The Authority File Round-Up – March 2021

A quick overview of last month's episodes, in case you missed them

Posted on April 13, 2021 in Blog

It’s almost impossible to contextualize 2021’s March without first reflecting on the March of 2020 and the year in between. Twelve months after a period of rapid transformation—businesses and schools closed, store shelves cleared out, “unprecedented times” joined the cultural lexicon—how much has changed? What can 365 days teach us?

Last April, MIT Press joined us on the Authority File to discuss the development of a sustainable framework for publishing monographs open access. A year later, MIT Press returns to reflect on the framework’s progress and preview its rollout. What have they discovered in the past year? Here’s a quick round-up of the discussion, in case you missed it. We hope you find the episodes thoughtful, informative, and useful. Thanks for listening!

Direct to Open graphic. Black lettering, white background.

MIT Press’s Direct to Open

In March, MIT Press released its library collective action model for open access monographs, Direct to Open (D2O). We spoke with Gregory Eow, President of the Center for Research Libraries, and Emily Farrell, Library Partnerships and Sales Lead at MIT Press, about D2O’s goals, performance indicators, and potential impact on the scholarly ecosystem. Brought to you by MIT Press.

Episode one: Exploratory Phase No More

  • How has D2O evolved in the past year? How does this project align with the Center for Research Libraries’ and other consortia’s priorities? Listen to episode one here.

Episode two: Determining Success and Incentives

  • What happens when a library signs up for the framework? What are the value propositions for a participating library? How many institutions are needed for the pilot to be considered a success? Listen to episode two here.

Episode three: Bridging the Library and Press Divide

  • Why don’t university presses and libraries—institutions that share similar perspectives and values—collaborate on projects more often? What potential do these partnerships hold? Listen to episode three here.

Episode four: Changing Conditions in the Scholarly Ecosystem

  • What are the current conditions that threaten the Humanities and the dissemination of scholarship as a whole? Could stronger bonds between the university library, press, and faculty be the solution? Listen to episode four here.

Crises have beginnings and ends; COVID-19 will have a beginning and an end. But when I look at the crisis in the Humanities, and I look at the crisis in ‘scholcom,’ I’m thinking, those are not looking like crisis as much as they’re looking like condition. There’s something going on there where the institutions need to change.

Greg Eow, President of the Center for Research Libraries
'Membering Austin Clarke book cover.

Missed February’s episodes? We’ve got you covered.

In February, Paul Barrett joined us to discuss ‘Membering Austin Clarke, a collection of essays by writers, colleagues, and scholars who dissect the work and legacy of the late acclaimed author Austin Clarke. Paul, editor of the anthology, dove into Clarke’s personality, writing style, and the rejection he faced from the Canadian literary establishment. Listen to the first episode here.

The Queer Evangelist: A Socialist Clergy’s Radically Honest Tale book cover.

What’s Coming Up in April

Cheri DiNovo, former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and current United Church of Canada minister, chats about her fascinating life and new book, The Queer Evangelist: A Socialist Clergy’s Radically Honest Tale. You can find the first episode here.

You can find more episodes of the Authority File here on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for listening! See you next month.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, Choice Podcast Updates!

Get each month’s round-up sent directly to your inbox.

Sign me up!

Related Posts