Calls to help Dorset libraries at risk of closure rejected (UK)

Councillors have turned down pleas to provide additional resources to help communities take over lib-raries threatened with closure. So far supporters of seven out of nine Libraries faced with the loss of core funding from Dorset County Council later this year have submitted business plans to take on the running of the facilities themselves. Members of the council's cabinet approved the latest proposals to allow them to move forward with the handover of control but turned down a specific request for additional resources to start up the new community libraries.

Fresh hope for campaign to save Kensal Rise Library (UK)

The Oxford University college which donated a library to the community closed by Brent Council has said it would be happy to let residents run it. Kensal Rise Library, in Bathurst Gardens, was a gift by All Souls College, and was opened by American author Mark Twain, 111 years ago. However, Brent Council closed the Victorian reading room in October last year. But this week a spokesman from the college wrote to the Friends of Kensal Rise Library and said: "All Souls College has contacted the council via its solicitor to inform them that the college would be happy to consider the library being kept open as proposed in the business plan prepared by the Friends of Kensal Rise Library." The ball is now in Brent Council’s court

EBSCO Publishing extends partnership with Accessible Archives Inc.

EBSCO Publishing has expanded its partnership with Accessible Archives, Inc. to include American County Histories to 1900: New England and The Civil War: Parts V and IV in EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS). The agreement allows metadata from these two resources to be added to the Base Index of EDS

New Economy Resources by Marcus P. Zillman

New Economy Resources represents the latest world wide web guide for discovering new knowledge and understanding a range of reliable resources to leverage with regards to researching the New Economy. The world is rapidly changing as transparency, big data and access to data from large and diverse public databases becomes a reality. These resources are constantly updated by Subject Tracer(TM) Information Bots

Latest release of Oliver and Liberty from Softlink receives over 1,200 enhancements

Softlink has announced the latest release of the Oliver system for schools and Liberty for Special, Academic and Public libraries. Based on user feedback, Version 5 Build 4 is one of the largest updates ever made to a Softlink product, incorporating over 1200 enhancements designed to increase administrative efficiency and improve the content management experience

81 Scholarly journal publishers oppose Federal Research Public Access Act (USA)

81 U.S. scholarly journal publishing organizations have expressed their strong opposition to the third introduction of the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA, H.R. 4004 and S.2096). The Association of American Publishers' Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division (AAP/PSP) and the DC Principles Coalition sent letters on behalf of a diverse cross-section of American non-profit, scholarly society and commercial organizations, to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Chair, and Sen. Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Publishers' letter to the Senate and Rep. Darrell Issa, Chair, and Rep. Elijah Cummings, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Publishers' letter to the House

Brooklyn Public Library launches fundraising drive (USA)

The Brooklyn Public Library has kicked off a fundraising drive to raise $500,000 for new books, DVDs and eBooks at its 60 sites. The fourth annual spring “Support Our Shelves” initiative encourages residents to support their local libraries through donations and advocacy. The campaign started March 1 and will continue through June 30. Donations can be made directly at local libraries, online at https://bpl.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/donate or by calling 718-230-2738. The library is also accepting donations at select locations through ABC Kiosks, which allow customers to make small donations in the amounts of $1, $5, $10 and $20

GPO Access shuts down on March 16

FDsys is now GPO's official system of record for online Government information. Later this spring, GPO Access will become an archive only, with no new content added

Librarians' views on five years of ebooks

To celebrate its first five years in ebook production, Springer has consulted with a number of stakeholders to produce the report STM eBooks: Librarian Perspectives on the First 5 years. The report outlines the challenges and opportunities that ebooks present to key stakeholders

HathiTrust Digital Library - Update on February 2012 Activities

HathiTrust Digital Library - Update on February 2012 Activities

ACRL Podcast: Value of Academic Libraries - Nancy Marlin

In this podcast, C&RL News editor-in-chief David Free talks to Nancy Marlin, provost at San Diego State University, about ways libraries can use existing data to enhance student succes

Maney Publishing strengthens 2012 journal collections

Maney Publishing has announced that seven new journals have been added to its portfolio for 2012. Maney has built new partnerships for 2012 including the European Association of Archaeologists, the European Medical Writers Association, The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, and The Chinese Historians in the United States

Earliest Charles Dickens film uncovered

The oldest surviving film featuring a Charles Dickens character has been discovered, in the year of the 200th anniversary of the author's birth. The Death of Poor Joe, which dates back to March 1901, was discovered by British Film Institute (BFI) curator Bryony Dixon, in February. Until now the earliest known Dickens film was Scrooge or Marley's Ghost, released in November 1901

IMLS Five-Year Strategic Plan 2012- 2016

The complete IMLS Five-Year Strategic Plan 2012-2016 encourages strategic thought and action. The complete plan provides details on the strategic planning process, as well as details about goal- and objective-related performance metrics and benchmarks used to measure progress

INFORMS journals now in full-text HTML

INFORMS journals "Interfaces" and "Organization Science" are the first two INFORMS journals to publish in full-text HTML. This new format allows for faster and easier viewing and improved accessibility on portable and handheld devices. Your patrons now have more flexibility when reading INFORMS new 2012 journal articles

The Online Newsstand Project (USA)

The goal of the Online Newsstand Project is to increase usage of libraries' electronic resources by library patrons, and to do so by making access to them easier and more enjoyable. The founder of the project is Steve Butzel, a website and database developer whose real job is serving as the assistant director at the Portsmouth Public Library in Portsmouth, NH

Author T.C. Boyle's papers acquired by Harry Ransom Center (USA)

The Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, has acquired the archive of novelist and short-story writer Tom Coraghessan "T.C." Boyle, author of such acclaimed works as "The Tortilla Curtain" (1995) and "World's End" (1987). Spanning more than 30 years from the 1970s through the present, the archive covers the breadth of Boyle's prolific career

SAMP preserves D’avat

SAMP (South Asia Microform Project) has completed microfilming of six years of the New Delhi newspaper title D'avat, from late 1965 through 1971. This Urdu newspaper covers the early years of Indira Gandhi's first term as Prime Minister, as well as the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

The Listening Project (UK)

The Listening Project is inviting people across the UK to share an intimate conversation. Some of these conversations will be broadcast by the BBC and curated and archived by the British Library building a unique picture of our lives today and preserving it for future generations

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference - March 9, 2012

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference - this week: The Letter D. "Some time ago, we had brainteasers about the letters A, B and C. Now here's a quiz where the answers are all words or phrases that start with the letter D." Answers here.

1. What is the surname of the American film actor who starred in "Good Will Hunting", "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Bourne Identity"?
2. What is the surname of the author (1812-1870) of "Oliver Twist", "Nicholas Nickleby" and "The Old Curiosity Shop"?
3. "Disco" is a shortened form of which word?
4. Which country is bounded to the north by the Skagerrak, east by the Kattegat strait, south by Germany, and west by the North Sea?
5. Which disease can be caused by reduced production of the hormone insulin, or a reduced response of the liver, muscle, and fat cells to insulin?
6. What surname was used by the singer/songwriter who was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941?
7. Which 1963 film had the sub-title "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"?
8. What is the English name for the island off the northeast coast of French Guiana which was a penal colony notorious for its terrible conditions? Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned here.
9. Which satirical romance by Miguel de Cervantes is about a gentleman who sets out on his wanderings accompanied by his servant, Sancho Panza?
10. What is the name of the former capital of Tanzania, which was also the capital of German East Africa and of Tanganyika?