Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Finding Hidden Narratives in Primary Sources
Edited by The Team at Adam Matthew
Begins on Page 12
c/o Katina Strauch Post Office Box 799 Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482 “Linking Publishers, Vendors and Librarians”ISSN: 1043-2094 VOLUME 34, NUMBER 4 SEPTEMBER 2022TM WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS ISSUE: Archiving Queer Lives: The Stories of Michael B................. 12 Introducing An Integrated Model for the Digital Library ...15 “No Name Intelligible to Civilised Men:” Hidden Voices in Mount NomenclatureEverest’s........................... 17 Amplifying Hidden Voices in Primary Source Databases ...... 19 SPECIAL REPORT Wading Into the Weeds and Finding Your Way Back! ........... 21 REGULAR COLUMNS Bet You Missed It ...................... 10 Reader’s Roundup 24 Booklover 30 Legally Speaking ...................... 31 Questions and Answers ........... 33 Learning Belongs ..................... 35 Let’s Get Technical .................... 38 The Digital Toolbox ................. 41 Both Sides Now......................... 43 Back Talk .................................... 50 INTERVIEWS Martha Fogg .............................. 45 Linda McGrath ........................... 47 PROFILES ENCOURAGED People, Library and Company Profiles ....................................... 49 Plus more ..................... See inside continued on page 8 If Rumors Were Horses Thanks to Leah Hinds, Executive Director of the Charleston Hub, who has taken over writing Rumors! But y’all know me, there are still some Rumors that I want to personalize as long as I can. Also, please read Tom Gilson’s News & Announcements on the Charleston Hub. They are full of all the news you need to know! https://www.charleston-hub.com/
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Got a note from the always-on-the-move Jack Montgomery! Jack is still working at Georgia Southern in government documents, but he and his delightful wife Lesley will be moving to New Orleans within the next few months. Lesley finished her MILS last May and has accepted a position as a professional librarian at Tulane They are selling their house in Statesboro and looking at real estate in New Orleans. I have invited them both to the 2022 Charleston Conference Stay tuned!
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Against the Grain is copyright ©2022 by Katina Strauch
Rick Anderson (Brigham Young University) Sever Bordeianu (U. of New Mexico)
REVIEWS
Eleanor Cook (East Carolina University) Will Cross (NC State University)
PUBLISHING
Reader’s Roundup: Monographic Musings & Reference Review 24 Booklover — The Magic of Ireland 30
Martha Fogg – Managing Director, Adam Matthew ........................................ 45 Linda McGrath – Executive Director of eBound, De Gruyter 47 Profiles Encouraged 49
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AGAINST THE GRAIN
Back Talk — “Monsoon Season” 50
Donna Jacobs (MUSC)
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ISSUES, NEWS, & GOINGS ON
Against the Grain (ISSN: 1043-2094) (USPS: 012-618), Copyright 2022 by the name Against the Grain, LLC is published six times a year in February, April, June, September, November, and December/ January by Against the Grain, LLC. Business and Editorial Offices: PO Box 799, 1712 Thompson Ave., Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. Accounting and Circulation Offices: same. Subscribe online at https://www.charleston-hub.com/membership-options/
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From Your Editor 6
Glenda Alvin (Tennessee State University)
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Ann Okerson (Center for Research Libraries)
Authors’ opinions are to be regarded as their own. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This issue was produced on an iMac using Microsoft Word, and Adobe CC software under Mac OS Monterey.
Amplifying Hidden Voices in Primary Source Databases 19
Wading Into the Weeds and Finding Your Way Back! 21
Tom Leonhardt (Retired)
Corey Seeman (University of Michigan)
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Legally Speaking — Antitrust 31 Questions & Answers — Copyright Column 33
Assistants to the Editor: Ileana Jacks Toni Nix (Just Right Group, LLC)
Contributing Editors:
Chuck Hamaker (Retired, UNC, Charlotte)
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“No Name Intelligible to Civilised Men:” Hidden Voices in Mount Everest’s Nomenclature 17
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Let’s Get Technical — Network-Level Replacements of Problematic Library of Congress Subject Headings in Sierra 38
ATG INTERVIEWS & PROFILES
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BOOKSELLING AND VENDING
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Archiving Queer Lives: The Stories of Michael B 12
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The Digital Toolbox — Academic Librarians and Publishers are the Vanguard of Critical DEI Content 41
LEGAL ISSUES
TECHNOLOGY & STANDARDS AND TEACHING & LEARNING
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Introducing An Integrated Model for the Digital Library 15
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FEATURES
Both Sides Now: Vendors and Librarians — Association Trade Shows (What They Should Be, Can Be and Must Be) 43
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Bet You Missed It 10
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Rumors 1
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Michael Gruenberg (Gruenberg Consulting, LLC)
v.34 #4 September 2022 © Katina Strauch
ATG SPECIAL REPORTS
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Learning Belongs in the Library — Perspectives on Post-Pandemic Library Provisioning of Course Reading and Textbook Material 35
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Take care and best wishes, Anthony Anthony Paganelli (WKU First-Year and Student Success Librarian, Music and Education Subject Specialist)
OOPs, my doorbelll just rang! Another cheery physical therapist! Plus the SUN is out! Incredible!
Hello Katina and Thomas:
Send letters to <kstrauch@comcast.net>, phone 843-509-2848, or snail mail: Against the Grain, Post Office Box 799, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. You can also send a letter to the editor from the Charleston Hub at http://www.charleston-hub.com/contact-us/
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Digital Toolbox, Let’s Get Technical — and Mike Gruenberg has returned with a Both Sides Now column!
All of y’all have a wonderful fall and beginning of the school year!Love, Yr.Ed.
Letters to the Editor
April 2022 02/17/22 03/10/22
From Your (exercising) Editor:
February 2022 01/04/22 01/18/22
This time I want to introduce Ashley Krenelka Chase who has competently taken over Legally Speaking, this time about Antitrust. We also are trying out a new cartoonist Jonny Hawkins. His cartoons bring a smile to my face!
I hope you all are well. I wanted to thank you and everyone for allowing me the opportunity to write for the Legally Speaking column. I am very grateful for the opportunity. It has been such a wonderful and educational experience that has led to numerous
Meanwhile, Holly Francis and the Team at Adam Matthew have put together a great issue about finding hidden narratives in primary sources.
elI, I am now out of the user unfriendly “boot” may it thrive on someone else. Now I have to do more and more continuous exercises of muscles I never knew I had!
relationships and opportunities that I will never forget. However, I feel that it is time for someone else to have the same enjoyment that I have had over the past several years. Of course, if you ever need anything please do not hesitate to reach out and contact me.
Thank<anthony.paganelli@wku.edu>youAnthony!Wereally
appreciate your years of service as the column editor of Legally Speaking. You’ve kept us informed on so many revelant legal topics. We wish you all the best going forward.
We have a fantastic Back Talk from Jim O’Donnell about Monsoons of all things. We here on Sullivan’s Island have had nothing but rain for an entire month, but no sign of monsoons. Still Jim’s monsoons sound (sort of) like fun!
Articles are by Justin Bengry, Director, Centre for Queer History, Goldsmiths, University of London, is writing on the topic of “Archiving Queer Lives.” Deidre Joyce, Head of Digital Stewardship and the Digital Library Program, Syracuse University, has written on the topic “Introducing an integrated model for the digital library.”
W
We have the usual great columns appearing — Reader’s Roundup, Booklover, Learning Belongs in the Library, The
Sam Ellis, University of Leeds, is writing on hidden voices within colonial nomenclature for the Himalayas, specifically Everest. Lindsay Gulliver and Erin Pearson-Wilberry, are writing a piece called “Amplifying Hidden Voices in Primary Source Databases.”
Wheel of Time book series, or have you watched the new Amazon Prime show? Did you know that the author, Robert Jordan, was from Charleston? One of our conference attendees and presenters contacted us with a question about organizing a tour of the special collections exhibit housed at the College of Charleston and we were glad to help make that happen! Here’s a description of the tour, scheduled to take place on Thursday, November 3, at noon for conference attendees: “Among the many treasures held in the Special Collections of the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library are the collected papers of Robert Jordan, author of the best-selling Wheel of Time fantasy series — today a hit show on Amazon Prime. Join us for the story of the making of this worldwide literary phenomenon, told through these unique materials by Dr. Michael Livingston, professor at The Citadel and author of the forthcoming book Origins of the Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan (Tor, 2022).” A huge thank you to Paula Sullenger, Associate Dean for Information Resources at Texas A&M University Libraries, for suggesting the tour and helping with the organization, along with Heather Gilbert and Kelly Hudson at the Addlestone Library, College of Charleston, and Michael Livingstone from the Citadel!
Transforming Scholarly Publishing with Blockchain Technologies and AI.
Meanwhile, had a delightful lunch meeting here on Sullivan’s Island with Salvy Trojman , Managing Director, Canada Commons and The Trojman Corporation. Salvy will not be at the Charleston Conference because he will be vacationing in France. Poor guy. Salvy’s son William has just enrolled in the Charleston School of Law and is interested in entertainment law. Exciting! Oh to be young again! Salvy was an ATG Star of the Week back in 2014 when he was at Gale: digital-archive-program-canada-gale-cengage-learning/com/2014/01/atg-star-of-the-week-salvy-trojman-director-https://www.charleston-hub.Talkaboutmovingaround,theawesome
Many of us have been and continue to be riveted and saddened by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. I was quite young when she was crowned but I remember exactly where I was in our house in Richmond, Virginia. Here are a few memories from the British Library and the Library of
Rest in Peace
Deanna Marcum on August 16, 2022, and James Robert Rettig on August 17, 2022. Two famous and well-respected
Speaking of “Bet You Missed It,” did you see the recent press release from Cadmore Media? In case you missed it, here are some excerpts:
Bet You Missed It has got a new look thanks to Caroline Goldsmith. These updates will be sent to our email list every other Friday. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Charleston Conference News
Darrell Gunter is just back from the 9th Annual International Peer Review Congress in Chicago. BTW Underline has produced 250+ successful Hybrid/Virtual conferences . newwpengine.com/peer-review-congress-2022-program/https://peerstage.Speakingofwhich,IamlookingforwardtoreadingDarrell’sbook,
The Charleston Conference decided to take a chance with the 2022 conference! We are having two conferences for the price of one (in person November 1-4; and virtual November 14-18) depending on the preferences of our attendees. Currently, we have over 1,000 registrants and over 126 vendors at the Vendor Showcase and the early bird registration is still in force! So far, around 75% of registrants plan to attend in person. Thanks to everyone for supporting the Charleston Conference! Come one, come all! Greatly looking forward!
librarians. May we remember them always for their leadership and humility and may they rest in peace.
deanna-marcum-obituary?id=36281377va/james-rettig-10891765https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/williamsburg-https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/https://sr.ithaka.org/blog/remembering-deanna-marcum/
Rumors continued from page 1
theelizabeth-ii/queen-elizabeth-iihttps://www.bl.uk/news/2022/september/her-majesty-Congress.https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2022/09/rest-in-peace-queen-WehereinCharlestonaresadtolearnofthepassingofmarvelous
Our Charleston Vendor Showcase will have some new surprises in store this year! We’re excited to feature a scavenger hunt (with prizes, of course!), an Opening Brunch with Bloody Mary and Mimosa Bar (sponsored by our friends at Better World Books) and the Welcome Reception will feature some special cocktails and treats sponsored by Helper Systems, located in the Gaillard Grand Ballroom Prefunction Room B. Not to mention the Vendor Showcase luncheon and afternoon refreshments, plus all the great vendor swag from our participating exhibitors! Make plans to be there!!! And if you’re still on the fence about exhibiting, we do still have a couple of spaces available. Contact the incredible Toni Nix for details: < justwrite@ lowcountry.com>.Thanksalsotoall of our amazing conference sponsors! The conference as we know it wouldn’t be possible without support from our friends in the industry. We still have a few sponsorship options available, contact Caroline Goldsmith for details: <caroline@charlestonlibraryconference.com>.Areyouafanofthe
8 Against the Grain / September 2022 <https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
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In Other News
9Against the Grain / September 2022 <https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
Always easy to use
Pleasure
“The 42nd annual Charleston Library Conference, the beloved and unique event that brings thousands of librarians, publishers, and vendors together to engage with the issues confronting the industry, will be hosted on Cadmore Media’s event platform.
learn
“The in-person event will take place November 1-4, 2022, and attendees will be able to view the schedule and watch livestreamed keynotes on the Cadmore platform, via the device of their choice. The virtual portion of the conference, occurring November 14-18, will include all the sessions from the in-person event, as well as exclusive online content and networking options designed for the virtual environment.
Thankshttps://www.sla.org/asalwaysforreading! Until next time!
“I am delighted to announce that SLA will collaborate with the Medical Library Association (MLA) on our 2023 conference, rather than SLA having its own 2023 annual conference. Our objective is to strengthen our value proposition for SLA and MLA members and SLA’s financial sustainability. Growing the diversity, inclusion and size of our conference is exciting and an essential pathway. Your conference experience will be enriched by contributed content from SLA and MLA members, additional special content programming that MLA and SLA will jointly develop, and broader community engagement opportunities. As with this year, there will continue to be virtual elements for those who cannot attend in person. Please plan to join us in Detroit, Michigan, May 16-19. More details will be provided in the next few weeks, including the call for content and programming, and we look forward to engaging with our MLA colleagues next May.”
•
Your library ALWAYSisOPEN
company.overdrive.com/academic-libraries
“Violaine Iglesias, CEO and co-founder of Cadmore, added ‘As long-time attendees of the Charleston conference, the Cadmore team is delighted to help Charleston continue their mission of connecting the scholarly communications community in a collegial and collaborative way.’” See
the full press release at 2022-charleston-conference/com/2022/09/press-release-cadmore-media-to-host-https://www.charleston-hub.
“‘We are thrilled to be working with the Cadmore Media team for the 2022 Charleston Conference,’ says Leah Hinds, Executive Director of the Charleston Hub. ‘We recently commissioned a survey on in-person and virtual attendance options, and it’s clear from the results that our attendees value the opportunity to attend and present in both formats. Cadmore will help us achieve our goals of offering the best possible conference experience to our attendees in Charleston and online.’
This news is from the eagle-eyed Ramune Kubilius. She encloses a press release from Catherine Lavallée-Welch, 2022 SLA President.
Visit to more.
reading | Curriculum support | Academic & scholarly titles | + Discover more!
C.E. Morgan, The Sport of Kings (2016) (Southern saga of breeding a champ); (2) Susanna Forrest, The Age of the Horse (2016) (amazing array of horse anecdotes); (3) Tamsin Pickeral, The Horse (paintings, sculptures, hieroglyphs, petroglyphs of the horse); (4) Jilly Cooper, Riders (1985) (jodhpur-ripper in the Cotswolds); (5) Kareem Rosser, Crossing the Line (2021) (Kareem was dirt-poor but rose to polo-playing star and Ralph Lauren model.)
Livingston, Montana is the part-time home of Tom Brokaw and the town of the last of two evening newspapers in the U.S. That’s right. The whole, entire U.S. The Livingston Enterprise and the Miles City Star are it. They live because in Montana, no one will get up in the morning dark to deliver papers when it’s 20-below.
See: Emma Whitford with Matt Schifrin, “Schooling America’s School,” Forbes Special Issue, June, 2022, p.110.
Student enrollment has jumped from 33,000 to 45,000 and is not slowing. Since it’s largely online, the pandemic gave it a boost. And now Amazon has contracted for courses for 750,000 employees in career oriented subjects.
Vangelis (1943-2022) was a Greek composer who made new age style solo records but became famous for film scores. He was the son of a real estate tycoon who was playing piano by age 4 yet never learned to read music. Moving to France, he co-formed a rock group Aphrodite’s Child and earned wide success.
See: Howard Blum, “Five Best,” The Wall Street Journal, May 28-29, 2022, p.C8. Blum’s most recent work is “The Spy Who Knew Too Much.”
See: “The bold composer who scored Chariot’s of Fire,” The Week, June 3, 2022, p.35.
For a nostalgia read, Carl Bernstein’s Chasing History will tell you of the adrenaline flow of getting out today’s news today.
The academic calendar is structured as month-long courses on demand. The price is certainly attractive. $1,665 for a course; $66,600 for a bachelor’s degree. Michael Cunningham, the brains behind all this, has reduced physical locations and pays mostly for adjunct professors. With no dorms or fancy facilities, National has a war chest of $1.2 billion.
End of PM Newspapers
Cunningham is from a blue-collar Queens background, made a fortune in printing financial data, has a Ph.D. from NYU.
Let’s Read Counterintelligence
Julian Barnes is the winner of the Booker Prize in England for Elizabeth Finch. He is currently reading Simenon’s Betty and Svetlana Alexievich’s Last Witness.
For Fiesole Retreat afficionados who were at the Lille event, little did you know the city is recommended by the WSJ as a serene retreat. Beer and waffles. Mussels and fries. And the first week in September is the braderie, Europe’s largest flea market.
Carefully Selected by Your Crack Staff of News Sleuths
Non-traditional Ed Grows into “National” Model”
Across the nation, PM newspapers went from 4-to-1 in 1980 to less than half by 2000. And now down to two.
If he were to be marooned on a desert island, he’d take along the OED — 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary with the definition of each word and illustrations of its use. When he wrote a novel on papyrus made from chewed palm leaves, his spelling would be perfect.
Obit of Note
Bet You Missed It — Press Clippings — In the News
But his real fame began with winning the Palme d’Or for the score for Missing (1982). There was Roman Polanski’s Bitter Moon (1992) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982). But his score for Chariot’s of Fire (1981) brought him global fame.
Delights of Lille
Column Editor: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus) <bruce.strauch@gmail.com>
Desert Isle Reading
See: “WHAT BOOK would Booker-winning author Julian Barnes take to a desert island?” The Daily Mail, May 21, 2022.
See: Peter Funt, “The Last of the Afternoon Newspapers,” The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2022, p.A15.
10 Against the Grain / September 2022 <https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
It’s Triple Crown Season – Let’s Read Horses
See: Eric Sylvers, “Continental Dividends,” The Wall Street Journal, May 28-29, 2022, p. D8.
As colleges circle the financial drain, San Diego’s National University is booming. It’s one of 31 colleges out of 905 to get an A+ finance grade from Forbes. While not an Ivy, that ranks it with MIT, Dartmouth, Stanford type places.
See: Courtney Maum, “Five Best,” The Wall Street Journal, April 30-May 1, 2022, p.C8. Courtney’s recent memoir is “The Year of the Horses.”
“Success is the enemy of creativity,” he said.
Victor Cherkashin, Spy Handler (2005) (Soviet who recruited Americans avid to betray their country); (2) Henry Hurt, Shadrin: The Spy Who Never Came Back (1981) (spymasters who use their agents and then slide away when things go wrong); (3) Tennent H. Bagley, Spy Wars (2007) (The walk-in: a treasure trove of info or a plant?); (4) Peter Wright, Spycatcher (1987) (After a pension dispute, a vindictive British spy airs the dirty linen.); (5) John Le Carré, A Perfect Spy (the author who is said to have invented the spy novel.).
Mary Laura Philpott is the author of Bomb Shelter: Love, Time and Other Explosives. She calls herself a “professional bookstore enthusiast.” On an author’s tour, she dubs Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, SC a “magical cavern” that goes and goes in the back. The owners of three restaurants have a program where their employees may pick out a free book each month.
Books & Books has several locations in the Miami area. Their Coral Gables store is in a Mediterranean style building dating to 1927. There’s a courtyard café with perfect Cuban sandwiches she dreams about.
East City Bookshop is in the neighborhood around Capitol Hill. Covid prompted them to develop a Zoom-based bookclub and hotline for book recommendations.
Book Store Plugs
Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee has happy shop dogs and a canine history of the store — The Shop Dogs of Parnassus — written by co-owner author Ann Patchett.
A Cappella Books in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood does pop-ups around the city.
Mainstreet Books in Davidson, North Carolina has both books and book adjacent gift offerings like the Bookaroo pen pouch which clips onto the book for obsessive underliners.
Dame Agatha Trends on Tik-Tok
Devin Abraham, owner of Once Upon a Crime bookstore in Minneapolis says Christie is wildly popular with younger readers — younger as in teenagers. Dashiel Hammet and Raymond Chandler readers are in their 50s.
The craze is traced to the 2017 movie version of “Murder on the Orient Express.” Agatha Christie Ltd. which manages rights in the works said they also shot up with the 1974 version. For further fuel, “Death on the Nile” came out this year and “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” streams on BritBox.
11Against the Grain / September 2022 <https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
#AgathaChristie videos on Tik-Tok scored 26 million views.
Inventing Mobster Argot
The late James Caan ad-libbed “bada-bing” in “The Godfather,” and gangsters and wanna-be wiseguys snapped it up. And of course it was the name of the strip club in “The Sopranos.”
Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama isn’t a store but an online book selling business launched in 2017. They hold visiting author events at elegant venues in the city.
