NEW RESOURCES

Boston Public Library: Boston Public Library makes historical images available for use in Wikipedia. “In celebration of Wikipedia’s 20th anniversary on January 15th, Boston Public Library has uploaded more than 8,000 historical photographs from its archival collections to Wikimedia Commons. These images include some of the library’s most important photographic collections, and contribute to the single largest batch of uploads ever contributed to Wikimedia Commons. By uploading these public domain images, BPL is making them available so that they can be freely used to enhance Wikipedia articles, re-printed in publications, or incorporated in student projects and papers.”

University of Virginia: UVA Helps Educators Wrestle With How To Appropriately Teach Current Events. “In the coming months and years, educators will grapple with how to most appropriately and effectively teach about recent events that illuminate the deep, troubling divisions in America and the history from which they emerged…. To address this need to support K-12 teachers throughout the U.S., a team of faculty and students from the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development, alongside practicing educators, have collaborated to launch a new online resource hub. Educating for Democracy offers a range of teaching tools, including developmentally appropriate lessons that interrogate issues of race, justice and human welfare in the U.S. by connecting the full story of the past with current events.”

George Washington University Program on Extremism: Capitol Hill Siege. “In keeping with our tradition of providing primary source documents to the research community and the public at large, The Program on Extremism has launched a project to create a central database of court records related to the events of January 6, 2021. This page will be updated as additional individuals are charged with criminal activities and new records are introduced into the criminal justice system.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

ZDNet: WhatsApp delays take it or leave it privacy terms update until May. “WhatsApp has announced that it will delay enforcing its new privacy terms from February 8 to May 15. With little fanfare, in recent weeks, WhatsApp has presented users with a prompt to accept its new privacy terms by February 8, or risk not being able to use the app.”

The Guardian: Parler website partially returns with support from Russian-owned technology firm . “On Monday, Parler’s website was reachable again, though only with a message from its chief executive, John Matze, saying he was working to restore functionality. The internet protocol (IP) address it used is owned by DDos-Guard, which is controlled by two Russian men and provides services including protection from distributed denial of service attacks, infrastructure expert Ronald Guilmette told Reuters.”

USEFUL STUFF

MIT Technology Review: A guide to being an ethical online investigator. “How can you, an average person, be an ethical digital activist? What counts as going too far? How can you keep yourself safe? How can you participate in a way that doesn’t put anyone in danger? Below are some guidelines that might help.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

BBC: Biden Twitter account ‘starts from zero’ with no Trump followers. “US president-elect Joe Biden has been given his new official presidential Twitter account, but has been forced to start it with zero followers. The Biden campaign is unhappy with the move, which marks a change from the previous transition from Barack Obama.”

Muskogee Phoenix: Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Library and Archives receives grant. “The project will include 40 oral history interviews from Muscogee citizens and community members concerning their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will also aid in the purchase of oral history recording equipment and supplies, the creation of a digital archive and Oral History Research Station, located in the MCN National Library and Archives, and the creation of a library website.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: Behind a Secret Deal Between Google and Facebook. “In 2017, Facebook said it was testing a new way of selling online advertising that would threaten Google’s control of the digital ad market. But less than two years later, Facebook did an about-face and said it was joining an alliance of companies backing a similar effort by Google. Facebook never said why it pulled back from its project, but evidence presented in an antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 state attorneys general last month indicates that Google had extended to Facebook, its closest rival for digital advertising dollars, a sweetheart deal to be a partner.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Pew Research Center: How lawmakers’ social media activity changed in the days after the U.S. Capitol riot. “Social media activity by members of Congress changed in notable ways following the Jan. 6 rioting at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of lawmakers’ Facebook and Twitter posts in the days after the breach.”

ABC News (Australia): Drones count koalas faster and cheaper than manual spotting methods: study. “A team with a drone was able to spot koalas more effectively and cheaply than a team using more traditional methods, such as studying the forest floor for traces of koala scat, or shining spotlights into trees at night to catch a glimmer of eye-shine.” Good morning, Internet…

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