News from the Field
Cal Poly Humboldt Library Certified Sustainable
Cal Poly Humboldt has been recognized as a leader in sustainability by the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI), becoming only the fourth academic library in the country and the second in the California State University (CSU) system to earn the initiative’s award-winning Sustainable Library Certification.
The SLI helps library leaders make sustainability a core value in everything from the design of their facilities to technology and programming.
The certification program is a benchmarking system designed to provide libraries with the resources and guidelines needed to shift toward a cleaner, greener, and more equitable future.
The library is advancing sustainability through initiatives that reduce waste, lower costs, and promote equitable access to education. This includes the textbook reserve program, where over 85 percent of required course materials are available for students to borrow, encouraging a “borrow before you buy” approach that minimizes overconsumption and supports student success. The library is also home to CSU’s only publishing house, as well as the CSU Journal of Sustainability and Climate Change, reducing barriers to information by ensuring open access.
These efforts align with Cal Poly Humboldt’s broader commitment to sustainability as a gold-rated AASHE STARS campus, with thriving sustainability efforts. This includes campus-wide initiatives such as the Zero Waste Action Plan and other points of pride. For more information, please visit the Cal Poly Humboldt Library’s sustainability website at https://libguides.humboldt.edu/sustainability/welcome.
University of Arizona Launches Geospatial Data Repository
Geospatial data are a foundational component of research and teaching across many disciplines at the University of Arizona. From social data such as historical American Indian reservation boundaries in Arizona; environmental data about Arizona’s watersheds, lakes, streams, and rivers; and historical maps of the Southwest United States, geospatial data cover a wide range of topics.
The University Libraries’ Research Engagement and Technology Strategy and Services–University Information Technology Services departments have collaborated to launch the Geospatial Data Repository, which houses all of the library’s spatial datasets. An extensive collection of geospatial data is available on a single, centralized platform that students, staff, and faculty have access to use for research. Library patrons who are simply curious and interested in geographic information systems are welcome to explore spatial datasets as well. The repository is available at https://geodata.lib.arizona.edu/.
Choice Announces the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2025
The Choice Outstanding Academic Titles (OAT) list for 2025 has been announced. This prestigious list, released today, reflects the best scholarly titles reviewed by Choice during the previous calendar year, as chosen by the editors. The 2025 list features 343 books and digital resources from 103 publishers. As in previous years, Choice editors will present a weekly series of “sneak peeks” into the 2025 OAT list, providing an overview of the year’s best academic nonfiction in select subject areas. While the Outstanding Academic Titles list in its entirety is available only to Choice magazine and Choice Reviews subscribers, these curated mini-lists remain available to nonsubscribers via email newsletter and on the Choice360.org website.
JSTOR Seeklight Adds Transcript Generation for Text-Based Materials
JSTOR has launched transcript generation within JSTOR Seeklight, expanding its AI-assisted collection processing capabilities beyond metadata to include full-text transcription of handwritten, typed, and mixed-media documents. The new feature is now available to all Tier 3 charter participants in JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services. Developed in collaboration with librarians and archivists, this new functionality enhances discoverability, supports compliance with accessibility requirements, and maximizes the research value of digital collections. Transcripts can be generated during upload or on demand, reviewed and refined in a built-in editor, or replaced with institutional versions—ensuring expert oversight by archivists and librarians, along with institutional control. Learn more at https://about.jstor.org/news/jstor-seeklight-adds-transcript-generation-for-text-based-materials/.
Project MUSE Launches Hopkins Book Collection
Project MUSE has launched the Hopkins Book Collection for their 2026 frontlist. This first-of-its-kind offering delivers the complete frontlist of Johns Hopkins University Press’s scholarly monographs and professional books, all in one exclusive package. With this collection, libraries will enjoy immediate access to each new title as soon as it is published: peer-reviewed, trusted scholarship, curated by a leading university press, with low administrative overhead and content delivered directly via MUSE. Featuring content in higher education, public health, history, literary studies, life sciences, health and wellness, and much more, the 2026 Hopkins collection offers comprehensive coverage across disciplines. Learn more at https://about.muse.jhu.edu/librarians/book-products/.
Springshare Acquires Pathrise
Springshare has announced the acquisition of assets of Pathrise, an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled platform that combines job search software, specialized career resources, and personalized mentorship to transform job-seeker’s path to aspirational employment. The Pathrise software platform and the mentorship program will be folded into Springshare’s CareerShift division, thereby further strengthening our market-leading CareerShift platform, which assists students and alumni with job search and career exploration.
Today’s college graduates and recent alumni are facing a difficult job market, with AI taking over work duties of entry-level employees and with the challenging economic picture overall. As colleges and universities—and communities everywhere—invest more resources and efforts to help their users and constituents navigate jobs and career options, the enhanced CareerShift platform will play an increasingly important role in ensuring brighter prospects for job-seekers. More detail about any potential impact on CareerShift customers as a result of this acquisition is available as FAQs on the Springshare website at https://www.springshare.com/careershift-pathrise-faq.
ASERL Publishes 2025 Annual Report
The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) has published its 2025 Annual Report. Titled “Stronger Together: Innovation, Leadership, and Connection Across the Southeast,” the report highlights the many ways in which ASERL provides meaningful programming and cultivates important relationship among its membership. Founded in 1956, today ASERL services thirty-eight member libraries in twelve states. ASERL’s programming focuses on providing national leadership in professional development, enabling ready access to rich library collections and services and cultivating long-lasting and meaningful relationships across its memberships. ASERL is housed at Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Library in Atlanta, Georgia. All of ASERL’s annual reports can be found on the archive page at https://www.aserl.org/about/annual_reports/.
Kortext Acquires Talis
Kortext has acquired Talis—a platform that bridges the library’s resources with academic curricula—from Sage. This strategic move enhances Kortext’s position as a key provider of library solutions by simplifying and enabling seamless discovery for educators and learners looking for course content. Sage is transferring full ownership of Talis to Kortext, ensuring long-term investment and innovation in Talis products. Under Kortext’s leadership, Talis will enhance its core features, expand compatibility with library systems, and benefit from ongoing investments in AI. A customer communication process will begin immediately to ensure libraries are kept informed. Over the past year, Sage has made significant investments to expand the core business that has driven the company for more than 60 years. This strategic focus prompted a reappraisal of its tech-first division, Technology from Sage (TfS), which includes the software-as-a-service offerings from Talis. For more information, visit https://kortext.com.
Tech Bits ...
OpenRefine is a free, open-source desktop application for working with messy datasets. Developed in Java, it runs locally through a web browser and is compatible with all major operating systems. The tool allows users to import, clean, and transform data efficiently, removing blanks, duplicates, and converting between formats such as CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, XML, RDF, and JSON. Each step is recorded within a project, making workflows easy to reproduce with other datasets. In addition, its unlimited undo/redo function supports experimentation without risking the original data. Whether performing a quick cleanup or exploring a large dataset, I find OpenRefine to be a practical and reliable tool for improving data quality and managing data preparation tasks effectively.
OpenRefine
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