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Weekly News Digest
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September 24, 2019 — 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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The Digital Reader Chimes In on Macmillan Controversy
Nate Hoffelder writes the following on his The Digital Reader blog:It seems a lot of people in publishing are convinced that library ebooks are responsible for retail ebook sales being down. This belief has … now grown to include a concatenating belief that Amazon is the one telling publishers about the supposed connection between library ebooks and retail ebook sales declining. I still don't [believe] that Amazon is doing that; I think it is an example of gossip spread in the industry before showing up in the media. But I don't want to debate that today; instead, I want to discuss the underlying premise. The idea that library ebooks (in and of themselves) have a negative impact on retail ebook sales simply makes no sense to this ebook buyer. It simply doesn't match up with my understanding of how people use libraries. … The underlying premise for this belief is that because people can get a library ebook, they won't buy the retail ebook. This demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of consumer behavior. For more information, read the blog post.
Cybersecurity Boot Camp to Start at University of Pennsylvania
Colin Wood reports for EdScoop that the engineering and professional studies schools at the University of Pennsylvania are joining forces to host a cybersecurity boot camp, with courses beginning on Nov. 12, 2019: “Announced earlier this month by the university’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and College of Liberal and Professional Studies, the 24-week program is designed to give the region’s cybersecurity workforce an injection of technical talent. According to the university, there are more than 10,000 open positions in the Philadelphia area that require cybersecurity skills.”The university’s course description notes that “the boot camp’s courses aim to give its students proficiency in networking and modern information security practices and train[ing] in how to use tools such as Wireshark, a network-packet analyzer, and Kali Linux, a version of the popular operating system designed for digital forensics and penetration testing, among other tools. … Also included are career-planning advice, portfolio reviews and other support from the staff designed to help students get jobs after they complete the course.” For more information, read the article.
Updates on the Audible-AAP Conflict
Porter Anderson writes for Publishing Perspectives, “For all the upbeat noise around audiobooks and the publishing industry, the sounds coming from the legal battle between Amazon’s Audible and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) have been anything but cheery.” On Sept. 12, Audible issued a court-ordered filing of a motion to dismiss AAP’s complaint about Audible Captions. There was a second round of filings on Sept. 20.“What’s essential to proponents of the publishing community’s arguments is the charge that Audible’s voice-generated Captions form a rendition of a book that’s neither licensed nor paid for by Audible,” Anderson writes. “By contrast, Audible’s over-arching answer is that the Captions are an allowable and useful evocation of a book and that no copyright infringement is involved in their creation. … But the greater message, and for both sides, may be that many such instances—in which one digitally enabled dynamic leads to another—will present new challenges to us in coming months and years, triggering fights over such hybrid content developments, intellectual property ownership, copyright and licensing, content delivery, and impact on rights holders and consumers.” For more information, read the article.
A Smart 'Mini-City' Comes to Las Vegas
Yahoo Finance shares that a Las Vegas “mini-city” is in the works that “will offer renewable energy sources, autonomous vehicles, and augmented reality, among other high-tech features. The privately funded ‘mini-city’ will include residential, office, and retail space, along with hotel and entertainment facilities.”Technology will be cutting-edge and draw on the Internet of Things: “[F]looring will capture and reuse the energy of human movement. Photovoltaic glass will be standard in all structures, turning building exteriors into solar panels and enabling the resources needed for heating, cooling, lighting, and electricity to be generated onsite. Security will be provided robotically via biometrics and other techniques.” For more information, read the press release.
Airtasker Looks at the 21st-Century Workforce
Airtasker posted a review of 21st-century workers on its blog. It states, “Jumping into the workforce has never been so open-ended. With the digital age presenting such a wide variety of paths, feeling certain in your career decisions can be difficult.”The post continues, “With the aid of just a laptop (or even a smartphone), online education and side gigs in addition to full-time careers have become commonplace.” It goes on to explore how “modern professionals navigate these murky waters.” For more information, read the blog post.
Matrix Integration's Advice for Foiling Cybercriminals
Matrix Integration is sharing advice on improving cybersecurity. The press release notes, “In addition to company-and enterprise-wide security systems, everyone should know how hackers attack, and how to keep themselves from being an easy target.” The company’s five practical tips are:- Create strong, complex passwords.
- Take a closer look at that email.
- Watch social activity.
- Use public Wi-Fi with caution.
- Take care with mobile apps.
For more information and context for each tip, read the press release.
CRL Helps Spread Use of OA Primary Sources
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) announced that the Global Press Archive (GPA) CRL Charter Alliance (a collaboration between CRL and East View) released its first OA collection: Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers. With 500,000 pages from hundreds of sources published in China from 1912 to 1949, the collection is available on East View’s GPA platform and has robust search functionality for content in multiple languages.For more information, read the news.
SAGE Research Methods Foundations Launches
SAGE introduced SAGE Research Methods Foundations, which covers “all aspects of research methods and the research process for the social sciences. The resource contains hundreds of entries written by an international roster of methods experts, such as psychologist Paul Stenner and sociologist Guillermina Jasso, each between 500 and 10,000 words.” The entries introduce the following:- Major topics in methods
- Key concepts of social research
- Biographies of critical scholars
- Major methods within specific applications, disciplinary contexts, and research settings
“Foundations provides a guided starting point for users who are new to research in general or to a specific method,” says Monika Lee, publisher of SAGE Research Methods (SRM), “helping make SRM content more accessible for less-experienced researchers.” For more information, read the press release.
HighWire and BMJ Commit to Improvements in Publishing
HighWire entered into a new journal-hosting agreement with BMJ that spans the next 5 years. In addition, the two organizations are developing a partnership innovation lab that will unite “some of the best minds from BMJ and HighWire to explore future initiatives in scholarly publishing.”According to the press release, “The lab, which has met on multiple occasions in order to prove concept and viability, is already helping BMJ to nurture a number of initiatives and create a roadmap toward the future. By bringing like-minded people together to work openly, the lab will support transformation in BMJ’s publishing program, drive innovation in the HighWire platform, and set new heights for the industry.” For more information, read the press release.
National Park Service Provides Grants for Historical Preservation and Conservation
The National Park Service partnered with IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) to provide $12.6 million in Save America’s Treasures grants. The grants will go toward funding 41 projects in 23 states that aim to “support the preservation of nationally significant historic properties and collections throughout the country.” Project examples include conserving materials from a 17th-century Franciscan mission site in Florida, preserving early-20th-century rodeo photos in Colorado, and conserving a colonial-era family coach in New York.For more information and the list of projects receiving grants, read the press release.
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Brandi Scardilli
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