Digital Collections:

Free the Data: FEMA’s New Data Visualization Tool (FEMA)

Primary Documents: U.S. State Department Releases Country Reports on Terrorism 2014 (Infodocket)

Smithsonian Releases More Than 4 Million Historic Freedmen’s Bureau Records Online, Crowdsourcing Project Begins (Infodocket)

James L. “Rusty” Hevelin Collection of pulps, fanzines, convention materials, and science fiction books spanning 1930s-2010s, now part of the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives (Tumblr)

Consumer Safety: VINs of Affected Vehicles in Massive Airbag Recall Now Searchable Using NHTSA’s Lookup Tool (Infodocket)

History: “Seven Sisters Partners Launch New Archives Project: College Women” (Infodocket)

About once a week, I post links to digital-related library news articles and information about digital collections available online. I also post other links of interest about the digital life on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Amazon Echo now available to all

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Glinda Harrison

The Amazon Echo is now available to all customers. Previously, the voice-activated system was only available by invitation only. The always-on system features Alexa, Amazon’s answer to Siri and Cortana and allows hands-free access to music, including Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. The device also can retrieve information from Wikipedia or the web, tell you the weather, set timers and alarms, relay the latest news, and compile shopping/to-do lists.

Over the past few months, Amazon has added a number of new features to the system. It can now:

Work with connected home systems
Play Pandora radio
Read Audible books aloud
Access Google Calendar
Use IFTT
Re-order Prime items
Relay sports scores and schedules
Give you traffic reports, including routes and travel times
Allow you to customize news.

Amazon Echo retails for $179.99 and starts shipping on July 14, 2015. You can learn more about the device or order one here.

Library Corner: 6-20-2015

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Glinda Harrison

Nearly 70 Writers, Scholars, and Leaders Sign Letter Supporting NYC Libraries (Infodocket)

Data Reinvents Libraries for the 21st Century (GovTech)

UK: Findings from Study on Remote Library Lending of E-Books Published (Infodocket)

Copy of original Star Wars script discovered in UNB library (CBC News)

Librarian of Congress Appoints Juan Felipe Herrera Poet Laureate, Digital Resource Guide Released (Infodocket)

Regina libraries won’t censor internet use, including porn (CKOM)

How the DPLA could turn itself into a real ‘public’ library system—and encourage billionaires to pay for it and an academic system (Library City)

Video: University of Minnesota Libraries Completes Digitization of More Than 4,500 Historical Aerial Photos of Minneapolis (Infodocket)

State Department Launches Redesigned ForeignAssistance.gov Website (US Dept of State)

Cell phone book clubs: What they’re like and what they can do for K-12 kids, their parents and others (Library City)

Digital collections:

New Issue of Library of Congress Magazine Takes a Look at Collecting Comedy (Infodocket)

Publication of renowned American History archive complete (Sage)

Database of US Police Killings (Guardian)

Data Report: 21.3 Percent of U.S. Population Participates in Government Assistance Programs Each Month (Infodocket)

Michigan GIS Data (Michigan DTMB)

Air Polution Data (EPA Connect)

Earthquake map in real time for Oregon, California and the Pacific (The Oregonian)

Two New Databases: New America Foundation Launches “World of Drones” (Regulations and Civil Use of Drones) (Infodocket)

Getty Foundation Launches Searchable Online Grant Database (The Getty Iris)

U.S. Gov Docs: Technical Report Archive & Image Library (TRAIL) Expands Coverage and Welcomes Personal Members (Infodocket)

Worker Safety Groups Release New U.S. Worker Fatality Database (COSH)

A New Open Data Set of Wildlife Photos from the Serengeti Including 300,000 Tagged Images) (Infodocket)

With Google’s Support, Plant Biologists Build First Online Database Of All The World’s Plant Species (International Business Times)

Library Releases New Student Discovery Sets for Tablets (LOC)

Architecture: MIT’s Archnet Database Adds Images of Yemen (Infodocket)

New Kindle Paperwhite Announced

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Glinda Harrison

Today, Amazon announced a new version of the Kindle Paperwhite. It has a 300 ppi high resolution display, equivalent to the Kindle Voyage. (The current model is 212 ppi.) Like the current Paperwhite, this new ereader will also soon receive the new font and feature update that includes a new more readable font and enhanced hyphenation and page layout features. The starting price will remain the same as the current model: $119 with special offers. The device ships on June 30, 2015 and will be available worldwide. You can find out more info and order here.

