Featured Stories
Latest Stories
IMLS Invites Civic-Minded Techies To Hack Agency Data
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced on May 21 its plans to participate in the first National Day of Civic Hacking on June 1 and 2. Described as a “public-private-people partnership,” the event is being further described as “the largest ever to bring together citizens from around the country to work with local, state, and federal governments—as well as private sector organizations—with the common goal of improving their community through technology.”
Pew Study Shows Teens’ Social Media Use Rising, Race Affects Habits
Teenagers are revealing more about themselves on social media than ever before, but they’re also taking more steps to protect their privacy online, according to “Teens, Social Media, and Privacy,” a May 21 report issued by Pew Internet. The report also found Twitter use among teens—especially African Americans—is rising, while teens’ fondness for Facebook is on the decline.
Structured Data on Web Pages
By now the announcement of a collaborative project by the big search engines to create a vocabulary for encoding metatada for people, places, and things, is old news. Schema.org made a splash a while back, but it’s a bit hard to tell what the take-up has been like by web managers. However, since I recently [...]
Califa Launches Enki, a Lending Platform for Direct Ebook Distribution
The Califa Library Group and Contra Costa County Library (CCCL) today officially announced the beta launch of Enki Library, a new ebook platform designed to host and lend library-managed ebooks using the Douglas County model. Named after the Sumerian god of mischief, creativity, and intelligence, Enki went live at CCCL and the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) on May 6, and will soon serve multiple libraries in California, beginning with members of the Bay Area Library and Information System (BALIS) consortium.
Research: 2012 Ebook Usage Reports
LJ and SLJ present the most up to date data on how libraries and their users are adopting ebooks
and the driving factors behind purchasing and usage activity in the public, academic,
and school (K-12) markets.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY!
Ebook Platforms
EBL Touts Its Versatility | Series: Exploring Ebook Options
Ebook Library (EBL), the library ebook platform launched in 2004 by Australian company Ebooks Corporation, has had worldwide success. More than 600 institutions, encompassing thousands of libraries, around the world now use EBL.
The majority, 81 percent, are academic libraries, with another 15 percent of the client base made up of special, government, and corporate libraries; the remaining four percent are split between public and school libraries. Higher education institutions large and small, including three LJ will look at more closely—the University of Texas (UT) at Austin; Wellesley College, MA, one of the famed “Seven Sisters” schools; and Fairfield University, CT—are among EBL’s many clients.
3M Makes Its Presence Felt | Series: Exploring Ebook Options
It was a coup when 3M announced in June, just three months after Penguin Group had severed its relationship with OverDrive, that it had brought Penguin tentatively back into the library ebook fold through a pilot project with the New York Public Library (NYPL) and the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). The deal typified the way 3M has made its presence felt in the library ebook market, from striking such notable content deals to bringing its considerable experience as a technology company to bear on the development of its 3M Cloud Library platform and hiring away LJ reviews editor Heather McCormack.
New Streaming Ebook Platform StarWalk Kids Goes Live
Starwalk Kids, a digital streaming service available by subscription, launched October 10 with a curated collection emphasizing nonfiction. “We think this is the future of digital media for schools because it’s device neutral and offers simultaneous access,” says StarWalk co-founder Liz Nealon.
K-12 News
Pew Study Shows Teens’ Social Media Use Rising, Race Affects Habits
Teenagers are revealing more about themselves on social media than ever before, but they’re also taking more steps to protect their privacy online, according to “Teens, Social Media, and Privacy,” a May 21 report issued by Pew Internet. The report also found Twitter use among teens—especially African Americans—is rising, while teens’ fondness for Facebook is on the decline.
The Best PowerPoint Alternatives for Creating Great Presentations
We’ve all endured “death by PowerPoint.” It’s a painful experience for the audience and probably not all that fun for the presenter either. To help students deliver effective presentations—free of those deadly bullet points—SLJ columnist Richard Byrne cites his go-to applications.
SLJ Reviews Information Literacy Courseware ResearchReady
What is ResearchReady? The new information literacy courseware is “just about everything we try and teach condensed into a single convenient, Web-based and tablet-friendly can,” according to SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings.
Librarians Take Aim at Pew Study on Parents and Libraries
A recent national report from the Pew Research Center that stated that most parents consider libraries important for their children has attracted some criticism from the library community, which is concerned that the findings are based on a skewed sample and put too much emphasis on reading.
Self-Published Ebooks not a Solution for K-12 Schools
While self-published titles may be an option for public libraries when it comes to acquiring ebooks, not so for schools, according to SLJ columnist Christopher Harris, who lays out the ongoing challenges for ebook adoption in K-12.
Roy Tennant: Digital Libraries
Structured Data on Web Pages
By now the announcement of a collaborative project by the big search engines to create a vocabulary for encoding metatada for people, places, and things, is old news. Schema.org made a splash a while back, but it’s a bit hard to tell what the take-up has been like by web managers. However, since I recently [...]
The Post-MARC Era, Part 2: Where the Problems Lie, Part 1
In Part 1 of this series I looked at what has become the inevitability of change in our fundamental bibliographic metadata standard MARC. And by MARC I really mean the collection of technologies, rules, carrier formats, and what have you that could be hung off that rubric. However, as I turn to identifying specific problems [...]
I, For One, Welcome Our New Software Overlords
As reported by CNet and elsewhere, Adobe is make a dramatic move to “cloud-only” versions of its famous Creative Suite of software applications. Creative Suite includes such programs as Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, among others. Suffice it to say that most creative professionals rely on Adobe software on a daily basis. And it’s quite possible [...]
The Post-MARC Era, Part 1: If It’s Televised, It Can’t Be the Revolution
Please note: This series of posts outlines my opinions and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of my OCLC colleagues or of OCLC as an organization. Also, these opinions are held regardless of any impact the paths I suggest may have on my employer. You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will [...]
