The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web

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Madison Researchers Use Brain Interface to Post to Twitter

From the AScribe website

In early April, Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social networking Web site Twitter - just by thinking about it. Just 23 characters long, his message, "using EEG to send tweet," demonstrates a natural, manageable way in which "locked-in" patients can couple brain-computer interface technologies with modern communication tools. A University of Wisconsin-Madison biomedical engineering doctoral student, Wilson is among a growing group of researchers worldwide who aim to perfect a communication system for users whose bodies do not work, but whose brains function normally. Among those are people who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain-stem stroke or high spinal cord injury.


Introducing Copyright: a plain language guide to copyright in the 21st century (Note: PDF)

From the Commonwealth of Learning website

This book is a map, not a guidebook. It introduces the reader to copyright and its important features and explains how they fit together. Chapters include: Copyright History; International Copyright Agreements; Copyright Works; Holders’ Rights; Users’ Rights; Copyright Licences; Open Licences; Digital Rights Management; Software Protection; Traditional Knowledge; Copyright Reform


Creative Economy Report 2008 (Note: PDF)

From the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development website

In the contemporary world, a new development paradigm is emerging that links the economy and culture, embracing economic, cultural, technological and social aspects of development at both the macro and micro levels. Central to the new paradigm is the fact that creativity, knowledge and access to information are increasingly recognised as powerful engines driving economic growth and promoting development in a globalising world. “Creativity” in this context refers to the formulation of new ideas and to the application of these ideas to produce original works of art and cultural products, functional creations, scientific inventions and technological innovations. There is thus an economic aspect to creativity, observable in the way it contributes to entrepreneurship, fosters innovation, enhances productivity and promotes economic growth.


Impacts of a national high-speed broadband network (Note: PDF)

From the nowwearetalking website

This report explores and quantifies the economic importance of expanding the coverage of high-speed broadband (HSBB) to the Australian economy under a range of different scenarios. Using the latest literature, economic data, coverage maps and subscriber numbers, the current and future impact of broadband has been modelled for the period from 2009 to 2020. The rapid evolution in information and communications technologies (ICTs) over the recent decades has transformed societies and economies throughout the globe. The latest and perhaps most far-reaching phase in this transformation is underway with the rollout of HSBB in most developed and many developing economies.


Report on the World Summit on the Information Society Stocktaking (Note: PDF)

From the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) website

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) set out a clear vision to harness the vast potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve the development aspirations of all the world’s inhabitants. Recognising the importance of ICT as valuable assets for economic growth, world leaders expressed their strong political commitment towards building an inclusive, people-centred and development-oriented information society.
The Summit was an important landmark in the global effort to eradicate poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015. Since the Tunis Phase of WSIS, much progress has been made and many initiatives have been announced, as reflected in this report.
However, we need to keep in mind that there is much more to be done and there are only seven years remaining to 2015.


Reality Bites: Periodicals Price Survey 2009

From the Library Journal website

In the face of the downturn, libraries and publishers brace for big cuts.


The State of America's Libraries Report 2009 (Note: PDF)

From the American Library Association website

The value of libraries in communities across the country continued to grow in 2008 - and accelerated dramatically as the national economy sank and people looked for cost effective resources in a time of crisis. U.S. libraries experienced a dramatic increase in library card registration as the public continues to turn to their local library for free services. More than 68 percent of Americans have a library card. This is the greatest number of Americans with library cards since the American Library Association started to measure library card usage in 1990, according to a 2008 Web poll conducted by Harris Interactive. The report also says library usage soared as Americans visited their libraries nearly 1.4 billion times and checked out more than 2 billion items in the past year, an increase of more than 10 percent in both checked out items and library visits, compared to data from the last economic downturn in 2001.


Signs of epistemic disruption: Transformations in the knowledge system of the academic journal

From the First Monday website

This article is an overview of the current state of scholarly journals, not (just) as an activity to be described in terms of its changing processes, but more fundamentally as a pivot point in a broader knowledge system. After locating journals in what we term the process of knowledge design, the article goes on to discuss some of the deeply disruptive aspects of the contemporary moment. These not only portend potential transformations in the form of the journal, but possibly also in the knowledge systems that the journal in its heritage form has supported. These disruptive forces are represented by changing technological, economic, distributional, geographic, interdisciplinary and social relations to knowledge. The article goes on to examine three specific breaking points.