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Weekly News Digest
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February 24, 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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Elsevier and Jisc Enter Into 3-Year Read-and-Publish Agreement
Elsevier signed a 3-year combined read-and-publish agreement with Jisc, the negotiating body representing U.K. academic research institutions. The participating institutions get continued access to Elsevier journals and the ability to publish OA in Elsevier journals.“At a time when institutions are managing a range of pressures, this agreement recognises the importance of providing researchers with clear routes to immediate open access, alongside continued access to high-quality, trusted research published in Elsevier journals. Our partnership with Jisc is central to developing approaches that respond to the needs of institutions and support the research community as a whole,” says William Rubens, regional VP of research sales at Elsevier. For more information, read the press release.
Book Riot Spreads the Word About the U.K.'s National Year of Reading
Rebecca Joines Schinsky writes the following for Book Riot:Our neighbors across the pond have named 2026 the National Year of Reading with Go All In, a campaign that [is] ‘reconnecting reading with the things that already inspire us—from playlists and football matches to films, food and family time.’ … The UK’s Department of Education partnered with more than 60 organizations to create Go All In out of the recognition that ‘everyone knows reading expands worlds, sharpens minds, and fuels creativity. But fewer of us are making time for it.’ For more information, read the article.
HeinOnline Rolls Out Environmental Law and Policy Database
HeinOnline introduced Environmental Law and Policy, “a comprehensive research database that integrates U.S. and international primary source materials documenting the development of environmental law and policy across time and jurisdictions.” It offers 8,511 titles, 11,842 volumes, and more than 3.5 million pages of content. Users can find legislative histories, congressional hearings, committee prints, agency publications, and more.“The Environmental Law and Policy database is designed to reflect how environmental research is conducted. Primary law, legislative histories, government documents, and related materials are grouped to allow researchers to move seamlessly between statutory authority, regulatory frameworks, policy development, and historical context within a single collection,” HeinOnline shares. “An interactive timeline charts the modern environmental movement from 1958 to the present, linking historical events directly to statutes, court decisions, and policy documents.” For more information, read the press release.
University of Michigan Library Hosts Exhibit on the 250th Anniversary of Common Sense
The University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Common Sense by Thomas Paine. It holds 58 editions of the pamphlet and is showcasing four editions in its student-curated exhibit Revolutionary Paine, which runs through May 8.Students in the Revolutionary Political Thought in Early America and Beyond political science course “spent a semester investigating Paine’s impact as one of the nation’s earliest influencers,” the University of Michigan reports. “Curating the exhibit … allowed them to actively explore Paine’s work, along with that of his contemporaries and critics, to better understand his political thought and his controversial legacy.” For more information, read the news item.
RBmedia Offers Audiobooks of Two Oscar-Nominated Titles
RBmedia shared "films nominated for Best Picture at the 2026 Academy Awards were inspired by books published in audio by RBmedia. The nominations highlight the enduring appeal of powerful storytelling across formats—from page to audio to screen.” They are Vineland by Thomas Pynchon (which inspired One Battle After Another; it “follows former radical Zoyd Wheeler and his teenage daughter as they search for her mother while evading a federal agent”) and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (which “follows a young scientist whose quest to create life leads to devastating consequences for both creator and creation”). For more information, read the press release.
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Plans Inaugural AI for Public Good Conference
The University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill “will convene leaders from academia, industry innovators, government and the arts for its inaugural AI for Public Good Conference on Monday, April 13. The full-day event will delve into one central question: How can artificial intelligence be developed and applied in ways that truly serve the public good?”The university shares, “The conference will spotlight how cutting-edge AI research and interdisciplinary collaboration can be translated into scalable solutions that strengthen public health, environmental resilience, civic institutions and the creative economy.” There will be keynote addresses, plenary conversations, breakout sessions, and a student hackathon. For more information, read the announcement.
AM Updates Its Mass Observation Project for the Previous Decade
AM unveiled a new module for its Mass Observation Project that is focused on the 2010s. AM shares, “This continuation of the well-known and award-winning Mass Observation Project database covers the years 2010-2019, following chronologically from AM’s previous module. This next decade of material gathered by Mass Observation, based at The Keep at the University of Sussex, continues to provide access to rare, first-hand accounts that support subject-led research, information literacy instruction, and interdisciplinary teaching.” For more information, read the news item.
Cabells Launches a STEM Journal Data Product
Cabells posted about its new Journalytics STEM product, which provides “the same next-level journal data as its companion Academic and Medicine products to support the best possible decision-making across STEM subjects.” Cabells shares that there are more than “7,000 journals included across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics areas. Combined with Predatory Reports, which recently hit the 20,000 journal milestone, the databases combine to offer a very powerful decision-making tool.”For more information, read the blog post.
HeinOnline Expands Its Law Journal Library With the Dispute Resolution Journal
HeinOnline added “the Dispute Resolution Journal to its Law Journal Library, in partnership with the American Arbitration Association (AAA). This new archive celebrates the AAA’s 100th anniversary and marks a significant milestone in preserving and expanding access to one of the most influential journals in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR).”The journal spans “nearly nine decades of scholarship—from the journal’s earliest volumes in the 1930s through today,” HeinOnline shares. “As part of this collaboration, HeinOnline worked closely with the AAA to digitize historic print volumes that were previously available only in limited physical or scanned formats. These materials have been unified into a single, uninterrupted digital collection.” For more information, read the press release.
The Library of Virginia Is ASERL’s Newest Member
“The Library of Virginia has been approved as the newest member of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), a significant opportunity that expands Virginia’s role in one of the nation’s most active regional research library consortia,” ASERL reports. “The announcement follows a vote of ASERL’s membership at its Fall 2025 meeting, where the organization welcomed the Library of Virginia into its growing community of research institutions.”“We are honored to join ASERL and look forward to contributing to the consortium’s longstanding commitment to excellence,” says Librarian of Virginia Dennis T. Clark. “This membership aligns with our mission to preserve Virginia’s history, support lifelong learning and expand access to information for all Virginians. We are excited to collaborate with colleagues across the Southeast on initiatives that enhance research, digital access and public engagement.” For more information, read the press release.
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Brandi Scardilli
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