See: Ben Zimmer, “Improvised Nonsense Turned Mobster Argot,” The Wall Street Journal, July 16-17, 2022, p.C3.
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When asked, Caan said he thought he said “Bada-boom.”
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PsychiatryOnline.org offers the most comprehensive online access available for psychiatric textbooks, journals and professional development tools including DSM-5-TR™ and The American Journal of Psychiatry. This virtual library is a key resource used in the teaching and study of psychiatry, psychology, and other mental health disciplines as well as for diagnosis, treatment, and professional development.
Charleston Conference goers will know it as across King Street from the Francis Marion hotel.
See: Mary Laura Philpott, “Reader Retreats,” Garden & Gun, June/July 2022, p.151.
See: Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Lillian Rizzo, “Young People Discover a Hot New Writer – Agatha Christie,” The Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2022, p.A1.
The Oxford English Dictionary made it an entry and cited Caan as the earliest documented use. It posits possible origins as the Italian “bada bene” meaning to “mark well” and the drum rim-shot that punctuates a comedian’s punchline.
This was the story Michael told his family. Upon his death, his personal archive would reveal a much queerer life.
The
The official archive might give us these fleeting glimpses of a queer past, but it is only ever partial. I mean this in two senses of the word: it is incomplete and fragmentary, and it also tells us stories largely from the perspective of the oppressor. The records and archives of lobbying, campaigning and social organisations including the Homosexual Law Reform Society, lesbian Minorities Research Group, and branches of the Gay Liberation Front and Campaign for Homosexual Equality dotted across the country all offer evidence of resistance against this oppression, but their records are no less partial even if from another perspective. It is, then, to the rare personal queer archive that we must turn to find insights into lives lived over decades and the messiness of complex experiences that may subvert our expectations of simple or straightforward stories. One such personal archive recently came into my possession.
By the time Michael died in the 2000s, he had been divorced from Barbara since the 1980s, but the family shared little with me about his life in the intervening years. Perhaps it was likewise opaque to them until they sorted his papers in preparation for donating them along with his books. Those books quickly confirm his desire to understand homosexual histories and cultures in the present and the past. Academic studies such as three volumes of Foucault’s History of Sexuality and David Halperin’s One Hundred Years of Homosexuality sit
Raised a Baptist, Michael was strongly against violence so, when the war came, he signed up as an RAF medic to avoid active fighting. He hoped to help others in need. His six years in the services took him across Europe and the Middle East and brought him directly into contact with violence and death. He prayed over children and helped others where he could but was subsequently always unable to talk about his wartime experiences. He felt that cruelty and despair ran through his life. But this period also brought him into contact with other cultures and opportunities to meet new people. After the war he married Barbara, the service officiated by his father, and by the mid-1960s had three children.
By Dr. Justin Bengry (Goldsmiths, University of London) <j.bengry@gold.ac.uk>
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lives and stories of LGBTQ+ people are notoriously difficult to uncover in the past beyond the experiences of those who crossed paths with powerful bodies like the state, church and medical profession. Such records, even where they do exist, tend to flatten out queer lives, often reducing their contours and complexity to singular and traumatic incidents. We learn about queer people in these archives in direct proportion to the amount of trauma and violence they suffered. We may understand a man charged and tried for homosexual offences to be straightforwardly gay because state and police records tell us that on one occasion he was found having sex with another man. We might know little of his life before or after the case, whether he was married, or if this incident was part of a pattern of casual sex with other men or a single opportunistic encounter borne of curiosity.
him some respite from many weeks of school, but he nonetheless missed home desperately throughout his studies at Taunton and resented his parents for sending him there. His school life until the late 1930s was only made more acutely painful by their vocal disappointment with his poor grades despite the unaffordable fees they reminded him they paid for his education.
Michael’s personal archive, as well as that of his wife Barbara, are largely intact and detail a complicated life and relationships that spanned most of the twentieth century. It includes everything from his school notebooks to appointment diaries at the end of his life. In the intervening decades Michael’s university studies at Leeds University and interest in theatre emerge in exam books and theatre programmes. His faith emerges in the archive in his notes on theology and correspondence with the Bishop of Ripon. We see his wartime service in travel documents, photos and military newspapers. Barbara’s own wartime service helping evacuees is acknowledged with a certificate from the Queen and voluminous letters with family and friends pouring over her life and marriage. And both lives are recorded across numerous journals, calendars and appointment books.
Michael B was born in North Yorkshire in the early 1920s, the son of a Baptist minister who himself came of age amongst the Victorians. He was raised there, Leicestershire and Somerset, and from age six was sent to boarding school where he was bullied “in unspeakable ways.” Michael loved reading, walking, cycling and the outdoors, but never fit in to the school’s sportsminded ethos. Illness and a mastoidectomy may have given
JUSTIN BENGRY is Director of the Centre for Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he also convenes the world’s first MA in Queer History. He is a cultural historian specialising in queer history with particular interests in capitalism, local history, family history and policy surrounding the socalled “gay pardon.” He is currently part of an international partnership researching LGBTQ+ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justin is completing a book on the history of the pink pound.
Archiving Queer Lives: The Stories of Michael B
I first encountered Michael when his granddaughter contacted me to ask if I was interested in a collection of LGBTQ+ books she had found amongst her grandfather’s possessions. I direct the Centre for Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London where I also lead the world’s only MA in Queer History. She and her mother had found me hoping that the collection of fiction and histories, art and photography books might be useful to my students. As our conversation proceeded, it transpired that Michael had saved much more than a couple boxes of books.
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During the war, Michael was stationed in parts of the Middle East and North Africa, where he would return in peacetime. As a queer historian, I know that these were places of sexual opportunity for certain men in the mid-twentieth century and long before. Sexual cultures in these places differed from England and eroticism between men could sometimes exist within local social structures; in some cases, foreign travellers wielded their power and privilege as white men within these structures, forming transactional relationships with locals. We can only speculate on whether Michael chose to return to places he had previously felt greater freedom to explore his “homosexual mentality.” Likewise, we might imagine the impact the time spent within a culture that differed so much from his own had on his sense of self, his understanding of sexuality and the stability of his marriage. Deeper exploration of the archive’s records of Michael’s time abroad may illuminate his experiences outside England further.
But we shouldn’t be too quick to assume that Michael was a closeted gay man whose marriage inevitably fell apart when he sought a truer and more authentic gay life, whether at home or abroad. Cataloging of the collection is already uncovering suggestions of extramarital affairs with women, concerns about mental health, and even violent behaviour. It might well be that homosexuality was not the problem, or at least not the only problem in Michael and Barbara’s marriage. As we dive deeper into the hundreds of letters across a half century between Michael and Barbara and their parents, family, friends and colleagues, I expect that a fuller picture of many complex relationships will emerge.
As a queer man — and I use that term here deliberately to suggest possibility, fluidity and to avoid overdetermining Michael as only a gay man — Michael lived his life against the grain of society’s conventions and his parents’ expectations. Married to such a man, Barbara’s life and perhaps even her own choices were likewise unconventional and their marriage another example of a complex relationship. But even a cursory examination of Michael’s papers shows that his life and experiences also fail to fit our own expectations of the kind of gay life that should appear in an archive. He doesn’t fit into neat categories. He wasn’t an ‘out and proud’ gay hero we can look back upon with admiration and pride. His erotic interests seem to have shifted across his life as he grappled with desires for men but had extramarital affairs with women. Episodes of violence stood in direct contrast to his early aversion to war. I wonder what other insights into this queer life might yet be hidden in Michael’s archive.
alongside research and policy reports. More popular titles in his collection include The Gay Mystique and Nancy Friday’s Men in Love. Michael also collected homoerotic art books detailing the work of photographer Wilhelm von Gloeden and artist Henry Scott Tuke. His granddaughter described him as a “gay man” acknowledging that she and her mother understood this book collection and read Michael’s papers in the context of a hidden sexuality he could never admit. In one wartime diary entry they sent me, Michael grapples with his “homosexual mentality,” an expression both precise and vague. It identifies desires and emotional uncertainty, but it remains an interiorized experience without action.
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I also hope that the Michael B archive will become a teaching resource and research collection for students of queer history. In this collection we have a unique opportunity to explore different kinds of sources that comprise the archive: diaries, letters, passports, travel documents, newspapers, photos, ephemera and
The Michael B personal archive illuminates a complex queer life that, like the lives of so many queer people, would otherwise remain unseen in official records, effectively erasing it as if it had never occurred. Moments from Michael’s life surely appear in traditional locations and the official archive. State and church records show his birth, marriage and death, and offer further details about his parents, family and children. School and university archives would no doubt confirm his attendance and studies. Military records record his wartime service. And other records and ephemera including passenger lists, professional association memberships and press articles might offer further morsels that bring disjointed moments of Michael’s life into clearer focus. But even collectively these snippets might only confirm what, at first glance, appears to be a conventional heterosexual life: education, military service, marriage, children, divorce, death, thereby erasing emotional traumas, self-questioning, same-sex desires and exploration of sexuality through extensive reading and personal research. Without archives of personal papers like that of Michael B to counter the flattening and partial story of the official archive, most queer lives and experiences are as if they never existed at all.
much more. Michael and Barbara’s letters to each other and to others might tell the same stories in different ways: triangulating how these stories are told with other records of their lives will allow us to reconstruct possibilities, confirm uncertainties and explore deceptions. They also challenge students to question their expectations of a gay past and evaluate the possibilities of a queer history.
Our Integrated Digital Curation Model in Practice
Having defined these activities and those responsible for carrying them out, we developed a cross-organizational Digital Library team to look for ways to integrate, support each other and feed more fully and organically into a digital curation lifecycle.
SU Techstack 2022
Introducing An Integrated Model for the Digital Library
This model for digital library practice creates a lot of clarity for us, defining activity in a holistic structure that makes operational sense to us. It felt right to bring production, description and digital preservation activities into DDS while the outreach and scholarship tasks and initiatives that employ these collections are managed by staff in both the Department of Research and Scholarship and the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC).
By Déirdre Joyce (Head of Digital Stewardship and the Digital Library, Syracuse University) <dfjoyce@syr.edu>
Why was this a challenge? Mostly because our old digital collections management system was reaching end-of-life, having become sclerotic and difficult to use. That system provided access through XTF, the programming and data representation framework created and maintained by the California Digital Library (CDL) (https://cdlib.org/). We created XML files through the METS Manager, a homegrown database developed at the Libraries that brought together limited MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema) elements to create METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard) files which structured our digital objects. But the process was unwieldy, creating large, complex files that often required significant post-processing to work in XTF. It was not easily extensible and required a lot of mitigation from our developers who had significant, competing demands on their time and no capacity to update or even maintain it to meet the expanding needs of our Digital Library.
Of course, what that ecosystem needs is content. As our faculty and teaching librarians move online, we are partnering with SCRC to select and produce content for the biggest pedagogical impact. Many digitized resources have been sitting on hard drives, unreachable in any meaningful sense, and we hope to remedy that situation by making them available and accessible through our new platform. Moreover, investing resources in developing our own unique content and making it accessible to end-users through both our digital collections portals and our open access institutional repository, SURFACE
In the summer of 2021, the Libraries established the Department of Digital Stewardship (DDS), the culmination of a five-year effort to refine a programmatic approach to our existing, if disparate, digital library practices. As part of this approach, the Libraries developed a very clear model of what our Digital Library should be. For us, it is built on the twin pillars of stewardship and scholarship, the former representing technical care and handling of the materials and the latter focusing on the use and promotion of these materials as well as the construction of new types of digital objects that can be brought back in the form of Digital Humanities projects or other scholarly initiatives.
A
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Accelerating the Pace of Change
Our newly launched digital collections site ( https:// digitalcollections.syr.edu/) features an infrastructure diagram ( https://digitalcollections.syr.edu/about/our-digital-library ) that exemplifies our approach of finding the best-in-class solution for a particular job and integrating that with other systems. For example, when we adopted our preservation solution, we didn’t expect to rely on its public-facing interface; we focused only on the preservation capabilities; so Preservica fit the bill. On the other hand, Quartex, our new Digital Asset Management System (DAM), which stood out for many of its front-end features, has some extensible administrative capabilities that should enable it to become almost an engine to make our entire ecosystem work.
t Syracuse University (SU) Libraries, we are constantly looking for the next capability, how to make things more interactive for our patrons, and how we can integrate more with existing and new systems as they come online.
Whatever plans were in place before COVID, the pandemic put more emphasis on the digital delivery of content and presented the Digital Library team with the challenge of delivering an integrated ecosystem that works both for patrons and for us as system managers.
DÉIRDRE JOYCE is Head of Digital Stewardship and the Digital Library at Syracuse University Libraries, where she started as the metadata services librarian in 2017. Her previous digital collections experience includes serving as Project Coordinator for New York Heritage Digital Collections and as founding Project Manager for the Empire Archival Discovery Cooperative for the Empire State Library Network in New York State. Prior to this, she worked as the University Archivist at the University of Texas at Tyler. She received both her master’s degrees in History and Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
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Building Strength Through Mutually Supportive Partnerships
The recent hire of a digital preservation librarian emphasizes our commitment to support the full digital curation lifecycle and will create additional prospects for programmatic outreach in time, including work with records management and born-digital materials. We already have 100 terabytes of data in Preservica, but this is a drop in the bucket for a backlog that includes digital transfers produced from the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive, home to one of the largest audio archives in the United States. We are currently focused on thinking more comprehensively about what our digital preservation activity should look like, including the workflows and campus partnerships that will inform it.
As well as helping to strengthen existing relationships, our model of digital library management and delivery poises us to create efficiencies and value for our own processes and outputs and helps us integrate the work we do much more closely with that of departments and stakeholders across campus and in the wider global community.
(https://surface.syr.edu/), contributes to a virtuous circle of knowledge production that is underwritten at the point of creation. This has at least two profound effects for the Libraries. First, it reinforces the value of publishing, rather than purchasing, locally-created scholarship in support of the research enterprise, permitting us to showcase the unique creativity of the Syracuse research community. Second, by creating digital objects and collections from our unique manuscript and analog holdings, we help demonstrate what makes Syracuse University Libraries a distinctive and strong research and teaching partner on campus.
So far, we have largely worked with already digitized materials. Now that we have relaunched our core collections in our new platform, a priority will be to pursue grants and other partnerships to bring more materials online, including backlog materials that never made it into our old system. That’s going to be one huge marker of success for our department as well as a fantastic addition of resources for our user community.
One such area is with faculty publications in the institutional repository. In April 2020, the SU faculty senate endorsed a draft open access policy, and we expect to see movement on this in the coming year which will require the development of collection models, application profiles, workflows and documentation to support increased publication on library platforms.
Partnering with our advancement team in the Libraries is another space where the Digital Library shows impact. For example, our team worked closely with the advancement team to create a webinar series that demonstrated a variety of collaborations taking place. One episode focused on a longterm digitization project undertaken in support of the School of Architecture: the digitization of architectural working drawings. This had originally been pitched as a digitization project that complemented the remodel of the King+King Architecture Library on campus. Through efforts like this, we hope to generate support and interest in our often unrecognized labor by generating a variety of digital collections and giving our advancement team a tangible story to tell.
The highly-regarded School of Information Studies offers more potential collaboration opportunities as library students seek experiential learning opportunities through internships and assistantship. As the Digital Library continues to take shape, we hope to create experiences that span the digital curation lifecycle, giving hands-on opportunities across the entire operation. This exposes a new generation of librarians to digital librarianship and starts them thinking about what the next big challenges might be. Personally, I find this work incredibly rewarding. Mentoring students is one of the reasons why I love working at an academic institution like SU.
Finally, circling back to the aim of employing the best tools for the job in a developer-lite environment, we recently found another use for our DAM, which we had initially onboarded to support the digital collections created from the Libraries’ holdings. In early 2020, we began a deep collaboration with the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) who had come to us seeking advice for managing their internally produced content and developing a single research portal that would combine IVMF-authored research with carefully selected, externally created resources. While we had a ready solution for the former need (our institutional repository), the challenge of providing an effective public-facing front-end that effectively combined both resource types proved steeper. Initially, vendors hired by IVMF tried to accomplish this by bending a CMS not designed for robust internal search, using web developers unused to thinking in library management terms. In late 2021, however, approximately one year into our Quartex migration, we realized that the flexibility of this system meant it could also support the IVMF’s descriptive metadata needs for all resource types and serve as an effective front-end for their digital library project as well as our own. Once we modeled how it could work, the IVMF project was built and published in four months. As a result, the new IVMF Digital Library site (https://divmflibrary.syr.edu/) operates essentially as an expert resource index for IVMF’s constituency of veterans, military families and their employers. Our partners and stakeholders at IVMF have been enormously satisfied with the result and we look forward to our continued work with them as they continue to add and curate new content.
Now is an exciting time as we form our new library strategy and consider how digital libraries fit into the larger library infrastructure. We are also creating a local digital library framework to formalize our operating model within that wider context. Part of that is how we work in partnership with other departments across the campus, creating stories that allow us to further engage with our various stakeholders.
One functionality of our new system that we are especially excited to use is the easy export function of the DAM, which will allow us to offer collections metadata as end-user datasets. Inspired by the work of the Collections as Data ( https:// collectionsasdata.github.io/ ) project, we realized that our description work is publishable in its own right and can offer researchers valuable insights into digitized collections that are not always visible at the object level. Because the metadata is created locally, we can make it available to end-users regardless of the rights on the digitized objects being described. This is such a benefit when copyright restrictions prevent or limit the digital publication of certain objects or collections. For example, as we create enhanced descriptions for a unique collection of 12,000+ Latin American 45s — for which copyright restrictions prevent full, digital public access to audio files — we can share rich, descriptive metadata with researchers who can repurpose these in new, creative ways.
Thinking back to that holistic infrastructure, and the potential extensibility of certain platforms, that really is one of the most exciting things for our team moving forward — the scope to do more with the services we already have.
By Sam Ellis (University of York) <s.ellis@york.ac.uk>
Introduction
Challenging “Everest”
The GTS claimed to prefer local names, and George Everest himself had expressed this preference, on the basis that Everest was difficult to write or pronounce in South Asian languages. Achieving that preference was nevertheless a geographical and logistical challenge given that the mountains were often observed from hill stations hundreds of miles away. It was also dependent on how concerted and sincere an effort was made to learn the local name. In the case of “Peak XV,” upon reporting the confirmation of its height in 1856, the Times of India wrote
During the colonial era, rivers, lakes, and mountains were subject to naming processes that commemorated European colonial achievements, individuals, or European society. This is also evident in the Himalayas, with the name “Everest” being a homage to the former Surveyor-General, George Everest. An emphasis on that title however gives a limited historical account of Himalayan Mountain nomenclature. After all, Everest is an exception and the vast majority of peaks retain local names. Moreover, from the inception of that title onwards, alternatives were proposed. These alternatives were rooted in consultation with — and consideration of — local voices, many of them long since hidden within the subsequent colonial record.
European attempts to map and name the mountains can be traced back to a beach near Madras in 1802, as the Great Trigonometrical Survey (hereafter GTS) made its first measurement. This project was shortly brought under the auspices of the Survey of India, which gradually fanned its way across South Asia to the Himalayas. The survey initially gave numerical designations, sometimes grouping mountain ranges under an initial. Everest was initially titled “Gamma,” then “Peak B,” then “Peak XV.” The first calculation to place it above Kanchenjunga as the highest mountain in the world was made by Radhanath Sikdar in 1852.1
that the mountain “had no name intelligible to civilised men.”2 However, plenty of options had been suggested, ignored, and discredited: The words Tchoumour Lancma, a variant of the Tibetan title “Chomolungma” had already been noted on a map drawn in Paris by the Cartographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon D’Anville in 1733.3 In addition, an effort by former Kathmandu Resident Brian Houghton Hodgson of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal to connect Everest with the supposed name “Devadhunga” was dismissed in 1858.
