Friday 10 December 2021

Free PACER?

 The Reuters headline grabbed me: "Free PACER? Bill to end fees for online court records advances in Senate." It's a bipartisan bill called the Open Courts Act of 2021 and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure on voice voate without any recorded opposition (who could be against it?). It would certainly be a nice New Year's gift to law libraries and law librarians!

Tuesday 7 December 2021

Data Literacy online course from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The Research Information Services Team at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has developed a micro-credentialing program on data literacy skills for librarians. The program is free. It is administered via the Canvas CMS.  From the blurb:

The Research Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is widely known for its flagship data service FRED®. An integral part of our work facilitating access to data is building capacity among consumers to use data effectively and accurately. Our Library Services and Economic Education teams have developed a fully asynchronous online professional development program on data literacy for librarians. This program focuses on seven foundational data literacy competencies and uses FRED® data to provide opportunities for hands-on learning. Each competency in the program is matched to a digital badge issued by Credly. Librarians successfully completing individual modules will receive, at no cost, Credly badges certifying their achievement. After completing all seven individual modules, librarians will receive a digital micro-credential on data literacy.

Participants will develop seven competencies: 
- Saving Graphs and Downloading Data
- Identifying Data Sources and Release Frequencies
- Understanding Data Types and Units
- Visualizing Data
- Storytelling with Data
- Acting on Data
- Using Data Ethically

 Information is available at this link. Register for the free program via this link.