NEW RESOURCES

The University of California has launched a Presidential Open Access Policy. “UC’s OA policies enable UC authors to grant rights to the university prior to any contractual arrangement with publishers. Authors can then rely on those rights to make their research widely and publicly available via eScholarship (UC’s open access repository), in tandem with their publication in scholarly journals. These rights also enable authors to reuse their articles for various purposes or to modify them for future publications. Previously, publishers had sole control of the distribution of these articles.”

Schomburg has digitized the “Green book” travel guides that African-Americans used to find safe places to stay and eat from the 1930s through 1966. Though I’m ashamed and embarrassed that such guides were ever necessary, I’m glad that such an essential set of historical and cultural items has been preserved. “From 1936 to 1966, the “Green Book” was a travel guide that provided black motorists with peace of mind while they drove through a country where racial segregation was the norm and sundown towns — where African-Americans had to leave after dark — were not uncommon.”

The New York University Pollack Center for Law & Business has teamed up with Cornerstone Research to launch a database tracking Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions. It’s called Securities Enforcement Empirical Database (SEED). “SEED tracks and records information for US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions against public companies. With data on SEC actions filed since October 1, 2009, SEED offers insight into multiyear trends and priorities in federal securities enforcement.”

A new corporate misconduct database is now available (PRESS RELEASE). “The database includes 100,000 cases with penalties of $5,000 or more initiated by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and 11 other agencies, including cases referred to the Justice Department. Additional violation categories will be added later.”

TWEAKS & UPDATES

The National Library of Scotland has put a lot more Gaelic stuff online. “Every known out-of-copyright Gaelic item in the National Library of Scotland is now online. Gaelic items dating back to the 17th century are now free to use on the Library’s website. Around 600 items have been newly digitised, making a total of 1,200 items available from the Library’s Gaelic collections.”

Twitter is increasing its follow limit from 2,000 to 5,000. “If you hit the new limit of follow 5,000 accounts and want to add more, Twitter may allow you depending on how many people follow you.” I have actually fallen afoul of this limit (I like following all the marvelous library/museum/university accounts out there) so this is good news.

Google has partnered with Asus to launch a new router. “Google first launched its OnHub router series in August, attempting to make a router that’s easy to use and provides better Wi-Fi signal than what people are used to. This second model continues toward that goal with a similar design and a couple of interesting new features, including the ability to wave your hand overtop of it to have the router prioritize Wi-Fi to a specific device, like a Chromecast that you’re streaming a movie to.”

USEFUL STUFF

From Search Engine Journal: 4 Ways Pinterest is Useful for Non-E-Commerce Brands. “Just because your business doesn’t sell products online doesn’t mean you should be ignoring Pinterest. 30% of U.S. social media users use Pinterest, so failing to include it as part of your social media strategy simply because you’re not an e-commerce brand means you’re missing out on a chance to connect and engage with your audience.”

For you font nuts out there (and me, because I’m a total font nut) 100 Free Fonts You Should Be Using in 2015. This list includes Overpass, which is one of my favorites. You have favorite fonts? Yes. And I have a favorite Excel function and a favorite Venn diagram too. I’m expecting my Nerd Badge in the mail any minute now.

Have visual content? Social Media Examiner looks at whether you should use Snapchat or Instagram. Snapgram. Instachat.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Of course there’s still a lot of work to be done, but it looks like Twitter has made a start on increasing its regular users and narrowing its net loss. “The company reported revenue of $569 million and a net loss of $132 million. It had issued guidance that it would generate $545 to $560 million in revenue and EBITDA of $110 to $115 million. The final EBITDA figure for the quarter was $142 million, so Twitter beat its forecasts for both that and revenue. During the same three-month period last year, Twitter booked $361 million in revenue and a net loss of $175 million.”

More Twitter: Twitter and CBS news are teaming up for the next national Democrat debate. “Twitter will provide CBS News with real-time data and insights, and will bring live reactions and questions from voters around the country onto the debate stage.” What this quote fails to mention is the snark. There will be snark. Remember that movie, There Will Be Blood? THERE WILL BE SNARK. Good morning, Internet…

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