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Adobe Systems said October 23 it is now encrypting data it collects about certain ebooks after facing criticism earlier this month for not protecting the data. The Digital Reader blog reported on October 6 that Adobe’s Digital Editions 4 software was sending unencrypted, detailed logs to Adobe describing readers’ activity. Adobe said it now periodically collects the data “using HTTPS.” The change is made in Digital Editions versions 4.0.1 for Mac and Windows. The ALA Digital Content Working Group welcomed Adobe’s decision in an October 27 statement, saying that it afforded greater protection to reader privacy concerns....
PC World, Oct. 24; The Digital Reader, Oct. 6; Office for Information Technology Policy, Oct. 27
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Brad Lukanic writes: “Despite all the dire predictions for the future of academic libraries in the digital age, when people believed the digitization of print and other emerging technologies would make them irrelevant, universities around the country are evolving their libraries and intellectual centers into catalysts for discovery, learning, collaboration, and scholarly breakthroughs. This evolution keeps academic libraries at the intersection of trans-disciplinary learning as institutions transform their pedagogies to meet evolving needs.”...
Fast Company: Co.Exist, Oct. 24
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Two bullet marks—a few feet from where workers are normally stationed—have scarred the base of the wooden desk in the middle of Ottawa’s venerable Library of Parliament. Bullet holes also mark the wooden frame and doors leading into the library. Several other bullet holes have been patched over on the limestone walls next to the library entrance. The holes are permanent scars from the gunfight and hail of bullets that erupted October 22, when lone gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau raced through the front entrance, past committee rooms holding Conservative and New Democrat MPs, then was shot and killed outside the library’s doors....
Postmedia News, Oct. 25
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The changing role of school libraries and librarians is highlighted in this video (4:42) by Capstone Publishers, which features AASL Executive Director Sylvia Knight Norton, Houston elementary school librarians Karyn Lewis (right) and Karen Harrell, Harlingen (Tex.) Superintendent of Schools Arturo J. Cavazos, Innovative Media Resource Systems Director JoAnn Conlon, and Meadow Wood Elementary School Principal Pamela Redd. Join the conversation at #SchoolLibrariesMatter....
YouTube, Oct. 22
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Ben Bizzle will encourage attendees to “Start a Revolution: Stop Acting Like a Library” in an ALA Masters Series session at the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting on January 31. Compelled to change the perception of the library as an antiquated institution, Bizzle and the team at Craighead County Jonesboro (Ark.) Public Library developed an aggressive technology and marketing strategy in order to better serve their community and increase public awareness of the library. Early Bird registration for Midwinter ends at noon Central time, October 31....
Conference Services, Oct. 27
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Queens (N.Y.) Library is hiring 50 more staffers and ending its use of private cleaning crews, officials announced in late October. The expansion in hiring is made possible through the stabilization and increase of city funding to the library by $2.8 million this fiscal year. This stabilization in the financial outlook allows for a hiring freeze, in place since 2008, to be lifted and for a sustainable increase in the workforce to be made. The library has already welcomed 19 new full-time unionized employees to clerical positions and will fill additional positions in the coming months....
New York Daily News, Oct. 27
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Patrick Colegrove writes: “The New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative have repeatedly identified 3D printing as an important development in educational technology. What will that mean for higher education and society? How will such services affect practices of higher education and learning itself? What can those tasked with provisioning such services expect and plan for? In a pilot study at the University of Nevada Reno, users from across disciplinary and organizational boundaries quickly adopted a 3D printing service implemented in the library, with the new printers operating at or near capacity throughout the service’s first year.”...
EDUCAUSE Review, Oct. 27
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Lyndsey Gilpin writes: “The 3D printer is a double-edged sword. It stands to transform technology and society for the better, but we also can’t ignore the potential negative consequences. 3D printers are still potentially hazardous, wasteful machines, and their societal, political, economic, and environmental impacts have not yet been studied extensively. To make sure you aren’t thrown off guard by the conversations to come, we’ve compiled a list of 10 things you need to know about the dangers and potentially negative impacts of 3D printers.”...
TechRepublic, Mar. 5
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Are you interested in serving populations from different regions of the world? Are you a subject librarian or would like to be one specializing in geographical regions of the world, multiethnic populations? Are you interested in learning more about libraries around the world? Are you interested in learning more about the work of the ALA International Committees? If your answer is yes to any of the above, the International Pilot Mentoring Program is for you. If you are interested in being a mentor or mentee, please submit a one-page expression of interest by November 15....
International Relations Round Table Blog, Oct. 25 |
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