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Book censorship efforts in the USA have become increasingly concerning for champions of freedom of expression and civil liberties. The movement to ban books is seemingly driven by a desire to curtail adolescents' access to information about sexuality and gender diversity. This paper details the findings of a content analysis of the American Library Association's (ALA) Top 10 Most Challenged Books list from 2011 to 2021. The authors analysed purported reasons for book challenges along with target age groups for the 42 books within our sample period. We found that most of the books in the ALA Top 10 list were challenged for reasons related to sexuality and/or LGBTQ themes. Between 2011 and 2015, book challengers were most likely to claim to be motivated by general perceptions of 'sexual explicitness'. However, after 2016, and perhaps as a backlash against the Federal Government's legalisation of same-sex marriage, purported LGBTQ content in books was a stronger motivator. Given that most of the books in the top 10 most challenged list are intended for adolescent readers, our findings have implications for informal sex education and access to information about LGBTQ lives.

Purpose: More than eight in ten people worldwide identify with a religious group. In addition, people often engage with spiritual and religious content despite having no formal beliefs or affiliations. Spirituality remains a prominent feature of Western and Westernised information-based societies and cultures; however, people's everyday interactions with spiritual and religious information have received disproportionate attention in information and library science research. Accordingly, this paper aims to understand how scholars have explored religion and spirituality in information research and identify current and emerging trends in the literature. Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses 115 peer-reviewed articles, 44 book chapters, 24 theses and 17 unrefereed papers published between 1990 and 2022 to present a narrative review of how scholars have explored spirituality and religion in information research. The reviewed literature is first organised into spirituality-related and religion-related articles and thereafter analysed in Internet studies, information behaviour studies and galleries, libraries, archives and museums-related research groups. Findings: Our analysis indicates scholars in Internet studies have researched both established and alternative religious interactions, and emerging research agendas seek to explore intersections between traditional religious authority and modern Internet-facilitated engagements. Information behaviour scholars have examined interactions in Christianity and Islam, focused primarily on Western contexts and conventional interactions, with emerging research aiming to explore diverse contextual and methodological combinations. Finally, GLAM researchers have investigated the practicality, suitability, and appropriateness of spirituality and religion-related service provisions; however, a clear research agenda is currently lacking in spirituality and religion information research more broadly. Originality/value: This paper is the first review of the spirituality and religion-related information research spanning Internet studies, information behaviour studies and galleries, libraries, archives and museums research domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ethical considerations surrounding intellectual freedom and social responsibility in public libraries (i.e., municipal and public school libraries) in the post-truth era. While libraries serve a crucial role in fostering an informed democracy, recent events have put public libraries, and front-line librarians themselves, in the "hot seat." This paper examines the implications of recent campaigns for book bans, considerations around public libraries purchasing harmful and anti-science information, as well as political efforts to restrict the types of information public librarians are able to share with the public. Public librarians are professionally trained to value the role libraries serve as an information institution in a democracy; however, we argue that the contemporary ethical dilemmas public librarians face inflicts moral injury and may actively harm the identity central to public librarians' motivation to serve their communities. The paper concludes with a sobering discussion of how these ethical dilemmas in public libraries might serve as a cautionary tale for bureaucrats working on the front-lines of public service in the post-truth era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings: Interest from libraries in AI technologies is tempered by concerns about the capability of tools and fears over data security and privacy. Exploring the technologies through small-scale experiments and a culture of collaboration and learning can ascertain each technology's suitability for the library's purpose and help allay the other concerns. Originality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify the factors influencing the adoption of extended reality (XR) applications in libraries for sustainable innovative services and reveal the challenges of adopting XR technology in libraries. