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Category Archives: Libraries

Dow Jones negotiates AI usage agreements with nearly 4,000 news publishers

NiemanLab: “…Last month, Factiva announced it had signed generative AI usage agreements with nearly 4,000 publishers around the world. The agreements are for the business intelligence platform and news database, which houses articles by online outlets, newspapers, magazines, and transcripts of radio shows. Among the thousands of publishers who signed the agreements are The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and the Swiss outlet AWP Finanznachrichten. Dow Jones’ news brands, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, have also signed on. “We quite literally went to and are continuing to speak to every single publisher that is within Factiva,” said Traci Mabrey, the general manager of Factiva. “We add the gen AI rights in new agreements and add agreements to what publishers already have signed on to.” The announcement coincided with the launch of a new search feature on Factiva that offers up short AI-generated summaries in response to search results, along the lines of Google’s AI Overviews or Perplexity’s own AI search engine. Factiva’s search results include direct links to the original articles cited, and publishers who have signed on will be compensated when their stories surface. The work of licensors who have not signed AI agreements will not surface in the summaries. Factiva isn’t built for the average search user or news reader. The subscription platform targets professionals in finance, academia, government, and business. The AI search and summary tool will be used by teams conducting due diligence research or analysts drafting reports. Still, the sheer number of contracts negotiated by Dow Jones, and the number of publishers who have agreed to them, stands out.”

Everybody Loves FRED: How America Fell for a Data Tool

The New York Times [gift article] – “From Facebook political debates to college classrooms, the St. Louis Fed’s data tool has gained a major following. Fans post about him on social media. Swag bearing his name sells out on the regular. College professors dedicate class sessions and textbook sections to him. Foreign government officials have… Continue Reading

Librarian Amanda Jones Files New Defamation Lawsuits

School Library Journal – Amanda Jones has had enough. Again. The 2021 School Librarian of the Year, who has sued online harassers in the past, filed two new federal lawsuits on Tuesday. Jones is suing Dan Kleinman for defamation and “false light”—an invasion of privacy that arises from publicity that unreasonably places the plaintiff in… Continue Reading

100 Notable Books of 2024

“Here is the standout fiction and nonfiction of the year, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review. As you browse, you can keep track of how many you’ve read or want to read. By the time you reach No. 100, you’ll have a personalized reading list to share.” [and please visit… Continue Reading

In Praise of Print: Why Reading Remains Essential in an Era of Epistemological Collapse

Literary Hub:  “…In the author’s estimation, the ceding of material books to the ephemeral gauze of the online posed a threat to our attention, to the ability of immersing ourselves within complex narrative or engaging in the almost-transcendent flow of reading. “Everything in contemporary society discourages interiority,” writes Birkerts. “More and more of our exchanges… Continue Reading

Z-Library Helps Students to Overcome Academic Poverty, Study Finds

Torrent Freak: “Z-Library is one of the largest shadow libraries on the Internet, hosting millions of books and academic articles that can be downloaded for free. The site defied all odds over the past two years. It continued to operate despite a full-fledged criminal prosecution by the United States, which resulted in the arrest of… Continue Reading

The Death of Search

The Atlantic unpaywalled – AI is transforming how billions navigate the web. A lot will be lost in the process. “…Although ChatGPT and Perplexity and Google AI Overviews cite their sources with (small) footnotes or bars to click on, not clicking on those links is the entire point. OpenAI, in its announcement of its new… Continue Reading

Vanishing Culture: Q&A with Philip Bump

The Internet Archives Blog, November 4, 2024. The following Q&A between writer Caralee Adams and journalist Philip Bump of The Washington Post is part of our Vanishing Culture series, highlighting the power and importance of preservation in our digital age. Read more essays online or download the full report now. Philip Bump is a columnist for The Washington Post based in New… Continue Reading

This Election Should Not Determine the Fate of Libraries

EveryLibrary – (But it Might Have) – “Libraries have never been immune from political and social movements, but we have behaved as if we are somehow a special place, a place apart from these fights. The last three years of censorship and discrimination fights should have been a wake-up call for our library organizations, stakeholders,… Continue Reading

Freedom to Read Advocates Notch a Legal Victory in Alaska

Publisher’s Weekly: “After a favorable legal ruling in August, freedom to read advocates in Alaska have scored a significant victory in court over would-be book banners. In an October 31 filing, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District in Alaska agreed to pay $89,000 to settle claims that the district improperly removed dozens of books, including several… Continue Reading