Opposition quietened, but not for long. At the beginning of the 20th century, the political landscape changed. Climbing increasingly became a performative medium for European imperialism, with the Himalayas as its theatre. Soon the race to reach new heights began, with British ventures including those of George Mallory in 1922 and 1924 focussing on Everest. However, this new European pursuit was at odds with the summit’s local, religious significance as a spiritual abode, and expeditions for either scientific or leisure purposes could not traipse freely across the mountains. Many of the peaks lay within either Nepal or Tibet, both highly guarded in their passport allocations.Afurther challenge came from emergent anti-colonial voices. The British Indian Army’s contribution in World War I, questions of reward, the maintenance of Empire, and a clamour for independence converged to challenge the prerogative of British rule and by extension, British mountain nomenclature. Then, newly established postcolonial governments (such as those of India and Pakistan in 1947) sought to exert control over a great extent of peoples and places, including the high mountains. The 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet likewise saw an assertion of Chinese control in that space, whilst independent kingdoms like Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim also sought to establish their national spaces and identities. This included the encouraging and, at times, enforcing of a national language, and subsequent titles for the mountains. In the 1930s, Nepali historian Baburam Acharya reported “from local sources” the name “Sagarmatha,” meaning “head [or forehead] of the sky.” This initially appeared in the Nepali language publication Sharada, with Acharya later adding in his book A Brief Account of Nepal that he was “charged with attempting to bring about insult to the British by giving a Nepalese name to the peak.” The name was formally adopted in 1956.5
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“No Name Intelligible to Civilised Men:” Hidden Voices in Mount Everest’s Nomenclature
“Everest” was now under great scrutiny. One commentator wrote that “to call the highest mountain in the world after one of its late chiefs may seem natural to a department, but it will hardly persuade — nor has it succeeded in persuading — the world to share its view.”6
SAM ELLIS completed his PhD in 2019. His research focused on a series of expeditions on behalf of the British East India Company to Nepal and Tibet, as a lens through which to study Anglo-Nepalese relations and colonialeighteenth-centuryencounters.He maintains an enthusiasm for the history of climbing. He has studied and taught at the University of Warwick, the University of Sheffield, and the University of Leeds. In 2020 he began working in Student Wellbeing at the University of York.
This outcome was unsurprising, given that it was considered at the height of the Indian Uprising, a very precarious moment for British rule in India wherein public opinion called for greater authority and control over a subcontinent in violent turmoil. One critic wrote of Everest that “it would be most inadvisable, in my opinion, to abandon this definite name, which will soon be familiar to very English or European child, for one of the, to Europeans, unpronounceable names given by Mr Hodgson.”4
For example, in the late 19th century the title “Gaurishankar” was mooted for Everest, after the German surveyor Hermann Schlagintweit reported that name being cited in both Kathmandu and Darjeeling.8 This generated much debate, and Captain Wood was sent to Nepal in 1904 to investigate whether the mountain was visible from there, and by what name is what known. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, Wood found that the title “Gaurishankar” was attributed “by the nobles only” to two different peaks. He went on to say “every lower-class native did not know the peak by that or any other name, nor did they appear to give names to any of the snows at all.” Wood then surveyed those living in the hills away from Kathmandu, and found that amongst those who he consulted, “everyone, without exception, gave different names to the same peaks, and none called the peak known in the valley [Kathmandu] by that name [Gaurishankar].” 9 Wood also described how “none gave the name Gaurishankar to any peak until they were asked which one was Gaurishankar.”10 The identification to Schlagintweit of Gaurishankar in Darjeeling could have been the same scenario. Evidently within Nepal, the name provided by various local agents was influenced by geographical, cultural, and economic variables and the individual’s positionality. The uncertainty ultimately contributed to the dismissal of “Gaurishankar” and its allocation to a different mountain in the region.
4. Andrew Scott Waugh, “On Mounts Everest and Deodanga,” in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1857-1858, 2:2 (1857-1858), pp. 102-115. https://www. jstor.org/stable/1799335.
8. Laurence Waddell, “The Environs and Native Names of Mount Everest,” in The Geographical Journal, 12:6 (Dec., 1898) pp. 564-569 (569). http://www.jstor.org/ stable/1774275
13. Douglas Freshfield, “Himalayan Nomenclature,” p. 357.
Concluding Thoughts
These changes necessitated a more concerted British effort to learn and accommodate a Nepali or Tibetan name. This involved consultation with local agents, many of whom are long since obscured and somewhat “hidden” within the historical record. The names were then considered with care, to “determine the etymology where possible, and crystalise the spelling and punctuation.” 7 This consultation however was not straightforward, often uncovering multiple options and generating further confusion.
11. Waddell, “The Environs and Native Names of Mount Everest,” p. 565.
For each of those names, there existed a specific instance in which a cartographer or government agent encountered either an intermediary or a local agent who was subsequently asked the name of the mountain. Very little is known about these individuals, and they are rarely named, let alone credited. Their identities were significant nonetheless: their physical position, for instance, whether they were viewing the mountain from Tibet or Nepal, one valley or another, as well as their positionality —their social, cultural, religious, and political context — influenced their interpretative lens and therefore, the answer they gave. This, in turn, converged with the perception of the colonial agent. That convergence determined whether the name would fade into obscurity or find its way into global public consciousness.
7. A.M. Kellas, “The Nomenclature of Himalaya Peaks,” in The Geographical Journal, 52:4 (Oct., 1918), pp. 272-274. (274). http://www.jstor.org/stable/1779902
12. Acharya, “Sagarmatha or Jhymolungma” p. 193.
Despite efforts by colonial officials to establish one formal, official title, there exists an enduring plurality in names. This article has barely scraped the surface, with no investigation unto many proposed names for the world’s highest peak.15
15. For a more complete list, see Michael Ward, “The Name of the World’s Highest Peak,” in Himalayan Journal, 54 (1997). name-of-the-worlds-highest-peak/https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/53/3/the-
10. Captain H. Wood, Report on the Identification and Nomenclature of the Himalayan Peaks as seen from Kathmandu, Nepal, (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1904).
2. “Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest,” in Proceedings of the London Royal Geographical Society of London, IX (April–May 1857), pp. 345-351.
Accommodating “Chomolungma”
Endnotes
14. Waddell, “The Environs and Native Names of Mount Everest,” p. 568.
1. “India and China,” in The Times, No. 22490. 4 October 1856, p. 8.
The RGS’s solution to these difficulties was one of accommodation: to either create a new name in the local regional language or to accept a local suggestion. This is most notable in the Tibetan Pinyin name for Everest, “Chomolungma,” that appeared alongside “Everest” when the Survey of India published its second edition map of the region.12 “Chomolungma,” with its various alternative spellings, was proposed by Laurence Waddell (amongst others) at the turn of the century, and was invested with “excellent native authority.”13 Waddell’s study referred to those voices as his “informants” but their identity is mostly unknown. He did consult an “illiterate guide” and an individual named Chandra Das; however, neither of them came from the Everest region. It is therefore unclear what exactly made Waddell’s voices authoritative. One notable observation is that it appeared in Darjeeling on a picture map of unknown authorship.14 It is perhaps most likely that the name found British approval due to the frequency with which it was quoted, and its politically expedient Tibetan provenance.
9. Douglas Freshfield, “Himalayan Nomenclature,” p. 357.
3. Craig Storti, The Hunt for Mount Everest (London: John Murray Press, 2022).
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Colonial efforts to learn local names have also resulted in suspiciously minimalist suggestions. Hodgson’s proposed “Devadhunga” for instance may have simply been the local term for “snowy range,” and is very similar to “Deodanga,” a word that according to Laurence Waddell meant a Hindu sacred hillock.11 It is plausible that the individual stated that the object they were being asked to identify was “a snowy range” through either subversion, hostility, confusion or disinterest.
5. Baburam Acharya, “Sagarmatha or Jhymolungma,” in Sharada, 4:8 (1938) p. 193.
6. Douglas Freshfield, “Himalayan Nomenclature,” in The Geographical Journal, 24:3 (Sep., 1904), pp. 356-359 (358). https://www.jstor.org/stable/1776598
It is not possible (or preferable) to erase biases held within primary sources themselves, but the ability to use exciting new technologies like Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) software does afford researchers methods to bypass biases that may exist in the catalogue data.
source databases have traditionally enabled scholars to search the metadata applied to each record, this software promises greater fidelity of search than traditional cataloguing can offer. If researchers discover a named individual within a single source, they can now perform a search and return all results across every document in a resource regardless of whether that figure is a colonial governor — whose name would certainly have been captured in the catalogue from inception
LINDSAY GULLIVER joined Adam Matthew in 2014 and serves as Publishing Manager within the Editorial Department. In addition to helming the company’s new learning tool, Research Methods Primary Sources, she has worked on the production of more than a dozen traditional collections.
Events that take place in the past are fixed, yet interpretations of those events are not and, in fact, can differ radically from person to person and group to group. No single source can reveal every facet of an event or a person’s experience of that event and that is why it is important to cross-reference a range of sources and, crucially, consider a range of perspectives to build up a fuller picture of history.
HTR enables researchers to search thousands of manuscript pages at once, using software powered by artificial intelligence. Our in-house technical team regularly implements the most up-to-date version and, subsequently, we have seen its power and capability steadily increase over time. Back in 2017, we first applied HTR to Colonial America, our resource dedicated to the renowned Colonial Office (CO5) files held by the National Archives at Kew which document the history of the Thirteen Colonies from early interactions with Indigenous peoples through to the dawn of the American Revolutionary War. Since then, we have seen how well this technology can be used to navigate biases, revealing the voices of marginalised people and groups, and are committed to applying this software to all manuscript sources within our products, helping researchers to search historic texts freely. With one-click, researchers can exclude metadata results from their searches and return just the results within sources, thus amplifying the voices of figures who may not have been recorded in catalogues and improving discoverability.Whereasprimary
“Marginalization speaks of lack of access, denial of equal economic opportunity, political access or representation, civic rights, and often even basic human rights; it implies institutionalized exclusion, discrimination, and the domination by one group over others; it results in the historical invisibility and silencing of those at the margin.” — Kathleen Phillips Lewis, “How to Research Marginal Groups” in Research Methods Primary Sources (Adam Matthew: Marlborough, 2021)
At AM, our mission is to create accessible, sustainable and inclusive websites which reimagine primary sources, empowering current and future generations to challenge, analyse and debate critically. Digitising content created by or for underrepresented communities is central to achieving this goal, but we recognise and acknowledge that historic collection practice has shaped the types of sources that have survived to the modern day, at times excluding the voices and narratives of non-hegemonic peoples from the preserved record. Further to this, we recognise that many communities record and share histories in ways that have not traditionally been collected or housed in archives, such as through folklore and oral tradition. We understand, too, that by digitising primary sources, we contribute to the continued survival and discovery of such materials, reinforcing histories which may exclude the voices of certain people and communities. Technology can play an important role in redressing the imbalance of representation and we’re excited by these possibilities.
carefully about how best to describe and display the documents we digitise and why we are constantly striving to improve our processes.Often,data from library catalogues informs the metadata at the heart of AM resources. Over the past 30 years, we have built strong and resilient relationships with archives and libraries around the world, and we are grateful for the catalogue data we receive. However, we also recognise that through accessioning and historic cataloguing, sources created by marginalised peoples and communities — from ancient times up until the modern day — will have been subjected to decisions by individuals from outside the creator community, and that we may inadvertently reinforce biases and inaccuracies applied to those sources. It is vital that we acknowledge where problematic or outdated metadata may exist and how best to contextualise or supplement that data. Recently, we have begun to publish language and terminology statements which detail the origins and potential challenges of metadata found in our resources and we will continue to implement these pages within our sites so that researchers are forewarned of problematic or outdated terms they may find.
Amplifying Hidden Voices in Primary Source Databases
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By Lindsay Gulliver (Publishing Manager, Adam Matthew) <Lindsay@amdigital.co.uk> and Erin Pearson-Willbery (Senior Editor, Adam Matthew) <Erin@amdigital.co.uk>
Whether a researcher is using one of our resources to find a particular source or discover new evidence to support their argument, we know that good metadata is vital for navigating primary source databases. That is why our editorial teams think
— or a colonised, enslaved or otherwise marginalised person — whose name may never have been recorded in the catalogue or known to history.
diverse sources and place those sources within their historic context while illuminating key research themes.
ERIN PEARSON-WILLBERY is a Senior Editor at Adam Matthew. Since joining the company in 2014 she has had the opportunity to lead several editorial projects and work on a broad range of primary source collections including, Sex & Sexuality, Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings and Colonial Caribbean to name a few.
Last year, Adam Matthew published the first module of Colonial Caribbean . This resource includes nearly 600,000 images detailing the history of British rule in the Caribbean throughout the early modern period and a search for “slave” would return nearly 1,500 different documents. Professor Kristy Warren, in a video interview recorded for Colonial Caribbean, explains that interactions between the British state and enslaved people can often be uncovered when something “was felt to have gone wrong”, for example, when there is a legal case or petition submitted to the colonial governor. By using metadata filters for document type, searches for the voices of enslaved peoples in the Caribbean can be narrowed down using, say, “Petitions,” “Legal Documents” or “Newspapers.”
In addition to building search tools and filters into our platform, AM resources include commissioned essays and features — like Professor Warren’s interview — that are intended to support the critical analysis of the primary sources we digitise. This is particularly important when we publish sources created by or for unrepresented communities. We believe it is important to acknowledge where gaps may exist in the historical record and amplify information about groups or individuals for whom primary sources may not exist. Our essays, interviews and exhibitions encourage researchers to examine sources created by dominant powers and contextualise the impact that they may have had on non-hegemonic peoples; they also highlight more
As per the examples cited by Beans Velocci, above, it will often be vital to consider how people or events may be described in a historic document even if such terms are unacceptable today; in the Colonial Caribbean resource, searching for “runaway slaves” or “runaways,” for example — while archaic — will provide the most accurate results for enslaved people who made attempts to escape their enslavers. In addition to commissioning features which help users to critically analyse primary sources, AM also aims to publish searching guides to share practical information on how best to optimise search capability, with general tips and — where appropriate — specific examples.
Events that take place in the past are fixed. Historic collection practice has shaped the archival record that survives and, furthermore, the histories that have traditionally been written about both dominant powers and underrepresented communities. However, by acknowledging bias and gaps, commissioning contextual guidance, and integrating innovative searching tools into our platform, we at AM aim to provide the tools that will enable researchers to read against the grain and amplify the voices hidden within history.
“In the early part of the twentieth century, trans people drew on the wealth of new terminology they had available in medical literature, and used new theories of sex to convey how they saw themselves. They called themselves inverts, homosexuals, transvestites, eonists, hermaphrodites, and feminine men … When researching and writing about trans history, then, it’s important to hold two things in your mind simultaneously. One is that transness as it exists now is rooted in a long history — trans people are not some newfangled invention, as some anti-trans rhetoric would have it. The other is that what sex and gender even are change over time, and so too do the categories that people use to understand their own experiences.” — Beans Velocci, “Changes Over Time: Making Sense of Trans Categories in the Archive” in Sex & Sexuality (Adam Matthew: Marlborough, 2021)
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The award-winning second module of Sex and Sexuality focuses on self-expression, community and identity and includes primary source records created throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Amongst the academic essays and interviews commissioned to contextualise these sources, users will find a fascinating piece on the categorisation and selfdescription of trans people:
By Carol Macheak (Collections Management Coordinator, UA Little Rock) <cimacheak@ualr.edu> and Donna Rose (Metadata Lead Librarian, UA Little Rock) <dkrose@ualr.edu>
consideration the fragile condition of these titles. The team divided up the spreadsheets and went to work. For each title listed, a team member would begin the preliminary review by:
The next step in the process was to identify duplicate titles that were currently held in the circulating collection. The collections management coordinator made the final decision on which titles to transfer to the circulating collection. If a Special Collections copy was in better condition than the circulating copy, the copies were exchanged. The Metadata department worked quickly to add, replace, and withdraw those titles.
Introduction
It became apparent that the Special Collections titles required additional review and evaluation due to age and poor condition. Several titles required immediate withdrawal and disposal due to their physical condition (crumbling pages, broken spines, and possible mold spores). The team required use of protective equipment and supplies while handling many of these titles.
• Checking for local holdings in OCLC.
• Evaluating the condition of all copies.
As the team worked on the preliminary reports, workflows, and guidelines, the library was notified that the Special Collections area would be renovated in order to house the new UA Little Rock Multicultural Center. The team had approximately six months to clear the space.
Then,space.asthe
ATG Special Report — Wading Into the Weeds and Finding Your Way Back!
• Verifying that additional copies were on the shelves in other locations.
• Checking HathiTrust and other online repositories for
Justholdings.astheteam
team settled into the work at hand, the pandemic hit!! The university closed for three months and most library personnel were required to work from home. Through many online meetings, countless emails, the establishment of a secure protocol, and a shared online drive, the workflows were modified and the weeding project continued. As the university slowly opened back up and library personnel were allowed to return to the building, the team successfully resumed the project to continue the review and comparison of physical items by using spreadsheets and other documentation.
• Verifying title still physically in Special Collections.
The CAD team consisted of three librarians and three support staff as well as several student workers. During the early discussions about the project, the team agreed that a systematic plan needed to be developed along with guidelines that could be implemented for all impacted collections. Since an inventory had never been officially conducted, this weeding project would be the perfect opportunity for a thorough and complete inventory of all collections.
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During the review process, the team identified many Arkansas-related duplicate titles that were still in good condition. The Acquisitions department at the Arkansas State Library (ASL) agreed to assist by reviewing lists and requesting
quickly drafted a plan to review and evaluate the collections to meet the given deadline. The team leader worked with Metadata to run reports for holdings in the catalog and created spreadsheets of titles. In order to work more efficiently, the team agreed to make all notes in the spreadsheets, leaving the items on the shelf until the physical item needed to be pulled for the final review and withdrawal. This strategy meant that a physical item would be handled as little as possible, taking into
For many academic libraries, weeding physical collections is rarely a top priority. At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock) Ottenheimer Library, weeding has always occurred, but at a basic level and sporadically. In 2019, the library administration created the Collection Assessment and Downsizing (CAD) task force and purchased data from OCLC’s GreenGlass. GreenGlass is a collection analysis tool that enables libraries to review, analyze, and weed its physical book collections in a structured, systematic way. GreenGlass provides circulation usage and holdings from WorldCat, HathiTrust Digital Library, and other resources. By using this tool and by initiating a parallel internal evaluation of non-book resources, the library started its most extensive weeding project in 40 years. The final goal of this weeding project is to create a relevant and curriculum focused legacy collection of print materials.
developed a good working procedure, an unforeseen challenge presented itself. The established workspace for the weeding project had to be moved to accommodate the renovation of the first floor for the new Learning Commons, a campus-wide endeavor to promote collaborative learning. The new holdings space, work area, and staff offices were relocated to another floor, resulting in inadequate work area and limited storage
While the team worked on the Special Collections titles, the collections management coordinator reviewed the donated collections. This work included reviewing the signed agreements, locating a list of the donated items, and verifying the holdings in the collection. The donated collections were then relocated to a smaller designated Special Collections room.
Theroom.team
• Checking records in Sierra (ILS system).
The Ottenheimer Library Special Collections area housed collections in three large rooms that included donations to the university, materials on Arkansas, and university-related archives. University-related materials and specific donations would be the priority collections and would be condensed into one
Due to budget constraints, the library director and collections management coordinator decided to include only the print collections in the GreenGlass data. The collection management coordinator (team leader) and the metadata librarian worked together to run reports from the catalog in order to have a better understanding of the number of titles and volumes in each collection. While working through those reports, several non-print collections were identified as possible candidates for withdrawals due to the lack of available equipment, supported software, or obsolete formats.
• Weeding any collection will take longer than planned or expected.
weeding projects. The dedication of all members of the CAD team resulted in the completion of both weeding projects in a timely manner, despite numerous delays and challenges along the
Shown below is one of the earliest spreadsheets created and the committee members refined column data and duties as needed throughout the project. Both general and specific comments were noted to assist in decision making and to record any irregular findings. In addition, statistics were kept to determine what percentage of the collection was withdrawn and to provide data for future status reports. The creation of templates helped to define the “workflow” process from the initial review to the most efficient way to discard VHS tapes.
• Flexibility throughout the entire project is important and necessary.
With a lot of hard work and dedication, the project was finished by the suggested deadline. The team estimated that approximately 5,000 titles were relocated or completely withdrawn from the Special Collections area.
By weeding these two small collections before the GreenGlass project officially began, the team established the basic project framework, created numerous template spreadsheets, and developed the basic workflows that will be used during future
• Faculty input is recommended, but it is important to allow a reasonable amount of time for feedback.
titles for possible addition to the ASL collection or redistribution to public libraries around the state. Approximately 500 titles were relocated due to this collaborative effort.
After completing the Special Collections project and waiting for the GreenGlass data set to arrive, the CAD task force met to discuss the creation of workflows, spreadsheets, and templates for weeding the smallest of collections — the VHS tapes, music CDs, and audio books/cassettes. These media collections would not be included in the GreenGlass analysis and were ideal to use as a pilot project before undertaking the larger task of weeding the book collections. As a result, the template was adapted and revised for evaluating the media materials and withdrawing the tapes and CDs from the collection and the data systems. Ultimately, approximately 4,800 titles were weeded from the collection, freeing up space, and providing the task force with a workable plan for moving on to other, larger collections.
• Goals and objectives should be discussed and established at the beginning of a major project.
• Renovation and relocation can result in loss of work space.
The final challenge of this major undertaking came when the team was notified in early spring of 2021 that the library would be switching to a new integrated library system. All work was halted or decreased substantially while staff underwent training for the new system.
• Team motivation can be encouraged by acknowledging the hard work of the team and rewarding both minor and major goals.
