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Weekly News Digest
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August 27, 2020 — 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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eLife Rolls Out Executable Research Articles to Aid Reproducibility in Science Publishing
eLife introduced Executable Research Articles (ERAs), which allow “authors to post a computationally reproducible version of their published paper in the [eLife] open-access journal. … The open-source suite of tools that started life as the Reproducible Document Stack is now live on eLife as ERA, delivering a web-native format for making published research more transparent, interactive and reproducible.”eLife authors who have published papers may now register for ERAs, enabling them to add live code blocks and computed outputs—statistical results, tables, graphs, etc.—to their publication as a complement to the original. Then researchers can “inspect, modify and re-execute the code directly in their browser, enabling them to better understand how figures have been generated, change a plot from one format to another, alter the data range of a specific analysis, and more. Any changes made to the ERA will be limited to the reader’s browsing session and will not affect the published article, ensuring that anyone can experiment with the results safely. Readers can also download the ERA publication, with all the embedded code and data preserved, and use it as a basis for further study or derivative works.” For more information, read the news item.
'Providing Nuanced Information to Voters to Address Voting Disparities and Difficulties' by John Hernandez
John Hernandez writes the following for the American Press Institute that can apply to info pros as well as journalists:In the midst of a national reckoning over voting by mail, the complicated, localized picture of how people actually vote needs more attention than ever. Some voters, especially first-time voters, may lack the knowledge to comfortably vote by mail or vote at all. Voters from some communities may prefer to vote in person. Others will face an onslaught of false or misleading information as voting gets underway. Almost 50% of voters surveyed by Pew Research expect to have some difficulties casting a ballot this year, a significant rise from 2018’s election cycle. From now to Election Day, the public needs clear, consistent and accurate information about the logistics of voting during a pandemic to preempt the possibility of confusion and misinformation. That information should be posted in places where it can be easily found, and it should be repeated often. … [S]teal some of these ideas from your colleagues to kickstart your coverage: - Remind the public frequently by using automated tweets or other social media posts on a daily basis.
- Centralize voting information in a prominent area of your website, a social media post, or into newsletters.
- Ask people about their information needs using digital tools or text messaging services.
- Create materials that can be shared outside of your website on social media.
- Help the public with their questions or common mistakes that recur during the voting process, like signature issues or late ballots.
For more information, read the article.
EBSCO FOLIO Offers Support for FOLIO LSP
Libraries that choose the open source FOLIO library services platform (LSP) now have access to EBSCO FOLIO from EBSCO Information Services for implementation, hosting, and service support. According to the press release, “By working with EBSCO, libraries of all sizes can take advantage of FOLIO’s cutting-edge approach to library automation. In some cases, libraries do not have the resources needed to host or the staff to support implementing an open source solution on their own while others may not want their technical services staff tied up with implementing and maintaining their Integrated Library System (ILS).”“The EBSCO FOLIO Services team includes staff based in three continents (Europe, North America and South America)—a diverse, multilingual team, all of whom have experience as librarians implementing new systems in their respective libraries,” says Anya Arnold, EBSCO’s FOLIO consulting services manager. For more information, read the press release.
AASL Backs the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Project THRIVE for LGBT+ Youth
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) teamed up with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation to work on its Project THRIVE, “a multi-year national campaign to create more equitable, inclusive support systems and help families and youth-serving professionals become better equipped to affirm, support, and care for LGBTQ youth.” It focuses on helping “those of color, those disconnected from school and work, those involved in the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system, and those experiencing poverty. Project THRIVE’s goals include reducing the significant disparities in mental and physical health outcomes and improving school safety and inclusion so LGBTQ students succeed academically and socially.” Professionals who serve these populations will receive the tools, resources, and training they need to provide support and raise awareness.“School librarians historically have addressed the whole child and structured the school library as a safe haven for all learners,” says Kathy Carroll, AASL’s president. “This partnership continues that tradition and school librarians will now be better equipped to support LGBTQ young people while also authentically incorporating diversity into their curriculum and collections.” For more information, read the press release.
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Brandi Scardilli
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