Lisa Tappeiner
A recent article in the New Yorker about the business side of e-books in libraries that explains why we pay more for less when building our digital collections.
In response, state legislatures, including New York's, are passing laws requiring publishers to offer "reasonable terms" when licensing e-books to libraries.
Jason Sandoval
After a year marked by unparalleled disruption, 2021 is poised to be a year marked by extraordinary change as academic librarians tackle the challenges 2020 left in its wake. Some of these trends may seem familiar. Digital transformation and media literacy, for example, have been on the radar for several years. But, addressing these issues is more vital than ever, given accelerated reliance on digital tools, combined with mushrooming misinformation available on social media and the internet. (Nexis Solutions)
Lisa Tappeiner
This segment of the NPR show On the Media discusses how the pandemic has changed the way science research is disseminated. "Guest-host Roxanne Khamsi speaks with Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox about the long history and many business models of the academic publishing industry. Plus, she interviews Chordoma Foundation co-founder and executive director Josh Sommer about his views on scientific paywalls and access issues, as a cancer survivor and patient advocate."
Lisa Tappeiner
This segment from the PBS Newshour describes how the pandemic has affected community colleges and our students.
Lisa Tappeiner
Every two years ACRL assesses developments in higher education with the potential to affect academic libraries. This short article from ACRL Insider describes this year's Environmental Scan and links to the full report.
Linda Miles
On April 2nd, news broke that RELX subsidiary LexisNexis signed a multi-million dollar contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to reporting on the ICE contract by the Intercept, LexisNexis’ databases “offer an oceanic computerized view of a person’s existence” and will provide the agency with “the data it needs to locate people with little if any oversight.”
While this contract may be new, it is just the latest development in an alarming trend that SPARC is following. (SPARC)
Jason Sandoval
Around the world, library and information workers are doing their best, both personally and professionally, to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as some libraries are – cautiously – beginning to loosen restrictions, others are seeing them come into place. Naturally, the focus is on the short term – how to keep staff, patrons safe, how to keep offering services as best possible, how to manage uncertainty. For many, it will seem difficult to think even beyond the coming days.
At the same time, it is already clear that this is a historic moment, with unprecedented steps being taken by governments, businesses and individuals. These are having a huge impact on the present, but what about the future? To what extent will what we are experiencing today not just ‘be’ history, but rather ‘make’ it? This blog aims to identify ten developments we’re seeing today, and explore what they may mean in terms of trends shaping the future of libraries. It is not – and cannot be – exhaustive, and certainly can be improved. (IFLA Library Policy and Advocacy Blog)
Miriam Laskin
As “Do the research” becomes a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists, classical information literacy is not enough. (The Atlantic)
Miriam Laskin
The COVID-19 pandemic has been traumatic for many library workers, especially those expected to continue coming to work as cases have risen in their communities. Even for those with the privilege of working from home, the experience has been stressful; many have had to add isolation, home-schooling children, and fearing for themselves and their loved ones to their regular job expectations. (American Libraries)
A talk by CUNY Law Professor, Sarah Lamdan, discusses "how companies don't just sell research products to libraries and lawyers, they also sell personal data to local, state, and federal law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other entities that make big decisions about our civil rights. In this seminar, we'll see how companies like RELX and Thomson Reuters (and now, ProQuest) have transitioned from being publishers to being companies that collect and sell personal data products."
Read full article and watch talk...
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