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Weekly News Digest
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June 26, 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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EveryLibrary Institute Report Looks at Changes in Book Ban Trends Since 2020
The EveryLibrary Institute issued a report, “The Censorship Acceleration—An Analysis of Book Ban Trends After 2020” (registration required). Author and researcher Marianne Wood Forrest uses original research and data to analyze “how coordinated political, ideological, and religious forces have transformed the censorship landscape in America since 2020.”The EveryLibrary Institute shares, “The report examines the rise of well-funded ‘parental rights’ groups, such as Moms for Liberty, and the use of censorship as a tactic in the broader culture war. It charts the shifting strategies, language, and power dynamics associated with this new wave of book bans.” For more information, read the report summary.
OverDrive and Innovative Embark on an Integration Road Map
OverDrive and Innovative, part of Clarivate, is embarking on a joint strategy for library leaders with the goal to “leverage each company’s market leading technologies and solutions for how readers and library staff interact with the library’s vast catalog of materials, both in print and digital formats. These future innovations are expected to strengthen libraries’ programming, optimize use of physical spaces and resources, and increase the overall value of library services for their communities.”The companies will create a road map for integration that centers on Libby, Kanopy, and Vega Library Experience (LX) to “streamline workflows, reduce costs, and enhance engagement.” For example, libraries using Vega LX will experience deep-linking to OverDrive content such as Libby ebooks and Kanopy movies. Libby and Kanopy users can discover library programs via Vega Program right in Libby and Kanopy. And a new analytics dashboard will consolidate insights from Vega’s reporting and OverDrive Marketplace. More updates on this integration will follow later in the year, with new tools and benefits coming in 2026. For more information, read the press release.
Clarivate Analyzes the Last Decade of Its Highly Cited Researchers List
To celebrate the centenary of Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) founder Eugene Garfield, Clarivate rolled out an ISI analysis of the trends—featuring an interactive dashboard—across the past decade of its Highly Cited Researchers list, 2014–2024. Key trends include:- U.S.-based researchers dominate with 24,973 awards, far ahead of Mainland China (7,340) and the U.K. (5,070). The U.S. leads in all fields except Engineering and Material Science, where Mainland China takes the lead.
- U.S. awards are declining—from 1,701 in 2014 to 1,367 in 2024—while Mainland China’s numbers surged from 122 to 576 over the same period across all 21 [Essential Science Indicator] fields.
- The U.K. leads Europe across all fields, especially in Neuroscience & Behavior (14%), Space Science (12%), Computer Science (11%), and Clinical Medicine (10%).
David Pendlebury, ISI’s head of research analysis, wrote a blog post looking at the 405 researchers who have made the list every year. He states, “We took a closer look to find out more about these 405 Highly Cited Researchers with remarkable publication and citation staying power, whose research has had a consistent and enduring influence on their fields.” For more information, read the analysis and the blog post.
GetFTR Enables CABI Digital Library Users to See Access Rights to Full-Text Resources
Researchers using CABI Digital Library can now more easily determine their access rights to full-text content, thanks to the recent integration with the Get Full Text Research (GetFTR) service.GetFTR is a free-to-use solution for academic discovery services and scholarly collaboration networks that provides researchers with faster access to the published research they need, whether subscription or open access. See Immediately If You Have Access to the Full Text Those conducting a search on CABI Digital Library can now see the GetFTR indicator on the search results page against relevant records and on the abstract record pages. This enables users to see immediately if they have access to the full text through their institutional licenses and can follow the smart links to rapidly get access. Lieke Boerefijn-van Schaaijk, Platform Manager at CABI, said, “Integrating the CABI Digital Library further with GetFTR is a valuable step forward for our users. Researchers can now instantly see if they have full-text access through their institution and follow smart links to get to the content quickly. “This streamlines the discovery process, saves valuable time, and helps ensure that users are working with the most up-to-date and trusted sources.” Enhancement Helps Researchers Spend Less Time Navigating Access Barriers Libraries and researchers do not need to opt-in, register, or download any new software, GetFTR links are automatically displayed in the resources they use. GetFTR provides visibility to open access content in hybrid journals even when the institution does not subscribe to the journal as entitlement checks are carried out at the DOI not the issue level. Boerefijn-van Schaaijk added, “This latest enhancement helps researchers spend less time navigating access barriers and more time engaging with relevant content. This is part of CABI’s continuous efforts to improve search features and increase the value of our bibliographic databases.” Wayne Coles Senior PR Manager CABI Nosworthy Way Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8DE United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)1491 829395 Email: w.coles@cabi.org View us at cabi.org CABI improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. Follow us on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
ProQuest Unveils New Ebook Central Reader App
ProQuest announced the launch of the new Ebook Central Reader App, which “provides a secure, accessible and flexible reading experience across mobile and desktop devices. It’s a modern companion to the Ebook Central online reader and is designed for students who expect to study on the move, and for libraries that need trusted, future-ready infrastructure,” ProQuest shares.Key features include improved accessibility, along with “a consistent and dependable experience across iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS”; “a refreshed, user-friendly interface that makes it easy for students to navigate and engage with content”; “reliable offline access”; “greater control over device authorizations” for users; and “privacy and security built in from the ground up.” For more information, read the blog post.
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Brandi Scardilli
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