The inventory continued with a review of missing volumes, multiple copies, and earlier editions. Bibliographic records were corrected in the online catalog, OCLC, and other systems. Examples of these corrections included missing records, incorrect holdings, and mismatched barcodes.
• Weeding guidelines should be established and followed for consistency, but expect changes throughout the process.
• Deadlines are necessary and vitally important.
Conclusion:
The team remains committed to the weeding project. As the GreenGlass project progresses, the team will remember the following lessons learned:
Asway.with any successful weeding project, an inventory of the collection is an integral part of the process. The spreadsheets provided data that laid the groundwork for the comparison of the holdings in the catalog to the holdings on the physical shelves. The weeding of both collections resulted in an informal inventory which proved to be an essential part of the process, especially in identifying missing items in the media collections.TheCAD team continues to work on weeding the remaining collections and will utilize the developed guidelines as the larger GreenGlass project begins in the fall of 2022. Because of the work performed on the smaller weeding projects, the team has a more realistic outlook on how to proceed with the data analysis for the print collection.
• Team collaboration and communication are essential throughout the project.
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• The unexpected should be expected and addressed as soon as possible.
Marquis, Kathy and Leslie C. Waggener. 2011. “Historical Collections.” Public Libraries 50, no.2: 42-49. docview/861735937/se-2?accountid=41449www.proquest.com/magazines/historical-collections/https://
<https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
Recommended Readings
Contact Annual Reviews for more information: sales@annualreviews.org | 650.493.4400 | www.annualreviews.org NOW PUBLISHED BY ANNUAL REVIEWS Founded in July 1999, The Charleston Advisor publishes detailed product reviews of proprietary and freely available web-based resources for the library market. Reviewed product types include databases, pricing tools, scholarly journals, and collections. More than 1,130 searchable expert reviews, peer-reviewed by the library community, are currently available to help optimize library services. BENEFITS OF SUBSCRIBING to TCA: • Access to more than 1,130 reviews published • Online edition includes full backfile database • Unlimited access via IP Filter or name/password • Comparative reviews of aggregators featured • Leading opinions in every issue
Guayu, Beth. 2017. “A Case Study on the Path to Resource Discovery.” Information Technology and Libraries (Online) 36, no. 3: 18-48. study-on-path-resource-discovery/docview/1951870257/se-2https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/caseHerring, Mark Y. 2000. “Archival treasures: Blessing–or Burden in Disguise?” American Libraries 31, no. 7: 41-43. &db=asn&AN=3448953&site=ehost-live&scope=sitesearch.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shibhttps://Johnson,KirstinDougan.2020.“TheChangingFaceof
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McElfresh, Karen R. and Robyn M. Gleasner. 2019. “Evaluating a Historical Medical Book Collection.” Journal of the Medical Library Association 107, no. 4: 560-565. medical-book-collection/docview/2321839276/se-2www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/evaluating-historical-https://
Thibodeau, Patricia L. 2010. “When the Library is Located in Prime Real Estate: A Case Study on the Loss of Space from the Duke University Medical Center Library and Archives.” Journal of the Medical Library Association 98, no1: 25-28. prime-real-estate-case/docview/203513506/se-2proquest.com/scholarly-journals/when-library-is-located-https://www.
Academic Music Media Collections in Response to the Rise of Online Music Delivery.” Notes 77, no. 2: N.PAG. doi:10.1353/ not.2020.0092.Koveleskie, Judith A. 2014. “Weeding, Wine, and Cheese: Enticing Faculty to Cull a Collection.” Pennsylvania Libraries 2, no. 2: 171-178. palrap.2014.77docview/1634873314/se-2journals/weeding-wine-cheese-enticing-faculty-cull/https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-,doi:https://doi.org/10.5195/
Each chapter begins with an introduction to the landscape of legal and public opinions regarding the topic at hand followed by a list of topics covered by the chapter. Excerpts from primary sources, photographs, cartoons, and other illustrations are interspersed with the essays, breaking up the text and visual appeal. Each of the chapters ends with a conclusion, a list of works consulted, and several discussion questions, e.g., “How have pharmaceutical companies influenced the capital punishment debate? (p. 592). This structure is appropriate for a classroom setting and the discussion questions would be especially useful for undergraduate students on the hunt for paper topics.
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provides just that with Opinions Throughout History: The Death Penalty, a collection of twenty-nine essays explicating a broad range of primary and secondary documents concerning capital punishment. The Death Penalty is the seventh of Grey House Publishing’s now eighteen volume Opinions Throughout History series, and was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2020.1 Author Micah Issitt is an independent scholar, with a number of reference titles to his name, including several other books in the Opinions Throughout History series (Security vs. Civil & Privacy Rights; Immigration; Gender: Roles & Rights; Drug Use and Abuse; and The Environment). The book is available in print and electronic formats, though this review focuses on the print version. Free online access is granted with the purchase of the print edition.
The essays are easy to read and understand, more descriptive than investigative. For example, the marvelously understated assertion that “As of 2019, just over half of Americans support the death penalty, and support for the practice has increased, especially among conservatives, since the election of Donald Trump” (p. 611).2 This approach makes the book useful for gathering background information, but those who wish to delve into the scholarship will have to turn elsewhere. On the other hand, the approach also emphasizes the importance of the primary sources.
The lists of works consulted for each chapter are a mix of law reviews, scholarly articles from a range of social science disciplines; television and print news sources; and primary source documents. While most of the text-based primary sources are transcribed for easy reading, facsimiles of a few are scattered throughout the book, which helps one get a feel for the time period. An example of this is a page from the 1797 Sedition Act, in all its calligraphic glory (p. 292).
by Ellie Dworak (Research Data Librarian, Albertsons Library, Boise State University) <elliedworak@boisestate.edu>
The Death Penalty is a hefty volume, designed to provide both a broad overview and deep-dives into specific historical situations. The essays themselves are arranged into a rough timeline, beginning with Colonial America and extending to public perceptions in the contemporary United States. The essays concentrate on shifting opinions within the United States, though the essays give attention to the origins of criminal justice traditions such as the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and, later, European penal codes.
Column Editor: Corey Seeman (Director, Kresge Library Services, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan) <cseeman@umich.edu> Twitter @cseeman
Column Editor’s Note: Maybe it is too hot outside to come up with something witty or profound to share before jumping into the reviews. Seems to be that type of year as we are almost exactly halfway through in 2022. And while the temperatures in greater Detroit (Michigan) are not setting records like they are in Europe, it is nonetheless hot enough to stay indoors near the air conditioning. For those of you who have offered cooling stations in your libraries during these hot spells, you have my eternal gratitude and respect.
When thinking about temperatures and tolerance, there is a great degree (no pun intended) of how we all respond to the heat and cold. In my office, for example, my nearest colleague and I represented the polar opposites when it comes to temperature preference. I much prefer the temperature to be cooler while my colleague prefers a much warmer temperature. I could say that we have thermostat battles in the office when we are both there. However, I am confident (as is my colleague) that the thermostat is more ornamental than functional. So we are left to consistently figure out how to manage on our own.
Thinking about temperatures and this column, it struck me that there is a real difference between personal preference and a more subjective evaluation. We are inundated everywhere with simple preferences being shared out as critical reviews. Everything we do, everything we eat, everything we see and everything we read has a rating scale that can vary greatly in theirWhatusability.weaspire to do here in the Reader’s Roundup is a more thoughtful and evaluative digestion of the work being reviewed and how it might be used in our libraries. While not very long reviews, they provide context beyond the headline and a few rating points. I very much appreciate the work of the reviewers who really dig into the work and provide context that may be missing elsewhere. Thank you to my reviewers: Ellie Dworak, Carolyn Filippelli (with two reviews), Mandi Smith, and Katherine Swart (with three reviews!)
It’s difficult to think of a topic as fraught as the death penalty. Yet it is also compelling subject matter, especially when viewed from a historical context. Grey House Publishing
If you would like to be a reviewer for Against the Grain, please write me at <cseeman@umich.edu>. If you are a publisher and have a book you would like to see reviewed in a future column, please also write me directly. You can also find out more about the Reader’s Roundup here — squirrelman/atg-readers-rounduphttps://sites.google.com/view/Happyreadingandbenutty!—Corey
Reader’s Roundup: Monographic Musings & Reference Reviews
Issit, Micah. Opinions Throughout History: The Death Penalty. Grey House Publishing, 2019. 978-1-64265-066-2, 789 pages, Reviewed$195.
The Death Penalty is prefaced by a historical timeline of landmarks in capital punishment such as the horrifying “621
• I’ll use my money elsewhere. (Just not sure this is a useful book for my library or my network.)
• I need this available somewhere in my shared network. (I probably do not need this book, but it would be nice to get it within three to five days via my network catalog.)
BCE: The Draconian Code of Athens utilizes the death penalty to punish every crime.” At the end of the book is a chronology of historical snapshots covering major events from the years 1880 to 2019. While this does provide additional context, I would prefer to instead have an index to the illustrations.
2. Jones, J. M. 2019. “Americans Now Support Life in Prison Over Death Penalty.” Gallup. Retrieved May 5, 2022 from support-life-prison-death-penalty.aspxhttps://news.gallup.com/poll/268514/americans-.
Previous volumes in this series have already received many positive reviews in major library publications for the quality of content and research, the diversity of details and breadth of information, and the overall usefulness of the series for public and academic libraries. This volume is equally deserving of praise. It is a major reference source for the social sciences and popular culture. In academic libraries, for example, students taking classes in history, sociology, or popular culture would find the primary source documents, advertisements, and timelines of historical events especially useful.
Farming and Ranching , Volume 16 of the series Working Americans:1798-2020, is another outstanding volume in this series. Agriculture is and has long been integral to the American way of life, and it is appropriate that a volume on this topic was included as a part of this set.
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In conclusion, this is a solid reference title, appropriate for a high school or undergraduate setting. The rise of digitization over the past several years has made it much easier to locate primary sources online, but there is still value in having them presented with context and in a logical order.
The ATG Reviewer Rating is being included for each book reviewed. Corey came up with this rating to reflect our collaborative collections and resource sharing means and thinks it will help to classify the importance of these books.
Reviewedprint.by
• I need this book on my nightstand. (This book is so good, that I want a copy close at hand when I am in bed.)
• I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
Endnotes
Additional References
• I need this on my desk. (This book is so valuable, that I want my own copy at my desk that I will share with no one.)
Carolyn Filippelli (Reference Librarian, Boreham Library, University of Arkansas – Fort Smith) <Carolyn.Filippelli@uafs.edu>
Guide to the ATG Reviewer Ratings
Death Penalty Information Center. 2021. States With No Recent Executions. Retrieved May 5, 2022 from with-no-recent-executionsdeathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/states-https://.
Beginning just before the start of the 19th century, Farming and Ranching follows the organization of previous volumes in the series. Profiles of 30 persons across different time periods focus on “those persons who are involved in farming as a way of life and those whose lives were affected by farming.” Aspects of life at home, work, and in the community are provided using content from diaries, family histories, and other reputable sources. It is notable that the profiles represent diverse geographical areas in the United States and that they include narratives from many ethnic groups, whether German, Norwegian, Black, Hispanic, or other nationalities. Stories from both women and men are included as are accounts from various socioeconomic groups. The collection of profiles in this volume somewhat resembles those in Studs Terkel’s 1974 book, Working : people talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do, (Pantheon Books), although here the focus is agriculture and the scope more limited.
Amnesty International. 2019. Death Sentences and Executions 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2022 from https://www.amnesty.org/en/ documents/act50/9870/2019/en
Issitt, Micah L. (n.d.). Micah L. Issitt (Amazon.com author profile). Retrieved May 6, 2022 from https://www.amazon.com/ Micah-L.-Issitt/e/B002J271LSMcCrie,R.D.2020.“TheDeath Penalty.” Choice 57 (9): 965.
The section titled “Selected Prices” for time periods provides prices for common items such as a soft drink, a haircut, a candy bar, eyeglasses, and other consumer goods and services. Seeing prices for these items from earlier times brings both a smile along with some dismay considering current inflation. The
1. “The 2020 Outstanding Academic Titles.” 2020. Choice 58 (4): 315-320,322-327,330-338,340-343.
Mars, Laura (Editor). Working Americans: 1798-2020. Volume 16 (Farming and Ranching), Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing, 2020. ISBN 978-1-64265-484-4, 397 pages. $150
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
The chronological organization of Farming and Ranching and the use of bulleted sections make it very easy to locate content. The inclusion of advertisements, photographs, news, and other primary sources contribute greatly to making the personal stories and the time periods come to life. For example, the section on cattle wranglers (1940) includes highlights of life in Osage County, Oklahoma and refers to the Osage Indian Murders. This topic was the subject of a recent book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The addition of highlights from the Census of Agriculture for 2017 is a bonus. Updated periodically by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this publication and its many agricultural statistics is very informative. This volume’s detailed index and the section on Further Reading also increase the utility of the book.
McAllister, Lorrie and Shari Laster, editors. Transforming Print: Collection Development and Management for Our Connected Future. Chicago, Ill.: ALA Editions, 2021. 978-0-8389-4882-8, 139 pages $59.99
“Historical Snapshots” sections list major events, developments in popular culture, and significant legislation by time periods. Items such as the invention of the Mason jar, creation of the Diamond Match Company, and development of the Kodak box camera are included. Examples of historical events are passage of the Homestead Act, the Civil War, the Great Depression, farm unrest, World War II, and the first U.S. death from COVID-19.
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Although this volume effectively covers most aspects of agriculture, mention should perhaps also have been made of the advent of large-scale chicken farming, wheat farming operations in states like Montana, and the growth of the timber industry in the South. The Dust Bowl should also have been noted as an historical event affecting agriculture. Other aspects of farming and ranching such as aquaculture, permaculture, back-to-theland movements, and sustainable agriculture are likely topics for future works.
Reviewed by Mandi Smith (Head of Collection Development Strategies, University of Arkansas Libraries) <ms054@uark.edu>
Edited by Lori McAllister (Associate University Librarian for Collection Services and Analysis at Arizona State University ) and Shari Laster (Head of Open Stack Collections at Arizona State University Library), this book brings together nine case studies related to how print collections are evolving “to become more engaging and widely used by the diverse communities they serve,” as explained in the book’s official online description on the ALA store. The included case studies cover a wide variety of topics, but are loosely grouped together under three sections: “Contemporary Collection Development,” “Collections Access and Management,” and “Centering the User.” Each of the case studies comes from academic or research libraries, and librarians from those types of libraries would probably gain the most use from reading this book — although professionals from many types of libraries and institutions might be inspired by the successes detailed within.
The chapters in the section titled “Contemporary Collection Development” offer insightful variations on traditional collection development, and the intrinsic incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a refreshing change. Unlike many collection development plans where DEI elements are often more of an afterthought, in the scenarios described by the various authors the inclusion of DEI was deliberate, thoughtful, and designed. The authors of one chapter even inserted a brief description of themselves outlining their race, gender, sexuality, experience, etc., so the readers would have a better understanding of the authors’ vantage points and potential privileges as they read the case study.
Even though print is seemingly the focus of the book, most of the collection development practices described in this section do not seem to particularly target print resources. The first chapter, “The New Open Stacks,” begins with a short and informative history of the management and use of resource shelving in libraries. Soon after, however, the chapter delves into a more generalized approach to collection development, incorporating critical race theory and community engagement. Another example of this is found in the chapter “Working Toward Human-Centered Reparative Change Through Print Collection Development at the University of Denver,” where the authors discuss the steps they have taken to diversify collections. Both chapters were interesting and powerful reads that address important concerns in collection development, but they are not specifically directed at print collection development.
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
This theme of case studies only tangentially related to print continues in the sections titled “Collections Access and Management” and “Centering the User.” Here the reader can learn about the St. Louis Model of collaboration for managing government depositories (St. Louis University), how the Library of Congress chooses what to digitize, and MIT’s creation and use of an indie tarot deck collection. All these chapters are insightful and thought-provoking, but potentially not what one would traditionally consider print management, as implied by the title of the book.
There are some chapters that do deal more directly with the idea of print as a format and the unique challenges and opportunities associated with that. One chapter details the history of HathiTrust’s shared print program, while another discusses using a print collection for object-based learning, specifically through the author’s creation of a model research collection exhibit. Another chapter outlines the results of a research study questioning how faculty prefer to browse the stacks, and online as well. There is even a chapter that successfully argues the need to continue to purchase print resources when managing Latin American collections in the section titled “Contemporary Collection Development.”
Farming and Ranching includes content on major types of farming and crops: cotton, tobacco, soybeans, fruit and citrus crops, and dairy. Also noted are environmental and other impacts of agricultural production, the sharecropping system, and the promise of research in genetics. The growth in production of new crops such as switchgrass for biofuels, new agricultural practices such as no till farming, and organic farming are also mentioned.
If a reader is interested in learning best practices related to collection development — print or otherwise — or best practices related to stacks management, there are several other books in the literature that are more comprehensive and might serve them better. This reviewer would argue, however, that sharing best practices is not necessarily the objective of Transforming Print: Collection Development and Management for our Connected Future. Rather, this book’s objective is to inspire libraries and librarians to try something new. In nearly every case study the authors refused to stay stagnate. They experimented. They innovated. They transformed traditional library practices in creative ways. The various authors refused to accept that things had to happen in the same way they always have. As a reader of this book, you will be informed; more importantly, however,
For more than a decade, one of the major trends in library collections has been a pronounced focus on electronic and digital resources. The recent COVID-19 pandemic, along with the resulting need for expanded remote access, seemingly accelerated this trend across libraries worldwide. Considering the longlasting trend and the new normal in libraries, this reviewer was pleasantly surprised to discover ALA Editions’ recently published book about print collections, Transforming Print: Collection Development and Management for our Connected Future
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The print edition of Middle and Junior High Core Collection (which this reviewer viewed as a PDF) corresponds to an EBSCO database of the same name. The database includes full book reviews, additional recommendation levels, and enhanced metadata. Print volumes and databases also exist for core children’s collections, senior high collections, and graphic novels.The editors have paid special attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion in this latest volume, and detailed subject headings have been updated to reflect time periods and locations. Series names are now given for fiction titles, and more graphic novels are included. Non-English titles are excluded, though some bilingual materials appear. Textbooks, dictionaries, and works about computer software are also left out. The editors have cut back on “classic” literature in favor of highlighting lesser-known works, though some classics still appear in the print volume.
article helps provide some context for understanding issues in policing in the United States. The development of police forces as a response to industrialization and unrest in cities resulted in the growth of a distinct police culture — one with a somewhat militaristic tone — and the emergence of strong police unions. Policing is in need of reform, and this book clearly highlights some of the issues, such as better education and training, police recruitment practices that incorporate DEI, better, clearly-written police department policies, and citizen involvement. Major problems such as funding hinder reform initiatives. Politicization of policing issues and the polarization of society add complexity as do concerns with ICE’s role in immigration and ICE’s relationship with local police departments. The best way forward is uncertain. However, one consideration may be that the diversity among police forces in different geographical areas and types of communities provides opportunities for local citizens to work with police to achieve reforms that work at the local level.
Policing in 2020. Reference Shelf. NY: H.W. Wilson, 2021. 9781642657890, 232 pages. $75.
Now in its fifteenth edition, Middle and Junior High Core Collection continues to serve as an essential collection development tool for public, school, and academic librarians. Edited by Kendal Spires, Collection Development Librarian at NoveList/EBSCO, the volume presents more than 6,000 recommended books selected by experienced librarians and NoveList staff. Works include fiction and nonfiction books ideal for grades 5-9, along with professional texts geared toward public and school librarians.
<Carolyn.Filippelli@uafs.edu>
you will be inspired — both to try out the ideas shared and to devise new ones of your own.
Reviewed by Carolyn Filippelli (Reference Librarian, Boreham Library, University of Arkansas – Fort Smith)
The first part of the book is the Classified Collection, which includes nonfiction titles arranged by Dewey Decimal Classification, followed by biographies in order of subject and fiction titles alphabetized by author. All books are recommended, and starred titles are considered essential for their subject area. Complete bibliographic information includes author, title, publisher, publication date, number of pages, and ISBN. Grade-level recommendations and Dewey code follow, along with the Library of Congress control number and suggested subject headings. Awards are noted with the year they were received. Series order, publication history, and film adaptations are supposedly included though I didn’t see any. Lastly, each entry includes a brief plot description and excerpt from a review source.
Policing in 2020 provides an overview of many of the social, technical, and legal issues affecting contemporary police work. Social justice issues and movements such as Defund the Police and Black Lives Matter highlight how police practices have been called into question and are changing. The effectiveness of traditional policing models such as community policing are being re-evaluated, and newer models such as Insight Policing have been offered as an alternative. In cities such as Minneapolis, Defund the Police has been proposed as an alternative for reform of some traditional police practices. Instead of eliminating police departments, Defund the Police calls for redistribution of police work, transferring some calls involving issues such as mental illness and homelessness to social agencies and persons with special expertise. In addition to social movements, the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19 on police work are described.
