May 19, 2013

Create Your Own Magazines with Flipboard | screencast tutorial

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Now anyone can create a beautiful digital zine of customized content, thanks to Flipboard. In a highly touted feature, version 2.0 of the iconic newsstand app allows users to select content they find on Flipboard to create magazines on any interest or topic. SLJ’s screencast shows you how to make your own publication in the image-rich format, add articles, and publish to the world or select subscribers.

Polaris ILS, Axis 360 to Integrate Ebook Access

Polaris and Baker & Taylor Axis 360 logos

Polaris Library Systems and Baker & Taylor (B&T) have announced that they are working together to integrate B&T’s Axis 360 digital media platform into the Polaris integrated library system (ILS). The integration will allow patrons to browse, place holds, and check out ebooks digital materials sourced from Axis 360 without navigating away from a library’s catalog.

Librarians Respond to DPLA Launch

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Launched yesterday, the Digital Public Library of America’s portal offers browsing and search access to a still growing aggregation of cultural heritage records from dozens of US cultural heritage institutions. At the same time, DPLA began offering programmatic access to its metadata stores, urging developers to create their own interfaces and access points to the collections. First impressions have been almost uniformly positive, though many have suggested avenues for further enhancements and refinements.

MOOC Mania: Debunking the hype around massive open online courses

Illustration by Jacob Thomas

The New York Times crowned 2012 as “The Year of the MOOC.” Journalist Audrey Watters trains a critical eye on the hottest trend in education and considers what it might mean for K-12 schools.

NYPL, Queens Libraries Comment on Simon & Schuster Ebook Lending Deal

Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster (S&S) on Monday announced a one-year pilot program in which the publisher’s complete catalog of ebooks will be available for sale and lending at the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL, and the Queens Library beginning April 30.

Stanford’s Venture Lab MOOC Platform Goes Private, Relaunches as NovoEd

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With backing from several technology investment firms, Stanford’s Venture Lab has been taken private and was relaunched today as NovoEd, an online learning startup that will offer a combination of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), professional courses, and for-credit courses in partnership with universities.

Simon & Schuster Launches Ebook Lending Program With NYC Libraries

S & S logo

Simon & Schuster, the last remaining holdout among the Big Six publishers when it comes to library ebook lending, announced today it was launching a program with New York City libraries. The text of the press release follows and this story will update as more information becomes available: Simon & Schuster, together with The New [...]

3M Revamps Library Ebook Acquisition Tool

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3M is in the process of rolling out a new catalog acquisition tool for its Cloud Library ebook platform, the company announced today. Beta testers said that new features included with the buying tool offer several helpful improvements compared with the old interface.

NYPL Releases Digital Collections API to the Public

NYPL logo

In a move that will allow independent software developers to write programs accessing over one million digital objects and records, the New York Public Library this week released an Application Programming Interface (API) that facilitates connection to the NYPL Digital Gallery.

Potential Pitfalls for Libraries Unaware of Credit Card Industry Security Standards

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As processors of a low volume of small transactions, libraries are unlikely to count credit and debit card processing issues among their most pressing concerns. Yet many libraries may be unaware of their state of compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Enforced by the credit card industry, the standard helps ensure that payment data is protected from theft and fraud.