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was applied to address the study's objectives. The 26 most relevant seminal studies published in peer-reviewed journals were selected to conduct the study. Findings: The findings showed that access to digital collections, skill development, marketing, innovation and sustainable development factors influence the adoption of extended reality applications in libraries. The study illustrated that technical challenges, financial challenges, the unavailability of staff expertise and lack of institutional support caused barriers to the adoption of XR in libraries. Originality/value: The study has added valuable literature to the existing body of knowledge. It has provided a framework to efficiently adopt extended reality in libraries for the delivery of sustainable, innovative services to library patrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores students' needs and well-being through the University of Illinois Chicago's (UIC) University Library's Undergraduate Engaement Program (UEP) Wall of Engagement. Using the qualitative user experience feedback method of talk-back boards, the UEP asked three reoccurring questions of the student population from 2019 to 2023. From these reoccurring questions asked at midterm and final exam weeks, the responses highlight students' specific needs and identify what students do to take care of their well-being during this time while also articulating what is needed from others. This article illustrates parallels to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to further contextualize the identified themes. The examination of the responses from talk-back boards creates pathways for libraries to gain a better understanding of students' needs. This method can also be used to determine future library programming and be used as a form of event assessment. The collected responses reflect students' perspectives at pivotal times in the academic semester and the findings from this programming effort identify the need to continue to support holistic programs that connect students to external supports. These findings also suggest there is a greater need for libraries to continue supporting self-care and well-being programming for student success. • This paper examines how students see themselves, identifies students' specific needs for midterms and finals exam weeks, and identifies what students do to take care of their well-being; in examining these needs libraries can improve student engagement programming. • The utilization of talk-back boards can serve multiple purposes both as programming effort and as an assessment measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an impact- and data-driven society where heritage institutions face an existential threat as a result of advancement in technologies, constant budget cuts and the increasing demand to demonstrate their value-add, these institutions are forced to find fresh ways of demonstrating impact. Among the promising measures of impact in music libraries, archives and museums (LAMs) are acknowledgments in scholarly outputs. For this paper, I used both qualitative and quantitative approaches – specifically bibliometrics and content analysis – on acknowledgments of LAMs in music Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) as proxy for determining the impact of these institutions. Findings reflect that 15.4% of the 654 ETDs studied acknowledge LAMs. In some instances, individual staff members of these institutions are also mentioned. Few LAMs and staff receive multiple acknowledgments, suggesting a Matthew effect. The expressions of gratitude can be categorized into nine categories: customer care, data support, information resources support, citation support, training and workshops support, space provision, moral support and unclassifiable. These results make a strong case for acknowledgments to be considered as one of the measures of impact in LAMs. I further recommend that LAMs should consider developing their own internal acknowledgment indexes for purposes of impact measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Archives UK has previously carried out invasive sampling and analysis on records in its collections which were found to contain various organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues on all tested items regardless of format or period of creation. This study presented a rare opportunity to carry out comparative research of invasive and swab sampling methods on original, historic materials for the detection and identification of hazardous substances. Swabbing was carried out on the same records that had been invasively sampled to determine the sensitivity and applicability of this method relative to invasive sampling as well as the likelihood of pesticide transfer during handling of the records. Analysis by gas chromatography -mass spectrometry (GC-MS) demonstrated that the presence of a number of pesticides could effectively be identified using a dry swabbing method, including pentachlorophenol, ortho-phenylphenol, and the breakdown products of DDT and methoxychlor. The pesticides identified in invasive and swab testing from the same book were sometimes different, highlighting that the method of sampling will affect the results. Our results from this case study provide a snapshot, comparing the concentrations of hazardous organic pesticides detected in the invasive tests versus those found in swabs, and compare these quantities to human health-based screening concentrations. We argue that a dry swabbing programme is a good option in archival settings for screening for a comprehensive suite of pesticides, complementing existing occupational health approaches that take into account a whole collection, and can provide information to facilitate access and handling of historical records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Railway Construction Technology is the property of Railway Construction Technology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ensuring timely coordination between autonomous aircraft is a challenging problem in decentralized air traffic management (ATM) applications for urban air mobility (UAM) scenarios. This paper presents an approach for formally guaranteeing timely progress in a Two-Phase Acknowledge distributed knowledge propagation protocol by probabilistically modeling the delays using the theory of the Multicopy Two-Hop Relay protocol and the M/M/1 queue system. The guarantee states a probabilistic upper bound to the time for progress as a function of the probabilities of the total transmission and processing delays following two specific distributions. The proof uses a general library of