Kitchener Public Library, Ont., serves a city of about 252,000 people. One of our missions in the community is to ignite conversations. Our premier 85 Queen series, which takes place at and is named for our flagship Central Library location, features in-depth events: not just a reading from a big-name author but an interview conducted by an experienced journalist; not just a screening of a controversial film but a panel of experts to discuss it; and not just an appearance from famous musician but full concert-style performances with storytelling.

McGraw-Hill and Cengage on May 1 announced an all-stock merger. Paul Gazzollo, senior VP and global general manager of Gale Publishing, a Cengage company, told LJ that libraries can expect "business as usual at Gale"

Sari Feldman, executive director of Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), OH, since 2003, is retiring effective August 2. LJ caught up with Feldman as she was winding up her tenure at CCPL to find out more about what she’s proud and what she’s looking forward to next.

In the same way that fitness trackers offer reality checks for sedentary lifestyles, diversity audits cast light on the homogeneity embedded within library collections, providing data that identifies gaps in representations of race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and other traditionally marginalized perspectives.

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 National Library of Medicine: Over the last two years, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has been exploring efficient ways to link the literature with associated datasets. The nine-minute video Data Discovery in PMC and PubMed looks at the outcomes of those explorations thus far. Topics covered include identifying the sources of datasets and data […]

From the Los Angeles Times: Sixteen women at the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp were forced by the SS guards to work as prostitutes for 86 other inmates on the night of Aug. 7, 1943. Stahlheber, Zange, Rathmann, Fischer, Kolbusch and Zimmermann — the last names of some of the women — embodied a painful story […]

From The Signal (via a Guest Blog Post by Matt Miller, a Linked Data Applications Technical Specialist in the Network Development and MARC Standards Office in Library Services, Library of Congress: There has been a growing interest from libraries and other cultural heritage organizations in Wikidata. Of the many potential uses for Wikidata, one emerging […]

From OECD: OECD and partner countries formally adopted the first set of intergovernmental policy guidelines on Artificial Intelligence (AI) today, agreeing to uphold international standards that aim to ensure AI systems are designed to be robust, safe, fair and trustworthy. The OECD’s 36 member countries, along with Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Romania, […]

Students and other researchers face many challenges when they’re searching for information. One of the biggest is sifting through the sheer volume of search results their query generates and honing in on the specific resources that are most relevant to their work.

The Night Window: A Jane Hawk Novel by Dean Koontz and Howard Stern Comes Again by Howard Stern lead the new bestsellers this week. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker gets the Vanity Fair treatment. George R.R. Martin might have just broken all his rules and announced a publishing window for the next GOT book.

Leaders must make tough decisions. At times quick decisions are needed, but even then wise leaders will take time to act thoughtfully and consult in the interests of the best outcome.

Afro-Latin American studies, the politics of undocumented migration, and indigenous nationalism in the borderlands top the list of best-selling academic titles on Latin American history, as compiled by GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO.