News Desk

Abstract

All books are free to read online or download, and UPLOpen.com's emphasis on the SDGs underscores the distinctive dedication of university presses to integrate the SDGs' expansive targets into their day-to-day operations and structure," according to a press release. "Clarivate plays an active role in promoting sus-tainability by providing the necessary solutions, insights and data to accelerate positive change that will deliver on the SDGs and secure a sustainable future," according to a press release. "The new solution is the next phase of an expanding partnership between Clarivate and Global Health Intelligence, enabling in-depth and actionable analysis of the medical device market in Latin America (LatAm).

* news • announcements • updates

Words of Wisdom

'Reading was a joy, a desperately needed escape -I didn't read to learn, I was reading to read.'

-Christian Bauman

De Gruyter eBound Foundation Introduces Initiative to Advance SDGs

In order to democratize access to scholarly knowledge and advance the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the De Gruyter eBound Foundation has launched UP LOpen.com. This initiative is a product of the University Press Library Open (UPLO), an innovative website that curates first-class, OA scholarship from the world's university presses. "UP LOpen.com is a direct response to the growing demand for open access scholarship and the urgent need to address the global challenges identified in the UN SDGs. All books are free to read online or download, and UPLOpen.com's emphasis on the SDGs underscores the distinctive dedication of university presses to integrate the SDGs' expansive targets into their day-to-day operations and structure," according to a press release. As of this writing, UPLO pen.com has more than 350 OA books from 30-plus university presses and will continue to release new titles. By mid-2024, it is expected that the number of titles will exceed 2,500, with substantial growth on the agenda for 2025 and beyond. "UPLOpen.com ... is committed to open principles and practices; and is fully optimized to support digital-first, open content distribution. Developed in collaboration with Ubiquity, a trusted partner of researchers, universities, and academic societies, UP LOpen.com utilizes open-source infrastructure, which benefits the broader open-source community."

Syracuse University Libraries Inks OA Deal

Syracuse University Libraries has signed its 12th read-and-publish OA agreement. This deal, with Springer, expands the reach of researchers' scholarly contributions by allowing all university-affiliated authors to publish their work OA in Springer's 2,000-plus hybrid journals at no cost to them. "Springer journals constitute one of the largest publication venues for Syracuse University's authors. Based on the strong publication history of University authors in Springer titles, Syracuse University Libraries expect this most recent three-year agreement to have a wide reach. Springer imprints covered by this agreement include Pal-grave Macmillan journals, Adis Journals and academic journals. Excluded are gold open-access titles and nature-branded journal titles," according to a press release.

hoopla Digital Releases Pokemon BingePass

hoopla Digital has partnered with Pokemon to launch a new BingePass. A press release says that "patrons can find seasons six through 13 available through the Pokemon hoopla BingePass, while seasons 10 through 13 can also be viewed on an episode-by-episode basis. Through the BingePass, patrons with a library card can enjoy this content for seven days ad-free and without a subscription all for just one borrow." It "is one of more than 20 BingePasses available to public libraries and their patrons-supporting hoopla's commitment to providing unique content for free to library patrons. BingePass is a unique innovation from hoopla, offering unlimited access to educational and entertaining collections of streaming content and platforms for seven days with just one borrow. BingePass is accessible anywhere, either on the web or via the mobile app, with no commercials or ads. Patrons of all ages and interests can find something to borrow including magazines, eBooks, popular movies and TV series, puzzles and more."

Clarivate Signs Pledge

Clarivate has signed the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Publishers Compact. Signatories of this pledge commit to developing sustainable practices and function as champions of the SDGs during the Decade of Action (2020-2030). "Clarivate plays an active role in promoting sus-tainability by providing the necessary solutions, insights and data to accelerate positive change that will deliver on the SDGs and secure a sustainable future," according to a press release. You can read more about Clarivate's commitment to sustainability at clarivate .com/sustainabilitv-at-clarivate.

