|
|
Weekly News Digest
 |
June 28, 2018 — 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.
|
Microsoft to Use Blockchain Technology for Improving Royalty Payments
Jeff John Roberts writes the following in FORTUNE:Microsoft announced an ambitious plan … to collect royalty payments for authors, software developers, and other creators using blockchain technology, which creates a tamper-proof record system across multiple computers. The project aims to streamline the current process of tracking and collecting copyright payments, which has long relied on a series of middlemen, and which critics say shortchanges creators. Microsoft says it will begin deploying the blockchain tool in its vast online gaming system, working with partners like video game giant Ubisoft to implement it. But the company says it views the technology, which it designed with consulting firm EY, as appropriate for any creative industry. For more information, read the article.
OverDrive Makes Magazines Available
OverDrive announced that libraries can now add magazines to their “OverDrive digital collection for readers to enjoy right in Libby or their browser. Magazines come in the OverDrive Read formatting, meaning there is no need to download any third party apps or create any new logins. All magazines are available as simultaneous use without circulation caps. Libraries can purchase magazines in a sim use package of either 25 or 50 titles of [their] choosing,” including “HGTV Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine, ESPN, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Newsweek, Reader’s Digest and many other popular publications.”For more information, read the news.
'Access Means More than Abundance' by Barbara Fister
On Library Babel Fish, Barbara Fister writes, “What should ‘free to all’ look like today? Is there a way to make knowledge public without it being channeled through a handful of profit-making companies from the US and Europe? I’ve said before that if we tried to invent free publicly-supported libraries today it would seem outlandish. Yet we did, and we got started during the first Gilded Age. During this one, we should expand ‘free to all’ to shape the information systems that dominate our lives.”For more information, read the blog post.
ALA Rolls Out Libraries = Strong Communities Initiative
ALA’s new president, Loida Garcia-Febo, announced Libraries = Strong Communities, an advocacy initiative “aimed at highlighting the value of academic, public and school libraries” across the U.S. “This initiative is uniquely positioned to ignite public awareness of the value of libraries and library staff and create a groundswell of support at the local, state, national and global level,” according to the press release.Garcia-Febo will embark on a cross-country tour to support the initiative: “six U.S. stops, including Pikes Peak (Colorado) Public Library District, October 6, 2018; Cambridge (Massachusetts) Public Library, October 18, 2018; Seattle Public Library, January 16, 2019; North Miami Public Library, TBD February 2019; and Los Angeles Public Library, May 15, 2019.” For more information, read the press release.
New Report Sheds Light on Sexual Harassment in the Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is publishing a new report, “Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.” It finds that a “systemwide change to the culture and climate in higher education is needed to prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment. … There is no evidence that current policies, procedures, and approaches—which often focus on symbolic compliance with the law and on avoiding liability—have resulted in a significant reduction in sexual harassment.”The press release continues, “The report, which examines sexual harassment of women in academic sciences, engineering, and medicine, concludes that the cumulative result of sexual harassment is significant damage to research integrity and a costly loss of talent in these academic fields. The report urges institutions to consider sexual harassment equally important as research misconduct in terms of its effect on the integrity of research.” For more information, read the press release.
ProQuest and Google Scholar Improve Access to Scholarly Articles
ProQuest “added support for two new Google Scholar features, giving academic researchers round-the-clock access to scholarly full-text articles and graduate works from anywhere in the world,” according to the press release. Researchers can use Google Scholar’s Campus Activated Subscriber Access (CASA) service and Quick Abstracts to help them “more easily discover and access the scholarly journal articles, dissertations and theses in their library’s ProQuest databases. … Customers can begin using these features automatically, with no setup required. They’ll also see millions of additional scholarly full-text articles from ProQuest indexed in Google Scholar since the company began using the service in 2015.”For more information, read the press release.
The EveryLibrary Institute Launches
EveryLibrary created The EveryLibrary Institute, a nonprofit companion organization that “is dedicated to ensuring continued public and political support for library funding. The core work of the EveryLibrary Institute will be to advance a research and programmatic agenda that strengthens the policy framework in partnership for libraries and librarians in the future. The Institute’s 501c3 charter is aligned with EveryLibrary’s c4 mission of building voter support for libraries, but it functions solely within traditional c3 grant eligibility and spending limitations.”For more information, read the news.
