Library Stuff

“This month, OCLC’s WebJunction celebrates 10 years as an online learning community for library staff. On May 12, 2003, a celebration at the U.S. Library of Congress marked the launch of WebJunction.org, a new online community dedicated to sharing the knowledge and resources necessary for libraries to successfully provide public access to information.” (via WebJunction)

“Debra Hanken Kurtz, Assistant Director of ITS and Head of Digital Experience Services at Duke University Libraries, has been appointed as the new director of the Texas Digital Library (TDL), a consortium of academic libraries in Texas that provides shared services in support of research and learning. Kurtz will take over the duties of current director Mark McFarland on June 1. McFarland, who announced in November 2012 he would step down from his role, co-founded the Texas Digital Library in 2007, and has served as director or co-director of the organization since that time. McFarland will continue his duties as Director of Information Technology for the College of Natural Sciences at UT Austin.” (via University of Texas at Austin Libraries)

“Just weeks before the American Library Association annual conference, a new ALA-sponsored report, entitled Digital Content: What’s Next?, examines how libraries are evolving in the digital revolution, from e-books, to licensing, to developments in self-publishing. The supplement also details progress made by the ALA’s Digital Content Working Group. Contributors include Publishers Weekly contributing editor Peter Brantley, director of scholarly communication at Hypothes.is, whose piece, “The Unpackaged Book,” examines ways in which the “fundamental model of libraries, publishers, distributors, and books will need further re-engineering.” (via )

“Members of the public in both New York City and Pennsylvania will soon get to see The New York Public Library’s original copy of the Bill of Rights, which will be exhibited for the first time in decades. The Library and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania today announced an agreement to share display of the national treasure, which has been preserved in The New York Public Library’s collections since 1896. The document will go on public display alternately at The New York Public Library and in Pennsylvania beginning in fall 2014 (the year marks the 225th anniversary of the document being drafted and proposed by Congress).” (via The New York Public Library)

“LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a leading provider of content and technology solutions, today announced that, together with Reed Elsevier Properties SA, it has acquired the acclaimed publishing brands and businesses of Sheshunoff™ and A.S. Pratt from the Thompson Media Group. Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed. Widely known for its “how to” guides for compliance professionals, the Sheshunoff collection of publications includes more than 100 titles offering expert information critical for the financial services industry with a strong focus on federally regulated banking and credit union lending activities. The A.S. Pratt collection has established itself as the “gold standard” of analytical content for the banking and commercial practice areas and includes 40 industry-leading titles covering key legal and regulatory issues – including respected treatises, journals and newsletters such as the Banking Law Journal, Pratt’s Letter, Brady on Bank Checks, Clark’s The Law of Secured Transactions, and others” (via LexisNeis)

“We have several more releases planned, including enhancements to both data coverage and functionality.  During the next few months we will extend the currently available data sets back to the 104th Congress, and will add Committee profile pages and indexed text of congressional reports back through the 104th Congress.  The next step will be to extend the core legislative data back to the 93rd Congress.  We also plan a release that focuses on improvements to the visual design and information architecture, based on usability testing that was conducted this spring.  Future releases will further enhance the search features, and begin implementation of an alerts framework.” (via In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress)

“Texas A&M University and The University of Texas are opening up a joint library at A&M’s Riverside campus in Bryan, according to a report on the TAMUTimes, A&M’s news site. The aim is to combine the resources of both universities to house over a million books, for academic and medical research. Other institutions will also be able to use these books for research as well. The concept of the Aggie and Longhorn rivarly isn’t lost on the brass either.” (via Houston Chronicle)

“Amazon only introduced the Kindle in 2007, but sometimes the literary world can already feel as if it exists entirely without the burden of print. New documentary, “Out of Print,” from one-time librarian and director Vivienne Roumani, tackles the questions that threaten traditional books following the digital revolution.Debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival last April although I caught it Tuesday at the Seattle International Film Festival, “Out of Print” clocks in at a brief 55 minutes in length, making it perfectly suited for television. That being said, it is certainly less appealing for an audience who’s paid any sort of attention to the news. While Roumani’s facts one in three American adults owns an ereader, and the like are certainly shocking, they’re not exactly revolutionary — most people are well aware that print is endangered, bookstores aren’t doing well and that teenagers love the Internet.” (via New York Daily News)

“Carole King isn’t done with music – not yet anyway.

The 71-year-old singer-songwriter known for such hits as “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “You’ve Got A Friend” was awarded the nation’s highest prize for popular music in a concert Tuesday. She received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at the Library of Congress and will be honored Wednesday by President Barack Obama at the White House” (via Associated Press)

“The Harvard Library and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University are pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Suber as director of the Office for Scholarly Communication (OSC), starting July 1, 2013. Suber will continue his current activities as director of the Harvard Open Access Project, based at the Berkman Center, as well as his affiliations as a Berkman faculty fellow, senior researcher at the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), and research professor of philosophy at Earlham College. Suber’s new role with the OSC closely aligns with his work leading the Harvard Open Access Project. Both are driven by a common vision for opening access to cutting-edge research for everyone who can make use of it. Integrating the two roles into one position will allow the projects to better share strategies, staff, resources, and knowledge, and accelerate the progress of open access both within and beyond Harvard.

via Harvard Library Portal)