NEW RESOURCES

UNC University Libraries: New toolkit from University Libraries helps communities tell their stories. “Communities working to preserve their own histories—and the libraries and archives seeking to support them—have new tools in the form of a free web resource from the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill…. The new site brings together dozens of guides, tip sheets and instructional videos that the project team created over the course of the grant. UNC-Chapel Hill and community archivists also contributed reflections through blog posts and profiles.”

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg: Vegetation of planet Earth: Researchers publish unique database as Open Access. “It’s a treasure trove of data: the global geodatabase of vegetation plots ‘sPlotOpen’ is now freely accessible. It contains data on vegetation from 114 countries and from all climate zones on Earth. The database was compiled by an international team of researchers led by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).”

PR Newswire: New online library connects organizations to 300 resources that can help older adults and their caregivers during emergencies like COVID-19 (PRESS RELEASE). “A new online resource library, released today, connects organizations that serve older adults and their caregivers with existing programs and services in the U.S. that can help these populations during public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks like COVID-19, natural disasters, and severe weather.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Poynter: The lessons of Squash, the first automated fact-checking platform. “Today, Squash (our code name for the project, chosen because it is a nutritious vegetable and a good metaphor for stopping falsehoods) has been a remarkable success. It displays fact checks seconds after politicians utter a claim and it largely does what those readers wanted in 2007. But Squash also makes lots of mistakes.”

9to5Google: Google adding new ‘Insights’ tool for web creators powered by Search Console and Analytics. “Google is rolling out a new Search Console Insights tool that provides creators with an overview of how their content is performing. It’s meant to be an ‘easier way to understand how your content resonates with readers.'”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

UCLA: UCLA Library acquires new materials based on student proposals. “It’s been more than a year since the coronavirus halted physical access to the UCLA Library. Rather than seeing it as a hurdle, Matthew Fisher, associate professor of English, and Devin Fitzgerald, curator of rare books and the history of printing, devised a series of remote-learning alternatives for students to research, think and write about books and book collections in new ways, culminating in a final writing project that allowed students to explore an unfamiliar role: special collections curator.”

BBC: The relatives frozen in time on Google Street View. “Social-media users are sharing Google Street View images featuring friends and relatives who have since died. It was sparked by a post on the Twitter account Fesshole, which asks followers to submit anonymous confessions – many of which are explicit.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: One of Big Tech’s Biggest Critics Is Now Its Regulator. “[Lina Khan’s] fast ascent from researcher to leader of a large federal agency underscores the growing concerns about the power of the big tech companies — and big business in general — in Washington. In her new job, she will command more than 1,000 investigators, lawyers and economists who are responsible for policing the American economy.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Caltech: Computers Predict People’s Tastes in Art. “Do you like the thick brush strokes and soft color palettes of an impressionist painting such as those by Claude Monet? Or do you prefer the bold colors and abstract shapes of a Rothko? Individual art tastes have a certain mystique to them, but now a new Caltech study shows that a simple computer program can accurately predict which paintings a person will like.”

NiemanLab: Comment moderators should focus more on hate speech than profanity, a new study suggests. “News consumers and social media platform users prioritize the removal of hate speech over the removal of profanity, according to a new study by the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas, Austin.” Good evening, Internet…

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