfolio, which will give teachers and parents better insights into students’ performance. Parents and students will be able to view information such as grades and assignments along with the extra context needed to understand how the students learn. Chalk.com will integrate its platform into the Blackboard Web Community Manager platform so teachers can access new formative and summative assessment tracking tools.For more information, read the press release.
Thomson Reuters ProView Integrates With Handshake Software
Thomson Reuters entered into a strategic relationship with Handshake Software, which provides SharePoint-based products and services to the legal sector. The companies will offer attorneys and law librarians access to the Thomson Reuters ProView platform through the Handshake Portal. The portal and Handshake Universal Search will be combined with ProView’s professional features, such as navigation, annotation, and sharing within digital libraries and content.For more information, read the press release.
Tech Logic Announces New Headquarters and AMH System for 20th Anniversary
Tech Logic, the first library sorting and automated materials handling (AMH) manufacturer, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2017. The company opened a new headquarters location after rewiring the building and developing new desks that create an open and collaborative office space, among other tasks. Additionally, it is providing a special version of the UltraSort AMH system that runs Tech Logic’s new software, ValueIt.For more information, read the blog post.
Kindle Direct Publishing Unveils Paperback Option
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program added the ability to publish paperback books in addition to Kindle ebooks on Amazon websites in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. This option, now in beta, will expand an author’s reach and eventually include additional features such as proof copies, author (wholesale) copies, and expanded distribution to bookstores and non-Amazon websites. Paperbacks will be printed on demand, and printing costs will be subtracted from royalty payments (which can be up to 60% of the list price authors set).For more information, read the KDP Help page.
CompTIA Combats Cyberthreats With New Certification
CompTIA introduced a new vendor-neutral certification, CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CSA+), which is the first to emphasize behavioral analytics when assessing cyberthreats. It offers broad-spectrum validation of the knowledge and skills necessary for configuring and using cyberthreat detection tools, analyzing data, and interpreting results.“By placing greater emphasis on data analytics, we get a real-time, holistic view of the behavior of the network, its users and their devices to identify potential vulnerabilities and strengthen them before an intrusion happens,” says James Stanger, CompTIA’s senior director for products. For more information, read the press release.
NISO Updates ResourceSync Framework Specification
NISO (National Information Standards Organization) published version 1.1 of the ResourceSync Framework Specification, which “improves a web standard that details various capabilities that a server can implement to allow third-party systems to remain synchronized with evolving resources,” according to the press release. The specification was first published in 2014 and featured easy-to-implement capabilities for servers to support that would “enable remote systems to remain more tightly in step with its evolving resources.”For more information, read the press release.
Google Brings Its Fact Check Tag to Latin America
Google is expanding its Google News Fact Check tag to searchers in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. They are now able to see Fact Check tags on articles in the expanded story box on news.google.com and in the Google News & Weather app, as well as on news mode (the News tab) in Search. Google is also working with fact-checking organizations in other ways. It partnered with nearly 20 French newsrooms and the First Draft Coalition on the CrossCheck project, which aims to debunk myths surrounding upcoming French elections. And Google is providing support to 10-plus projects for fact-checking and authentication, such as U.K.-based Full Fact and Italy’s Compass.For more information, read the blog post.
Time, Inc. Introduces New Health Brand
Time, Inc. introduced Time Health, a multimedia brand that leverages the company’s health and wellness journalism, practical information, and actionable advice for patients, caregivers, and all health-minded consumers. Its content comes from TIME, FORTUNE, Cooking Light, REAL SIMPLE, Southern Living, and other Time, Inc. brands, and it covers topics such as condition-specific food recipes and healthy lifestyle management strategies.For more information, read the press release.
SAGE Journals Get Updated Platform
SAGE created a new platform for SAGE Journals that features enhanced author tools, more intuitive navigation, improved search functionality, and ease of use across devices. According to the press release, the platform now does the following:- Provides researchers and students on the move with a responsive design that automatically resizes to their device of choice
- Offers readers a clean, uncluttered space for reading and enhanced tools for downloading, sharing, and citing articles and discovering related content
- Gives authors deeper insight into the impact of their research through metrics and collaboration tools such as Kudos and Altmetrics
- Supports journal editors and society partners with flexible and dynamic homepages to promote their brand and showcase new content
- Supports key industry standards and optimizes article discovery for library customers through ongoing initiatives in discovery and accessibility
For more information, read the press release.
Send correspondence concerning the Weekly News Digest to NewsBreaks Editor
Brandi Scardilli
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