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Weekly News Digest
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January 6, 2026 — 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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PLA Convenes Transformative Technology Task Force
ALA announced the following:The Public Library Association (PLA) has established the Transformative Technology Task Force to advise the association on the evolving role and impacts of transformative technology on library work and to identify and recommend priority training topics relevant to public library staff and users. The PLA Board of Directors voted in June to sunset the previous Technology Advisory Group and shift focus to artificial intelligence in public libraries for the first two years of the new task force. … Join the conversation with task force members in a PLA Town Hall on January 27 at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time when we consider the questions: How might libraries and library workers lead in relation to artificial intelligence in our communities? How might PLA be a resource and a partner with public libraries in this effort? For more information, read the press release.
Lucidea Provides Tips for Special Librarians Using AI
Lauren Hays writes the following in “Balancing Human Oversight With AI: Tips for Special Librarians” for Lucidea’s Think Clearly blog:There is a lot of discussion about the importance of human values and human work as AI becomes ubiquitous. These conversations are important, and I wholeheartedly agree, but I’ve also been struggling to develop practical ways of implementing these ideas. … In practice, a repeatable AI review checklist for special librarians can help you move faster while protecting quality, credibility, and trust—especially when you’re drafting, summarizing, researching, or creating public-facing content. For more information, read the blog post.
Digital Science Announces the Latest Catalyst Grant Winners
by Barbie E. Keiser Each year, Digital Science grants up to £25,000 to early-stage projects that use technology in novel ways “to advance research and create meaningful change.” The 2025 Catalyst Grant winners—FigureTwo and Pathfinder—advance global research through innovations in data visualization. Both winning teams have used AI to make complex scientific research data more accessible to the public and intelligible to policymakers. FigureTwo helps researchers create scientific figures to accompany their publications. The tool uses AI to edit researchers’ initial attempts to create charts and graphs that will resonate with readers. The resulting data visualizations, diagrams, and maps require no additional coding. Pathfinder “traces translational exchanges between research communities—tracking what knowledge moves, where it moves, and how it gets used. … [I]t analyzes how basic research is repurposed to solve applied problems, from materials engineering to clinical practice.” Honorable mentions for the award are Cochrane’s systematic reviews of health research “that help clinicians, policymakers, and researchers make better-informed medical decisions” and the Community Attention Dashboard, which “provides an innovative way to visualize and understand pre-output research activity by turning everyday community signals into clear, interactive maps of collaboration. By revealing emerging connections, gaps, and opportunities before publications exist, it helps research managers and funders make earlier, better-informed decisions about how to support and grow research communities.”
What Entered the Public Domain in 2026
Sterling Dudley writes the following in “Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026” for the Internet Archive:On January 1, 2026, we celebrate published works from 1930 and published sound recordings from 1925 entering the public domain! Their arrival marks another chapter in our shared cultural heritage: the freedom to breathe new life into overlooked works, remix enduring classics, and circulate the oddities we discover in thrift stores, family attics, and forgotten corners of the internet. … The works of 1930 reflect a world grappling with enormous change: the early years of the Great Depression, anxieties about banks and tariffs (sound familiar?), and a cultural landscape still humming with the last heartbeats of the 1920s. For more information and to see the list of works, read the blog post.
1000 Libraries Magazine Covers Launch of Rural Ethiopian Library
Millie Ramm writes the following in “These Siblings Brought a Public Library and Innovation Hub to Their Rural Community in Ethiopia” for 1000 Libraries Magazine:In a rural area marked by years of conflict and harsh climate conditions, something remarkable has taken shape: a public library and innovation hub founded by siblings Yohans [Zerihun] and his sister. Fresh out of university, instead of heading straight into career life, they made a bold, beautiful decision: to build a place where young people could learn, explore, create, and simply be kids again. … Together, they gathered books, prepared digital materials, set up computers, and transformed an empty space into something meaningful. The moment the doors opened, the community felt an immediate shift. Suddenly, there was a place designed with them in mind, a center that belonged to everyone. For more information, read the article.
RBmedia Reaches Milestone of 100,000 Audiobooks
RBmedia’s “catalog has surpassed 100,000 titles, [making it] the largest collection of premium audiobooks in the industry.” It offers titles across 13 audio brands and for listeners of all ages; it “includes both traditionally narrated audiobooks as well as dramatized audio with full casts, cinematic music, and sound effects. The company releases audiobooks in English, Spanish, French, and German.”“Reaching 100,000 titles represents an extraordinary body of work, and we’re grateful to all who have worked alongside us over the years to create it,” says Troy Juliar, chief content officer. “There is a story behind every one of these 100,000 audiobooks, but each one begins with an author or publishing partner placing their trust in RBmedia.” For more information, read the press release.
Growing Libraries Adds to Its Team
Growing Libraries appointed Brendan Pearce as VP of business development. He “brings more than 20 years of sales leadership experience, with a strong track record of building impactful partnerships in public libraries and delivering successful go-to-market strategies across multiple regions.”“I’m thrilled to join Growing Libraries and help libraries leverage game-changing, data-driven tools to understand their communities and expand their reach through targeted marketing,” Pearce says. “I look forward to reconnecting with longtime partners and building new relationships as we work together to strengthen community connections.” For more information, read the press release.
ByWater Solutions Plans Library Cybersecurity Webinar Series
“ByWater Solutions is partnering with Novare Library Services to provide a Digital Defense: Strengthening Library Cybersecurity Webinar Series in Spring 2026,” ByWater Solutions shares. “This will be a six-part series featuring a variety of guest presenters speaking on a range of cybersecurity topics. These sessions are open to anyone and will be recorded.”The first webinar will be held Jan. 28 and will be titled Practical Cybersecurity & Data Privacy for Library Staff. For more information, read the news item.
Digital Science Helps Safeguard U.S.-Funded Research
Digital Science “affirmed its support for U.S. government efforts to safeguard taxpayer-funded research, following the release of a new investigative report by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.” The press release continues:The Committee’s report, Containment Breach: The U.S. Department of Energy’s Failures in Research Security and Protecting Taxpayer-Funded Research From Foreign Exploitation, … investigates U.S. government-funded research collaborations with entities linked to the Chinese military and other foreign entities that represent a national security threat. The report contains numerous examples of U.S-funded research links with China’s defense research and industrial base—including entities that appear on U.S. government national security entity lists—from June 2023 to June 2025, obtained by using Digital Science’s Dimensions. For more information, read the press release.
Exact Editions Adds Global Insight Magazine for Academic Libraries
Exact Editions added Global Insight to its digital magazine platform. “Published by WinStar—the global research and advisory arm based adjacent to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and London, Global Insight provides investors, students and corporate executives with a strategic, timely economic perspective,” Exact Editions shares. “Academic libraries is a key market for Global Insight, as the publication’s historic forecasting and international M&A expertise will be of interest for those studying and teaching in the fields of business, economics, and strategy.”Subscriptions are available for individuals and institutions and include limited back issues. For more information, read the press release.
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Brandi Scardilli
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