One of the most striking sections of this book is the influence of corporations on policing. Giant tech companies such as Microsoft provide software and equipment for mass surveillance and facial recognition, and Amazon’s doorbell camera Ring program is widespread and has been used to identify criminal behavior. Other companies supply body cameras and drones, for which the lack of consistent and appropriate policies for police use is a continuing problem. Social media companies and police use of social media have implications for privacy and civil rights issues. Another controversial development is the emergence of companies such as Lexipol that actually write polices for local police
This volume provides an excellent overview of policing and includes an outstanding Bibliography. Its content and sources make this book an excellent choice for students in criminal
Reviewed by Katherine Swart (Collection Development Librarian, Hekman Library, Calvin University) <kswart20@calvin.edu>
Onedepartments.background
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
Spires, Kendal (Ed.). Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 15th Edition. Ipswich, MA: H.W. Wilson, 2021. 9781642658057, 1,368 pages. $295.00.
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
I looked up Guts by Raina Telgemeier, which is under 155.4 “Psychology of specific ages.” It is starred and recommended for grades 3-7. Subject descriptors include “Fourth grade girls,” “Anxiety in children,” and “Autobiographical comics,” among several others. I looked up Gary Schmidt in the fiction section,
justice and sociology programs and also for students in English composition and speech classes who need background sources. Likely, the reader will be inspired to find additional information on a number of issues discussed, such as education for law enforcement, police use of body cameras and social media, deescalation techniques, and police surveillance practices.
Lastly, the end of the book contains an extensive alphabetized index combining authors, titles, and subjects. Dewey Decimal Classification numbers are given for each item rather than page numbers.
Reviewed by Katherine Swart (Collection Development Librarian, Hekman Library, Calvin University) <kswart20@calvin.edu>
Senior High Core Collection will be an asset to librarians selecting for their collections. The brief summaries, review snippets, and grade level recommendations add value, making it a great reference for collection development. Being able to look up titles by Dewey Decimal Classification and subject allows librarians to pinpoint areas that need developing and aid in curriculum support. Furthermore, the volume works as a readers’ advisory tool for students interested in specific genres andLibrarianssubjects.
The print edition of Senior High Core Collection (which this reviewer viewed as a PDF) is derived from an EBSCO database of the same name. The database includes enhanced content such
as full book reviews, Lexile scores, cover art, supplemental titles (including those deemed “classics”), and weeded books. Print volumes and corresponding databases also exist for children’s books, middle and junior high books, and graphic novels.
Swart (Collection Development Librarian, Hekman Library, Calvin University) <kswart20@calvin.edu>
will need to choose whether to invest in a print volume with a limited shelf life versus subscribing to the likely pricier database. At least the print volume allows for easy browsing and serendipitous discoveries.
Now in its third edition, Young Adult Fiction Core Collection compiles the “Core Collection” and “Most Highly Recommended” fiction titles from the two databases. In addition to fiction,
and four of his books are listed. The Wednesday Wars won a Newbery Honor, but that distinction is not listed, I’m assuming because only medal-winning books are indicated. Many of the Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan are included, but the book numbers are not given. I suppose looking at the publication dates will remedy that. Booklist , Publisher’s Weekly , School Library Journal, and Horn Book are frequent review sources.
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
Spires, Kendal (Ed.). Senior High Core Collection, 22nd Edition. Ipswich, MA: H.W. Wilson, 2020. 9781642656480, 1,000 pages.
Organized by Dewey Decimal Classification, the book begins with nonfiction followed by fiction and anthologies. Essential books are marked with a star; all other books are simply recommended. Each entry has the relevant bibliographic information for the book — author, title, publisher, publication date, number of pages, ISBN, and Library of Congress control number. Grade level recommendations are included, as well as a suggested Dewey classification number and relevant subject headings. Following these are a list of awards the book has won, a brief summary, and a snippet from a review source. In some cases publication history, film adaptations, sequels, and series are given. For example, under Madeleine L’Engle, the book A Wrinkle in Time is recommended for grades 5-10. The record indicates that it is part of the Time Quartet series, though only lists A Wind in the Door as a sequel. Its Newbery Medal is noted, as well as a descriptive summary. However, the film adaptation is not given for some reason.
The second part of the volume is an extensive index by author, title, and subject. This was helpful in finding the Telgemeier books, as I wouldn’t have known what Dewey Decimal Classification to look under for her autobiographical graphic novels. Classic books are under the subject “Classics,” and there are an impressive number of books on Climate Change, Immigrants, LGBTQIA Fiction, and Racism. Look up Classroom Management, Libraries, and Reading for professional materials for librarians.
Reviewed$295.00.byKatherine
Young Adult Fiction Core Collection is a collection development aid containing nearly 3,200 book recommendations for grades 6-12. The volume was compiled by an editorial team of librarians led by Kendal Spires and Julie Corsaro, both Collection Development Librarians at NoveList/EBSCO. Corresponding to the print book are two EBSCOhost databases: Middle & Junior High Core Collection and Senior High Core Collection. This reviewer only had access to the book.
As a collection development tool, Middle and Junior High Core Collection is invaluable for making acquisitions and weeding decisions. The bibliographic information, review excerpts, subject headings, and grade-level recommendations are assets to librarians looking to broaden their collections or provide curriculum support. The book is also a readers’ advisory tool that librarians can consult when students present interest in specific genres and subjects. Choosing between the print volume versus the database subscription will likely be a matter of cost. Personally, I liked browsing the index for serendipitous finds, but I realize the database has full-length reviews and keyword searching. In all, it’s a great resource librarians will want to have.
Senior High Core Collection is a collection development aid for school, public, and academic librarians serving teens in grades 9-12. Edited by Kendal Spires, Collection Development Librarian at NoveList/EBSCO, the volume presents more than 4,000 recommended books gathered by experienced librarians and NoveList staff. Effort was made to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion among the selections, and outdated books have been removed with each edition of the collection. New in this edition are the inclusion of additional award books and the addition of series names for fiction titles.
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked out.)
Genres include nonfiction, fiction, and graphic novels. Publication place is limited to the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. There are no non-English-language books represented, though a few dictionaries and bilingual books do appear. “Classic” literature is mostly left out of the print edition, as are textbooks and books about specific computer software. Books meant for adults are generally excluded, though some adult books are included if they are popular in curriculum.
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Spires, Kendal and Julie Corsaro (Eds.) Young Adult Fiction Core Collection, Third Edition. Ipswich, MA: H.W. Wilson, 2019. 9781642650228, 630 pages. $255.00.
Part 1 of the book contains bibliographic information for each book and a short entry. Arranged alphabetically by author, the bibliographic information includes title, author, publisher, publication date, number of pages, price, ISBN, and Library of Congress control number (if available). Publication history and editions are given for older books, and some entries list sequels and companion volumes. Awards won, such as the Michael L. Printz Award, Newbery Medal, and several others, are given with the year. Each entry lists the recommended audience in grade levels, as well as subject headings based on Sears List of Subject Headings. Lastly, each entry includes a short description of the work and a snippet from a review source.
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the databases also include young adult nonfiction and short stories. Graphic novels are not included. (You’ll need an additional print volume and database for those.) The collected books are all published in or distributed to the United States. Additionally, this book includes English-language titles published in Canada and the United Kingdom. Likewise, the books included in this work are English-language titles with a few bilingual titles.
As I moved down the alphabet from Bullying, I found three blank lines (where authors and titles should have been) followed by three incomplete entries. One, “_____ onions. Soto, G.,” caught my eye. The word Buried is missing from the book title. I paged through the index and found this kind of error over and over again — authors’ names and entire words completely missing. They were easy to spot and any editor should have noticed them, too.
Acevedo, Elizabeth was the first entry I looked up. Under her name The Poet X: A Novel is starred (most highly recommended) and includes twelve subject headings, a slew of awards, an adequate annotation, and a Kirkus review. Upon closer inspection, two of the subject headings are the same, and the 2019 Printz Award is missing because Young Adult Fiction Core Collection was likely published before the award was announced. Errors will happen and print books are static in time, so I tried not to let it bother me. I turned to Schmidt, Gary D. and found four books listed. In The Wednesday Wars entry, the main character’s last name is incorrect. I wondered if I was being too picky.
Part 2 is an index by author, title, and subject. Page numbers are not given for any of them; but look up a subject like Bullying, and you’ll find a list of authors and titles. Look up an author, and you’ll get a list of their titles. Look up a title, and you’ll get its author. Hypothetically.
ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this available somewhere in my shared network. (I probably do not need this book, but it would be nice to get it within three to five days via my network catalog.)
As a whole, Young Adult Fiction Core Collection is useful for collection development in school, public, and academic libraries. Paging through the list of works introduced me to incidental books I wouldn’t have necessarily found by searching a database. But up close, the volume is static and sloppy. I couldn’t help wondering whether it would be better to subscribe to the databases in order to have the most current titles or whether I would find the same kinds of errors in their metadata. If inconsistencies don’t bother you, then you’ll like this book better than I did.
George Bernard Shaw won the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.” Dublin was his hometown and there in the schools he began his lifelong distaste for formal education. “Schools and schoolmasters, as we have them today, are not popular as places of education and teachers, but rather prisons and turnkeys in which children are kept to prevent them disturbing and chaperoning their parents.” He would later move to London where he lived with his mother. She provided him with a stipend thus he could immerse himself in the collections of the public libraries and the British museum. There he studied and began to write.Rejection was his early friend but his intensive reading led him down a political path that influenced the remainder of
“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” — BernardGeorgeShaw
Booklover — The Magic of Ireland
One bio accents that in his advanced years, he became “a household name both in Britain and Ireland, and was famed throughout the world.” Later, “My Fair Lady,” the 1956 Broadway musical based on Shaw’s 1913 play “Pygmalion” would significantly advance this fame.
eading “The Miraculous Revenge,” an 1885 short story by George Bernard Shaw opened a memory window of a very lovely time spent in Ireland in October of 1999. I was there with a group of friends as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training to participate in the Dublin Marathon. (There is quite a memorable photograph at the finish to punctuate the occasion!) Before we tackled the 26.2-mile trek through the town, we employed a lively tour guide by the name of John Curley to entertain us for a day. It was filled with smiles, captivating expressions, Red Bull, rain, double rainbows, windy seascapes, a tour of Powerscourt, Wicklow County, a pint of Guinness, the Glendalough cemetery and a flock of sheep slowing our progress along winding rural roads. It was magic. I’ve always wanted to go back and Shaw transported me with his short story.
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Shaw passed away in 1950 at the age of 94. His home in Ayot St Lawrence Hertfordshire, known as Shaw’s Corner, is under the protection of the National Trust and open to the public. In addition, an annual festival known as “The Shaw Festival” is held in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, Canada: Byhttps://www.shawfest.com/routineinthisBooklover column, there is usually a tease of a sample of the Nobel Laureate’s wordcraft. But the story is short. Enjoy Shaw’s wit, humor and facility with dialogue for yourself. (Copying and pasting the link works best.): george_bernard_shaw/4212https://www.online-literature.com//
Column Editor: Donna Jacobs (Retired, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425)
R<donna.jacobs55@gmail.com>
his life’s activities as well as his literary output. Art Critic, both theater and music was an early profession; five novels written that never gained acclaim; short stories attempted; 63 plays that gained him popularity; opinion pieces on socialism and eugenics; and a treasure trove of correspondence that inspired independent works for the stage. He also developed an eye for photography and his photo documentation was extensive.
30 Against the Grain / September 2022
LEGAL ISSUES
Legally Speaking — Antitrust
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Editor’s Note: ATG is pleased to welcome a new column editor for “Legally Speaking!” Ashley Krenelka Chase is currently an Assistant Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law, where she teaches legal research and writing. Previously, Ashley was the associate director of the Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library and the Coordinator of Legal Practice Technology at Stetson, where she worked with faculty to identify technology competencies for incoming and outgoing students and to ensure student success during law school and in the practice of law. Ashley’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of research, technology, and access to justice for incarcerated litigants. She has attended and presented at the Charleston Conference many times, and is a long-time reader of ATG. She lives with her family in Gulfport, Florida. Welcome, Ashley! — KS
Antitrust
As is often the case in this type of litigation, ROSS filed a motion to dismiss Thomson Reuters’ copyright claims. In addition to the motion to dismiss, ROSS countersued using claims based on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, alleging that Thomson Reuters unlawfully tied two unrelated products together and required customers to license both. This case is one to watch because, while ROSS failed to have Thomson Reuters’s copyright claims against them dismissed, they have thus far been successful in arguing that Westlaw’s legal search tool is unlawfully tied to their public law database. ROSS argues that the coupling of the research function and the legal content it searches has led to Westlaw’s dominance in the legal research marketplace, which amounts to anticompetitive conduct. Antitrust is not usually an area where we see a lot of movement, and ROSS being allowed to move forward with these claims may have noteworthy implications for libraries.
Section Editors: Bruce Strauch (Retired, The Citadel) <bruce.strauch@gmail.com> Jack Montgomery (Georgia Southern University) <jmontgomery@georgiasouthern.edu>
Column Editor: Ashley Krenelka Chase (Assistant Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law) <akrenelk@law.stetson.edu>
Recently, however, a small research platform has successfully moved forward with an antitrust claim that seems to have momentum, and it all started as a copyright case. In 2020, Thomson Reuters (parent company of Westlaw) filed a suit against ROSS Intelligence for copyright infringement (Thomson Reuters Enter. Ctr. GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence, Inc., 20-cv-00613). Thomson Reuters alleged that ROSS obtained copyrighted legal content from two types of parties, a business with whom Westlaw contracted and current law students who accessed their academic Westlaw research accounts while in the employ of ROSS Intelligence; Thomson Reuters alleged that ROSS Intelligence used copyrighted content acquired from those two types of parties to build their own legal research product. Thomson Reuters made additional claims about unlawful interference with contracts and business dealings (similar to those claims made in the OCLC/Clarivate suit) and those claims are moving forward, as well, but we will save all discussion of business torts for a future column.
is not something we, as librarians, are particularly accustomed to thinking about. When it was first passed by Congress, antitrust laws were drafted “to preserve free and unfettered competition.” Today, antitrust laws continue to have the same goal: “to protect the process of competition for the benefit of consumers, making sure there are strong incentives for businesses to operate efficiently, keep prices down, and keep quality up.”1 Typically when we hear about antitrust laws in the news or online, it is with regard to anti-competitive conduct like monopolization. Monopolies come to exist when a single market force (like Meta) tries to take over an entire industry and erase all competition. Antitrust is arguably one of the most interesting areas of the law (or perhaps that’s just me), but cases rarely move forward; there’s too much money in maintaining the status quo. The United States does like to allow mega corporations to maintain their chokehold on individual industries, and libraries are not immune. Instead, we see companies merging with very little outcry from either the public or regulatory agencies. In libraries, these acquisitions often happen without any forewarning. When I worked as a librarian, I received the notification that Innovative Interfaces was acquired by ProQuest. While I was not surprised by that acquisition, I was surprised when ProQuest was quickly acquired by Clarivate, leaving my (and many other librarians’) head spinning. RELX, the corporate giant that owns the Lexis legal research platform, routinely purchases small legal research or analytics start-ups that threaten the market (LexMachina and Ravel come immediately to mind).
Tying is an interesting concept in antitrust and it is particularly interesting when it is considered alongside the way our research platforms operate. Under a tying arrangement, consumers looking to buy a product may only do so if they purchase a different product they don’t want from the same seller. The tying of the two products, in and of itself, is not enough for a valid claim; as with any consumer-related claim, the tying has to have a substantial effect on trade or commerce. Because of the requirement that trade or commerce be effected, these cases
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typically only move forward against large sellers with substantial power in the market, and only when cases are brought by parties who have a large market share, themselves. As an example, if you want to buy a book from me, but I won’t allow you to buy the book from me unless you also by a DVD from me, that is likely not unlawful tying. I am, after all, a lowly individual trying to make a buck and, on my own, have no ability to significantly impact the book and/or DVD market. But if a vendor like EBSCO tells the New York Public Library it can buy access to a religion database that the library requests, but only if they buy a science database that they don’t want and has no value to your library, that is likely tying that would be prohibited by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act 2
ROSS Intelligence also alleged that Thomson Reuters’ licensing agreements with customers is restrictive because the research tool and the collection can’t be unbundled. That, they said, also amounts to tying, and the judge agreed that claim could move forward, as well.
Here, the tying concept is even more interesting because it’s not two completely distinct products being tied together, at least not in the eyes of an average user who is accustomed to researching online. In Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence the tying being alleged is, essentially, between a search bar and the Internet; imagine if you had to pay for Google and alleging that Google is unlawfully tying use of its search bar to the rest of the Internet! Seems crazy, right?
libraries provide for our patrons, many of them are providing a research tool that interacts with a database of information that was previously available only in print. Some vendors do offer the option of uncoupling the information from the search mechanism. In those situations, you often need to purchase separate MARC records and direct patrons to a designated workstation to access the information, but if budgets are tight it may be worth asking vendors if the database of information can be purchased separately from the search tool to make large databases significantly more affordable.
But lest we assume ROSS was going to be able to move forward with all their counterclaims, it’s important to note that ROSS brought an additional claim, alleging that the initial copyright infringement suit brought by Thomson Reuters against ROSS was “shame litigation” brought exclusively for anti-competitive purposes. As a librarian (who regularly uses Westlaw), it sure looked like shame litigation to me, but the shame litigation claim was quickly dismissed, because ROSS couldn’t show Thomson Reuters had improper intent to have filed the copyright suit in the first place.
None of this is to say that separating research functionality from collections is the right move. Depending on your library, its collection, staffing, and patron-base, this may sound like the most ridiculous approach to collections possible. But this litigation between Thomson Reuters and ROSS Intelligence opens the very real possibility that courts may consider “searches” and “results” to stem from two separate products that can’t be required to be sold together by major vendors. If that’s the case, everyone working in libraries right now should start considering how much they’re willing to pay to license not only content, but the search functionality, and negotiate accordingly.
2. This is an example. I have no reason to believe Ebsco operates this way, nor do I have any reason to believe the NYPL has ever been forced to buy additional products based on the questionable business practices of any of their vendors.
32 Against the Grain / September 2022
These conversations are also important to increase transparency between libraries and vendors. As resources become significantly more expensive and contracts between parties become more complicated, transparency in not only pricing but functionality can improve relationships between parties in any negotiation, but will certainly benefit the library/ vendor relationship. And vendors and publishers shouldn’t shy away from these conversations; research providers who are open to sharing information, unbundling resources, and making things affordable for libraries and their patrons are often more appealing partners for libraries because they are open to conversations about what will best meet the needs of the library and its users.
This case, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, is one to watch for librarians and vendors. When you look at the landscape of the databases
1. guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-lawshttps://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-
Endnotes
Based on the filings in this case, though, it doesn’t seem so crazy. Thomson Reuters attempted to argue that their legal research tool hasn’t ever been sold separately from the database of public law it searches; they argued that the products, therefore, are the same. The trick, however, is that for decades the database of law upon which the legal research tool relies was published in print! Without an electronic search tool! And other companies have successfully sold databases of law products without a related search tool.
Column Editor: Will Cross (Director of the Open Knowledge Center and Head of Information Policy, NC State University Libraries) <wmcross@ncsu.edu> ORCID: 0000-0003-1287-1156
Perhaps most of all, the open knowledge community is increasingly sensitive to the fact that every author may have their own individual reason for choosing a license. A simple statement that one license is preferred as the “most open” risks harming the needs of those creators. If there is a north star in the field today, it is probably the idea that materials should be “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.”
QUESTION: A librarian asks, “Now that the CCB has begun to hear cases, what does that mean for higher education?”
QUESTION: A professor asks, “What license should I choose when creating open materials?”
QUESTION: A music librarian asks, “What’s going on with that lawsuit about the Bridgerton Musical?”
According to Goldman, in the first month the CCB received 58 filings which puts it on pace for about 700 filings annually. The initial set of claims included a lot of the usual suspects — photographers objecting to unauthorized use of their images, disputes about songwriting and sampling, and so forth. Indeed, early filings included claims dealing with works by singersongwriter Michelle Schocked and the rap group the Wu Tang Clan along with whimsical works such as Halloween masks and fairy wings.
In recent years however, there is a growing recognition that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to open licenses. While there are still very good reasons to choose a CC BY license that permits most uses as long as attribution is provided, different types of materials have proved to be better-served by other licenses. For example, open data sets can raise complicated questions about ownership of materials that may be unprotected by copyright and about international issues with database rights. As a result, most open data communities, including the Creative Commons itself, recommend using the CC0 public domain dedication to maximize the re-use of data and databases. Likewise, for open monographs some scholars report that they are more comfortable applying the more restrictive CC BYNC-ND license that limits commercial reuse and the creation of derivative works. Many creators in the open education community have also embraced CC BY-NC as a way to push back on for-profit free-riders who scoop up openly-licensed materials and bundle them in commercial products.
