Via LLRX.com – In Warren Buffett’s own backyard: Underfunded Omaha libraries. National digital library endowment, anyone? – David Rothman calls out an increasingly pervasive dichotomy of action by some of America’s wealthiest corporate philanthropists in regard to supporting libraries, literacy and equal access to comprehensive public library collections. As Rothman documents, Omaha Public Libraries’ spending per capita is substantially below that of surrounding communities and the current national average on library content spending is $4 per capita – or less than the price of a Big Mac. The National digital library endowment is certainly in need of public and private support on a significant and transparent level, and Rothman continues to advocate for progress to achieve this goal.
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Daily Archives: August 30, 2015
New Yorker – How Methods Videos Are Making Science Smarter
Jamie Holmes: “..[The] Journal of Visualized Experiments…[f]ounded in 2006, JOVE now has a database of more than four thousand videos, with about eighty more added each month. They are usually between ten and fifteen minutes long, and they range in subject from biology and chemistry to neuroscience and medicine. “For a scientist trying to explain… Continue Reading
Bitcoin and the Uniform Commercial Code
Schroeder, Jeanne L., Bitcoin and the Uniform Commercial Code (August 22, 2015). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2649441 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2649441 “Much of the discussion of bitcoin in the popular press has concentrated on its status as a currency. Putting aside a vocal minority of radical libertarians and anarchists, however, many bitcoin enthusiasts are concentrating on… Continue Reading
WSJ – Google Plunges Into Home Services Market
WSJ: “Internet users querying Google for terms like “clogged toilet” and “lock repair” now get more than advice on how to fix their problems. Google Inc. is pairing prescreened professionals – plumbers, electricians and other local home-service providers – with desperate clients. The long-awaited addition to its sponsored results, which rolled out Friday in and… Continue Reading
NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition
“The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition examines key trends, significant challenges, and important developments in technology for their impact on academic and research libraries worldwide. This publication was produced by the NMC in collaboration with University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Chur, Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) Hannover, and ETH-Bibliothek Zurich. To create the report, an international body of experts… Continue Reading
Injunction against metadata collection reversed by U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit
EFF – “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s opinion [August 28, 2015] in Klayman v. Obama is highly disappointing and, worse, based on a mistaken concern about the underlying facts. The court said that since the plaintiffs’ phone service was provided by one subsidiary of Verizon—Verizon Wireless—rather than another—Verizon Business—they couldn’t prove that they… Continue Reading
Report – Illegal Killing of 25 Million Birds Annually in the Mediterranean
“The BirdLife Partnership presents ”The Killing”, a review based on the first ever comprehensive scientific study to quantify the scale and scope of illegal killing across the Mediterranean region. The results are gruesome. Despite legal protection, illegal bird killing is taking place at quite extraordinary and unsustainable levels. While many turn a blind eye, an estimated 25 million birds are being… Continue Reading
