Digital technology solutions provider Findaway has announced the debut of the Playaway Launchpad tablet for teens and adults, featuring a selection of pre-loaded interactive learning apps, brain games, comics, and casual games. The new line of pre-loaded tablets was developed with feedback from librarians following the success of the original Playaway Launchpad for children, which debuted in April 2015. Findaway founder and CEO Mitch Kroll noted that the tablets, which start at $99, could help libraries bridge the digital divide.
Knight News Challenge Winners to Develop Open Data Training Program
By on February 10, 2016
Anne Neville knows the value of open data. Neville, director of the California Research Bureau at the California State Library, has spent the last six years directing the State Broadband Initiative at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in Washington, DC. She’s passionate about digital equity, and supporting the critical work public libraries do to […]
The Human Connection | The Digital Shift 2015
By on November 5, 2015
Libraries may be going digital, but librarians still bring—and need—that personal touch. On October 14, Library Journal and School Library Journal’s virtual conference, The Digital Shift, Libraries Connecting Communities, aptly demonstrated this in a wide range of offerings throughout the day-long event.
Game Design Proves Popular at Orange County Center
By on August 31, 2015
Since its grand opening in February 2014, the Orange County Library System’s (OCLS) Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation, and Creativity has offered patrons access to high-tech tools ranging from 3-D printers to flight simulators. In the past year and a half, the center, located in the library’s central branch in Orlando, FL, has become a locus of creativity within the community, helping patrons connect and collaborate with others who share their interests. Ormilla Vengersammy, Melrose Center manager and Technology and Education Department Head for OCLS, described the center’s growing video game design program as one such example.
Scholastic Sells Ed Tech Business to Focus on Publishing
By on April 28, 2015
Scholastic announced on April 24 that it will sell its education technology and services division to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $575 million to focus on its thriving publishing business.
ProQuest Acquires SIPX
By on April 21, 2015
ProQuest, through its affiliate Bowker, on April 8 acquired SIPX, the creator of a cloud-based digital course materials solution designed to eliminate redundant spending and address copyright concerns for universities and academic libraries. SIPX co-founder Franny Lee will continue to lead the company, reporting to ProQuest Senior VP for Strategy and Business Development Ben Lewis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ProQuest Acquires SIPX
By on April 21, 2015
ProQuest, through its affiliate Bowker, on April 8 acquired SIPX, the creator of a cloud-based digital course materials solution designed to eliminate redundant spending and address copyright concerns for universities and academic libraries. SIPX co-founder Franny Lee will continue to lead the company, reporting to ProQuest Senior VP for Strategy and Business Development Ben Lewis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Louisville Libraries Help Train Local Talent For Tech Jobs
By on April 17, 2015
Kentucky’s Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is teaming with government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses in its community to teach people to develop websites and program software—and once those skills are honed, getting them placed in tech jobs around the region. With Code Louisville, local employers detail the programming knowledge that applicants will need to fill specific job openings, and sometimes provide mentors to assist in training programs. Using an LFPL card, trainees can access Treehouse online training programs at no cost.
Louisville Libraries Help Train Local Talent For Tech Jobs
By on April 17, 2015
Kentucky’s Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is teaming with government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses in its community to teach people to develop websites and program software—and once those skills are honed, getting them placed in tech jobs around the region. With Code Louisville, local employers detail the programming knowledge that applicants will need to fill specific job openings, and sometimes provide mentors to assist in training programs. Using an LFPL card, trainees can access Treehouse online training programs at no cost.
UMass Amherst Library Opens 3D Printing Innovation Center
By on March 31, 2015
The W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst on March 26 hosted the grand opening of its new MakerBot Innovation Center. Part of the library’s Digital Media Lab, the Innovation Center features 50 3D printers, several desktop 3D scanners, and MakerBot’s proprietary Innovation Center Management Platform, which links all 50 printers together, enabling print queuing and mass production of 3D prints. UMass Amherst is the first institution to offer such large-scale access to 3D printing within a library setting.
