Blake

Lever Press new open-access, peer-reviewed press

As of December 4, 2015, nearly 40 liberal arts college libraries—most of them members of the Oberlin Group, and Allegheny College and Ursinus College participating from outside Oberlin’s membership—have committed to contribute more than $1 million to the work of Lever Press over the next five years. Librarians and faculty members at these institutions will also comprise the press’s Oversight Committee and Editorial Board. Supported by these pledges, Lever Press aims to acquire, develop, produce and disseminate a total of 60 new open-access titles by the end of 2020.

From News – Lever Press

January 27, 2016 by Libraries

Are paper books really disappearing?

That e-books have surged in popularity in recent years is not news, but where they are headed – and what effect this will ultimately have on the printed word – is unknown. Are printed books destined to eventually join the ranks of clay tablets, scrolls and typewritten pages, to be displayed in collectors’ glass cases with other curious items of the distant past?

From BBC – Future – Are paper books really disappearing?

January 25, 2016 by Books EBooks

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

January 24, 2016 by Uncategorized

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

January 24, 2016 by Internet School Libraries

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

January 23, 2016 by Libraries

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

January 22, 2016 by Internet Libraries

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

January 22, 2016 by American Library Association Internet IT Security in Libraries Libraries Privacy Technology

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