Category «Features»

E-Government Information and Public Access: Online electronic government information and the impact of the government shutdown on public access

Crystal Vicente’s paper focuses on the impact of the dramatic termination of e-government access during the October 2013 federal funding gap that resulted in a shutdown of government processes. As she documents, the public’s access to government information was severely limited, and in some cases prohibited entirely. We now widely expect that an advanced technological society will make information available via Internet anytime and from anywhere. However, when access is eliminated, the resulting information crisis cripples the public’s interaction with the federal government. Vicente states that the shutdown and the subsequent lack of access to government information is an indicator that the information dissemination model is faulty, and reliance on a single point of access is a mistake. As a result, libraries, long charged with protecting the public’s access to information, are challenged to find a viable solution to protecting free permanent public access.

Subjects: Features

Voice Dream text-to-speech app can now play audiobooks, too, and soon you may be able to hear audios of PDFs while seeing the original layouts

David Rothman gives kudos to the latest version of the Voice Dream text-to-speech app that can now play audiobooks. David also let’s us know that soon you may be able to hear audios of PDFs while seeing the original layouts. The new version of Voice Dream, a superb iOS text-to-speech app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, can now play audiobooks, too.

Subjects: E-Books, Features, Gadgets, Legal Technology

Beware, public libraries: You’ll go the way of print newspapers if you automatically diss nonlibrarians’ gutsy ideas

This is the first article in a three-part series by David Rothman, all three of which are published here at LLRX.com. Part Two is about Carmela Hernandez and family. Set in the San Antonio area, a future scenario shows how a national digital library initiative could help turn their lives around. Part Three tells how librarians and policymakers can make the initiative happen and benefit the Hernandezes, not just the American elite.

Subjects: Features

How the Hernandez family will benefit from two well-stocked national digital library systems and a digital library endowment

This is Part Two of LibraryCity’s series, by David Rothman, mapping out a digital future for U.S. libraries to better our lives. Part One is on the need for librarians to open their minds to innovations like the BiblioTech digital library. Part Three is on strategies to make well-stocked national digital libraries a reality and help the Hernandezes, not just the American elite.

Subjects: Digital Archives, E-Books, Features, Gadgets, Librarian Resources, Mobile Technology, Social Media, Technology Trends, Virtual Library

Making the national digital library dream come true for the Hernandezes–not just the American elite: Strategies for librarians and public officials

This is the last article David Rothman’s in the current series mapping out a path for planners of America’s digital libraries. Part One encouraged librarians to be open to new ideas like BiblioTech, especially from friends outside the profession. Part Two featured the Hernandez family in a 2020 scenario telling how national digital libraries could benefit the non elite.

Subjects: Features

Calculating Justice: Mathematics and Criminal Law

Ken Strutin’s new guide on criminal justice illuminates the growing importance of math in the administration of justice, with an emphasis on the areas of proof and judgment. Ken raises the examples of how statistics (evidence) and probability (analytics) have been used and challenged in many criminal cases to match people to events through such means as: DNA, soil samples, eyewitness descriptions, firearm purchase records, typewritten documents, clothes fibers, footprints, hair follicles, blood types, sperm, teeth marks, and conviction rates. Indeed, everything from traffic tickets to predictive policing draws on math in some way. Ken’s analysis and through documentation of case law adds a critical perspective on the manner in which “numbers are used, and abused” in court.

Subjects: Features

Library Metrics

Attorney/Librarian Eve Ross demonstrates in a clear and actionable presentation how librarians can effectively leverage data-driven statistics to measure and document the work streams, processes and services they provide to respective organizations. Eve’s emphasis is on accountability, transparency and helping to improve the organization’s bottom line with expert, reliable and cost effective services.

Subjects: Features

How to get the most out of library e-books via the right gadget, text to speech, and otherwise

Want to hear text to speech from free library books on your 50-mile commute? Even if you own an Android machine and the usual app can’t do “read-aloud” unless audiobooks count? A new, expert and insightful report by David Rothman focuses on the new Kindle Fire HDXes. He recommends them to be among the top choices if you care more about reading than about tech and can accept Amazon’s proprietary requirements. His article is written for both library staffers and patrons who are passionate about e-books.

Subjects: E-Books, Features, Gadgets, Libraries & Librarians, Library Software & Technology

DNA Evidence: Brave New World, Same Old Problems

Criminal law expert Ken Strutin guides us through the critical facets that comprise the backbone of investigative forensics in the 21st Century – the database. Ken states that of all information gathering techniques, genetic databanking has become the holy grail of prosecutions and the last resort for exonerations. It is both the cause of and solution to many problems in the administration of justice. Thus, DNA forensics highlights the longstanding tension between scientific understanding and legal reasoning. While DNA’s scientific reputation is very near to magic, its forensic applications are subject to the faults and limitations of every kind of evidence offered as proof in a court of law. Ken’s article collects research on the law and science of genetic evidence at the pre-conviction stage. It focuses on the role of DNA in identification, investigation and prosecution of crime, social and privacy issues, and to some degree exculpation or evidence of third party culpability.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Features, Legal Research