formal theories, that can be used for the rigorous mechanical verification of autonomous aircraft coordination protocols using the Athena proof checker and assistant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main problem of the current research is the absence of a suitable measure to measure the information asymmetry between managers who forecast profits and statistical analysts who forecast profits through statistical methods. The lack of a suitable criterion for measuring information asymmetry between managers who forecast earnings and statistical analysts who forecast earnings through statistical methods is the main problem of the present study. The present study aims to provide a model of information asymmetry with emphasis on the role of financial and managerial criteria; The present research is a qualitative and quantitative research (mixed method) which is based on the purpose of applied research. In order to prepare and formulate theoretical bases for reviewing research records, the library method is used, and also for collecting information in order to measure and identify indicators and modeling, the field method is used. To analyze the data, first after identifying the dimensions and variables of financial and managerial criteria of information symmetry, to eliminate irrelevant factors and classify them with the help of factor analysis, this work was done and 5 main dimensions were identified, which are: Corporate profit forecast is 2-corporate governance, 3- capital market, 4- return on capital, 5- managerial characteristics of the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how web archiving impacts the online communication practices of individuals whose personal websites have been archived by major public libraries. Drawing on interviews with website creators and analysis of their written reflections on the archiving process, it demonstrates how web archiving alters the meanings people attach to their online activity. In most cases, the preservation of their website in a national web archive sees individuals perceive their communication practices as having wider cultural and historical significance. These meanings are shaped by the distinctive interaction between archiving and archived actors and propelled by imaginaries surrounding the culture and history of the collecting institution. Based on these findings, this article argues that web archiving can be productively understood as an intervention in the dynamics of online sociality and calls for reflexive archival and research practices that attend to the short- and long-term impacts of altering the visibility of online material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thiazolo-pyrimidinone derivative library was developed through a facile solid-phase synthesis method. For the reaction, the thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidin-7(6H)-one structure was synthesized through efficient Thorpe–Ziegler and cyclization reactions. The thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidin-7(6H)-one derivative library with a diversity of three had a total of four synthesis steps and 57 compounds. In addition, the yield per synthesis step was 65–97%, which was very high. The developed synthesis method and compounds will be used to find compounds with biological activity through the thiazole derivative structure–activity relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many Deep Learning (DL) fuzzers have been proposed for API-level testing of DL libraries. However, they either perform unguided input generation (e.g., not considering the relationship between API arguments when generating inputs) or only support a limited set of corner-case test inputs. Furthermore, many developer APIs crucial for library development remain untested, as they are typically not well documented and lack clear usage guidelines, unlike end-user APIs. This makes them a more challenging target for automated testing. To fill this gap, we propose a novel fuzzer named Orion, which combines guided test input generation and corner-case test input generation based on a set of fuzzing heuristic rules constructed from historical data known to trigger critical issues in the underlying implementation of DL APIs. To extract the fuzzing heuristic rules, we first conduct an empirical study on the root cause analysis of 376 vulnerabilities in two of the most popular DL libraries, PyTorch and TensorFlow. We then construct the fuzzing heuristic rules based on the root causes of the extracted historical vulnerabilities. Using these fuzzing heuristic rules, Orion generates corner-case test inputs for API-level fuzzing. In addition, we extend the seed collection of existing studies to include test inputs for developer APIs. Our evaluation shows that Orion reports 135 vulnerabilities in the latest releases of TensorFlow and PyTorch, 76 of which were confirmed by the library developers. Among the 76 confirmed vulnerabilities, 69 were previously unknown, and 7 have already been fixed. The rest are awaiting further confirmation. For end-user APIs, Orion detected 45.58% and 90% more vulnerabilities in TensorFlow and PyTorch, respectively, compared to the state-of-the-art conventional fuzzer, DeepRel. When compared to the state-of-the-art LLM-based DL fuzzer, AtlasFuz, and Orion detected 13.63% more vulnerabilities in TensorFlow and 18.42% more vulnerabilities in PyTorch. Regarding developer APIs, Orion stands out by detecting 117% more vulnerabilities in TensorFlow and 100% more vulnerabilities in PyTorch compared to the most relevant fuzzer designed for developer APIs, such as FreeFuzz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bibliotheksdienst is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We investigate in this article how repository platforms change the sharing and preservation of digital objects in academic libraries. We use evidence drawn from semi-structured interviews with 31 data repository managers working at 21 universities using the