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Weekly News Digest
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March 25, 2002 — 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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Legislators Save Washington State Library
Lawmakers in Washington state have kept the State Library open by transferring it to the Secretary of State's office and providing funding for it from the governor's Emergency Fund as part of the recently passed budget plan. The governor's office had earlier proposed closing the library to save money. (See the February 11 NewsBreak at http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/nbreader.asp?ArticleID=19002).In supporting the plan, Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed wrote: "There's no question these are difficult economic times, but the State Library has survived worse. World War II, the Great Depression, the Boeing bust, and the recessions of the early '80s and '90s all left Washington in financially dire straights. We didn't close the library doors then and we shouldn't now…. Since 1853, the State Library has helped improve the quality of life in Washington. It has given us an accurate account of history—good, bad, or indifferent—and stopped us from reliving our mistakes. No one alive today can say with certainty which aspects of history will be most important to future generations. For them, we must fulfill our obligation and preserve our legacy to the very best of our ability" (http://www.secstate.wa.gov/office/library_03152002.aspx). Source: Washington Secretary of State
Compton’s Encyclopedia Returns to Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (http://www.britannica.com) has announced that it has acquired an exclusive license from Broderbund, LLC and Success Publishing Group to publish and distribute Compton's Encyclopedia in print and CD-ROM. The agreement brings the popular student encyclopedia back to Britannica, which owned Compton's for 32 years before selling it in 1993. Britannica will immediately add the 2002 edition of Compton's to its product line, where it will join the flagship Encyclopaedia Britannica. According to the announcement, this agreement will bolster Britannica's position in the encyclopedia market, especially with libraries and schools in the upper elementary grades through high school. Mike Capetanakis, president of Success Publishing Group, which previously published Compton's, will join Britannica as a consultant.The agreement is the latest in a series of moves by Britannica to broaden its coverage in the encyclopedia market, where it has been a key player for more than 2 centuries. Last fall the company published a new version of the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica, and it is about to release the first one-volume encyclopedia in its history. According to the announcement, other single-volume reference works are also under development and the company plans new reference products for the Internet, CD-ROM, and DVD. Britannica is currently differentiating its Web offerings, creating different sites that serve the needs of consumers, families, K-12 schools, universities, and libraries. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
EBSCO Publishing Adds New Databases, Features
EBSCO Publishing (http://www.epnet.com) has announced the launch of two new databases for public libraries and schools: the Vocational and Career Collection and the General Science Collection. The company also announced enhancements to the NoveList Readers' Advisory Service.The Vocational and Career Collection covers advertising, nursing, hotel management, restaurants, and many others fields. Information includes industry data and articles about interviewing, resumes, compensation, and other pertinent subjects. The collection provides full-text coverage for nearly 340 trade and industry-related periodicals. The General Science Collection offers information on all aspects of scientific study with full-text coverage of more than 60 of the most popular science magazines. Publications covered in the database include Archaeology, Astronomy, National Geographic, Popular Science, and Scientific American, among many others. Subject areas range from the observation, description, identification, and experimental investigation of phenomena to the application of science to industrial and commercial objectives. The NoveList Readers' Advisory Service now offers linking to online library catalogs using ILS and Z39.50 linking. Librarians and patrons no longer have to leave NoveList to search their library's catalog for the availability of a book they want to read. They are now able to link directly to the library's online catalog from a title found in a NoveList search. Source: EBSCO Publishing
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Brandi Scardilli
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