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Weekly News Digest
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June 22, 2023 — 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.
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Thieme Rolls Out New OA Journal Focused on Solutions for Global Environmental Crises
Thieme is launching a new OA journal, Sustainability & Circularity NOW, which will publish the “latest research on benign molecules and materials, closed-loop, waste-free systems, and other actionable solutions to tackle global environmental crises. The new journal is the first open access publication with a multidisciplinary focus on sustainability and circularity in chemistry and beyond.” It is geared to researchers, engineers, and sustainability advocates in academia, industry, and government. Authors can begin submitting papers in fall 2023. Areas include circular design and economy, green manufacturing and engineering, and biobased and circular plastics.For more information, read the press release.
False Information From ChatGPT Prompts a Defamation Lawsuit
James Vincent writes the following in “OpenAI Sued for Defamation After ChatGPT Fabricates Legal Accusations Against Radio Host” for The Verge:OpenAI has been hit with what appears to be the first defamation lawsuit responding to false information generated by ChatGPT. A radio host in Georgia, Mark Walters, is suing the company after ChatGPT stated that Walters had been accused of defrauding and embezzling funds from a non-profit organization. The system generated the information in response to a request from a third party, a journalist named Fred Riehl. Walters’ case was filed June 5th in Georgia’s Superior Court of Gwinnett County and he is seeking unspecified monetary damages from OpenAI. For more information, read the article.
Five Recent Job Announcements From the Information Industry
On June 20, the EveryLibrary Institute announced that Roger Rosen, chairman of K–12 education provider Rosen Publishing, joined the nonprofit’s board of directors. Rosen, who has a reputation for promoting intellectual freedom, social justice, and diverse voices, will bring his expertise in school library and literacy issues to the EveryLibrary Institute. Learn more at everylibraryinstitute.org/rosen_joins_eli_board.Also on June 20, Digital Science shared that it has expanded its executive team to address increased company growth and to further its capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies, such as machine learning. For example, COO Steve Leicht is becoming the company’s first president, Liam Donnelly will be interim chief people officer, and Alison Mitchell will be its first chief of staff. Learn more at digital-science.com/news/digital-science-expands-executive-team-for-ai-future. Also on June 20, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed Glenda B. Arrington as the inspector general for the Library of Congress. Arrington was formerly inspector general of the Air Force Test Center and has extensive experience in federal government agencies. On June 9, Hayden appointed Robert R. Newlen as interim director of the Congressional Research Service, effective July 3. Learn more at newsroom.loc.gov/news/librarian-of-congress-names-new-inspector-general/s/d7571fd9-42bc-4222-9977-e39798df3f9b and newsroom.loc.gov/news/librarian-of-congress-appoints-robert-r.-newlen-as-interim-director-of-the-congressional-research-se/s/8517790a-b685-4c91-8b6e-246f0c472688. On June 19, the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) posted about the election of Roosevelt Weeks, director of the Austin (Texas) Public Library, as the new chairperson of its board of directors for a 1-year term. Weeks was awarded 2023 Librarian of the Year by the Texas Library Association. He is dedicated to improving access to technology, literacy, and education, and his leadership will guide the organization’s future work, especially in the areas of intellectual freedom, digital equity, and entrepreneurship, says ULC president and CEO Brooks Rainwater. Learn more at urbanlibraries.org/newsroom/award-winning-library-director-roosevelt-weeks-elected-as-urban-libraries-councils-board-chair. On June 13, SirsiDynix added two new employees to its CloudSource team: Katie Glaeser as product director and Chris Cool as customer success manager. Glaeser was previously electronic resources librarian at the University of Lynchburg’s Knight-Capron Library, and Cool was director of integrated resources at WT Cox Information Services. Learn more at go.sirsidynix.com/rs/325-MEI-708/images/ChrisCoolKatieGlaeserAnnouncement_Final.pdf.
IFLA Defends Its Decision to Hold Annual Congress in Dubai
IFLA president Barbara Lison and president-elect Vicki McDonald released a statement about the organization’s decision to hold the 2024 World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which has received some pushback on social media. It says, in part:IFLA’s values and core principles are important, and IFLA seeks to demonstrate these values across our work and with our partners, members, and volunteers. In selecting Dubai for WLIC 2024, the Governing Board actively sought relevant information, and considered the potential impact on some groups, and the LGBTQIA+ community in particular. The Governing Board was equally aware that every time we hold a congress, regardless of our host, there are some countries or communities that are excluded. … IFLA is a global organisation, but we have simply not been as geographically inclusive as we should be. … [W]hen we received a strong bid from Dubai, the Governing Board agreed that selecting Dubai was the right decision and is in line with our renewed global commitment. For more information, read the rest of the statement.
