An eye-popping investigative story out today from the Harvard Crimson: "Harvard University Press Employees Say Director Drove Down Acquisitions and Morale" https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/5/2/harvard-university-press-investigation/ #publishing #academicpublishing #universitypresses

Just Added to Roundup: Asian Pacific American #Librarians Association (APALA) Statement on Executive Order to Dismantle Institute of Museum and Library Services https://www.infodocket.com/2025/03/17/roundup-statements-in-response-to-executive-order-impacting-the-institute-of-museum-and-library-services-imls/ #libraries #IMLS #APALA

@dbsalk That’s my current read! I’m loving it (two-thirds read).

Update. From @mayank_mchugh and @JACoates at @force11: "Science is Under Siege: The Open Science Community Must Act and Lead by Example"
https://upstream.force11.org/open-science-call-to-act/

"The new US administration has thrown the entire academy into chaos, threatening global health. This article is a call for the #OpenScience community to practice what it preaches and lead by example in defending science…The only viable line of defence against such rapid and intense attacks is transparency and a heightened rigour. And it is here that the open science community has a unique and essential role in this very moment."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Some bad news that hits close to home for me: I'm told that EdSurge is discontinuing its higher-ed coverage. I'm will miss writing about #libraries etc. for them (and working with Jeff Young, one of the best in the biz). #highered

Update. From @alicejmeadows: "Declaration To #DefendResearch Against US Government Censorship"
https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/02/19/declaration-to-defendresearch-against-us-government-censorship/

"Much of the resistance to the Trump administration’s efforts to censor research and researchers is happening at the grassroots level, including this Declaration To Defend Research Against US Government Censorship, instigated by Lisa Schiff, together with Catherine Mitchell, Sara Rouhi, Peter Suber, and myself [Alice Meadows]. Like many of those who are protesting against these growing threats to research, we are acting in a personal capacity, rather than on behalf of our organizations. As members of the scholarly communication community, we believe that researchers must be freely able to conduct, collaborate on, share, review, and discuss their research…I very much hope that you’ll join the 1,000 plus who have already signed."

#Censorship #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

JFK Library update: "Hours later—after pushback from members of the Kennedy family and the public—the National Archives said the library and museum would open Wednesday. 'The National Archives staff looks forward to welcoming guests, visitors and researchers,' the agency said." #libraries #NARA #JFK
wapo.st/3Qpo6E4

JFK Presidential Library "temporarily closed until further notice" amid Trump workforce order, layoffs https://www.dotnews.com/2025/jfk-library-temporarily-closed-until-further-notice-amid-trump

Ugh, friends: The Library of Congress has posted a notice that it may change the subject headings for Denali and the Gulf of Mexico to, yup, Mt. McKinley and the Gulf of America. This is not good. TODAY is the deadline for comment. More info on this subreddit thread, including a link for submitting a comment. #libraries #subjectheadings #LibraryofCongress
https://www.reddit.com/r/Libraries/comments/1isg3cd/lcsh_for_gulf_of_mexico_and_denali_changing_urgent/

@glecharles I’ve noted that too. We need more bridges (or translators) between the public and academic spheres.

My latest for EdSurge: "A new peer-reviewed, open-access journal, Public Humanities, aims to strengthen the connections between university-based humanities work and the wider world, creating a space for academics and practitioners to share what they do and how they do it." #humanities #publichumanities #OA
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2025-01-06-as-humanities-fight-for-support-new-journal-aims-to-celebrate-their-role-in-public-life

New from me: "I would much rather be writing about today as Twelfth Night, marking the end of the festive season, but J6 is an anniversary I will not forget. Neither should you." https://jenniferhoward.substack.com/p/twelfth-nightj6

P.S. 130 students write to NYC mayor asking him to spare Elizabeth Street Garden, a green treasure in the city. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/realestate/elizabeth-street-garden-letter-campaign.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Bk4.eLjE.gwGw7VkrBl0D&smid=url-share

#gardens #urbangardens

Down the shore with a good book(store): nice profile of Hooked on Books by Jason Nark for the Philadelphia Inquirer: https://www.inquirer.com/arts/books/hooked-on-books-jersey-shore-wildwood-20240804.html #bookstores

Uncatalogued: a little bit of card-catalog nostalgia, prompted by a quick trip to special collections at my alma mater to peek at the recently opened TS Eliot/Emily Hale letters. #libraries #cardcatalogs

https://jenniferhoward.substack.com/p/uncatalogued

@johnxlibris Nice roundup, John! Thank youl.

If you're tempted to buy a bat on eBay, please don't.

#bats

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/climate/taxidermy-bats-kerivoula-picta.html?unlocked_article_code=1._E0.RKno.eOf7Jn5-LF9K&smid=url-share

Oh, yay, it's almost mosquito season. Before you sign up for a mosquito-squad spraying service, try these DIY Buckets of Doom instead. Eco-friendly unless you're a skeeter.
https://sidewalknature.com/2022/05/08/mosquito-bucket-of-doom/
#MosquitoControl