Reason.com: “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 today that the state of Georgia can’t claim copyright over its annotated code. The ruling is a victory for Carl Malamud, an open government activist who posted the state’s annotated code online in 2013. Malamud and his organization, Public.Resource.Org, have been working for more than a decade to digitally… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2020
COVID-19 Demographic and Economic Resources
“[On April 23, 2020] the U.S. Census Bureau released a new resource page on census.gov to help federal agencies, businesses and communities make decisions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to the Census Bureau’s resource pages created during natural disasters, this resource page includes information on population demographics, economic indicators and businesses. It features a new interactive… Continue Reading
This 3-D Simulation Shows Why Social Distancing Is So Important
The New York Times – “Public health experts and elected officials have emphasized again and again that social distancing is the best tool we have to slow the coronavirus outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages people to stay home. If you must venture out, you should stay at least six feet away… Continue Reading
How Virus Surveillance And Civil Liberties Could Collide
Law360: “…“Do you give up a little liberty to get a little protection?” [per Dr. Anthony Fauci]…The answer seems to be yes in at least 23 countries, where dozens of “digital contact tracing” apps have already been downloaded more than 50 million times. Authorities in Australia, India, the United Kingdom and Italy are also deploying… Continue Reading
Digitizing 18th Century Editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica
Center for Data Innovation: “The National Library of Scotland has released a dataset that digitizes the first eight editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which publishers issued between 1768 and 1860. The dataset contains over 155,000 image and XML file pairings and nearly 167 million words.” Get the data. Continue Reading
Opinion – Why Libraries Shouldn’t Do Curbside During COVID-19
Katelyn Attanasio is a librarian and the Maker Team Lead with Arlington County Public Library (VA) – Library Journal: “I recently received a message from the director of a small library system, who decided to close their branches after seeing my #CloseTheLibraries posts on social media. Three weeks after deciding to close, they found out… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues April 25, 2020
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues April 25, 2020 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading
A Non-Scientist’s Primer on Testing for COVID-19
Medium: “Broadly, there are two types of tests, doing two very different things in two different ways. There are others, also, but these are the two you’ll be doing, and hearing a lot about. There’s 1) diagnostic tests (sometimes called “tests”), and 2) serological tests (sometimes called “antibody tests.”) They’re easy to confuse if you’re… Continue Reading
‘Quarantine fatigue’: Americans venturing out against coronavirus stay-at-home orders
Washington Post – Social Distancing Decreasing Across the Country: “Researchers tracking smartphone data say they recently made a disturbing discovery: For the first time since states began implementing stay-at-home orders in mid-March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Americans are staying home less. The nationwide shift during the week of April 13 was… Continue Reading
NYPL – ‘We may need to quarantine our books’ when libraries reopen
New York Public Library CEO – “To reduce the spread of novel coronavirus, Americans may continue social distancing for many more months — but such precautions could last even longer for books kept at the nation’s libraries, said Tony Marx, the chief executive of the New York Public Library, the largest public library system in… Continue Reading
What You Should Know About Online Tools During the COVID-19 Crisis
EFF: “A greater portion of the world’s work, organizing, and care-giving is moving onto digital platforms and tools that facilitate connection and productivity: video conferencing, messaging apps, healthcare and educational platforms, and more. It’s important to be aware of the ways these tools may impact your digital privacy and security during the COVID-19 crisis. Here… Continue Reading
Get Lost in the Stacks of These Stunning Libraries You Can Virtually Tour
House Beautiful: “There’s nothing better than getting lost in a stack of books—bonus if it’s amidst impressive architecture. Given that it’s currently National Library Week, there is no better time to visit (albeit virtually) some of the most impressive libraries in the world. Below, House Beautiful has rounded up a list of virtual tours of… Continue Reading
