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Weekly News Digest
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February 4, 2025 — 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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Book Riot Teaches How to Analyze a Trump Administration Press Release
Kelly Jensen writes the following in “How to Critically Read a Press Release From the Federal Government” for Book Riot:As we truly enter a new administration … it is going to be vital to learn how to critically read press releases disseminating from the federal government. [W]e saw the Department of Education announce that book bans were a hoax. While what the release stated was (partially) true, there was not only a lot of missing context to the press release, there was also a lot of response that indicated a lack of understanding about what the purpose of such a press release was. The release induced a lot of panic and anger, and while much of that was merited, that elicited response was intentional on the part of the new Department of Education. Let’s break down the press release to consider what it is and is not saying as a means of helping to practice critical literacy skills. This exercise is meant to help as we move through the next several years, as we will see such communication from the federal government happening over and over again. For more information, read the article.
ByWater Solutions Plans Webinar on Koha-TDNet Integration
ByWater Solutions is hosting a webinar about discovery integration with Koha and TDNet. “Have you been looking for a way to search across your library’s entire collection, including both physical and digital resources, through a single search interface? Then join us for a 1-hour webinar to learn more about the integration between Koha and TDNet with PTFS-Europe and ByWater Solutions,” the company shares. It will be held Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. EST, and registration is required. (Those who register will receive a recording of the session even if they are unable to attend.)For more information, read the news item.
TeachingBooks Integrates Sora to Streamline Access to Books for Teachers
OverDrive’s Sora has a new integration feature with TeachingBooks, “an engaging collection of resources that bring books to life and a trusted resource for enriching literacy instruction. With this integration, users can seamlessly access any ebook or audiobook in their Sora collection directly from TeachingBooks with just one click.” Users activate the feature in TeachingBooks, allowing a Sora logo to appear next to a title that’s already available in their library’s Sora collection. “Clicking the logo will take users directly to that title in Sora, streamlining access to reading materials and saving time for educators,” OverDrive notes.For more information, read the press release/blog post.
ALA Mobilizes to Fight for Libraries
Cindy Hohl, ALA’s president, and Leslie Burger, ALA’s interim executive director, issued an email message to ALA members that states, in part:Amid the flurry of multiple assaults on the public interest, ALA and the library community must focus on those attacks with direct consequences for us because we cannot expect others to do so without our leadership. And we must prepare for a long campaign over the next few years. We must be deliberate with our resources—and not burn out. Central to this mobilization is bolstering ALA’s ability to showcase how libraries contribute to America’s communities—no matter one’s political party or philosophy. [W]e asked library advocates to provide ALA with their stories of how federal funding strengthens their communities. More than 150 advocates across 40 states responded within 48 hours to this call! We are receiving the concrete and specific details ALA needs to amplify the value and essential roles of libraries and library workers in schools, universities, small, medium, and large cities and communities, including Tribal Nations and military bases. These stories demonstrate the importance of libraries and will be used for state and local advocacy, as well as for engagement with federal officials. If you haven’t already done so, please share your library’s story. For more information, visit ALA’s website.
GPO Commits to International Cooperation With the Digital Preservation Coalition
The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) “joined the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), an international charitable foundation that supports digital preservation. GPO is joining a growing DPC community with 170 members in 24 countries worldwide. The DPC helps its members deliver resilient long-term access to digital content, such as that on GPO’s GovInfo, the one-stop site for authentic, published information for all three branches of the Federal Government.”For more information, read the press release.
hoopla Digital Adds Five New Cineverse BingePasses
hoopla Digital expanded its partnership with the Cineverse entertainment studio to create five new BingePasses, which are “available ad-free and without need for a subscription through the hoopla BingePass with just one borrow with a valid library card.” They are:- AsianCrush—AsianCrush delivers premier pan-Asian entertainment with a streaming library featuring more than 1,200 titles. Explore iconic Korean dramas, captivating anime, award-winning films, and blockbuster hits—all in one place. Dive deep into the thrilling world of Asian cinema, with exclusive content you won’t find anywhere else.
