The 2020 Census is upon us, with preparation already underway to count how many people live in the United States, and where. Our public libraries—connected to their communities and relatively ubiquitous—can and will be critical partners in getting this important work done well, and fairly.

Comics continue redefining boundaries, tackling complex social issues, and educating readers, even as they entertain.

Karen Berger’s career in comics began at DC Comics in 1979, when she was just 21. With a keen eye for cultivating new talent, Berger rose quickly through the company’s ranks and in 1993 helped establish DC’s experimental and hugely successful Vertigo line, editing boundary-busting classics such as Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta, and Moore’s Swamp Thing.

Like W.E.B. Du Bois’s fictional megascope—an instrument that allows users to see forgotten aspects of history—John Jennings’s new Megascope line, launching this fall as a subimprint of Abrams’s ComicArts, will delve into the past and future, reviving classic stories primarily by creators of color.

During the week of March 19–23 MIT Libraries convened experts from across disciplines and domains to identify and address grand challenges in the scholarly communication and information science landscape.

Suppose a librarian receives an email from a man named Greg Walsh, wanting to become a cardholder or simply inquiring about the open hours. Would the librarian reply? And, if so, would the reply be polite, including for instance some form of salutation, such as “Hello” or “Good morning”? Does your answer change if the guy is called Tyrone Washington? Is a librarian treating Jake Mueller differently from DeShawn Jackson?

A detailed look at pain management implementing the use of medical cannabis rather than opioids; A complex look at the issue of opioid abuse backed up with research and first hand stories; A valuable addition to the conversation about addiction filled with case studies illustrating the complexities of the disease

Editor Sarah Janssen discusses editing The World Almanac in an age where being attuned to "fake news" is especially vital.

From the BBC Technology + Creativity Blog: Over the last few months, the BBC – with huge support from librarians – has brought some of our favourite virtual reality experiences to new audiences in over 150 libraries. Our research has shown us that viewers find virtual reality experiences uniquely memorable. Yet VR has still to […]

From a Google Scholar Blog Post by Anurag Acharya: Scholar Metrics provide an easy way for authors to quickly gauge the visibility and influence of recent articles in scholarly publications. Today, we are releasing the 2019 version of Scholar Metrics. This release covers articles published in 2014–2018 and includes citations from all articles that were indexed […]

The article linked below was published online today by LIBER Quarterly: The Journal of the Association of European Research Libraries. Title Roles and Jobs in the Open Research Scholarly Communications Environment: Analysing Job Descriptions to Predict Future Trends Authors Nancy Pontika The Open University Source LIBER Quarterly, 29(1); 2019 Abstract During the past two-decades academic […]

From the Digital Public Library of America: On May 21, DPLA announced the release of its ebook of Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, or the Mueller Report, available for free as an EPUB file from DPLA’s website and on the Open Bookshelf collection within the SimplyE app. The previous DPLA edition has already […]

Three adaptations or bookish shows air today. Some buzzy trailers debut. Stephen King reviews Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman. Alan Moore is retiring.

This year’s ThrillerFest, the 14th annual meet-up of authors, aspiring writers, readers, agents, booksellers, and thriller fans, was held (as it has been since nearly the beginning…) at New York’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, July 9–13.

Under Currents by Nora Roberts tops eight new bestsellers this week. Rosewater by Tade Thompson wins the Arthur C. Clarke award. An essay by Langston Hughes not seen for decades gets republished. Gossip Girl gets a reboot.

 

The Emmy nominations are out. Game of Thrones takes the crown. Colson Whitehead continues to get focused attention and praise. A variety of booklists suggest midsummer reading, from moon books to thrillers featuring children in peril.