The Surprisingly Complicated History of Conan the Librarian
In the latest Comic Book Legends Revealed, learn whether ‘Conan the Librarian’ debuted as a Monty Python sketch idea.
https://www.cbr.com/conan-the-librarian-history/
Stephen Abram's Posts About Library Land
In the latest Comic Book Legends Revealed, learn whether ‘Conan the Librarian’ debuted as a Monty Python sketch idea.
https://www.cbr.com/conan-the-librarian-history/
A review of the trends and issues affecting academic libraries in higher education
https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/24478/32315
“From a Post by Nicole Betancourt at Ithaka S+R:
Since there is a robust landscape of research data sharing spaces, we decided to conduct exploratory, high-level research on a number of data repositories, primarily to inform our own data deposit protocols. We regularly deposit data from the US Faculty Survey, Library Director Survey, as well as several other research projects with ICPSR. Recognizing that our research on a variety of characteristics of data repositories may yield utility for other researchers, today we are publishing a summary of our findings.
Repository platforms included in the summary report are:
Direct to Complete Post/Report”
CLEVELAND – January 12, 2021. A record 102 public library systems from around the world empowered readers to borrow over 1 million ebooks and audiobooks from their digital collections in 2020. This represents the most systems ever to reach this milestone through OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform. Contributing factors include increased digital book usage due to the pandemic, elevated interest in social justice titles and BIPOC authors and strong circulation growth for children’s and young adult titles because of remote learning.
These 102 systems from the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand achieved the elite “Million Checkout Club” status with 29 reaching the milestone for the first time. Noteworthy achievements include Toronto Public Library attaining the highest number of checkouts in OverDrive history for the 8th time (8 million), Santa Clara County Library (CA) attaining the highest year-over-year circulation growth (147%) of any Million Checkout Club library and Los Angeles Public Library earning the title of #1 library system in the U.S. for the second year in a row.
The complete list of Million Checkout Club libraries can be found here.
The top 10 ebook and digital audiobook-circulating library systems for 2020:
The top 5 ebook and digital audiobook-circulating consortia and shared collections:
In 2020, these libraries joined the “Million Checkout Club” for digital books the first time:
Public libraries reached record digital circulation through innovative activities and campaigns designed to raise awareness of and engagement with digital books. Examples include:
To find a public library near you, download the Libby app (iOS, Android) or visit www.overdrive.com.
OverDrive strives to create “a world enlightened by reading.” Serving a growing network of 65,000 libraries and schools in 84 countries, OverDrive delivers the industry’s largest digital catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and other content through award-winning apps. The Libby reading app for libraries is one of Popular Mechanics’ 20 Best Apps of the Decade, while the student reading app Sora is one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2019. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and was named a Certified B Corp in 2017. www.overdrive.com
Boats, Bread, and Biblioburros: Unusual Libraries Around the World
“We are all being exposed to a huge amount of COVID-19 information on a daily basis, and not all of it is reliable. Here are some tips for telling the difference and stopping the spread of misinformation.
Due to COVID-19, most of us have a new word in our vocabulary: epidemiology. It is the branch of medical science that deals with the ways diseases are transmitted and can be controlled in a population. Now it is time to learn another new word: infodemiology.
As humans, we are a curious and innovative species. We want to understand the world around us and stay up to date on the challenges we face and how to overcome them. One of the ways we do this is by seeking out and sharing information – lots of it. Even scientists around the world are working hard to keep up with the thousands of studies that have come out since COVID-19 appeared.
But it is not only scientific studies. There are also official communications from governments and health agencies around the world. Then there are news articles and opinion pieces, and messages from vloggers, bloggers, podcasters and social media influencers. You may also see information shared by friends and family on social media or messaging apps.
All of this is called the infodemic: a flood of information on the COVID-19 pandemic. Infodemiology is the study of that information and how to manage it.
Navigating the infodemic: top tips to identify misinformation or disinformation
Here are seven steps you can take to navigate this wave of information and decide who and what to trust:
Information, misinformation and disinformation
Information is what we call things that are accurate to the best of our current knowledge. For instance, COVID-19 stands for coronavirus disease 2019 and is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. One of the difficulties with any new pathogen, like this coronavirus, is that information changes over time as we learn more about the science.
Misinformation, on the other hand, is false information. Importantly, it is false information that was not created with the intention of hurting others. Misinformation is often started by someone who genuinely wants to understand a topic and cares about keeping other people safe and well. It is then shared by others who feel the same. Everyone believes they are sharing good information – but unfortunately, they are not. And depending on what is being shared, the misinformation can turn out to be quite harmful.
At the other end of the spectrum is disinformation. Unlike misinformation, this is false information created with the intention of profiting from it or causing harm. That harm could be to a person, a group of people, an organization or even a country. Disinformation generally serves some agenda and can be dangerous. During this pandemic, we are seeing it used to try to erode our trust in each other and in our government and public institutions.
How to navigate misinformation and disinformation
It helps to think of misinformation and disinformation spreading in the same way as viruses. One person might share fake news with their friends and family, and then a handful of them share it with more of their friends and family, and before you know it, potentially harmful or dangerous information is taking over everyone’s newsfeed.
But just as we can protect against COVID-19 with hand washing, physical distancing and masks, we can slow down the spread of misinformation and disinformation by practising some information hygiene. Before sharing something, ask yourself these questions:
How does this make me feel?
Why am I sharing this?
How do I know if it’s true?
Where did it come from?
Whose agenda might I be supporting by sharing it?
If you know something is false, or if it makes you angry, don’t share it to debunk it or make fun of it. That just spreads the misinformation or disinformation further. Learn more about how you can report misinformation online.
Good places to go for reliable information are the websites of your national Ministry of Health or the World Health Organization. Remember, though: information will change as we learn more about the virus.
What WHO is doing
WHO has developed guidance to help individuals, community leaders, governments and the private sector understand some key actions they can take to manage the COVID-19 infodemic.
For instance, WHO has been working closely with more than 50 digital companies and social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitch, Snapchat, Pinterest, Google, Viber, WhatsApp and YouTube, to ensure that science-based health messages from the organization or other official sources appear first when people search for information related to COVID-19. WHO has also partnered with the Government of the United Kingdom on a digital campaign to raise awareness of misinformation around COVID-19 and encourage individuals to report false or misleading content online. In addition, WHO is creating tools to amplify public health messages – including its WHO Health Alert chatbot, available on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Viber – to provide the latest news and information on how individuals can protect themselves and others from COVID-19.
A version of this content originally ran on The Spinoff and has been adapted for use by WHO under creative commons.
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