- RetroCrush—RetroCrush allows you to watch your favorite retro classics and discover hidden gems with the curated collection of anime from the Golden Age. Dive into exclusive first-time English releases and revisit beloved series like Yu-Gi-Oh! and The Twelve Kingdoms. Whether you’re nostalgic for Astro Boy or seeking out Martian Successor Nadesico, the collection has something for every anime enthusiast.
- Midnight Pulp—Midnight Pulp is the ultimate destination for cult movie maniacs. Dive into action, horror, sci-fi, and thriller films and series where monsters, aliens, kung fu fighters, slashers, and cinematic oddities reign supreme. Whether it’s midnight or midday, satisfy your craving for something uniquely bizarre—this is where you stream the strange.
- Fandor—Fandor is your invitation to more than 1,300 cinematic delights, hand-picked discoveries, and underseen curiosities that go beyond the mainstream. A home for cinephiles, Fandor curates a premier library spanning indie, international, documentary, and classic films, ensuring an unparalleled cinematic journey.
- Dove Channel—Dove Channel is [a] streaming destination for heartwarming stories, offering viewers an escape to a world of romance and excitement. Whether you’re in the mood for a light-hearted romance, an inspiring drama, or a heartwarming holiday escape, our extensive library has just what you are looking for. ‘Live. Laugh. Dove.’
For more information, read the press release.
NISO Works Toward a Standard for a Persistent Identifier Strategy
NISO posted the following:The Research Data Alliance-United States (RDA-US) and the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) announced today their intent to collaborate in the development of an ANSI/NISO standard for a US national Persistent Identifier (PID) strategy. The Working Group formed to achieve this goal will operate within NISO’s standards development structure. Persistent identifiers, or PIDs, are critical to the infrastructure supporting scholarly communications and open research. PIDs support research discovery and citations, allow users and systems to easily identify authors and institutions and link them to research outputs, and help ensure compliance with a growing number of government and funder mandates advancing open scholarship. For more information, read the press release.
Digital Science Creates an External Advisory Board
Digital Science has formed “an external Advisory Board, to assist the company in improving its engagement and alignment with the communities it supports.” The board will meet four times a year “to discuss key issues facing the wider research ecosystem, providing insights and recommendations on a variety of topics crucial to the strategic growth and operational excellence of Digital Science.”It consists of six diverse, global experts from a variety of fields. “Bringing technological change to the research sector requires a responsible approach, given the importance of the work of the community that we serve. Our announcement of Open Principles was an important step in ensuring that we set a bar for this responsibility. Introducing our Advisory Board is a further next step in demonstrating our commitment to continually improving our approach,” says CEO Daniel Hook. For more information, read the news item.
HighWire and Reviewer Credits to Bolster the Peer Review Process
HighWire partnered with the Reviewer Credits network for peer reviewers and publishing integrity hub to integrate HighWire’s new DigiCorePro submission system into Reviewer Credits’ existing suite of technical integrations.“The new integration will offer even more choice to journals and publishers around the world and allow them to use the Reviewer Credits service within their existing workflows,” says Emre Danisan, tech lead at Reviewer Credits. “Peer review is the cornerstone of scientific integrity in publishing and Reviewer Credits offers an impressive suite of services that help publishers find and reward researchers who perform this vital service,” says Tony Alves, SVP of product management at HighWire. For more information, read the press release.
Salon Explores How Info Pros Fight the Trump Administration's Deletion of Science Data
Carlyn Zwarenstein writes the following in “As the Trump Admin Deletes Online Data, Scientists and Digital Librarians Rush to Save It” for Salon:Orders from the Trump administration affecting science and health in the United States—and from there, the world—are coming thick and fast, affecting a myriad of institutional and personal decisions that depend on accurate information provided by the U.S. government. This ranges from websites disappearing to the prohibition of dictionary words from federal scientist research papers. Now researchers and data nerds are rushing to preserve this vital information before it’s lost. Meanwhile, many public communications have been paused as well. For the first time in sixty years, the federal health agency, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), has stopped its own publications, including the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). This comes on top of a communications gag order preventing its scientists from sharing any new findings—from new insights in cancer treatment to potential new pandemics like Ebola—with the public. For more information, read the article.
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Brandi Scardilli
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