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Each library conference has a different feel, which is usually determined by the number of attendees. The bigger the conference, the broader the discussions and less detailed the presentations. Recently, two OhioLINK co-workers and I attended the Innovative Users Group (IUG) conference in Detroit, MI. Even with the size of 1000+ attendees, topics focused on workflows, processes, and system implications of proposed changes, and many presentations took a walkthrough approach.

The Digest for this Monday takes a look at the outlook for recent college graduates in a world with more uncertaintity than ever, a California program that is promoting the benefits of STEM education to young girls, the Ohio jobs report for April, a move by Missouri to begin the process of developing new academic standards to replace the Common Core, and the improtance of having accurate data when using big data in health care. 

Digital World

In 2011, at the Techonomy conference in California, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt made a bold statement. “Every two days now we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003. That’s something like five exabytes of data, he says. Let me repeat that,” he said. “We create as much information in two days now as we did from the dawn of man through 2003.”

For today's Digest we will highlight a new search engine that will help federal and state agencies improve their ability to provide data to citizens, a look at a new bill that would expand the investment in public-private manufacturing partnerships, the importance of orientation for students enrolled in online courses, the addition of a 3D printer to the Cincinnati public library, and a look at some of the roadblocks that need to be overcome to build an exascale supercomputer. 

Today we will take a look of the state of school diversity 60 years after Brown v Board of Education, a new study that is raising concerns about how fair classroom observations are, a look at the job market for this years graduating college students, a school libraries unique move to provide 3D printers, and a discussion of how to resolve the issue of high cost college textbooks. 

Today we look at a new supercomputer system being built that will help in big data research, the expansion of dual credit STEM programs at high schools, New York's largescale effort to expand its online course offerings through its SUNY schools, and a new study that is offering insights into just how well students retain information learned from MOOC's.

The Digest for today will take a look at some of the applications being developed at college campuses that rely on the Internet of Things, a new set of performance ratings for the Ohio schools involved in the data scrubbing scandal, a new open data law that will improve government accountability, a major investment into creating a public cloud in Massachusetts, and robots at the Chicago Public Library.  

Today's Digest takes a look at a new grant program in Utah aimed at improving STEM education, the forecasted increase in federal spending on big data related expenses, a bold move from the state of Wyoming in rejecting to use a new set of sceicne standards that have been developed for K-12, a look at why many manufacturing firms should and are considering moving factories back to the U.S., and a proposal from the universities in Ireland to create a unified brand for selling online courses. 

The Sun

Astronomical objects in the space beyond the earth are fascinating and enigmatic. We belong to the planetary system of our home star, the Sun, which is our source of energy on Earth. The Sun is a gigantic ball of hot plasma, the fourth and most prevalent state of matter (over 99% of matter in the universe is plasma, not solid, liquid or gas). It is very important to know how the Sun generates its energy, how that propagates as radiation, what are the solar constituents and elemental abundances, and what are the plasma conditions throughout the Sun.

Today we will look at a unique teacher apprenticeship program that is helping mid-career professionals become teachers, a new report that will provide guildelines to help schools improve the efficiency of their spending, the school levy results from Tuesday's primary election, new funding from the Board of Regents to develop workforce training programs, and efforts from some of Ohio's school districts to expand their vocational education offerings. 

Staff Recommendations

“Could DNA be the future of data storage?”
Recommended by Melanie Terez on Jul 13, 2016 - 11:02am
“Ohio State chemists find a way to provide healthcare to people in remote areas.”
Recommended by Melanie Terez on Jul 13, 2016 - 10:59am
“Interesting! Thermal imaging to reduce cheating”
Recommended by Jamie Abel on Jul 12, 2016 - 1:15pm