|
|
Weekly News Digest
 |
May 12, 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.
|
PEN America Releases New Report on Nonfiction Censorship
PEN America shares the following:In its latest report on book bans in public schools, PEN America … documents a doubling of censorship of nonfiction on subjects from history and health to general knowledge, including biographies and memoirs. The targeting of titles about real events or people underscores ‘an embrace of anti-intellectualism’ within the book banning movement, according to the new report Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away By Book Bans. … Twenty-nine percent of the unique titles banned last school year were nonfiction. In addition, approximately 13% of all unique titles fell into the educational/informational genre—texts primarily written for students for reference or learning purposes and covering a range of subjects. Overall, the rise of banned nonfiction and educational titles exposed a new casualty in the campaign to suppress and restrict learning, which goes hand in hand with efforts to undermine public education and librarianship itself, the report states. For more information, read the press release.
EBSCO Information Services Joins Forces With GetFTR for Easier Full-Text Access
EBSCO Information Services partnered with GetFTR to connect open web discovery with access to full texts on EBSCOhost. The collaboration enables researchers at more than 70,000 institutions around the world to understand full-text availability at their library.“When researchers discover supported content on the open web and in other discovery environments, GetFTR indicators show when full text is available and direct them to the article on EBSCOhost,” EBSCO shares. “As the first aggregator to partner with GetFTR, EBSCO is extending the visibility of its research content beyond library interfaces in yet another way, helping close the gap between discovery and access. EBSCO is also providing additional routes to the full-text version of record through GetFTR, making trusted content more visible at the point of discovery across a growing range of research tools and platforms.” For more information, read the press release.
Paratext Expands Functionality for bird & nest
Paratext Develops Local Resource Knowledgebase for birdFor immediate release: Leesburg, VA – May 6, 2026. Paratext announces expanded functionality for bird & nest, introducing key enhancements. Research librarians know well that managing a research collection and ensuring consistent communication among stakeholders is complex. To facilitate this, bird notes are now available to retain local content awareness. Customized bird notes are available for any of the nearly 10,000 research databases profiled within bird. This means a single application to inform all librarians of the status of any given resource. bird notes can communicate updates, identify faculty utilization of resources, highlight cancellations or product replacements, indicate transitions to Open Access, monitor licensing terms users, and provide other essential information. Each bird notes knowledgebase is unique to the institution and accessible to authorized personnel. Additionally, new comparative benchmarks have been deployed within nest analytics, enabling libraries to assess their current holdings against the 250 most widely-held database titles. nest also now supports expanded authentication layers to track access more closely, allowing precise control over who may generate and view reports from bird & nest. Eric M. Calaluca, President of Paratext, notes that “these latest enhancements were suggested directly by librarians currently using bird. I can’t imagine a better approach to product development, and expect this ‘unofficial collaboration’ to continue as bird & nest enter a new phase of development.” bird: Base Inventory of Research Databases, launched in 2024, is used by libraries from the Ivy league to small colleges. Access is by institutional license. nest, launched in 2005, expands the reach of bird, enabling instant comparison of local holdings to more than 750 academic library collections, along with numerous additional benchmarks. bird is produced by Paratext, in partnership with Compendium Library Services. Trials for librarians are available at bird-and-nest.com. About Paratext: Founded in 1993, Paratext is an independent database and analytics company based in Northern Virginia. The company is known for award-winning databases used in libraries all over the world including Eight Centuries, Reference Universe, and United States Masterfile. About Compendium Library Services: Colorado-based Compendium Library Services specializes in cloud-based public services solutions, including Desk Trackerand Space Tracker. Compendium was founded in 2006. Contact: info@paratext.com
A Preview of First Combined ASIS&T and Special Libraries Conference
Lauren Hays writes the following in “Kendra K. Levine on the First Combined ASIS&T and Special Libraries Conference” for Lucidea’s Think Clearly blog:This June’s 2026 Information Science Summit/Special Libraries Conference is the first event to combine the Information Science Summit (part of ASIS&T) and the Special Libraries Conference, which ‘carries on the tradition’ of the SLA Annual Conference. Kendra K. Levine is the chair of the program planning committee for the event. She took the time to give me an update on plans for the conference. For more information, read the blog post.
