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Weekly News Digest
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October 26, 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.
CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.
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IFLA Regroups After Cancelation of WLIC 2024
Vicki McDonald, IFLA president, issued a message to members stating, “I know that the opportunity for our Federation to come together every year is an important milestone for our members, committees, and volunteers. It enables us to share our expertise and knowledge, plan the work we will undertake together, and acknowledge our achievements. The absence of a [World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2024] will be felt by all.”McDonald continues, “The IFLA Governing Board is determined to reflect and learn from the past. It is recognised that we need to do better for our Federation to truly be the global voice of libraries. To move forward, healing needs to be a priority.” In addition, “Our immediate priority is to explore options for [WLIC] 2025. As no bids were received in the open call earlier this year, we will adopt a targeted approach. Bids will be considered against a new set of criteria and objectives. … We need to get back on track to having a forward plan of our congresses. …” For more information, read the full message. Also, read the announcement about forthcoming member surveys on IFLA’s strategy going forward.
Sage Launches Hub to Help Address Misinformation and Disinformation
Sage announced the following:Sage has unveiled a literary resource hub aimed at countering the rise of online misinformation, disinformation, and deceptive content. The newly launched Literacy Information Microsite is dedicated to addressing the issues of mis-, dis-, and malinformation that are prevalent in the digital realm. This platform offers open-access research articles on vital topics such as digital literacy, censorship, propaganda, digital society, media ethics, and the perils of mis-, dis-, and malinformation. To ensure relevancy, content updates will occur on a quarterly basis. For more information, read the press release.
Code Ocean Rolls Out Academic Lab for Universities
Code Ocean announced the following:Code Ocean, the world’s first Reproducible Research Cloud, … introduced a new academic offering, exclusively available to university research labs. With deeper support and more robust capabilities, the new Code Ocean Academic Lab Offering includes the ability to not only publish, but also to build upon work that has been previously published by other institutions and teams. … With its new academic offering, Code Ocean is extending its support for academia beyond its existing Open Science Library by providing the very first complete system of record for reproducible science to the academic community. For more information, read the press release.
Book Riot Celebrates Radical Librarians
Carolina Ciucci writes the following in “6 of the Most Radical Librarians in History” for Book Riot:There are few things more misleading than the stereotype of the meek, reclusive librarian who hides from the world among the stacks. I’ve met a lot of librarians over the years, both on and offline, and as a group, they’re among the most well-informed, civic-minded, often radical individuals I’ve ever met. … [W]riting a list of the most radical librarians in history feels a bit like cheating: a lot of radical librarians’ names have been lost despite their enormous achievements. But the six names I include here are a sample of the incredible work librarians can do. For more information, read the article.
ALA Releases Guidelines for Better Accessibility in Library Programming
ALA’s Public Programs Office website, Programming Librarian, shared “guidelines for making different program types accessible.” It states, “Make sure that performers are aware that you welcome people with disabilities to all of your programs. If a program is for a focused audience (for example, autistic people), share this information with performers and tell them about the features that make the program work for its intended audience.” The guidelines offer more tips for hosting performances, as well as tips for book clubs and maker programs.For more information, read the article.
New Ex Libris White Paper Shares How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Generative AI
Ex Libris, part of Clarivate, released a new white paper, “The Impact of Generative AI on Libraries.” Clarivate states, “Valid concerns and challenges surround Generative AI, leading to a growing debate on regulation. However, academic libraries cannot overlook its significant potential benefits. With an objective to deliver optimal service to users, libraries are looking at how their trusted vendors and suppliers may use Generative AI to help them achieve this goal.”For more information, download the white paper (registration required).
Taylor & Francis Plans Read-and-Publish Deal With German Researchers
Taylor & Francis shared the following:Researchers in Germany will see a major boost to the reach and impact of their work as they join authors in other European countries benefitting from Taylor & Francis open access (OA) agreements. A German library negotiation team under the umbrella of Forum 13+ and Taylor & Francis have announced a new three-year ‘read & publish’ deal, to begin in 2024. This will ensure researchers have continued access to Taylor & Francis journals and can choose OA for their articles in more than 2,000 Open Select (hybrid) titles. These include journals under the Routledge imprint, one of the world’s largest Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) portfolios. It is anticipated that over 60% of articles published open access through the agreement will be in HSS subjects. For more information, read the news item.
The Verge Discusses New World Energy Outlook Report
Justine Calma writes the following in “Clean Energy Is Officially ‘Unstoppable’ Now” for The Verge:By 2030, transportation and electricity around the world will be far greener than it is today, according to the latest forecast from the International Energy Agency. Imagine 10 times more electric vehicles on the road. Renewables make up half of the world’s electricity mix. Solar panels alone generate more electricity globally than the entire US power sector does today. That’s the picture the International Energy Agency (IEA) paints in the World Energy Outlook it published today, which is based on governments’ current energy policies. The IEA was established to help safeguard global energy supplies after the 1970s oil crisis. Now, shoring up energy systems means bringing renewables online to prevent more extreme climate change—especially as climate-fueled disasters like heatwaves and storms increasingly threaten power grids across the world. For more information, read the article.
The Latest News From DOAJ
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) shared a milestone on Oct. 17: It “now proudly lists 20,000 journals! This achievement is not just a number; it is a testament to our rigorous evaluation process and dedication to ensuring the trustworthiness and quality of scholarly journals in our index,” DOAJ says. “For 20 years, DOAJ has been at the forefront of advocating for open access and facilitating access to reliable academic research. For the DOAJ team, this milestone reflects the tremendous growth of the open access movement and our commitment to transparency and best practice in journal publishing. As the number of journals increases, so does the potential for sharing knowledge, connecting researchers, and advancing science and scholarship.”On Oct. 20, DOAJ stated, “In pursuit of long-term sustainability for our services, we’re launching a transparent and streamlined model for publishers to support DOAJ from 2024 onwards.” DOAJ now has a “revised and simplified model for publisher support and benefits. The model is based on the principle of fair contribution, including rates for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and a pricing structure to enable community-led, no/low-APC (Article Processing Charge) publishers to join our community of supporters and contribute to our sustainability.”
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Brandi Scardilli
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