April 28, 2024

Six Top Sources for Free Images, Video, and Audio | Cool Tools

A curated list of resources to help students find high-quality, copyright friendly media for use in projects or presentations.

Librarians Discuss Privacy, MOOCs, and More at LITA Top Tech Trends Panel | ALA 2013

Clifford Lynch and Char Booth

With the continuing travels of Edward Snowden keeping the National Security Administration’s (NSA) surveillance habits in the news, the discussion during Sunday’s LITA Top Technology Trends 2013 panel at the American Library Association’s Annual Convention turned frequently to the future of privacy, and the role that libraries might play in protecting their patrons.

Califa, DCL, Open Library Make Commitments to Smashwords’ Library Direct

Califa, Douglas County Libraries, and The Internet Archive’s Open Library have made purchase commitments to acquire variations of the top 10,000 best-selling ebooks from indie distributor Smashwords. All told, the three separate commitments total about $100,000. The sales will occur through Library Direct, a new service that Smashwords has launched to facilitate the transfer of large collections of ebooks to libraries.

Internet Archive’s Peter Brantley Urges Librarians to More Actively Reshape the Digital Landscape | ALA Annual 2012

The Internet Archive’s Peter Brantley made a cogent and precise presentation at the American Library Association conference this week that urged the librarian community to do a better job at directing the multitude of conversations that ultimately affect how and what libraries can do with digital content.

Ebook Crowdfunding Platform Unglue.it Launched

Unglue.it, the crowdfunding platform designed to encourage authors and publishers to make their ebooks available under a Creative Commons license, was officially launched on May 17, featuring campaigns for books from Michael Laser, Joseph Nassise, Nancy Rawles, Budding Reader, and Open Book Publishers.

DPLA, Syracuse, Library Blogs Take Part in SOPA/PIPA Protest

Thousands of websites, from major sites like the social news website Reddit, the Internet Archive’s main site, and the English-language version of Wikipedia, to small personal WordPress blogs, have “gone dark” today as part of a coordinated protest against the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), currently in committee in the House, and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), scheduled for a Senate vote on January 24. Among the sites taking part are those of Digital Public Library of America and the Syracuse University iSchool, as well as several popular blogs in the library world.

All 50 State Librarians Vote to Form Alliance With Internet Archive’s Open Library

All 50 state librarians have decided to throw their weight behind the Internet Archive’s Open Library lending program. The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) voted unanimously during a meeting held October 24-26 in Santa Fe, NM, to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Internet Archive (IA) that will essentially make the state librarian in each state a point person for the Open Library’s lending program.