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In 2018, the Library launched the very popular Free To Use and Reuse Sets, where staff curate thematic sets of items from our digital collections that are either in the public domain, have no known copyright restrictions or have been cleared by the copyright owner for public use. The public is not only free to […]
Over on Maps Mania, Keir posted a couple of quick maps he built leveraging Bluesky’s firehose jetstream, including US State Social, which: scans Bluesky posts for mentions of the 50 US states. When it detects a mention, it adds a marker to the map and displays the associated message in the map’s sidebar. Once the […]
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles this week unsealed criminal charges against five men alleged to be members of a hacking group responsible for dozens of cyber intrusions at major U.S. technology companies between 2021 and 2023, including LastPass, MailChimp, Okta, T-Mobile and Twilio. A visual depiction of the attacks by the SMS phishing group known […]
Today’s blog post is an interview with Tori Culler of the Digital Services Directorate here at the Library of Congress. You can read other interviews with digital collections staff here. Carlyn: Hi Tori, could you tell us a bit about what you do in the Digital Services Directorate? How would you explain your job to […]
In this week’s Princh Library Blog post, recurring guest writer Sam L. Bowman covers how your library can improve the user experience on its webpage. From optimization basics to specific accessibility guidelines, Sam provides plenty of examples and useful tips. Enjoy! Libraries are making a comeback in the post-pandemic world. More people are using libraries […]
The financial technology firm Finastra is investigating the alleged large-scale theft of information from its internal file transfer platform, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. Finastra, which provides software and services to 45 of the world’s top 50 banks, notified customers of the security incident after a cybercriminal began selling more than 400 gigabytes of data purportedly stolen […]
Catalog records are key to storing and finding digital library materials. As the volume of digital materials continues to grow rapidly, the Library of Congress is exploring whether AI can help catalogers by automating the generation of metadata. AI could provide an opportunity to speed up description workflows. Yet there are numerous machine learning (ML) […]
In December 2023, KrebsOnSecurity revealed the real-life identity of Rescator, the nickname used by a Russian cybercriminal who sold more than 100 million payment cards stolen from Target and Home Depot between 2013 and 2014. Moscow resident Mikhail Shefel, who confirmed using the Rescator identity in a recent interview, also admitted reaching out because he […]
Today’s guest post is from Kate Murray of the Digital Collections Management & Services Division and co-leader of the FADGI Audiovisual Working Group. The Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) Audiovisual Working Group has released a revised version of its popular resource, Significant Properties for Digital Video. FADGI’s Significant Properties for Digital Video (2024). Initially […]
Microsoft today released updates to plug at least 89 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software. November’s patch batch includes fixes for two zero-day vulnerabilities that are already being exploited by attackers, as well as two other flaws that were publicly disclosed prior to today. The zero-day flaw tracked as CVE-2024-49039 is […]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is urging police departments and governments worldwide to beef up security around their email systems, citing a recent increase in cybercriminal services that use hacked police email accounts to send unauthorized subpoenas and customer data requests to U.S.-based technology companies. In an alert (PDF) published this week, the FBI […]
In this week’s Princh Library Blog, recurring guest writer Nina Grant discusses a basic, but nevertheless crucial digital security principle: secure password practices for libraries. Enjoy! In libraries, it’s essential to keep digital systems secure, which is why many have set up rules for changing passwords regularly—usually every three to six months—to protect their valuable […]
A 26-year-old man in Ontario, Canada has been arrested for allegedly stealing data from and extorting more than 160 companies that used the cloud data service Snowflake. Image: https://www.pomerium.com/blog/the-real-lessons-from-the-snowflake-breach On October 30, Canadian authorities arrested Alexander Moucka, a.k.a. Connor Riley Moucka of Kitchener, Ontario, on a provisional arrest warrant from the United States. Bloomberg first […]
With small businesses employing almost half the US workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public libraries’ support for those businesses, and the entrepreneurs who start them, makes a significant contribution to our country’s economy. 5.5 millionThe record-breaking number of new businesses started in 2023, according to the US Census Bureau. 50%Approximate number of […]
A number of cybercriminal innovations are making it easier for scammers to cash in on your upcoming travel plans. This story examines a recent spear-phishing campaign that ensued when a California hotel had its booking.com credentials stolen. We’ll also explore an array of cybercrime services aimed at phishers who target hotels that rely on the […]
Illustration: Shane Tolentino For Susan Brown, December 17, 2004, was a perfectly normal day—until she saw the elevator doors open. Brown, director of Transylvania University’s J. Douglas Gay Jr./Frances Carrick Thomas Library in Lexington, Kentucky, was walking past the staff elevator on the library’s main level when the doors parted and she reflexively glanced inside. […]
Alexandra, the daughter of librarian Beth B. Demapan at Joeten-Kiyu Public Library in Susupe, Northern Mariana Islands, plays with kinetic sand in the library’s new Sensory Corner.Photo: Beth Demapan In 2023, the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office launched the largest grant initiative in the Association’s history—the Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural […]
Photo: © Anna Stills/Adobe Stock How can librarians ensure their instruction materials are as accessible as possible? One way is through Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines, a set of best practices to improve teaching and learning and create inclusive and equitable educational experiences for all students. The guidelines include three principles that instructors must […]
Members of Totoket Valley Elementary School’s (TVES) intergenerational book club, comprising 4th-graders from TVES and residents from North Branford Senior Center in Northford, Connecticut, complete an activity based on the book Mr. Ferris and His Wheel in 2023. Photo: Shelly Thompson On a Wednesday in February 2023, anyone stopping by the North Branford Senior Center in […]
St. Louis (Mo.) County Library, in partnership with the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank, distributes diapers at its six library locations. Photo: St. Louis (Mo.) County Library What would you do to keep your child clean, dry, and healthy? Skip meals? Miss bill payments? Take on an extra job? For nearly half of US families […]
