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Weekly News Digest
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February 18, 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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People News From Early 2025
The Library of Congress and the charity Every Child a Reader appointed Mac Barnett the 2025–2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Barnett, who has written more than 60 children’s books, is the ninth author to have this role. “Barnett will celebrate the children’s picture book through his platform, Behold, The Picture Book! Let’s Celebrate Stories We Can Feel, Hear, and See. Barnett will explore the deeply impactful ways picture books blend words and illustrations to create a uniquely powerful reading experience, one that is often the foundation for a lifetime of reading. Ultimately, Barnett will assert the picture book is a quintessential American art form and deserves its rightful place among the best American literature,” the press release states.The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and EDUCAUSE named Victoria Reich and David Rosenthal, co-founders of the LOCKSS Program, as the 2025 recipients of the Paul Evan Peters Award. “LOCKSS is a stunning achievement—both technically and on a social and organizational basis—that fundamentally changed thinking about digital preservation, particularly with regard to the scholarly record. It’s stunning both in its design, which is extraordinarily sophisticated, and its execution, which has included a quarter century of advocacy and outreach. The visionary security and resilience thinking built into LOCKSS is a model I can only wish more systems have internalized,” says Clifford Lynch, CNI’s executive director. Silverchair hired David Nygren as its new chief business development officer. He will lead the company’s business development and marketing teams in addressing “the increasing demand for platform services from publishers looking for an independent and innovative technology partner,” according to the press release. Nygren comes from Wolters Kluwer, “where he was responsible for partner acquisition and management, go-to-market strategy, and content product development for Ovid.” He was also previously head of sales and marketing at the American Psychological Association and VP of research insights at Wiley. eLife made Timothy Behrens, professor of computational neuroscience at the University of Oxford and University College London, its new editor-in-chief. He “is a long-time supporter and contributor to eLife’s work,” the press release shares. “Behrens is responsible for the editorial direction and vision of the [eLife] journal, providing leadership to eLife’s academic editors. He will be the public face and champion of the journal, promoting it within the research community and driving forward its new approach to peer-review and publishing excellence in science.” CCC promoted Jason Edmondson from VP of finance to VP, treasurer, and CFO. He will be “responsible for financial affairs, enterprise risk and compliance, sales operations, contract administration, and facilities,” according to the press release. Additionally, CCC hired Neal Dunkinson as senior director of solution sales. This is a new role that was “created to support deeper collaboration with corporate customers.” Dunkinson was previously VP of solutions and professional services at Elsevier’s SciBite.
BiblioCommons and Unique Management Services Join Forces for Streamlined Patron Communication
BiblioCommons entered into “a new partnership with Unique Management Services to offer push notifications in BiblioApps, and SMS, voice, and email notifications in BiblioCore, powered by MessageBee. This collaboration combines the best in patron experience with the best in patron communication to create a more unified, proactive, and personalized library experience.” Patrons can manage libraries’ personalized messaging notifications to decide the level of engagement. Libraries have access to comprehensive reporting tools to gauge the effectiveness of the messages.“Unlike traditional ILS-generated notifications, which can be impersonal and require management across various tools, MessageBee notifications are fully customizable and managed via one centralized interface, saving library staff time and energy. All notifications are available in dozens of languages, and SMS/email notifications can include dynamic graphics or links,” BiblioCommons notes. For more information, read the press release.
GetFTR Updates Its Browser Extension With Features for Preprints
GetFTR announced the following:GetFTR has expanded its capabilities and is now able to support preprint websites, offering researchers streamlined access to authoritative content through its GetFTR Browser Extension. This enhancement enables users on platforms such as Preprints.org, OSF.io, ArXiv, ChemRxiv, BioRxiv, and SSRN to connect directly to the Version of Record when entitled—whether through institutional subscriptions, open access, or free content. The extension works by matching preprints to DOIs using title, date, and author details. A GetFTR indicator button will now appear next to the preprint, guiding researchers to the full-text version when available. Additionally, the latest update brings critical retraction and errata information directly to researchers at the point of discovery. This ensures that users are not only accessing the latest research but are also informed of any updates or corrections, improving the integrity of citations and academic work. For more information, read the news item.
Classic & Sports Car Magazine Archive Races Into Exact Editions
Exact Editions added the full archive of U.K. magazine Classic & Sports Car, which dates back to 1982, to its platform. It’s available for both institutional and individual subscriptions. The magazine “is essential reading for any motoring enthusiast who is looking to buy, maintain, or restore classic machinery,” Exact Editions shares. It “includes road tests, car purchasing advice and book reviews, as well as event and auction coverage.”For more information, read the press release.
An Exploration of 'AI-Generated Slop' in Public Library Collections
Emanuel Maiberg writes the following in “AI-Generated Slop Is Already in Your Public Library” for 404 Media:Low quality books that appear to be AI generated are making their way into public libraries via their digital catalogs, forcing librarians who are already understaffed to either sort through a functionally infinite number of books to determine what is written by humans and what is generated by AI, or to spend taxpayer dollars to provide patrons with information they don’t realize is AI-generated. For more information, read the article.
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Brandi Scardilli
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