The first set of claims dealing directly with academic works included a filing over American University’s Action Learning for Federal Agencies (ALFA) program, which author Robert Kramer claims borrows from his article “From Skillset to Mindset: A New Paradigm for Leader Development.” This claim, which implicates both individual authors of articles and university programs, will be closely-watched.Oneotherclaim that did impact higher education and may signal more activity to come was a professor’s claim against a site called EssayZoo for hosting a student’s posting of instructions and paper prompts from the professor’s course. Frustration with students sharing unauthorized copies of course materials is an ongoing issue for many faculty and it remains to be seen whether others will look to the CCB to address these issues.
ANSWER: The Netflix show Bridgerton, which followed the love lives of the Regency-era Bridgerton family, was a phenomenon in 2021 and fans of the show have created a huge body of fan works including fan art, fan fiction, and so forth celebrating and building on the show. One striking example is “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” project which began with a January 2021 video posted to songwriter Abigail Barlow’s TikTok account. What began as a single song quickly went viral and,
ANSWER: While the academy is moving towards a clear recognition of the value of open access to published research findings, open educational materials, and so forth, there is an active and ongoing conversation about what makes a resource truly “open.” In addition to robust discussions about facilitating technical and social access and inclusion in scholarly communication, there is a legal question about how to license materials so they are openly available for access and reuse.
ANSWER : As discussed in this column in the past, the Copyright Office launched the new Copyright Claims Board (CCB) in June. The CCB was intended to offer a “small claims” process for low-dollar copyright lawsuits and includes the ability for individuals and libraries to opt out. Several legal scholars and library copyright experts have followed the CCB closely including my friend Katie Fortney, the Copyright Policy & Education Officer at the California Digital Library, who has regularly shared data on the CCB. In addition, Professor Eric Goldman blogged about the initial round of CCB claims, offering a snapshot as well as his full data set here: https://blog.ericgoldman.org/ filings.htmarchives/2022/07/a-first-look-at-copyright-claims-board-ccb.
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Various definitions of “openness” have been promulgated by different organizations and most of them focus on providing materials freely on the open web with a specific license that permits access and some form of reuse. With the exception of open source computer code (which is supported by a huge set of code-specific licenses) most open materials are legally defined by a Creative Commons license. At one point there was a rough consensus (or at least a series of aspirational statements from leaders in the field) that the preferred CC license for open materials was CC BY (permitting reuse as long as attribution is provided) because it permitted the widest reuse and was more likely to be compatible with the licenses applied to other works.
Questions & Answers — Copyright Column
Several organizations also launched resources to support those with claims before the CCB. In a previous column, I shared the ARL’s toolkit for libraries responding to the CCB (https://www.arl.org/case-act-toolkit/). The Library of Congress also shared a new blog post over the summer introducing the program, which some critics felt painted an overly-sunny view of the process for defendants. Indeed, the Author’s Alliance shared a statement indicating “authors should be cautious about staying in the CCB if they receive a claim.” The Copyright Alliance also announced their Small Claims Opt-Out Protection (SCOOP) Program designed to encourage use of the CCB by reimbursing the $40 filing fee in cases where a defendant does opt out. We are still in the early days of the program, but it has been interesting to see how various communities have used and encouraged others to engage with the CCB.
ANSWER: This is a timely question. The EU’s Copyright Directive does establish “ancillary copyright” protections for press publishers to enable them to obtain compensation from online news aggregators who use their content. This is still in early stages and has drawn a fair amount of criticism from copyright scholars. In 2021, the Copyright Office announced a public study on the need for similar legislation in the U.S., soliciting comments and holding a roundtable on the issue.
with support from fans around the world, became a full album that topped iTunes’ U.S. pop charts in September. The album became such a phenomenon that it went on to win a Grammy award and Barlow, along with her writing partner, composer Emily Bear, was invited to perform the Musical at the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert.
Based on the nearly fifty comments it received, the Copyright Office issued a final report in June 2022. The report “recognizes that adequate funding for journalism may currently be at risk and that there are implications for the press’s essential role in our system of government.” Nevertheless, the Office also recognized that U.S. law already grants significant protections to press publishers and that the core challenges to funding for news organizations is not directly related to copyright law itself. As a result, the Office concluded that it “does not believe it has been established that any shortcomings in copyright law pose an obstacle to incentivizing journalism or that new copyright-like protections would solve the problems that press publishers face.” In light of this evidence, the Office did not recommend adopting a new ancillary copyright to bolster press publishers’ protections.Whileitis
Despite this message, Barlow and Bear decided to go ahead with the Kennedy Center performance as well as subsequent dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Netflix attempted to negotiate a license for these performances but Barlow and Bear refused, and Netflix filed a lawsuit against Barlow and Bear in July of 2022. The case itself is relatively straightforward — the Musical is clearly a derivative work and it would be difficult to make a compelling fair use argument for a presentation of basically the same characters in the same story without any parodic elements, especially given that the Musical is in direct competition with Netflix own live events. It remains to be seen whether the parties will settle and whether the public will get a chance to enjoy live performances of this popular musical.
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Of course, copyright in Bridgerton belongs to Netflix, who was initially supportive of the project, permitting Barlow and Bear to create, share, and even sell the album and a related songbook. In contrast, Netflix drew a clear line at the idea of live performances of the work, sending a message that “Netflix would not authorize and did not want them to engage in any live performances (e.g., performances of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical”) or other derivative works that might compete with Netflix’s own planned live events,” including the multi-city “Bridgerton Experience.”
possible that Congress will still take up the issue, the relatively low level of engagement with the initial study and the Copyright Office’s clear recommendation suggests that copyright-like protections of the kind being developed in the EU are unlikely to be developed in the U.S. You can read the full report here: https://copyright.gov/policy/ publishersprotections/.
QUESTION: The director of a university press asks, “I heard that the EU offers special copyright protections for news organizations when their content is used by aggregators. Has the U.S. ever considered any similar rules?”
In terms of academic libraries, I would say several options are now on the table. Some academic libraries managed to leverage additional resource from the parent institution, especially during the pandemic, but the issue of whether or if this can and should be sustained over a long period is still up for debate. With some libraries, they have had to or wanted to reposition or reshape their existing budgets to cater to the e-textbook need, which again raises issues of sustainability and whether the spend is showing sufficient return on investment. Its fair to say that opinions and experiences are mixed on this, and many libraries are revaluating this spend. Finally, for some libraries, they
An Interview with Dominic Broadhurst of the University of Salford in the UK
The pandemic may be largely behind us in terms of its impact on universities and libraries being physically open, but there have been lasting effects on textbook and course reading fulfilment. My specific curiosities, as concerns the lasting impact of the pandemic and the library, is the transition from print to digital, the place of the library in the acquisition and delivery of textbooks, and the rise of new providers and new business models. This set of questions led me recently to consider how the landscape has shifted in UK libraries and what this might mean for North American libraries. The UK library is a special case in regard to the role of the library in textbook delivery as the UK university library has largely replaced the bookstore as the central actor in collecting faculty reading list requirements and then acquiring and delivering materials to students. What follows is an interview with Dominic Broadhurst, Head of Content and Discovery at the University of Salford. Dominic is active on many advisory boards across the industry and is an ever-present voice in the ongoing discussion concerning textbook pricing and library access. My questions are in bold and Dominic’s answer follows:
Column Editor: David Parker (Director of Product Management Underline Science & Founder Lived Places Publishing; Phone: 201-673-8784) <david@parkerthepublisher.com> parkerthepublisher.com
Has the place of reading list solutions like Talis and Leganto changed in any fundamental way because of the pandemic? For example, have any new providers emerged? Have any new features of high value emerged?
It would seem that the immediate impact of the pandemic is probably now over in terms of textbooks support in the fact that most libraries have re-opened their doors after being forced to shut, which of course does allow access to print again. However, it has left several legacy issues and indeed opportunities which also coincides with how many libraries really want to push forward their digital first policies. What has remained and is just, if not more, prevalent is the desire to provide equitable and workable solutions around textbooks for our students, which meet institutional goals of positively impacting upon teaching and learning. Issues around affordability, equitable access, and sustainability remain.
In many ways, these changes were already taking place as many libraries were looking at digital solutions for textbook provision before the pandemic. Obviously, during the pandemic, the issue became more prevalent in a short space of time and libraries had to move rapidly to enable all our students to access textbooks they needed, when, as mentioned, the physical libraries were closed. This had implications for affordability for libraries, often having to repurpose budgets quickly to ensure our students could use the digital textbook that they needed for their studies. Post pandemic I think there will still be a market for print, but this will be reducing and possibly will only occur when the digital solutions are either unaffordable or simply not
How has your budget changed, if at all, in any longlasting way, in supporting textbook acquisition?
How has the print versus digital distribution in textbook delivery for students shifted: pre-pandemic, pandemic, postpandemic?
Learning Belongs in the Library — Perspectives on Post-Pandemic Library Provisioning of Course Reading and Textbook Material
Is the impact of the pandemic over as concerns the libraries provisioning of textbooks to support course reading lists?
available to libraries. It’s fair to say some students still prefer print, but the advantages of digital, especially with textbooks, are taking priority.
I don’t think these solutions have changed in any fundamental way because of the pandemic, except to bring their value to the fore more. It’s a similar tale as regards digital with textbooks in that the rationale underpinning their value and functionality in terms of supporting blended learning and giving students access to resources seamlessly and quickly has just made these solutions even more relevant. In particular as they are combined with and linked seamlessly within the Virtual Learning Environments every institution uses. In terms of high value, what we’re looking at is increasing the range of resource we are both integrating with and are embedded within these reading lists solutions. This, in essence, means increasing the range of resources both provided and linked beyond the traditional options such as books (“e” and print) and e-journals to include a greater range of multimedia formats and new content solutions. We are also interrogating the analytics more to gauge value and drive engagement and intervention with certain class cohorts about increasing resource usage.
“Critical to this process, both in my andrepositioningisandinstitutioninotherinstitutions,lookingatrepurposing financial resources from theresourcesinformationresourcesbudgetstosupportOAandOER.”
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Therefore, even in pre-pandemic days, many academic libraries were looking at how they could provide digital copies of textbooks to their students, often negotiating on a 1 to 1 student basis whereby they would provide targeted access to targeted courses or, if possible, sourcing from a traditional library eBook aggregator. The librarian was at the centre of negotiations within their institutions around the provision of textbooks for the students as opposed to the U.S. model where this was normally left to the bookstore to deal directly with
ways, providers are looking to both maximise all the opportunities and new sales channels created by digital but, in my view, they are not quite sure which is the most optimal solution, so they are spreading their bets. As mentioned, this does lead to a fragmented and confusing marketplace and libraries are often squeezed in terms of time and resources to fully evaluate all available business model options. Publishers want the institutional sales from universities and hope to benefit from scale, but not via a traditional library sales model. They are also somewhat caught between the twin poles of maximising current revenues whilst achieving long term sustainable solutions from the shift to digital, thus experimenting with various models.
New providers gained significant traction during the pandemic, such as Perlego and BibliU. What is your perspective on the impact of these new entrants? Were they a force for productive change or disruption? Did they improve the available options for libraries in the UK accessing textbooks for students?
For North American librarians, can you describe the role the library plays in textbook fulfilment in the UK?
Ofpublishers.course,the
In many ways it’s been a mixed bag from traditional providers, but it’s fair to say many publishers are seeing the library as one of their sales channels, which was not always the case, especially in markets such as the USA. This can either take the form of delivering their titles through an aggregator, such as an established library eBook provider (though of course not all textbooks are often available via this channel), or from one of the new e-textbook focused aggregators, that have come to the market in recent years. Some of the publishers are also looking to target and sell directly to academic libraries through their own platforms. All this can lead to a fragmented and confusing marketplace, which is an issue for libraries and the students and faculty they serve.
cannot support significant e-textbook acquisition, especially as there is a real debate concerning issues around affordability and accessibility for textbooks for their students and the role of libraries being constrained in their mission to provide all the resources their students need.
issue of affordability still exists and the ability of libraries to purchase textbooks beyond the 1 to 1 model. But it’s fair to say there is a much greater willingness of libraries and librarians in the UK to deal with textbook provisioning as we are the resource centre the students look to for their studies.
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It’s certainly true to say these new providers have provided both innovation and disruption to the traditional market, which has meant that traditional publishers have also had to look at their offerings and how they package their textbooks for both libraries and students. This could be seen as a force for positive change and more choice, which means more options but the inherent problem for these new providers is that they don’t own the content and the content is still owned and provided by the publishers. Therefore, the prices they can offer through their various access methods are still inextricably tied to the price the publisher sets, factoring in any discounts they can leverage from the publishers. It’s certainly true to say that the publishers have bought into new models, such as the student direct consumer model, and new demand driven models for libraries which are
being quite well received. So, in summary, yes, the options have increased but many of the similar restrictions and issues around access to content and publisher pricing controls still exist.
Perlego and BibliU both announced this past spring large series A funding raises of many millions of pounds/dollars with the express intent of achieving growth in North America. Perlego will need to compete/complement direct-to-student models from Pearson and Cengage and BibliU will need to focus on inclusive access solutions and its relationship with libraries, although the library is far less central to textbook acquisition in North America as compared to the UK. How do you see Perlego and BibliU evolving?
Considering the entrenched, large providers like Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Cengage, what have you seen in terms of moving toward or away from supporting the library? For example, new access models, or policy shifts on digital rights management
UK Libraries are much more involved in the provision of textbooks to students as opposed to U.S. libraries, where this was traditionally undertaken by the campus bookstore. In the past, before the digital age, this usually meant stocking numerous copies of print textbooks both in high demand collections and on the “normal” shelves. Many libraries had purchasing ratios whereby they acquired and provided print textbooks based on student enrollment numbers, e.g., 1 textbook for every 20 students in a course. And this was especially so for courses where textbooks are fundamental aspects of the teaching, e.g., law, accountancy, medicine etc. Obviously, this provisioning of print still faced many challenges regarding access and our ability to provide our students with enough copies and it was therefore quite an unwieldy and inflexible solution.
Paradoxically many traditional providers are also looking at delivering a direct to student model, often on an annual subscription basis in addition to direct sales of copies to students. Pearson and Cengage have recently done this and it clearly benefits them if they can scale up, though of course students often need access to textbooks from a range of publishers.Inmany
I think it’s fair to say that both will probably have more traction and potential to grow in the U.S. market. As already discussed, the direct 1 to 1 student acquisition model is much more entrenched within the U.S. education system. BibliU is also making advances in their bespoke provision to college libraries, often replacing the campus bookstore and essentially tying in their offer with the inclusive access model, which is under great debate in the U.S. Although this is still related to the student’s ability to pay, provisioning can be subsidised by the student’s institutions and this model is growing. Whilst tending to be more individual student focused, as opposed to institution focused, Perlego can take advantage of the student 1-1 purchase model so prevalent in the U.S. Their advantage over the comparable subscription models offered by individual publishers is that they can offer the students a greater range of content from a broad set of publishers, making the appeal of their subscriptions more extensive to a wider range of students. Of course, they will be need to mindful that publishers don’t pull their content or key titles from their platform to encourage students to go direct to the publishers’ own platforms.
Yes, this is certainly impacting how we support the course reading list service that we provide and indeed our wider access to resources for staff and students. This can offer us options to both provide more cost-effective resources, but also critically support and provide a wider range of resources from both a more diverse range of individual authors and content formats.
I would think this illustrates how there is greater potential for growth in the U.S. market. This probably underpins why they were both so successful in acquiring recent additional funding from investors. It’s also fair to say that they are probably looking at other markets outside of Europe, including growth markets in the Middle East where both similar models to the U.S. can exist and there are cash rich universities.
Critical to this process in our work here is how we, both in my institution and in other institutions, are looking at repositioning and repurposing financial resources from the information resources budgets to support open access resources and OER. We are also moving away from just spending on acquisition to supporting creation and curation of resources.Wehave
real ambitions in this area, but there is much work to do to encourage faculty creation, especially with OER. I think there will be a much more mixed model of provisioning, with room for all format types including of course traditional textbook acquisition. However, libraries have real ambitions to diversify in this space and we must be prepared to support it financially and ideally work collaboratively with academics, libraries, and library consortia to really achieve a step change in terms of creating and providing open resources.
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NOTE: This is the version without the landing page URL “ Things always go smoothly with Emery-Pratt.Theirpeople service.knowledgeable,areandalwaysprovidefriendly,rapid” Cameron University Lawton, OK 1) Publishing Sources - Almost 200,000 at our disposal 2) New Title Selection Plan - Immediate notification 3) Electronic Ordering - Simple online ordering system 4) Early Release Program - Immediate availability guarantee 5) Cataloging - We do the busy-work for you 6) Comprehensive Reporting - Up-to-the-minute order status 7) Duplicate Order Alert - We’re on guard, you avoid hassles 8) Paperback Reinforcement & Binding Avoid expensive wear & obsolescence For more details, visit: emery-pratt.com Dependability. Reliability. Smileability. 1966 W M 21, Owosso, MI 48867-9317 Phone: 800 248-3887 • Fax: 800 523-6379 emery-pratt.com 8 Library Services That Will... Ma ke You Smi le.Make You Smile.
And, finally, open educational resources and open access for journals and monographs continues to evolve and grow as a share of the content for learning and research. How is this impacting your library in supporting the course reading list?
Kyle Banerjee (Sr. Implementation Consultant, FOLIO Services) <kbanerjee@ebsco.com> www.ebsco.com andwww.folio.org
Susan J. Martin (Chair, Collection Development and Management, Associate Professor, Middle Tennessee State University) <Susan.Martin@mtsu.edu>
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T
Let’s Get Technical — Network-Level Replacements of Problematic Library of Congress Subject Headings in Sierra
The first and most essential step of the replacement workflow is to replace the subject authority record. In Sierra, we do this by first duplicating the authority record for the problematic subject heading in our system and then suppressing the original problematic record. This action removes the authority record from display in the public catalog. It is important to have the ability to trace suppressed problematic records with their replacement records, and one way that we do this is by adding a 590 note to the suppressed record with standardized language that references the new replacement record number.
By Rebecca Saunders (Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, Western Carolina University) <rlsaunders@wcu.edu>
he Western North Carolina Library Network (WNCLN) is a small academic consortium made up of the three westernmost state university libraries in North Carolina: Western Carolina University (WCU), University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), and Appalachian State University (App State). Our consortium administers a single Sierra system with shared bibliographic records. In 2019, the WNCLN Technical Services Committee, which manages network-level cataloging policies and workflows, raised the idea of changing the unethical Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) Illegal aliens based on the 2016 ALA Resolution.1 From there, our work toward building a more inclusive catalog began.
members of the working group. The workflow for replacing a problematic subject heading with local terms includes three main facets: authority record replacement, global updates for holdover headings, and global updates for See Also tracings. In addition to these three processes that must be run for each term that is replaced, strategies for ongoing review and maintenance must be budgeted into the overarching project plan.
Once the original record is suppressed and its 590 note is added, we save and close it and move on to editing the new authority record for the replacement term. In the replacement record, we first enter the original problematic heading into a 450 See From tracing so that catalog searches for this offensive heading will direct users to the new preferred term. Next, we edit the topical term in the record’s 150 field to the desired replacement heading so that the preferred term is active in our system. Finally, we edit the control number in the replacement record’s 001 and 010 fields with a note using a specific convention. This update prevents a duplicated control number from overlaying the authority records in our authority
and Benjamin Shirley (Network Librarian, Western North Carolina Library Network) <shirleybd@appstate.edu> and Barbara Svenson (Technical Services & Resource Management Librarian, University of North Carolina at Asheville) Column<bsvenson@unca.edu>Editors:
Disruptions from COVID-19 and staffing shortages delayed the project until the summer of 2020, when a small group of WNCLN librarians began investigating how other libraries were updating and maintaining replacements for unethical and inaccurate headings that the Library of Congress was slow to change. Work began with an article review, consultation with vendors, and emails with colleagues at other institutions about their methods for changing and maintaining headings. The working group brainstormed about the process, and the Network Librarian began to explore feasible workflows in Sierra.
To coordinate subject heading replacements with similar work being done in other libraries, we use the Cataloging Lab project as a resource for identifying problematic subject headings and proposed replacement terms.2 We began to seek input from library faculty at our institutions and affected members of our broader communities, and we explored alternative vocabularies, such as the Homosaurus, the Disability Language Style Guide, among others.3, 4 We have found that with the multitude of problematic headings that are in use, it can become difficult to choose which terms to prioritize for replacement. We decided to prioritize terms for replacement based on their frequency of use in our shared catalog, including the number of additional entries that each subject has, such as related headings and See Also tracings.