W3C Provides Diversity Scholarships
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is now offering Diversity Scholarships. The organization writes, “The lack of diversity in tech is a longstanding issue. We would like W3C to be a model of supporting diversity. As an international organization we can see the immense value we gain from having expertise from across multiple countries and cultures. Soon 50% of the world will be on the Web. We know we will need to reflect the diversity of the whole of our world as more and more people begin to access, use and continue to create the Web in all its full potential.”For more information, read the news.
EBSCO and MLA Partner for Research Database
EBSCO Information Services and the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) are developing “the MLA International Bibliography with Full Text, a definitive research database for the international study of language and literature.” It “dates back to the 1920s and contains millions of citations as well as full text for more than 1,000 journals. … Content includes materials published in the areas of literatures and languages from around the world. … Indexing is conducted by the MLA’s staff of highly trained subject matter experts and by contributing scholars.”For more information, read the press release.
bibliotheca Adds Enhancements to cloudLibrary
bibliotheca is rolling out updates for its cloudLibrary, including “integrating physical checkout into the app to evolve the self-service user experience.” With three new modules, “library users can quickly and easily borrow physical library items from their mobile device, keep track of their borrowing history, favorite items, receive reminders, manage receipts and discover new digital content all within the cloudLibrary app. Not only can cloudLibrary combine a users’ physical and digital loan activities, but it also makes it easy for libraries to promote their upcoming events and deliver important information.”For more information, read the press release.
DPLA's Open Bookshelf Offers Free Ebooks
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) debuted Open Bookshelf, “a digital library collection of popular books free to download and handpicked by librarians across the US. The collection currently has more than 1,000 books, with new titles added daily. Open Bookshelf is designed both for libraries and for readers: it is currently available to libraries through the DPLA Exchange and to readers via the SimplyE mobile app.”For more information, read the news.
Kindle Adds Support for Arabic-Language Ebooks
Amazon now provides support for Arabic ebooks on the Kindle platform. According to the press release:Kindle customers around the globe can now enjoy reading from a growing selection of more than 12,000 Arabic language Kindle books on Kindle devices and the free Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets and Fire Tablets. … [R]eaders will find a large digital selection of popular Arabic language titles in the Kindle Store including books from leading authors like Naguib Mahfouz, and Nizar Qabani, best-sellers like Al Aswad Yaliko Biki and Harbo Alkalbi Athania (winner of the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction), classics like Ibn Khaldoun’s Muqadimah, Al-Mutanabbi’s anthology, and Kalila wa Dimna as well as translated English language bestsellers like How to Win Friends and Influence People, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, A Tale of Two Cities and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. For more information, read the press release.
'The Problem with Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity' by Geraldine Cochran
Geraldine Cochran writes on The Scholarly Kitchen: It goes without saying that Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity make for an awful acronym: DIE. More importantly, these three words are strung together so often that some think that these words are synonymous and use them interchangeably, leading to a number of people writing about the differences between these three words. Try a quick Google search of ‘diversity vs inclusion vs equity’ and you’ll find several days worth of reading material. … Although diversity efforts are concerned with representation and who is included, diversity efforts should not be confused with creating an inclusive environment. An inclusive environment does not simply mean that people from various groups are included, it is concerned with what their inclusion in that organization or environment means. What does being included mean for individuals from marginalized and minoritized groups and what does it mean for their peers from dominant, advantaged, or privileged groups? How do minoritized people view their participation in the organization and how is their participation viewed by others? For more information, read the blog post.
Clarivate Analytics Enhances 2018 Journal Citation Reports
Clarivate Analytics put out an update to its Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The company writes, “The latest update incorporates new analyses that offer richer, more detailed information to enhance users’ understanding of journal performance. These additional insights will help researchers, publishers, editors, librarians and funders to explore the key drivers of a journal’s value for diverse audiences, making better use of the data and metrics from the citation index database.”For more information, read the news.
FlatWorld Survey Shows How Professors Evaluate Textbooks
FlatWorld published the results of a survey of 139 professors in various academic fields (about 70% were from 4-year colleges; 30% from 2-year colleges) who have used FlatWorld learning materials. According to the company, “The results shed light on a variety of criteria that professors use to evaluate textbooks, concerns about open education resources, and a continued demand for print in an increasingly digital world.” Findings include the following:- Cost is the most-cited consideration for adopting new textbooks …
- Print is still a valuable resource …
- Professors’ primary OER concern is quality of material …
- Newness is an important adoption criterion …
For more information, read the news.
Send correspondence concerning the Weekly News Digest to NewsBreaks Editor
Brandi Scardilli
|
