Libfocus Link-out for June 2024

Welcome to the June edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while.

Images featured in this month's link-out articles

Google just updated its algorithm. The Internet will never be the same
Over the last two years, a series of updates to Google Search amount to a dramatic upheaval to the Internet's most powerful tool, complete with an unprecedented AI feature. Will Google save the web, or destroy it?

'Googlepocalypse' - the way you search the internet is about to change forever
Earlier this month, Google launched AI Overviews – software which uses artificial intelligence to answer people’s questions quickly, skipping the step of scrolling through links. The new search system has made headlines for generating hilariously incorrect answers, a glitch Google says it is taking swift action to remedy. But this bumpy start will quickly be ironed out, says Irish Times writer Hugh Linehan.

Appeals court tells Texas it cannot ban books because it dislikes ideas within 
In this article from The Guardian, Maya Yang looks at the appellate court ruling that Texas cannot ban books from libraries just because officials dislike the ideas they contain. The decision follows a lawsuit against officials who restricted and removed books from public circulation.

The Philadelphia Free Library’s whole Author Events staff has resigned over workplace conditions
James Folta from LitHub examines how an alleged culture of cruelty and disrespect from management has led to the resignation, and then firing, of the Philadelphia Free Library's events team this month.

How are researchers responding to AI?
Oxford University Press surveyed over 2,000 researchers to get their views on the use of AI in research. Most authors say they are using AI tools in their research practice, despite concerns over the loss of critical thinking skills, respect for intellectual property rights, and mistrust in AI providers.

Japan’s push to make all research open access is taking shape
A big step for Open Access in Asia: a nation-wide strategy for Open Access in Japan. The plan promotes Green OA (rather than Gold via APCs or transformative agreements) and invests "¥10 billion (around US$63 million) to standardize institutional repositories".

Not Your Childhood Library
Paige Williams for the New Yorker on an ambitious experiment in Minneapolis which is changing the way librarians work with their homeless patrons and challenging how we share public space.

Rediscovering Averill Cole, Bookbinder and Dictionary Cover Patenter
A look at the life and work of Averill Cole, the first woman to hold a Head of Fine Binding position at any US publishing house.

Google Scholar, evidence synthesis and systematic reviews - some thoughts
Aaron Tay investigates the most common complaints about Google Scholar and its use as a research tool.

A viable model for open access publishing
Lauren Coffey highlights the approach MIT Press have taken to encourage the development and sustainability of open-access academic books.

Rethinking How We Build Communities: The Future of Flexible Work
As most academic libraries closed in March 2020 to help slow the spread of COVID-19, practitioners started working from home for the first time. After observing impacts on their own work, the authors sought to study the broader effects of remote work on practitioners’ professional and personal life by conducting a longitudinal study between July 2020 and June 2021. The authors identified successful and unsuccessful practices and, based on this data, developed recommendations for how employers can support their employees as whole persons to ensure more productive professional performance and healthier personal lives.

Towards an Open Source-first Praxis in Libraries
In terms of utility and technical quality, open source software solutions have become a common option for many libraries. As barriers to adoption have been reduced and systems such as FOLIO appear poised to change the landscape of LIS technology, it is worth examining how the use of open source can support the normative core values of librarianship, and to outline a strategy for critical engagement with the technology that is beneficial to patrons and libraries. That strategy will require further codification, institutionalization and investigation of open source at many levels.