Our workflow was initially drafted by the WNCLN Network Librarian and has continually undergone refinement with input from the WCU Cataloging and Metadata Librarian and other
record updates from MARCIVE and traces the new replacement record back to the original suppressed record.
indicator. Running the global updates is a straightforward process, but list parameters, input commands, and change previews must be reviewed carefully at every step to ensure that unwanted changes are not implemented.Thefinal phase of our LCSH replacement workflow in Sierra requires running a second global update to replace the problematic heading in 550 See Also tracings. This step ensures that tracings to related headings are carried over to replacement headings. This process is like the global updates for replacing holdovers from the authority record replacement, except it is more straightforward since there are fewer parameters to set. First, we create a list of authority records that exactly match the problematic heading in their 550 fields, review the returns on that search, and run a global update with a command update that changes the problematic heading to the replacement heading in the 550.
Once the 150 field is updated in the replacement record, the system will begin the overnight authority process of replacing 650 subject fields that contained the original problematic headings in bibliographic records. The authority record changes do not replace all instances of the problematic heading in bibliographic records, however. From the authority record replacements that we have made so far, an average of 4.4% of the problematic headings remain in bibliographic records after the overnight authority record process has made its changes. Some remaining headings are easy to explain–for example, the authority record changes often do not apply to anything that does not use the second indicator 0 in a 650, such as juvenile and FAST headings. Furthermore, subject headings that are used heavily as topical subdivisions will not be replaced by the authority record changes, either.
Just like that, after working through these three processes in the workflow, the catalog no longer returns anything for a search for the problematic heading except “See [replacement heading] ” ... that is, not until the next time a large eBook record load is performed. Periodic global updates do have to be run to catch the small percentage of headings that are not incorporated into the automatic authority record changes. We have also found that there are a few manual fixes that will have to be made for some headings that are misspelled or that have MARC encoding errors that do not get incorporated even into global updates, and these types of errors are more readily found when searching the OPAC instead of within the ILS. Currently, we are exploring more streamlined options that will minimize ongoing maintenance of replacement terms, such as adjusting our load table profile with Innovative. Additionally, we have explored the option of using MARCIVE services to achieve these ends but found that their services are still too limited for effectively replacing these problematic headings.
Looking to the future, we plan to contribute to advocacy for changes to LCSHs at the national level and undo our
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Once we have our set list of remaining problematic headings in bibliographic records, we search this list in the Global Updates function of Sierra and load a command input template that we have reserved for this project. There are command inputs to change variable-length fields in 650s from the problematic heading to the replacement heading and add a placeholder indicator, to add a local |2 source statement using the placeholder indicator, and then to remove the placeholder
Mysteriously, some LCSH headings that are coded normally as 650_0 |a also remain after authority record changes. These stragglers, along with the remaining juvenile and FAST headings and topical subdivisions, require the second step of the replacement workflow in Sierra: global updates for holdover headings. We first run a list in Sierra to find all the lingering problematic headings. The parameters for this list query are bibliographic records that have the exact problematic heading phrase in their 650_0|a or |x, 650_1|a or |x, or 650_7|a or |x subfields. Depending on the semantics of a given subject heading, these parameters may need to be adjusted, and you can always expand the search on second and further passes.
Outside the mechanics of this workflow, one of our biggest takeaways from delving into problematic LCSH replacement work is that documentation and communication are paramount. Careful internal documentation enables you to walk back any missteps, keep statistics, and undo changes to authority records when appropriate. Different approaches to communicating with your consortium, your colleagues, and your broader community are essential for getting approval and feedback for the changes you wish to undertake in your catalog. It is also crucial to keep librarians who work in research support and bibliographic instruction apprised of changes to the authorized headings that they are accustomed to using.
1. Keith Michael Fiels, “Resolution on Replacing the Library of Congress Subject Heading ‘Illegal Aliens’ with ‘Undocumented Immigrants,’” 2016 ALA Midwinter Meeting, American Library Association.
40 Against the Grain / September 2022
“Disability Language Style Guide.” National Center on Disability and Journalism. Accessed March 9, 2022. https:// ncdj.org/style-guide/
“Problem LCSH.” Cataloging Lab. Accessed March 9, 2022. https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/
4. “Disability Language Style Guide,” National Center on Disability and Journalism, accessed March 9, 2022, https:// ncdj.org/style-guide/
2. “Problem LCSH,” Cataloging Lab, accessed March 9, 2022, https://cataloginglab.org/problem-lcsh/
References
Endnotes
Fiels, Keith Michael. “Resolution on Replacing the Library of Congress Subject Heading ‘Illegal Aliens’ with ‘Undocumented Immigrants.’” 2016 ALA Midwinter Meeting. American Library Association. Headings_11216_FINAL.pdfdocuments/2016_mw_council_documents/cd_34_Resol_on_LC_ala.org.aboutala/files/content/governance/council/council_https://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/
Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ+ Linked Data Vocabulary. Accessed March 9, 2022. https://homosaurus.org/
Read Online Now: charleston-hub.com/media/briefings/
<https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
3. Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ+ Linked Data Vocabulary, accessed March 9, 2022, https://homosaurus.org/
replacement work when authorized subject headings are eventually replaced with ones that are more modern, equitable, and representative. We will continue to refine our replacement workflow so that it can be implemented and maintained efficiently. Our other concerns moving forward include a planned migration from Sierra, more exploration of how these changes can affect our discovery layer, and the potential for advocacy among vendors.
According to Courtney Packard (Associate Editor for Special Education, Early Childhood and Elementary Education, and Social Work) and Mark Kerr (Executive Editor for Education, Psychology, Counseling and Conflict Resolution) from Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group:
“We
The Digital Toolbox — Academic Librarians and Publishers are the Vanguard of Critical DEI Content
For 2022, the library has applied for a grant to fund the purchase of the same types of resources focused on gender and sexuality studies.
To gain greater perspective, we sought insight from two crucial links in the supply chain that supports free speech and access to content. We hear from a publisher, sharing how DEI plays a key role in their editorial process and related business decisions. We also spoke with two academic libraries to learn more about their expanding DEI collections of eBooks and audiobooks and how they’re working through purchasing hurdles.
A<srosato@overdrive.com>
n issue that’s been exacerbated by COVID-19 is the increasingly polarized political climate’s impact on how academic libraries and publishers operate. This has manifested itself in a variety of ways, from book bans on universally acclaimed titles to challenging accepted academic research like critical race theory. It has also driven up demand for relevant information and made support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) a priority issue. At the same time, institutions of all shapes and sizes are struggling to navigate uncertain financial waters stemming from the pandemic.
“In response to our higher education customers’ increased curricular coverage of race, ethnicity, gender and LGBTQ+ social categories and perspectives, Rowman & Littlefield has seen a noticeable uptick across the board for our titles that directly address diversity and equity topics. Beyond the college curriculum, we are also experiencing an increase in professionals purchasing resources to improve their clinical practice. Examples include classic textbooks such as Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America (Fifth Edition), and new books such as Beyond Equity and Inclusion in Conflict Resolution: Recentering the Profession by SY Bowland, Hasshan Batts, Beth Roy and Mary Adams Trujillo, which features 46 contributors — most of whom are people of color — offering a powerful description of and antidote to racially-based exclusion in the mediation and conflict resolution profession.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is integral to the editorial process of every book on their list, from the peer review process to the manuscript organization to the research basis and topical coverage.”
“No restrictions have been placed on subject matter, but subject selectors and the library collection management team are scrutinizing purchases more closely than ever before,” she said. “Subscriptions are not being added because we cannot assume that we will have the funds to renew them each year. Any electronic subscriptions that have little usage are being canceled. Some deposit accounts for books and streaming video are continuing to be funded, but each purchase is closely vetted as to its necessity for the university’s curriculum and strategicSewanee:goals.”The
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Electronic Resources Librarian (University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press) Marie Seymour-Green has leveraged outside funding to continue growing the library’s collection of primary source material addressing diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism.
“Editors Courtney Packard and Mark Kerr, who lead Rowman & Littlefield’s educator preparation list, work with authors to embed an intersectional approach into all textbook and professional manuscripts to ensure that every form of diversity is present throughout every book, whether the topic is specifically on diversity and equity or not. They recognize that in education, diversity is a demographic fact, and that all educators at every level benefit from a well-rounded, robust, empathetic and positive knowledge base for working with all students, families and colleagues in the professional education settings.
For Director of Collections Management (Jessie Ball duPont Library) Penny Elkins Cowan, the last three years have seen a shift toward DEI content as well as digital formats to meet the changing needs brought on by the pandemic.
facultymorepurchasingintentionallystartedmanyDEI-related(digital)titlesthreeyearsago…tomeettheneedsofourstudentsandwhiletheywereremote.Thiscuratedcollectioncontinuestobeusedbyallofourlibrarypatrons.”
“In addition to focusing recent OverDrive (digital book) purchases on DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility) and social justice, the library has been able to maintain its commitment to collecting primary source material in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism,” she said. “We were fortunate to receive grant support in 2021 that funded the purchase of a number of digitized primary source collections that record the experiences of African Americans from the 18th-21st centuries, as well as streaming media documenting the struggle for Black freedom.”
Column Editor: Steve Rosato (Director and Business Development Executive, OverDrive Professional, Cleveland, OH 44125)
Seymour-Green reported that the library’s collection development funding was cut by several million dollars in fiscal year 2020-2021, and not restored for 2021-2022. As of mid-June 2022, the 20222023 budget remained unknown. This has resulted in increased internal scrutinization of purchases.
University of the South (TN)
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
University of Delaware
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Cowan noted that the library has also received increased requests for graphic novel, comic book, young adult, mental health, and business and entrepreneurship titles over the last couple years.
“Our issue is that our overall acquisitions budget has not increased in almost 10 years, but we have to find money to purchase new formats that were almost non-existent in our budget 10 years ago — eBooks, streaming audiobooks, streaming video,” she said.
With political turmoil and widespread budgetary uncertainty, we live in — as cliché as it may sound — uncertain times. It’s encouraging to learn how librarians and publishers — who are attuned to the need for increased awareness around subjects that have risen from an undercurrent to the mainstream — are providing and curating content to meet the times. With years of training, education and realworld experience, that makes them the best people to be making these decisions; they’re the ones who should be doing exactly that.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers: charleston-hub.com/the-charleston-conference/ Wednesday, November 1, 10:50 am Thursday, November 2, 10:50 am Preliminary Agenda Online Now! Buhle Mbambo-Thata, University Librarian, National University of Lesotho Caroline Sutton, CEO, STM
“We started intentionally purchasing many more DEI-related (digital) titles three years ago and also curated a collection of Black Lives Matter (digital) titles to meet the needs of our students and faculty while they were remote,” she said. “We wanted to provide as much material as we could to our remote learners that was grounded in a wide representation of diverse authors, topics, and points of view. This curated collection continues to be used by all of our library patrons.”
And like the University of Delaware, Cowan also points to new challenges in balancing budget restrictions and content needs.
Trusting the Experts
an attendee should see but suffice it to say that an effort needs to be made to see as many vendors as possible whose products are relevant to the library. Avoiding the exhibition hall is not an option.
The first step is education. Each attendee needs to know that a significant reason for the meeting even taking place is due to the monetary support of the vendors in keeping the association on firm financial ground. Members need to know that vendors have devoted significant sums of money and time so that they can interest those attendees in the products and services being presented at the show. Prior to every trade show, it is suggested that a note be distributed to all members of the association indicating how important every vendor is not only due to their products but also recognizing the costs associated with exhibiting and publicly thanking them for their support.
Much like in past shows that I have attended, I saw sales reps at their booths talking amongst themselves as people walked by. In addition, there were booth personnel on their cell phones not paying attention to the traffic on the exhibit floor. Clearly, the topic “lack of booth interaction with attendees” was not covered in the pre-show orientation for these folks.
At those shows, I have functioned as an organizer, planner, participant, sales rep, and consultant. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a library trade show on behalf of a client and given what I saw there as represented by the association, the attendees, and the vendors caused me to write down my thoughts for this column.
1. Create a “passport” booklet that needs to be stamped by each vendor for every attendee visit to the booth. Perhaps a prize (donated by the vendors) could be awarded to the attendee with the most stamps in their passport.
4. Make it comfortable for the attendees to roam the exhibit hall. Provide benches throughout the exhibit area so that people can rest, collect their thoughts, meet a friend, or sip some iced tea. After resting for a short time, the attendee can resume activities.
3. At a recent trade show I attended, the educational sessions were given far away from the exhibit hall. As a result, when those sessions were over, rather than go back to the exhibit hall, most attendees went out to lunch with their colleagues or took in some sightseeing or went back to the hotel for a nap or watch daytime television. None of the choices listed involved speaking to a vendor. Educational sessions need to be scheduled in rooms close to the exhibit area so that it is easy to travel from the sessions to the exhibit hall.
5. Create areas where a vendor can quietly meet with a prospect/customer away from the sometimes-noisy booth. In addition, create a “vendor only area” where the company representatives can sit down on a comfortable chair, have a cup of coffee and a snack away from the crowd. Both suggested areas need to be equipped with efficient Internet connections.
Column Editor: Michael Gruenberg (Managing Partner of Gruenberg Consulting, LLC) <gruenbergconsulting@gmail.com>
In
Every vendor will most assuredly say that they would be happy to spend whatever the cost asked by the association if it guaranteed that attendees would visit the booth and then listen to what the company sales reps have to offer. Sadly, there always seemed to be a disconnect between the time the money for these “opportunities” was sent to the association and the frequency by which a significant number of attendees visited the vendors. Increased spending by the vendor does not guarantee increased booth traffic. That outcome is most surprising since it is within the power of the association to greatly influence that a maximum number of their attendees could and should visit every relevant vendor. Let’s count the ways an association/organization can follow to make the meeting experience a more profitable one for the vendors and attendees alike.
The second step is getting the attendees to visit the exhibit area. This is the easiest part of the equation. Here are some of the ways to ensure that attendees visit vendors at least once during the meeting.
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How the Trade show Contributes to the Success of the Vendors
Let’s be very clear. An industry trade show is the best place for a vendor to see a maximum number of sales prospects in the shortest period of time. Furthermore, attendance at a trade show is a very cost-effective way of conducting business. It is therefore in everyone’s best interest to make sure that attendees and vendors meet under the best set of circumstances to ensure success.Thegoal of the organization is to create an environment where most of the attendees over the course of days spent at the trade show try to visit with as many of the vendors of their choice as possible. There is no set number on how many vendors
my 40+ years in the Information Industry, I have attended a significant amount of library related trade shows. My wife points out that I probably have attended more trade shows than have had hot meals.
Both Sides Now: Vendors and Librarians — Association Trade Shows (What They Should Be, Can Be and Must Be)
It was always fascinating to me that when an association was trying to interest my company to consider exhibiting at their upcoming meeting, they stressed all the many ways they could help us to spend our marketing budget in pursuit of new sales. Items of cost were introduced: such as prime location, platinum/ gold/silver sponsorship of the event, an ad in the meeting program, underwriting the cost of an author session, coffee break and/or lunch, etc. These were some of the possibilities that in their opinion would guarantee us more sales. Many more such opportunities were available for the asking.
2. Schedule breakfasts, mid-day breaks, and lunches in the exhibit hall. Attendees to these shows always follow the food. And when the food is presented at different times of the day, it brings them into the exhibit area multiple times. The association should use different locations in the exhibit hall for serving the food so that ALL vendors have an opportunity to be near the food service.
1. It was a place to look for a job. Still relevant and perhaps needed more by an unemployed person, but the trade show does not promise employment to those out of work. And now there are on-line services that do a great job finding suitable employment.
The reality is that these eight steps are not difficult to do, although they require some work to carry them through. The organization owes it to their members and vendors to make the effort to improve the quality of the current and future meetings.
The bottom line is that the trade show is a great place to meet and greet, but its main purpose is to prepare an environment that is conducive to buying and selling activities.
8. Serving of “fun” food at various times of the day in the exhibit area. Did someone say ice cream? Kit/Kats, etc. Or how about popcorn?
7. Create a “check-list” for the attendees that includes every vendor’s booth number with a map on where each is located. Make it easy to identify and find every vendor. And by the way, such a map is good place to sell ads for additional association revenue opportunities.
I call it “expected discomfort” all in the hopes of having productive meetings over the following days. At the very least, each attendee needs to visit every vendor that has relevant products for their organization. Attendees who avoid the exhibit hall are cheating themselves, their organization, their employer and literally biting the hand that feeds them.
Mike is currently the Managing Partner of Gruenberg Consulting, LLC, a firm he founded in January 2012 after a successful career as a senior sales executive in the information industry. His firm is devoted to providing clients with sales staff analysis, market research, executive coaching, trade show preparedness, product placement and best practices advice for improving negotiation skills for librarians and salespeople. His book, Buying and Selling Information: A Guide for Information Professionals and Salespeople to Build Mutual Success has become the definitive book on negotiation skills and is available on AMAZON, Information Today in print and eBook, AMAZON Kindle, B&N Nook, Kobo, Apple iBooks, Overdrive, 3M Cloud Library, GALE (GVRL), My iLibrary, ebrary, EBSCO, Blio and Chegg. gruenbergconsulting@gmail.com
Travelling to cities is always fascinating and exciting. A trade show is not designed to be just a travel destination. Organizers try to schedule these meetings in cities where there are interesting attractions to visit, but the show is designed to get people together to conduct business and education.
6. Visibility of the Executive Director and/or Association Management to be always at the exhibit hall fielding questions from vendors and attendees alike. The show is a commitment to education and excellence on the part of the organization. They should show that they are interested in everyone’s opinion and that they are taking those comments seriously so that the following year’s meeting will be better than the current one.
In the past, a trade show served three specific purposes.
2. It was a place to network amongst friends. Now more than ever before, jobs in an industry are being filled at organizations in every corner of the world. As a result, colleagues who worked near one another use the trade show as a meeting place to renew friendships. Still a relevant reason to attend the trade show, but not the main reason. Still relevant, but the Internet has taken over the role of networking between friends and business opportunities.
What A Trade Show Should Not Be
And what should the attendees know about the vendors who line the aisles in the exhibit hall at their annual meeting? What do they have in common?
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Firstly, every attendee and every vendor has invested significant time and money to attend the meeting. Both the attendees and the vendors have at some point driven their cars to the airport nearest their homes, checked their baggage, stood in an endless line at airport security, took off their shoes, probably had their plane delayed due to some unforeseen emergency, found every seat on the plane filled with all different types of people; young, old, and now often, furry (comfort dogs and cats). Upon arrival at the destination airport, waited for their checked bags, then squeezed into a cab to be transported to the hotel where their room was not yet ready upon arrival and then had a marginal dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.
The primary role of a Trade show for any industry is simply to bring the buyer and seller together in a congenial setting. Additionally, the role of the Trade show is to educate their
3. And thirdly, many vendors in the information industry used to use the trade show to sell books. Today, very few vendors sell books at trade shows.
What A Trade Show Should Be
attendees on the latest developments within their industry by bringing in experts to educate about new products and industry trends. And finally, it is the role of the association trade show to make sure that as many people as possible like the meeting so much, that they sign up for next years’ meeting.
MF: Hi, Tom and Katina, thank you for inviting me to this conversation!
What’scollections.really exciting about Quartex is that it shares the platform we use for our own AM collections, so alongside our own publishing programme we have a growing community of users who are building their own digital archives using the same technology. It’s been really rewarding to see our Quartex customers showcase compelling and engaging material using the technology we’ve worked so hard to create, and working with them to see how they use the platform in different and interesting ways. We’re learning a great deal that we bring back to our work across the entire AM portfolio.
ATG: You’ve said that you yourself are driven by “a passionate belief in the importance of primary sources to multidisciplinary teaching and research.” From your perspective, what makes AM products so suited to enabling the linkage between primary sources and teaching/research? What unique qualities do they bring to the table?
ATG: The AM mission statement references a belief that at the heart of education is the freedom to think critically. Can you expand on what that means to AM and to your colleagues?
MF: All of our products are designed very carefully as multi-layered experiences, offering pathways to users with different needs, from undergraduates who are embarking on independent research for the first time, to seasoned scholars, to educators looking for engaging materials to add to their teaching programmes. We put a lot of thought into the UX design of our platform and the ways that we organize and arrange the materials for ease of use. We have a fantastic reputation for adding a lot of value to our digitized materials, and for our considered approach to the selection and curation of material. A lot of editorial expertise and investment goes into creating really good indexing and metadata, so that all users can quickly find sources.
These ideas are foundations of everything we do at AM, not just in terms of our publishing, but also our company culture and values. We encourage everyone at AM to continually challenge ideas and ways of doing things — we never want to stand still.
By Tom Gilson (Associate Editor, Against the Grain) <gilsont@cofc.edu>
MF: In an age of increasingly overwhelming, confusing and contradictory information, the role of libraries, publishers, and educators in teaching students how to think critically has never been more important. Digital technology has given us an unbelievable wealth of data, but being “digitally native” does not mean that today’s students have necessarily acquired the skills to critically interrogate, effectively search, or understand the sources of their data. The teaching of history, particularly through the use of primary sources, is an essential way of equipping these students with such skills.
