January 2016

Data Sharing

How would data sharing work best? We think it should happen symbiotically, not parasitically. Start with a novel idea, one that is not an obvious extension of the reported work. Second, identify potential collaborators whose collected data may be useful in assessing the hypothesis and propose a collaboration. Third, work together to test the new hypothesis. Fourth, report the new findings with relevant coauthorship to acknowledge both the group that proposed the new idea and the investigative group that accrued the data that allowed it to be tested. What is learned may be beautiful even when seen from close up.

From Data Sharing — NEJM

What a Million Syllabuses Can Teach Us

Until now. Over the past two years, we and our partners at the Open Syllabus Project (based at the American Assembly at Columbia) have collected more than a million syllabuses from university websites. We have also begun to extract some of their key components — their metadata — starting with their dates, their schools, their fields of study and the texts that they assign.

This past week, we made available online a beta version of our Syllabus Explorer, which allows this database to be searched. Our hope and expectation is that this tool will enable people to learn new things about teaching, publishing and intellectual history.

From What a Million Syllabuses Can Teach Us – The New York Times

Endangered species: American public libraries

In 2014, Dawson published The Public Library, A Photographic Essay, with a forward by journalist Bill Moyers and essays by writers including Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Lamott, and Dr. Seuss.

Late last year, the Library of Congress acquired 681 of Dawson’s photographs, along with all his negatives, field notes, correspondence, and maps.

“A hundred years from now, the survey will still be a valuable mirror,” said Helena Zinkham, Library of Congress director for collections and services, in a press release. “The future viewers will just be looking at the images from their own frame of reference and be able to notice more than we might today, such as which kinds of buildings and services endured; which disappeared; and which were preserved as reminders of another era, of library roots.”

From Endangered species: American public libraries

Wi-Fi-enabled school buses leave no child offline

The digital divide and lack of reliable Internet access at home can put low-income and rural students at a real disadvantage. So when superintendent Darryl Adams took over one of the poorest school district in the nation, he made it a top priority to help his students get online 24/7. Special correspondent David Nazar of PBS SoCal reports with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs.

The story of Wikipedia and libraries is being rewritten around the world this week with #1Lib1Ref

Update, January 21: The story of Wikipedia and libraries is being changed, updated, improved and broadened around the world this week. Forty-four news agencies and blogs have mentioned the #1Lib1Ref campaign, which has also received support from The Internet Archive, TechConnect, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. At press time, 983 tweets use the hashtag. You can follow along with the campaign on Twitter by watching the hashtag and following @WikiLibrary. Urge your local librarian(s) to join this global movement!

From Updated: the story of Wikipedia and libraries is being rewritten around the world this week with #1Lib1Ref « Wikimedia blog

IT Security & Privacy Preconference At ALA Annual

LIT1: Digital Privacy and Security: Keeping You And Your Library Safe and Secure In A Post-Snowden World
Friday, June 24, 2016, 1:00PM – 4:00PM
Join Blake Carver from LYRASIS and Alison Macrina from the Library Freedom Project to learn strategies on how to make you, your librarians and your patrons more secure & private in a world of ubiquitous digital surveillance and criminal hacking. We’ll teach tools that keep your data safe inside of the library and out — how to secure your library network environment, website, and public PCs, as well as tools and tips you can teach to patrons in computer classes and one-on-one tech sessions. We’ll tackle security myths, passwords, tracking, malware, and more, covering a range of tools from basic to advanced, making this session ideal for any library staff. 

From Ticketed Events | ALAAC16

How Big a Problem Is It for Google and Facebook That Consumers Don’t Trust Them?

People don’t trust them.
According to a survey just released by consultancy Prophet, neither Facebook nor Google is among the top 10 most relevant brands as ranked by consumers. Nor are they in the top 50. In fact, Facebook barely made the top 100. That’s not because consumers don’t find these platforms useful or even inspirational—they do. But when it comes to faith and confidence in what happens to people’s personal information, everything falls apart.
“These platforms are so enjoyable—Facebook is in the top 20 to 30 brands in making people happy, and it meets an important need,” said Jesse Purewal, associate partner at Prophet. “But being able to depend on it? It’s not a brand people trust.”

From How Big a Problem Is It for Google and Facebook That Consumers Don’t Trust Them? | Adweek

The state of privacy in America | Pew Research Center

After the June 2013 leaks by government contractor Edward Snowden about National Security Agency surveillance of Americans’ online and phone communications, Pew Research Center began an in-depth exploration of people’s views and behaviors related to privacy. Our recent report about how Americans think about privacy and sharing personal information was a capstone of this two-and-a-half-year effort that examined how people viewed not only government surveillance but also commercial transactions involving the capture of personal information.

Here are some of the key findings that emerged from this work:

From The state of privacy in America | Pew Research Center