THREE NEWS ITEMS

 

 Emerald Makes More LIS Articles Available Through Open Access

From Resource Shelf Blog

Emerald Group Publishing Limited is delighted to announce the next batch of articles available in open access as part of its ‘special partnership’ with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). The articles, available to download from www.emeraldinsight.com/tk/iflaoa2013, are published in several of Emerald’s well-respected LIS journals, including Interlending & Document Supply, Library Hi Tech News, Performance Measurement and Metrics, Library Management and Library Review.

This special partnership takes advantage of the Emerald platform to increase the discoverability of research presented at IFLA events.

Google Reader to Retire in July 2013

From Google Blog:

We have just announced on the Official Google Blog that we will soon retire Google Reader (the actual date is July 1, 2013). We know Reader has a devoted following who will be very sad to see it go. We’re sad too.

There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.

To ensure a smooth transition, we’re providing a three-month sunset period so you have sufficient time to find an alternative feed-reading solution. If you want to retain your Reader data, including subscriptions, you can do so through Google Takeout.

 

Digital Public Library of America to Debut April 18-19

The long-planned Digital Public Library of America is set to make its public debut on schedule with a two-day series of events, to be held April 18-19 at the Boston Public Library. DPLA’s Concept Note states that “by adhering to the fundamental principle of free and universal access to knowledge, it will promote education in the broadest sense of the term.  That is, it will function as an online library for students of all ages, from grades K-12 to postdoctoral researchers and anyone seeking self-instruction…Despite our ambitions to include all kinds of cultural products, we are concentrating at first on the written record…but are designing the system such that we can move quickly to other types of materials… In order to lay a solid foundation for its collections to demonstrate whet the project may become …the DPLA will begin with works in the public domain…that have already been digitized.”

DPLA’s next step may hopefully be orphaned books.