Technology • Innovation • Publishing — Issue #94
Innovation

Google’s Read Along taps AI to improve kids’ reading skills Google launched Read Along, an app that uses speech recognition and natural language processing to provide kids feedback on their reading skills. venturebeat.com • Share

TikTok is coming after Snapchat with a new augmented reality ad format The “AR brand effect” ad will allow TikTok users to add interactive visual effects from advertisers to their TikTok videos that interact with the physical environment around them. A car could zoom the length of the kitchen table, or the creator could interact with an advertiser’s mascot as it bounces around the room, for example. The ads will be clickable and feature music that plays as the user shoots their video. digiday.com • Share

Millions of historic newspaper images get the machine learning treatment at the Library of Congress A new effort from the Library of Congress has digitized and organized photos and illustrations from centuries of news using state of the art machine learning. Newspaper Navigator collects and surfaces data from images from some 16 million pages of newspapers throughout American history. Newspaper Navigator, the code behind it and all the images and results from it are completely public domain, free to use or modify for any purpose. You can dive into the code at the project’s GitHub. techcrunch.com • Share

Publishing

McGraw-Hill, Cengage Call Off Merger The inability to reach an agreement with the government about which divestitures the publishers needed to make to allow the merger to move forward led to the deal being canceled, the companies said. www.publishersweekly.com • Share

Bookstores, Authors, Musicians Band Together for “Bookstock” Fundraiser Concert RT @ABAbook Peace, Indie Bookstores, & Music! Driftless Books and Music in Viroqua, WI, is hosting #Bookstock2020, a two-day virtual book & music festival! The festival will bring together artists to connect with fans and raise funds for bookstores. www.bookweb.org • Share

To Engage with Audiences, Publishers are Reimagining Content RT @EditorPublisher E&P takes a look at the various ways media companies are entertaining and engaging with consumers and speaks with those who are finding success with redefining their content to meet the habits of today’s audience. www.editorandpublisher.com • Share

The impact of COVID-19 on reading, part 2 RT @ThadMcIlroy @BookNet_Canada released new data about the impact of COVID-19 on reading. www.booknetcanada.ca • Share

Coronavirus: Italy’s Literary Agents Form ADALI, Their First Association Offering a ‘360-degree view of the potential, Italy’s agents are organizing ADALI during the ‘critical situation’ imposed by COVID-19. publishingperspectives.com • Share

Paper Magazine halted its print issues wwd.com • Share

Business

Amazon is said to be circling AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain www.thisismoney.co.uk • Share

Twitch Is Developing Talk Shows and Dating Programs for Gamers finance.yahoo.com • Share

Square launches Online Checkout to take on PayPal Square is introducing a new Online Checkout tool designed for small businesses looking to rapidly transition to ecommerce. venturebeat.com • Share

Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon coming to YouTube TV www.latimes.com • Share

Resources

Free School Library Journal Day of Dialog Virtual Event for Educators and Librarians 5/27 RT @sljournal Join Laurie Halse Anderson, Derrick Barnes, Matthew Cordell, Shannon Hale, Tiffany D. Jackson, Erin Entrada Kelly, Ibram X. Kendi, Nina LaCour, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Jason Reynolds at SLJ’s first-ever virtual Day of Dialog. www.slj.com • Share

Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 The one-hour, commercial-free show will be carried on ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC as well as Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube on Saturday, May 16 at 8 PM ET. www.businesswire.com • Share

Submit a Video to PRH Library’s Librarian Commencement Speech #teamPRH RT @PRHLibrary Dear Librarians, you’re invited to speak to the Class of 2020! Submit a video with your message and it could be included in our librarian commencement video! Submit your videos using this link www.booksontape.com • Share

Researching COVID-19 misinformation? The IFCN has opened a call for research proposals Today, the International Fact-Checking Network and the 88 fact-checking organizations that have been working together since Jan. to fight mis/disinformation about COVID-19 call for research proposals on the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance database. IFCN now invites academics to take a deep dive into a database that has gathered more than 5,300 debunked hoaxes about the new coronavirus — pieces of content that have been debunked in 74 countries and in 43 different languages. www.poynter.org • Share

Have you lost someone to coronavirus or do you work with victims’ families? Help us remember New Yorkers felled by COVID-19. Share their story with THE CITY. RT @MarkLevineNYC Of the 20k+ NYers who’ve died, only 5% have had staff written or paid obituaries. New project by @THECITYNY looks to change that, by putting as many names, faces & details to the numbers as possible. If you know a NYer who’s died, share their story here docs.google.com • Share

Women’s Media Group

Tricia Brouk’s The Art of the Big Talk Last chance to sign up for this free webinar May 14, noon EST www.womensmediagroup.org • Share

By Kathy Sandler

The latest in technology, innovation, and publishing curated by Kathy Sandler.

I work at Penguin Random House. Opinions expressed are my own.

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['Kathy Sandler']
['Technology', 'Publishing', 'Resources', 'Innovation']