Author: Bonnie Russell

Categories
Research

Research: AI errors, risks, and retractions

As a librarian in higher education who works in scholarly communication I’ve been watching the increasing use of ChatGPT in both journalism and in the creation of papers and research. Below is a list of articles on the topic from the last three months that highlights some of the concerns. If you’ve come across other articles (in any language) pop them in the comments. I’d love to keep the list going as a resource for anyone whose organization is toying with the idea of using AI to generate content.

Categories
News

Trailer: From Pilot to Platform

Over on the Building the Commons blog I’ve posted the first in what will be a series of blog posts on project managing complex, grant-funded projects. From the post:

I’ve wanted to start a discussion on the project management of ambitious, nebulous projects that seek to fundamentally change the way we work. Over the next few months in this blog series, I’d like to explore what managing a project like Humanities Commons entails, the ways in which large projects like these are different in the ways they’re funded, staffed, and developed, and how we might define new ways of thinking about and creating structure around them.

“Trailer: From Pilot to Platform” – Building The Commons

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences! Head on over and let’s start the conversation.

Categories
News

New OER: Publishing Values-based Scholarly Communication

I could not be happier to announce that our new open educational resource (OER) “Publishing Values-based Scholarly Communication” is live and is now part of the Scholarly Communication Notebook. See the the SCN blog post and you can find the OER at publiclyengagedpublishing.org.

From the OER:

The OER is designed to increase understanding of how a values-based approach to scholarly communication can address the challenges of publishing publicly engaged scholarship, with particular emphasis on humanities and social sciences.

The focus of this resource is primarily on the underrepresented area of publicly engaged scholarship. It addresses a wide range of MLIS students and LIS professionals based at universities, especially those whose mission explicitly encompasses engaged scholarship initiatives. The resource also spotlights publicly engaged publishing initiatives that provide examples of scholarly communications projects with social justice values such as equity, access, fairness, inclusivity, respect, ethics, and trust deeply embedded in their design. 

“About this OER,” Publishing Values-based Scholarly Communication

I co-authored the OER with Kath Burton (Routledge, Taylor & Francis) and Catherine Cocks (Interim Director, Michigan State University Press). We had a lovely time creating it and can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Categories
Thoughts

Joy in OA

This post also appears on Platypus, the Humanities Commons team blog.

As a librarian, I think a lot about how to ensure access to information of all kinds. Prior to joining the Humanities Commons team, I spent almost 10 years in scholarly publishing, and I grew increasingly concerned about the sustainability of current publishing models. There is a growing barrier to access for many who are not affiliated with institutions or who are at institutions that simply can’t afford the increasing subscriptions in the current market. 

For me, the joy in OA is bringing information to everyone, regardless of position and financial means. OA allows everyone equal access to information, and at the same time it empowers everyone to disseminate their work widely. OA levels the playing field. It connects global collaborators, and it allows those who want to research and create to build on the work that has come before. 

Scholarship is becoming increasingly multimodal. Undergraduate students in the humanities are taught not just writing, but often work with audio, video, and video games. As these formats continue to grow journals and monographs won’t disappear, but they will come under increasing competition for views. OA offers these students and scholars the ability to share their work widely when many publishers simply can’t find a way to publish these new formats. My joy at this moment is being a part of the Commons and working to think about not just what’s happening now, but how we can support these new formats in the future. 

Categories
Thoughts

I’ve been thinking…

and that’s dangerous. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to say here. That means I haven’t said anything, because I’ve gotten stuck in the thinking part.

I’d like to talk a bit about what it’s like to manage large digital projects and platforms that are unlike what have come before. There are no guidelines, no roadmap, and no formal system that’s a perfect fit.

I’m planning to talk about the challenges, the joy, and the real work that it takes to work collaboratively with a team. Thinking through the implications of what seem on the surface to be small decisions that end up having large ripple effects. Talking about the struggle to identify your values and to enact them, and the mistakes made along the way.

I hope you’ll come with me. I can’t promise to be prolific, but I hope to use this space to create dialogue and to think through what it means to do this work.