ATG: Martha, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What are your responsibilities as Managing Director of Adam Matthew (AM)?
and Katina Strauch (Editor, Against the Grain) <kstrauch@comcast.net>
Our mission statement also specifically describes our desire to encourage current and future generations to “challenge, analyse and debate.” Working with primary sources can be an uncomfortable experience, forcing us to confront the past and how it influences our present; but we passionately believe that honest and measured conversations, based on engagement with real evidence, are the key to addressing problems and creating positive change.
ATG: So when it comes to never standing still, what’s next for AM?
MF: There are so many exciting things I could talk about, and many more that I can’t quite mention yet. But a key focus area for us right now is Quartex, our SaaS platform designed to help libraries, archives, and other heritage institutions create their own digital
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ATG Interviews Martha Fogg
Managing Director, Adam Matthew
I joined Adam Matthew — then still largely a microfilm publisher — in 2004, having previously trained as a librarian. As soon as I walked in the door on my first day, I knew I’d found my home. Initially I worked as a Project Editor, developing some of AM’s earliest digital products including Mass Observation Online . As the company grew, I became Publishing Director, and joined the board of directors in 2014. It’s tremendously exciting and a huge honour to have become AM’s Managing Director this year, taking over the role from Khal Rudin, who has moved to an Executive Chair position, and working closely with Jennifer Kemp as our Chief Operating Officer. As you’d expect, the role is very varied — primarily, I work closely with my co-directors to set our strategic direction, achieve continued growth, and ensure everyone at the company, and all our customers, understand our vision to reimagine primary sources. I know that this role, like every job I’ve done at AM, will be a joy because I really believe in the work we do, and find my wonderful colleagues deeply inspiring.
We also allow data-mining of our full text and metadata; we are really excited by the possibilities of Digital Humanities and enjoy working with scholars who are transforming the nature of historical research.
MF: That’s a very knotty question! Often when people think of primary sources, they are focused on the written record, whether that’s printed or manuscript. And of course, much of our source content does take that form. But there’s so much more than that in our collections, and having a more expansive view about what primary sources are really increases opportunities for a broader, more diverse representation of the historic record. For example, Ethnomusicology draws on audio recordings, video, objects, and ephemera to explore the cultural and social lives of global communities (often those without traditional written records) through their musical traditions. Objects and ephemera feature in many of our collections, and are very engaging when used alongside written records, giving a really tangible sense of the lived experience. It really can be anything — one of the more outlandish things we have digitized is a lock of “intimate” hair sent to Lord Byron by a female fan!
ATG: We understand from your website that one of AM’s core missions is “to increase the diversity of voices we present, and to address silences and inequities in the historical record.” How do you make that happen, given that these voices are usually silent in primary sources?
ATG: Speaking of primary sources, how does Adam Matthew define a primary source?
MF: First and foremost, we hold ourselves accountable for our editorial decisions, and we are tremendously fortunate in our editorial team, who are passionately engaged with the subject of diversity and representation, and who have led the way in making real changes to the way we put our collections together in order to make them more transparent, equitable, and diverse.
ATG: In your experience, do many students know what primary sources are? Do they use primary sources without being assigned them? How does this impact the use of AM databases?
There is unfortunately no way to alter the bias of the historical record itself, or historic choices made about what materials to collect in archives, museums, and libraries. However, we continue to increase our efforts to commission essays and features within our collections, which contextualise problematic terminology, highlight archival silences, discuss some of the complexities of historic archival practice and shed light on tools that students can use to overcome these challenges.
There is certainly more we hope to do to expand our global reach and use technology, such as language tools, to broaden the range of archival content that we publish. A crucial part of this goal is to engage and connect with communities in the representation of their histories.
MF: It really varies, but many undergraduates will not have used primary sources in either a digital or physical setting before starting university. Embedding primary sources into course reading lists or the classroom is therefore really important at this level. By the end of undergraduate study, and in postgraduate research, students should be making use of primary source databases independently, but still need a lot of support to find content and expand their skills to use it effectively. To help with this, we launched a new flagship resource last year, Research Methods Primary Sources. This unique online learning tool promotes primary source literacy through how-to guides, peerreviewed essays, videos and case studies, and can be used in the classroom or for independent study. It includes hundreds of “practice sources” from our partner archives for students to test out their newly-developed primary source research skills and develop comfort with using historical materials in their work.
ATG: In this issue of Against the Grain the authors have focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in primary sources. In doing so, they are highlighting the “hidden narratives” they have uncovered in various primary sources. Can you tell us about that? How are such “hidden narratives” discovered?
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MF: We’re particularly excited about the role that technology can play in redressing the historic imbalance of representation in archives. For example, we were the first publisher to apply AI-driven Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) software to our products, allowing scholars to search manuscripts freely. While we cannot redress the biases held within sources themselves, the ability to search in this way can remove any historic or unintended biases existing in the catalogue data and improve the discoverability of underrepresented narratives. Through the application of searching software, we also aim to improve our metadata creation processes, actively seeking out voices which may have been obscured.
De Gruyter eBound will address these challenges head-on and focus on efforts to support the publishing, sustainability, and accessibility of scholarly monographs. By narrowing down our mission to not-for-profit and open access publishers, we hope that we can send a signal to these publishers that we’re here to work together on solutions.
LM: De Gruyter has always been invested in the scholarly publishing community. Over 15 years ago, three granddaughters of Walter de Gruyter in Berlin co-founded the Walter de Gruyter Foundation. The majority of the foundation’s endowment comes from a 10% share in the Walter de Gruyter company that is given back to the scholarly publishing community through funding research projects, providing scholarships for young professionals in publishing, and awarding prizes for outstanding academic achievement.
and Katina Strauch (Editor, Against the Grain) <kstrauch@comcast.net>
Executive Director of eBound, De Gruyter
LM: As I’ve just explained, a good percentage of scholarly monographs lose money. We see publishers experimenting with various business models, namely in open access like MIT Press’s D20 initiative, Central European University Press’ Opening the Future model with their promising dynamic scaling approach, and the University of Michigan Presses Fund to Mission Open Access Monograph Model. Each of these models are
ATG: Linda, what led to De Gruyter’s decision to launch eBound, their not-for-profit foundation? Why a not-for-profit foundation and why now?
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LM: At our annual meeting with our university press partners in September of 2021, we asked twentynine participants “What percentage of your scholarly monographs cost more to produce than your net sales received?” See the chart below for the answers we received.
Library participation in our UPL product directly supports university press sustainability. While we are excited about our accomplishments on behalf of our partners as a for-profit service provider, we also wanted to do our part as a scholarly publisher and add to the work of the Walter de Gruyter foundation with a North American not-for profit arm focusing on providing funding opportunities for publishers that are looking for support. Through the Partner Program, we came to understand that sustainability does not happen without community, and a like-minded community is not dependent upon corporate status. With both our Partner Program and De Gruyter eBound, we are living up to that maxim. And the best time to launch it was now.
ATG: Linda, you’ve said that “Mission-driven scholarly publishing comes with its own challenges and there are many open questions around how to solve them.” Can you elaborate and tell us more about these challenges and open questions?
ATG: According to what we’ve read, De Gruyter eBound’s goal is “to support the publishing, sustainability, and accessibility of mission-driven scholarly monographs for not-forprofit and Open Access publishers.” What does that mean exactly? What is mission-driven scholarly publishing? And why just not-for-profit and open access publishers?
These numbers are not sustainable. 25% of our respondents think that 50-75% of their scholarly monographs lose money. In addition, just earlier this year, at one of our Meet the Press webinars, we had a director from a university press talk about how the press has consolidated its publishing to core disciplines only, which has led to a noticeable reduction in the number of titles they publish per year due to this trend.
Ten years ago, we’ve launched our Publisher Partner Program which has given De Gruyter the opportunity to engage with the academic library community as both a scholarly publisher and a service provider. And with this engagement have come various opportunities, largely in the U.S. and Canada, for us to fill gaps in the academic library acquisition ecosystem through our University Press Library (UPL) business model.
Due to the unique position of being a scholarly publisher first, and a service provider second, we have a front-row seat to the challenges our university press partners face when publishing scholarly monographs. The challenges have to do with the dependency on third parties for distribution, the lack of owning a proprietary hosting platform with a sales team, and the proliferation of evidence-based and demand-driven models.
ATG Interviews Linda McGrath
By Tom Gilson (Associate Editor, Against the Grain) <gilsont@cofc.edu>
These texts are what we refer to as mission-driven scholarly monographs: the peer-reviewed research monographs that perform as “low-use” in an acquisition system based on usage metrics and are not purchased.
ATG: We understand De Gruyter eBound will be providing grants for new publications and funding original studies. Who will qualify for getting assistance from the foundation? How will those interested apply?
ATG: Linda, before we let you go, is there anything that we’ve missed, or anything that you would like to add?
So, how can we overcome those challenges? Based on the resources and limitations we experience with our university press partners, open access is of course one of the means to get there, but it is not the only means. De Gruyter eBound’s goal is to support comprehensive, sustainable, and accessible scholarly monograph publishing. That support can come in different ways, and we will explore them together with our advisory board.
ATG: What role does De Gruyter eBound hope to play in dealing with these challenges and questions?
After receiving our initial funds, we now need to decide on how to spend the money De Gruyter has donated — that’s what our recent meeting was all about. We can use our funds in multiple ways, and it’s great to have such a diverse range of opinions from representatives of various types of university presses and libraries. We identified avenues to pursue our mission and we will decide how to utilize our first round of funding by our 3rd advisory board meeting this fall.
fundamentally different, yet they are all trying to accomplish the same goal of sustainable, accessible, and open scholarly monograph publishing.
LM: We are still in the early steps with De Gruyter eBound, and we are currently exploring different ways to use our resources. De Gruyter has just made its first donation of $50,000 to eBound. We are now asking ourselves questions like: how can we maximize the impact of our funding? How do we identify the most suitable projects, and what criteria do we use to evaluate them? Currently, we are working on the application process — from how to solicit project proposals to how to decide what projects will receive funding. We will share the information on our website once it is finalized.
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ATG: Recently the advisory board held its initial meeting. What were the first orders of business for the board at that meeting? Any inside scoop or news coming out of that meeting that you can share with our readers?
ATG: The advisory board consists of leading figures in the academic library and scholarly publishing community. What role do you see libraries playing in the foundation’s activities and goals? Or is the main audience for your foundation only publishers?
LM: There are different aspects to our role as we see it. Firstly, we are receiving funding from De Gruyter Inc, as a direct result of libraries’ annual investment in our University Press Library business model. We want to put these funds to good use. Secondly, we are going to secure outside funding through public donations and grant writing — this will be project-based and maximize the impact of our support. Thirdly, we will remain engaged in the marketplace, and expand the relationship we’ve made through the University Press Library business model that brings together all stakeholders who collaborate on our likeminded community-based approach: library, presses, consortia, and De Gruyter. Finally, we are going to coordinate, plan and execute initiatives in consultation with our esteemed advisory board.
In two of these examples, MIT and Michigan each have their own platform and sales teams — the presses we work with do not have that important infrastructure. CEUP’s model works for the 30 plus titles they publish per year. Most of our partners have a much larger catalog. Yet, they meet the same challenges with scholarly mission driven monographs as MIT, Michigan and CEUP despite their different profile.
LM: De Gruyter eBound would not be here if it weren’t for our academic library partners and their commitment to our University Press Library business model. As such, we are excited to have on our advisory board two library partners from Iowa State and NYU who inform, represent, and advocate on behalf of our academic library partners. The main audience for De Gruyter eBound are the various stakeholders in our like-minded community, for which libraries are the backbone. Libraries have always played a critical role in supporting scholarly research both in STEM and the Humanities, and their continuous commitment to strengthening the research community is crucial for the sustainable future of scholarly monograph publishing.
LM: I’d like to come back to our maxim and emphasize that “sustainability does not happen without community, and a likeminded community is not dependent upon corporate status.” De Gruyter eBound believes that like-minded communities such as this one has the power to sustain the valuable work of scholarly monograph publishing.
LM: We’re honored that a group of highly accomplished industry leaders have agreed to join our board. They share our values and vision, and through this like-mindedness we understand the need for De Gruyter eBound. Our initial advisory board meeting took place at the beginning of the year. The expertise of our advisory board has already proved incredibly helpful in that first meeting in which they helped to collaboratively flesh out our mission.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER AND ACTIVITIES: I started out in Online Marketing at De Gruyter over 11 years ago, and have been working in the Publisher Partner Team for 5 years now.
FAMILY: Married, two kids.
COMPANY PROFILES ENCOURAGED
Walter de Gruyter
GmbH (short: De Gruyter) Genthiner Str. 13, 10785 Berlin, Germany Phone: +49 30 260 05-0 Fax: +49 30 260 https://www.degruyter.com/05-251 AFFILIATED COMPANIES: https://www.degruyter.com/publishing/ about-us/about-dg/our-imprints NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 380 HISTORY AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR COMPANY/ PUBLISHING PROGRAM: De Gruyter publishes first-class scholarship and has done so for more than 270 years. An international, independent
HOW/WHERE DO I SEE THE INDUSTRY IN FIVE YEARS: Publishers and libraries need to invest heavily in technology that makes hybrid teaching and learning much more effective. There is so much more we can do to make our content more easily discoverable, seamless to use, and better integrated into courses and learning platforms, whether that’s delivered remotely or in person. It’s an exciting prospect.
Executive Director, De Gruyter eBound De 121GruyterHighStreet, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02110
Linda McGrath
Adam Matthew Digital Pelham House, London Road Marlborough, Wiltshire ENGLAND SN8 2AG
Phone: (857) degruyter.com<linda.mcgrath@degruyter.com>507-2233
EARLY LIFE: Grew up in rural Wiltshire, England as one of a family of eight children. Educated at University College London (BA English Literature) and Royal Holloway, University of London (MA in Victorian Studies).
BORN AND LIVED: Born and raised in Germany, lived in Germany, France and the U.S.
publisher headquartered in Berlin – with offices in Boston, Beijing, Basel, Vienna, Warsaw, and Munich – it publishes more than 1,300 new book titles each year and more than 900 journals in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Medicine, Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Law. The publishing house also offers a wide range of digital media, including Open Access journals and books. The group includes the imprints De Gruyter Akademie Forschung, Birkhäuser, De Gruyter Mouton, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, De Gruyter Saur, Düsseldorf University Press, Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV), and Jovis Verlag, as well as the publishing services provider Sciendo.
PHILOSOPHY: Grasp life’s opportunities with both hands, even when they seem unachievable or terrifying … you can work out the details later.
MOST MEMORABLE CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Becoming the new Managing Director of Adam Matthew Digital this year is the undoubted highlight in a career that I consider myself very fortunate to have spent at such an exciting, progressive and intereresting company.
PET PEEVES: As a former librarian, it has to be… misshelved books!
FAVORITE BOOKS: Middlemarch by George Eliot.
FAVORITE BOOKS: There are too many books to choose from, but I have all-time favorite authors: E.M. Forster, Thomas Mann, Kazuo Ishiguro, Virginia Woolf just to name a few.
IN MY SPARE TIME: Three young children keep us very busy, so my hobbies are mostly laundry and toy tidying! When I do find time, I love opera, theatre, and visiting art galleries. We have been lucky enough to take the kids all over the world but my favourite place on Earth is Greece, indulging my passion for ancient history.
HOW/WHERE DO I SEE THE INDUSTRY IN FIVE YEARS: I hope that in five years publishing will have become more diverse. There are many great initiatives out there, and I hope that they will have made a difference by then. Also, I think we’ll see a much greater share of OA publications in the humanities which will hopefully make academic research more equitable too.
IN MY SPARE TIME: I’m a big fan of running and needle work, both while listening to audiobooks.
Martha Fogg Managing Director
FAMILY: Married to Jim, whom I met in high school. I have three lovely children, Elwin (9), Hester (7) and Albert (3).
BORN AND LIVED: Marlborough, England.
ATG PROFILES ENCOURAGED
49Against the Grain / September 2022 <https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
Phone: amdigital.co.uk<martha@amdigital.co.uk>+447795188727
PROFESSIONAL CAREER AND ACTIVITIES: Originally trained and worked as a librarian and in archives. Joined Adam Matthew Digital as the receptionist whilst studying for my Masters degree, and worked my way up from there.
The mountains in the east are getting hard to make out this afternoon and the sky is darkening. I’m optimistic.
Column Editor: Jim O’Donnell (University Librarian, Arizona State University) <jod@asu.edu>
In the months that followed, the spring storms died down, they planted grass around the houses, and my mother learned to vacuum my butch haircut before she tried to wash my hair — after the time when she went straight to soap and water and the stuff that had accumulated turned to mud. And I learned to keep my mouth shut while walking into the wind.
Now I’m back in the southwest after many years and it’s monsoon season again. Literally monsoon season: the cells of atmospheric energy that come up our way from the Gulf of Baja California are doing exactly what their cousins do coming across the Indian Ocean towards Mumbai. I’ve been away from the southwest so long, of course, that the storms make me nostalgic. Old timers are tired of them, rookies are terrified, and when a good one comes in our direction, I’m out on the deck with a big grin on my face, loving every minute of it and feeling twelve years old again. A couple of years ago, to be sure, I noticed it was getting a little windier than usual and I decided to go inside. Checked the web and saw that in fact the wind was gusting to 60 mph, which really is a good time to take cover.
But when the rain starts, following on the mountains of dust whipped up at first, it can be truly amazing. We know not to drive through the sudden rivers that can materialize, and we know that the worst will be over in fifteen minutes and it will be safe to go on again. When I first learned to drive, back in El Paso, I did try to drive through one of those instant rivers as fast as I could and then got to climb out of the car and sit on the roof until a kindly elder waded over and showed me how to take the cap off the carburetor and dry the thing out.
Iremember
it as if it were yesterday: the wind howling, visibility zero, dust and sand in my eyes and mouth as I coughed and spat. I was terrified: and three years old. We were moving south from Denver to a place called White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, the empty stretch of desert that included Trinity Site from the first atom bomb test, where the Army had sent Werner Von Braun and his people to test and develop their guided missiles.
Back Talk — “Monsoon Season”
And so the storms are still exhilarating for me. I come away from one revved up and eyes glowing, my troubles far away. And when one passes us by, visible in the difference but veering past Phoenix’s heat island, I’m disappointed.
This is the column I’m writing at a time when lots of what we’re all thinking about is morose and discouraging: the politics of exclusion and disempowerment everywhere and just downright nastiness, a pandemic that just won’t quit, war in Ukraine and mass shootings at home, wildfires and heatwaves, and the acute sense that human beings are better and smarter than this, that we could be more inclusive, more generous, and more peaceful than we are. The best non-storm hour I spent this week was in Phoenix’s spectacular Burton Barr Central Library, wonderful for the architecture, wonderful for the books, but especially wonderful for the swarms of patrons, none of whom had parked a Lamborghini outside, but every one of whom knew they were in a good place, a place for calm, a place for the exercise of intelligence, a place for patient reflection. Quiet libraries, rousing storms, a cheerful kicking baby: 2022 is a good year for paying attention to the things like that, things that ground us and let us cherish the moments we have.
ADVERTISER’S INDEX FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION CONTACT Toni Nix, Advertising Manger, Against the Grain, Charleston Hub <justwrite@lowcountry.com> Phone: 843-835-8604 • Fax: 843-835-5892 2 ACS Publications 11 APA Publishing 23 The Charleston Advisor 40 Charleston Briefings 42, 51 Charleston Conference 52 Coherent Digital 5 Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press 37 Emery-Pratt 3 GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO 7 INFORMS 29 LYRASIS 13 The MIT Press 9 OverDrive
But we’d never seen anything like this storm, and it was moving day. I just hated it, and in after years my mother told the story of how the moving man had said to her, “Hey, lady, you sure you want me to unload your stuff here?” That night, the wind still howled and the sand beat on the windows, and nobody slept a wink. It wasn’t just springtime in New Mexico, when these things happened and when in another year the hills were carpeted with yellow caterpillars migrating from who knows where to wherever their genes drove them. (After that squishy experience, that same mother of mine swore never to wear open toed shoes again, and I don’t think she ever did.) No, it was worse because we were moving into a newly built housing development on the base, and, to build the houses, they had bulldozed even the minimal desert vegetation, so for a mile all around us, there was nothing but bare dirt just waiting for a good gust of wind.
50 Against the Grain / September 2022 <https://www.charleston-hub.com/media/atg/>
2022 CHARLESTON CONFERENCE IN PERSON: NOVEMBER 1-4 ONLINE: NOVEMBER 14-18 “The Charleston Conference is an incredibly stimulating venue. I am tired afterwards, but get so many great ideas, network with my colleagues, and learn what is going on I recommend it highly ” Hundreds of Sessions Inspiring Keynotes Networking to Make New Connections Energizing & Innovative Environment @chsconf #chsconf2022 CharlestonHub Charleston Hub @CharlestonHub
