Industry News

Skip Prichard Named CEO and President of OCLC, Will Take Over July 1

By Meredith Schwartz and Gary Price on May 16, 2013

Skip Prichard was named the next President and CEO of OCLC, effective July 1. (In the meantime, he will serve as President-elect, effective June 3.) Prichard will succeed Jay Jordan, who will retire June 30, after 15 years as OCLC President and CEO.

Prichard most recently served as President and CEO of Ingram Content Group, a position he left just shy of a year ago, saying he’d met the goals he came to achieve. Previously, he was President and CEO of ProQuest Information and Learning, a position he vacated after the business was sold to Cambridge Information Group in 2007.

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: Academic Libraries, infodocket, LJ, OCLC, Skip Prichard

Connecticut House of Representatives Unanimously Passes Bill to Study Library Access to Ebooks, Legislation Now Moves to State Senate

By Gary Price on May 14, 2013

House Bill 5614 (An Act Cocerning Ebooks and Libraries) passes Connecticut House of Representatives. Bill now heads to Senate. From the AP: The state House of Representatives voted Tuesday 143-0 to pass a bill requiring the commissioner of consumer protection to report to the General Assembly on the issue by Feb 1. The bill, which [...]

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: infodocket, LJ, slj

Cengage May Declare Bankruptcy

By Meredith Schwartz on May 14, 2013 6 Comments

Major academic content, software, and services company Cengage Learning is considering filing for bankruptcy relief, the company’s CEO, Michael Hansen, said on a call reporting third quarter financial results.

Filed Under: Academic Libraries, Industry News, Publishing Tagged With: bankruptcy, Cengage, restructuring

Brooklyn Public Library Brought In $1.9 Million in Overdue Fines in 2012, E-Books 1.7% of Total Circulation

By Gary Price on May 14, 2013

From the NY Daily News: The Brooklyn Public Library hauled in a whopping $1.9 million in fines last year — but it’s just a petty cash for a system needing $250 million in restoration work. The fines represent a 20% jump from the $1.5 million hauled in 2008 — and include a big boost from [...]

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: infodocket, LJ

Report: “Cengage CEO Seeking Restructuring, May File Bankruptcy”

By Gary Price on May 10, 2013

Update May 14: More on This Story in a New Library Journal Article by Meredith Schwartz From Bloomberg: Cengage Learning Inc., the educational publisher owned by Apax Partners LLP, said it’s seeking to negotiate with creditors on a restructuring plan and may need to file bankruptcy as part of its turnaround efforts. “We will seek [...]

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: infodocket, LJ, slj

Massive Open Opportunity: Supporting MOOCs in Public and Academic Libraries

By Meredith Schwartz on May 10, 2013 2 Comments

If you’re an academic librarian, you’re probably already awash, at least peripherally, in news about MOOCs—massive open online courses have been touted as the next big thing in higher ed since they burst on the scene about a year ago. If you’re a public librarian, on the other hand, you may not even have heard of them. Yet MOOCs are bringing unprecedented challenges and opportunities to both kinds of libraries already, and they’re only going to grow.

Filed Under: Academic Libraries, Copyright and Fair Use, Featured, Future of Libraries, Industry News, Library Services, LJ in Print, Public Services Tagged With: MOOCs

III’s New CEO Calls for Greater Collaboration

By Michael Kelley on May 1, 2013 1 Comment

Kim Massana took over as Innovative's CEO in August 2012.

Just under 1,000 library professionals gathered in San Francisco from April 24-26 eager and curious to learn about the latest product news from Innovative Interfaces and also to hear the company’s new leadership articulate the firm’s direction after a year of upheaval.

Filed Under: Industry News, LJ in Print, Technology Tagged With: III, Innovative Interfaces, TDS-LJ

Pew: Parents Love the Library

By Meredith Schwartz on May 1, 2013 Leave a Comment

Virtually all parents surveyed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project for its Parents, Children, Libraries, and Reading study—94 percent—say libraries are important for their children; nearly 80 percent say they’re very important.

Filed Under: Industry News, Library Services, Youth Services Tagged With: children's services, Parents, Pew

Deleted Doesn’t Mean Inaccessible: Search and Access Deleted Tweets By Politicians

By Gary Price on April 29, 2013

Once you click post/publish and the material becomes publicly accessible, you’ve lost full control of the item. Today, I want to point out a free online resource that makes deleted tweets from elected politicians from around the globe searchable and accessible named Politwoops.

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: infodocket, LJ

Internet Archive/Archive-It Continues Building Boston Marathon Bombing Web Archive

By Gary Price on April 28, 2013

The Internet Archive (IA) and their wonderful Archive-It service is continuing to build and make searchable a collection of materials/news reports/social media about the Boston Marathon Bombing. In Their Own Words: This collection is comprised of contributions from curators and subject matter experts; and includes news articles, blogs, social media sites, and organizational websites related [...]

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: infodocket, LJ