Cadmore Media Helps Rockefeller University Press With Its Video Content
Cadmore Media partnered with Rockefeller University Press to enhance the video content related to the publisher’s biomedical research journals, such as supplementary materials and author summaries. “Using Cadmore Media’s Media Embed, video is delivered directly within journal articles on platforms including Silverchair and HighWire Press. Rather than sending users to external pages, content is embedded into the article experience, creating a more seamless workflow,” the press release states.For more information, read the press release.
DCL Gets Acquired by CTI to Enhance Data and Information Management
CTI (Cartridge Technologies, LLC) acquired DCL (Data Conversion Laboratory) to accelerate the building of a comprehensive platform for data and information management. Colin Murphy, CEO of CTI, says, “Together, CTI and DCL offer customers a more complete picture of the data lifecycle, from the front-end management of physical and analog information to structured, enriched, digital content.” Mark Gross, founder and president of DCL, says, “In an era where AI makes knowledge management both more powerful and more consequential, the combined organization is positioned to be an industry leader for trustworthy information services.” For more information, read the press release.
What Libraries Should Learn From the Canvas Ransomware Attack
Marydee Ojala writes the following in “Canvas Outage and Library Contingency Planning” for Information Today Europe:Instructure’s Canvas platform was hit by a ransomware attack in early May, creating chaos in educational institutions worldwide. … Libraries were also hit hard by the outage. When Canvas went down, do did its Library Tools feature, which libraries use for displaying LibGuides and subject-focused database lists, along with basic information such as location hours, AskALibrarian FAQs, librarian-designed modules, and chat widgets. Librarians could also have been added to courses by the instructors. For more information, read the blog post.
CCC Adds Internal-Use AI Reuse Rights to its Annual Copyright License for Higher Education
CCC announced that its Annual Copyright License for Higher Education “will include internal-use AI reuse rights, expanding the license to address the growing use of AI across higher education in the United States. … The expanded CCC license helps close a growing permissions gap on campuses by enabling the authorized internal reuse of lawfully acquired content within AI systems for summarization, chatbots, prompting, and research support.”CCC notes, it’s a “voluntary, non-exclusive, collective license that allows academic institutions to reuse high-quality, text-based copyrighted content in course materials and within AI systems to support teaching and learning, enrich research, and simplify copyright compliance.” For more information, read the press release.
Web of Science Research Intelligence Has Worldwide Debut
Clarivate launched Web of Science Research Intelligence, “an AI-native research intelligence platform designed to support decision-making across funding, strategy and impact for research institutions.” The company shares, “Developed in close partnership with the global research community and shaped by more than 50 development partners and early adopters across 20 countries, Web of Science Research Intelligence is now available to institutions worldwide. The platform brings together trusted, curated Clarivate data with responsible academic AI to help research offices, library teams and researchers secure funding, strengthen collaboration, inform strategy and demonstrate real-world impact.”For more information, read the press release.
GovInfo Gains 1,000-Plus Congressionally Mandated Reports
The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) announced that more than 1,000 congressionally mandated reports from 90 federal agencies are available via GovInfo. Topics covered include veterans’ medical care, healthcare access, marine and coastal resources, land use and conservation, and small businesses.“Exceeding 1,000 Congressionally Mandated Reports—doubling the number that were available just 18 months ago—demonstrates our momentum in making these reports available,” says GPO director Hugh Nathanial Halpern. For more information, read the press release.
Mission Telecom Unveils Project: Volume Up to Help Libraries With Hotspot-Lending Programs
Mission Telecom introduced Project: Volume Up, “a nationwide initiative designed to help public libraries launch or expand hotspot lending programs in their communities. To introduce the project, Mission Telecom brings together hardware, nationwide 4G and 5G coverage, and nonprofit pricing into a single, ready-to-launch solution—so libraries can quickly get hotspot programs up and running.”The company continues, “The new program offers a critical lifeline to libraries across the country that were forced to end or cut back on hotspot lending programs after the FCC eliminated funding for the E-rate program in October.” The project offers two entry points for libraries: - Switch & Save allows libraries to retain their existing devices while switching their SIM card to Mission Telecom—delivering immediate savings without the need for new hardware.
- Launch for Access gives libraries everything they need to start a hotspot lending program: 2 Franklin T10 4G hotspots, 2 donated Franklin T10 4G hotspots to keep, 4 lines of unlimited service for 12 months, and dedicated account support.
For more information, read the press release.
Send correspondence concerning the Weekly News Digest to NewsBreaks Editor
Brandi Scardilli
|