product Figshare for institutions. We first show that repository managers use this platform to bring together actors, technologies, and processes usually scattered across the library to assign to them the tasks that they value less—such as data preparation or IT maintenance—and spend more time engaging in activities they appreciate—such as raising awareness of data sharing. While this platformization of data management improves their job satisfaction, we reveal how it simultaneously accentuates the outsourcing of libraries' core mission to private actors. We eventually discuss how this platformization can deskill librarians and perpetuate precarity politics in university libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Adopting and implementing robotic technology applications in the library is a significant technological up-gradation today. The purpose of this study was to evaluate selected literature focused mainly on robotics technology applications in the field of libraries and to assess the online social attention to research publications. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed Scientometric and altmetric tools to evaluate the research publications. The bibliographic data of research publications were downloaded from Scopus database and scrutinized one by one and 71 articles were selected which mainly focused on robotic technology in libraries. Altmetric data were collected from the Dimensions.ai database. The analysis was performed using MS Excel, Tableau, Biblioshiny, VOSviewer and SPSS software. Findings: Research on robotic technology in the field of libraries has been experiencing a gradual increase, marked by an annual growth rate of 12.93%. The United States has prominently led the way as the most active participant and collaborator in this advancement. Among the various journals, Library Hi Tech has notably stood out as a significant contributor to this field. However, the research articles have garnered limited social attention and impact. Furthermore, the patterns of authorship collaboration have demonstrated relatively modest levels within the field, and a weak correlation has been observed between the social attention received and the Scopus citation metrics of the publications. Practical implications: The research needs to be disseminated more through various social media platforms to increase its visibility. Sharing research information through social media can bridge the gap between academia and society. The findings of this study can serve as a valuable reference for researchers and policymakers. Originality/value: This study presents a Scientometric analysis of the selected published literature on robotics technology applications in the field of libraries, highlighting the progress and development of worldwide research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A scoping review was undertaken to understand the extent of literature on librarian involvement in competency-based medical education (CBME). Methods: We followed Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. A search of peerreviewed literature was conducted on December 31, 2022, in Medline, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL Complete, SCOPUS, LISS, LLIS, and LISTA. Studies were included if they described librarian involvement in the planning, delivery, or assessment of CBME in an LCME-accredited medical school and were published in English. Outcomes included characteristics of the inventions (duration, librarian role, content covered) and of the outcomes and measures (level on Kirkpatrick Model of Training Evaluation, direction of findings, measure used). Results: Fifty studies were included of 11,051 screened: 46 empirical studies or program evaluations and four literature reviews. Studies were published in eight journals with two-thirds published after 2010. Duration of the intervention ranged from 30 minutes to a semester long. Librarians served as collaborators, leaders, curriculum designers, and evaluators. Studies primarily covered asking clinical questions and finding information and most often assessed reaction or learning outcomes. Conclusions: A solid base of literature on librarian involvement in CBME exists; however, few studies measure user behavior or use validated outcomes measures. When librarians are communicating their value to stakeholders, having evidence for the contributions of librarians is essential. Existing publications may not capture the extent of work done in this area. Additional research is needed to quantify the impact of librarian involvement in competency-based medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how faculty across disciplines access and share scholarly serial content and what expectations they have for immediacy. The authors conducted twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with faculty of various ranks representing all Illinois State University (ISU) colleges. The findings, presented in the words of participants and triangulated with data from local sources, suggest that faculty use a variety of context-specific mechanisms to access and share serial literature. Participants discuss how they use library services such as databases, subscriptions, interlibrary loan, and document delivery, coupled with academic social networks, disciplinary repositories, author websites, and other publicly available sources to obtain the full text of articles, in addition to their manifold considerations for sharing and requesting content. The urgency with which faculty need to gain access to scholarly literature is dependent on intersecting elements of discipline, current projects, how the resource will be used, the perceived competitiveness of the field, career stage, and personal practices. The findings reiterate that scholarly literature remains integral to the research and teaching of faculty even as needs and practices for accessing and sharing it grow more individualized and distributed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]