(20 Oct 2020) For a book lover, stepping into a bookstore is always exciting, but a new bookstore in China makes the experience absolutely spellbinding. Dujiangyan Zhongshuge, located in Chengdu, was designed by Shanghai-based architecture firm X+Living, which has created several locations for Zhongshuge. The two-story space appears cathedral-like, thanks to the mirrored ceilings and…
(11 Nov 2020) Rachel Esson has been appointed as New Zealand’s National Librarian Te Pouhuaki. Rachel takes up the role from within the National Library, where she currently serves as Director for Content Services. Te Tari Taiwhenua| Internal Affairs Deputy Chief Executive Information and Knowledge Services Peter Murray says this appointment panel was looking…
(12 Nov 2020) Overseas Vietnamese scientist Vo Ta Han has given 9,338 books, worth over VND26 billion (US$1.15 million), to universities in Vietnam. Scientist Han yesterday donated 942 books worth nearly VND3 billion ( or $130,397) to the library of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Van Hien University through the city Committee for Overseas…
(2 Nov 2020) News from Australia: One of the country’s major cultural institutions has admitted it failed to properly pay holiday and weekend penalty rates to more than 100 casual staff for two decades to the tune of $245,000. The National Library of Australia has agreed to pay back all the affected workers…
(5 Nov 2020) A rare 17th-century French book on Confucius, which was given as a national gift to President Xi Jinping by French President Emmanuel Macron last year, was officially handed over to the National Library of China in Beijing on Wednesday. Confucius ou la Science des Princes (Confucius, or the Science of the Princes),…
By Ruth A. Pagell* (10 Nov 2020) Ruth’s Rankings regularly revisits journal metrics, covering legitimate and illegitimate sources and metrics. This will be a two-part article. Part one focuses on Journal Citation Reports™ Journal Impact Factor™ and other Clarivate Analytics products with journal metrics. JIF™ is a trademark of Clarivate Analytics and cannot be legally used by…
(6 Nov 2020) An online forum between Chinese and British libraries was held on Oct 27. Representatives from 11 libraries in China, including the National Library, Shanghai Library and Wuhan Library, attended the meeting. Their counterparts from the UK are the British Library, Living Knowledge Network and a dozen public libraries. The theme centered…
(5 Nov 2020) COVID-19 has transformed academic publishing, for books and journals. In this post Min Pun, shares his experiences as editor of two journals in Nepal. He outlines some of the opportunities posed by COVID-19, including the increased demand for research. However, there are also multiple barriers to the production and dissemination of knowledge…
(3 November 2020) India, the world’s second-most populous country, is planning to make scholarly literature available for everyone under its latest science, technology and innovation policy. The policy will push for the whole country to have a nationwide subscription to replace existing subscriptions paid by different research and education institutions to access research journals.…
(10 Nov 2020) From The Digital Reader: 2020 was a strange year, for obvious reasons. Many of us spent a lot of 2020 in lockdown, either trying to keep up with work or looking for a new job. Some turned to streaming services such as Netflix (for example, I subscribed to Disney…