Amazon is continuing to offer the current Paperwhite covers alongside the new Kindles, so presumably, there has been no change in the size of the device. That is a plus if you like to use a cover; it generally takes a while for 3rd party vendors to catch up if you are looking for a budget priced cover like the MoKo Cover Case or MoKo clamshell.

Where I am confused is the area of naming conventions. As it usually does for the latest iteration of a device, Amazon is calling this version the “All-new” Paperwhite. If you are keeping score, this new version is actually the fourth for the Paperwhite. There was the 2012 version, the 2013 version (Paperwhite 2) which had 2GB of RAM. Then came the second iteration (2014) of the Paperwhite 2 which had 4GB of Ram. I haven’t yet heard the storage capacity of the new one yet…. It really would have helped if they had called this the Paperwhite HD or something catchy like that. 🙂

Right now. I am going to pass on a new Paperwhite, unless one of my older Kindles bites the dust. I have two Paperwhite 2’s now, one 2GB and one 4GB. A slightly higher resolution is not enough of an upgrade to make me pull the plug.

So, what about you? Are you tempted by the new, improved Paperwhite?

Library Corner: 6-15-2015

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Glinda Harrison

Towards the Post-Privacy Library? (Go to Hellman)

Toronto Public Library Opens 100th Branch in Scarborough (Toronto Public Library)

OverDrive Listen is now live! (Overdrive)

A New Report by Marshall Breeding Now Available Online: “Library Services Platforms: A Mature Genre of Products” (Infodocket)

Alameda County Library Board Finds Alternative to Trashing Books (ABC 7 News)

Libraries could outlast the internet, head of British Library says (Telegraph)

What is the Future for ISBN? An Interview with Stella Griffiths, Executive Director of the International ISBN Agency (Infodocket)

Ghana’s First Digital Library Hosted at the Back of a Van (Ventures)

How University of Oregon Launched a Video Channel for Books Named Booklandia.tv (Infodocket)

Denver Public Library’s new on-site social worker settling into job (Denver Post)

Vaizey keen on national library framework (The Bookseller)

U.S. Copyright Office Releases Report on Orphan Works and Mass Digitization (Infodocket)

Digital Collections:

New CORE Repository From Modern Language Association and Center for Digital Research and Scholarship Now Live (Infodocket)

Bin Ladin’s Bookshelf (Director of National Intelligence)

Open Access Books: OAPEN Projects Passes 2 Million Downloads, Adds New Publishers, and Enriched Metadata via Isidore (Infodocket)

Save Our Sounds (British Library)

New Research Tool: “Photo Map Will Bring You Back To Old NYC, Block By Block” (Infodocket)

5,500 More Historic Images From the Collections of Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Now Available Online (Illinois Historic Preservation Agency)

New Health/Medical Database: Canadian Clinical Trials Asset Map (CCTAM) (Infodocket)

USGS Releases New Web-Based Interactive Geologic Map of Texas (USGS)

eBooks: U.S. State Department Releases 16 Newly Digitized Foreign Relations Volumes (Infodocket)

Bond. James Bond, on the Kindle

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Glinda Harrison

If you are a James Bond fan (and who isn’t?), Amazon has 14 e-books of Ian Fleming’s James Bond titles on sale for just $1.99 each. The sale lasts until June 21, 2015 and includes titles such as Casino Royale and Live and Let Die.

These are listed as the James Bond Extended Series and each book has the following label:

The text in this edition has been restored by the Fleming family company Ian Fleming Publications, to reflect the work as it was originally published.

http://www.ianfleming.com

If you are a member of Kindle Unlimited, the books are free to read as part of the membership package.These are also available for free as part of the Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL) program.