PLA Offers Telehealth Training Module

PLA launched Getting Started With Telehealth, a new training module on DigitalLearn.org. It builds on the site's extensive resources and opportunities for improving digital literacy skills in public libraries and their communities. "With support from Heartland

Forward, this module guides users through the basics of accessing tele-health. Topics include navigating patient portals and understanding technical requirements. A complementary training package includes everything necessary to host an in-person class, such as slides, trainer guides, and handouts. Getting Started with Tele-health is free and available to everyone in English and Spanish," according to a press release.

Clarivate Launches Market Tracking Solution

Clarivate introduced Lat Am, a market tracking solution, in partnership with Global Health Intelligence. "The new solution is the next phase of an expanding partnership between Clarivate and Global Health Intelligence, enabling in-depth and actionable analysis of the medical device market in Latin America (LatAm). Leveraging comprehensive datasets and the proprietary Clarivate device catalog for the LatAm region, including Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, clients can analyze over 100 medical devices and 500 product categories," according to a press release. The medical equipment and device markets in Latin America have seen significant growth and are valued at $10 billion annually, as of this writing, with Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile occupying 89% of the regional market.

Rowan University Enters Agreement With Taylor & Francis

Rowan University has signed a 3-year read-and-publish agreement with Taylor & Francis, increasing access to the latest research via Rowan University Libraries. Students, faculty members, and staffers can publish OA in 2,100-plus Taylor & Francis Open Select hybrid journals. With OA articles usually garnering higher downloads and citations, this deal supports Rowan's dedication to advancing research and scholarly activities. Authors can, upon acceptance, decide to publish OA, increasing their reach and impact. "Taylor & Francis, renowned for its Routledge imprint, is a global leader in publishing Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) journals. For the first time, Rowan researchers now enjoy the privilege of full, unrestricted access to the Taylor & Francis Humanities & Social Sciences Library, a comprehensive collection boasting over 1,400 titles. This feature expects to significantly boost Rowan's HSS research," a press release states. As of this writing, there are 900-plus worldwide institutions that have partnered with Taylor & Francis via a transformative agreement. "Taylor & Francis is a leading publisher of open access journals, books and research platforms. In the last year, Taylor & Francis has converted 26 hybrid journals to fully OA, launched the Elevate OA journal series, marked 10 years of OA book publishing, and introduced Pledge to Open, an innovative collective funding pilot," according to the same press release.

0CLC Debuts Meridian

OCLC has released Meridian, a new web application and set of APIs to manage metadata for knowledge collections. It can be used by libraries and other organizations to craft, curate, and connect linked data entities. This linked data, published in WorldCat Entities, becomes available for use across many services, systems, and datasets to link to other knowledge streams that people use to search for information. "Meridian enables the creation of linked data entities and descriptive relationships from within libraries' current workflows, forming connections to existing bibliographic records and other datasets in the global information ecosystem. Through these connections, WorldCat Entities data improves library discovery, findability, and relevance across the web," according to a press release. Meridian allows libraries and other organizations that manage metadata to contribute to a shared linked data infrastructure on their own timeline and without disrupting current workflows. "With Meridian comes a suite of APIs that enables users to create and curate linked data at scale; find identifiers from different library sources (such as VIAF, ISNI, ORCID, ROR, etc.) as well as identifiers in general purpose knowledge graphs (such as Wikidata, or Mu-sicBrainz); learn of changes to World-Cat Entities data; and retrieve subsets of pre-scripted linked data relationships for use in local discovery applications," the press release states. "The release of Meridian is a key milestone in OCLC's long-term linked data strategy. Evolving library data into linked data frees the knowledge in library collections and connects it to the knowledge streams that inform our everyday lives-on the web, through smart devices, and using technologies like artificial intelligence (AI)." Meridian is available worldwide as a standalone subscription or as a complement to a cataloging subscription. •