Coherent Digital Acquires Accessible Archives
Coherent Digital has purchased Accessible Archives, and Unlimited Priorities is managing the transition of the content and technology so there will be no disruption of customer service.“Coherent Digital’s acquisition of Accessible Archives will allow for a powerful merger of high-quality XML TEI-lite encoded text and a cutting-edge user interface. Relationships with existing partners that provide free services, such as COUNTER, MARC Records, Discovery, and document preservation, will continue as we manage a smooth transition,” says Iris L. Hanney, president of Unlimited Priorities. “The acquisition will add twenty-four new collections to Coherent Digital’s History Commons, bringing expanded expertise in American social, economic, and political history. These will become an integral part of the History Commons platform, opening fresh avenues for historical research,” says Stephen Rhind-Tutt, Coherent Digital’s president and CEO. For more information, read the press release and the FAQ page.
Smithsonian and Metropolitan Museum of Art Work With the U.S. Army to Recover Ukrainian Art
Zachary Small writes the following in “Met Museum Trains ‘Monuments Men’ to Save Ukrainian Cultural Heritage” for The New York Times:[T]he Army [implemented a] revived program to deploy officers with arts training in a military capacity to save works in conflict zones—a new generation of the Monuments Men who recovered millions of European treasures looted by the Nazis during World War II. … The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and the [Metropolitan Museum of Art] have teamed up with the Army to help soldiers understand the role that art plays in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. For more information, read the article.
BairesDev Shares Research About Women in Tech
Technology solutions company BairesDev compiled a blog post about the state of women in the technology field for 2023 based on a variety of sources as well as its own report from 2022. It states, “The representation of women in technology is changing, but it is still far from equivalent to that of men in the sector. … The technology sector is eager to attract women to the field, given the advantages they bring—diverse perspectives and innovative thinking, to name just two—but the numbers don’t lie. Here is a picture of what the women in technology scene looks like today and predictions about what is to come.”For more information, read the blog post.
Kyndi Augments Its Answer Engine With AI and Updated Analytics
Kyndi announced that it is adding “several new capabilities to [its] natural language processing offerings, including advanced generative AI capabilities, enhanced analytics, and automated query suggestions. These enhancements expand on Kyndi’s existing Answer Engine and generative capabilities, enabling enterprises to provide direct, accurate, and trustworthy answers to customers and employees instantly for improved decision-making, efficiency, and productivity. By furthering the generative AI capabilities into its portfolio offerings in a secure manner, Kyndi has solidified its position as the world’s first generative AI-powered Answer Engine for enterprises.”For more information, read the press release.
Momentive Returns to Its SurveyMonkey Roots
Momentive is returning to its SurveyMonkey brand name as it welcomes a new CEO, Eric Johnson. Johnson, who had been interim CMO since 2022, became CEO after Momentive was acquired by an investor consortium led by STG.“With nearly one million paying users, a talented team, and an unwavering commitment to serving our customers, we have the building blocks for a bright future. Returning to the SurveyMonkey brand will unify our products under a single iconic name that has been synonymous with helping customers gather insights and engagement data for decades,” says Johnson. For more information, read the press release.
The European Union Takes Next Step Toward AI Regulation
Reed Albergotti writes the following in “Sober Optimism About AI in the EU as New Rules to Limit It Move Forward” for Semafor: The European Parliament voted to move forward on the A.I. Act, a sweeping set of proposed measures to mitigate some of the harms caused by the technology. In what would be one of the first major global rules on artificial intelligence, it would put limits on facial recognition technology and require makers of services like ChatGPT to disclose details about the data used to create them. … If there is one big takeaway from my conversations with people on this side of the pond, it’s that they are generally a lot more bullish on AI than one might expect. But it’s a more sober optimism than the San Francisco variety. For more information, read the article.
Sage Buys Hubro Education
Sage announced the following:Sage has acquired Hubro Education, a leading developer of business simulations for academic institutions, corporations, and individual skill development. Hubro Education combines expertise in game development, learning science, and business studies to develop award-winning business simulations. ‘We are thrilled to welcome Hubro Education to Sage,’ said Kiren Shoman, Sage senior vice president. ‘Our guaranteed independence allows us to freely explore new and different ways to support student success and expand our portfolio of innovative business education resources. The Hubro team brings a high level of expertise in developing engaging learning experiences and we look forward to working together to bring their simulations to an even wider global audience.’ For more information, read the press release.
Clarivate Publishes Report on Continuing to Move Beyond Metrics
Clarivate “released a report from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) which further promotes the shift from a reliance on simplistic research metrics towards an adoption of visually informative profiles. The report also encourages actionable engagement and input from the global research community.”The report, “Unpacking Research Profiles: Moving Beyond Metrics” (registration required), “focuses on four aspects of research activity and academic publishing, where profiles reveal key information—at researcher, journal, institutional and research field levels. The in-depth analysis draws on Web of Science data to show how profiles serve as valuable tools to aid interpretation, explain unexpected results and guide future investment.” For more information, read the press release.
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Brandi Scardilli
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