The Authority File Wrap-Up 2024: Staff Picks

The TAF team highlights their 10 favorite episodes of the year

Posted on December 19, 2024 in Blog

This year marked a big milestone for The Authority File. Not only did we continue to cover salient topics in academic librarianship and scholarly communication, but we reached our 400th episode, debuting a new logo in the process. To cap off another year of excellent series and guests, the TAF team selected some of our favorite episodes of 2024. The conversations range from artificial intelligence tools and implementation to open data sharing to the evolving information landscape. As always, thank you to our sponsors, guests, and listeners for supporting the podcast. See you next year!

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Bill Mickey, TAF Host

One of the many great qualities of The Authority File is the conversation around ground-breaking topics. Whether it’s an author, editor, or representatives from our amazing sponsors, we’re spotlighting innovative thinking around research and broader market initiatives designed to advance scholarly communication into new territories. This year, I’m picking three episodes that illustrate this particularly well.

In episode 373 I speak with Dale Jacobs, author of On Comics and Grief. Dale talks at length about creative nonfiction—the process of blending scholarship with personal experience and emotion. More recently, in episode 411, I interview Fran Buckland, Vice President of Product Management at Clarivate, and we talk about the importance of preserving human expertise, transparency, and ethical design during the mad rush of artificial intelligence development and implementation in higher education. Finally, in episode 409 of our December series, I speak with Rebecca Taylor-Grant and Emily Farrell, Taylor & Francis’s Head of Open Data Initiatives and Global Commercial Director, Open Research, respectively. We explore the opportunities and trends around the burgeoning scene of research data sharing in the humanities and social sciences.

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Episode 373: Discussing the Themes and Formats in the Book On Comics and Grief

Dale Jacobs, author of On Comics and Grief, dives deeper into the making of his title, a creative nonfiction work that blends memories of his late mother with analysis of comics published in 1976. He explains his thought process behind selecting a wide variety of publishers and comics to research and highlights the business and marketing strategies comic book publishers employed in 1976. Dale also chats about the March and September chapters in the book, the latter’s unique format allowing him to contemplate the common practice in academia of turning conference papers into research papers. Listen to episode 373.

Episode 411: GenAI in Academic Libraries: Exploring AI-Driven Scholarship and Clarivate’s Web of Science Research Assistant

Francesca Buckland, Vice President of Product Management for the Web of Science at Clarivate, discusses artificial intelligence applications in academic libraries. Fran chats about generative AI enhancing research efficiencies and underpinning critical thinking, particularly through Clarivate’s recently launched Web of Science Research Assistant. Digging into the needed balance between automation and human oversight, our guest also covers key topics like AI transparency, ethical design, and data security. Listen to episode 411.

Episode 409: Data Sharing in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Current Landscape and Pressures

Dr. Rebecca Taylor-Grant, Head of Open Data Initiatives, and Dr. Emily Farrell, Global Commercial Director for Open Research, both at Taylor & Francis, examine the current landscape for HSS data sharing. They explain what can be categorized as data in HSS, how the social sciences have a slight leg up in this area, and how T&F has developed explicit guidance to help researchers recognize potential data sets. Our guests also share thoughts on how the 2022 OSTP Nelson Memo has impacted data sharing and speculate on how the incoming Trump administration may affect these policies in the US. Listen to episode 409.

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Ashley Roy, TAF Producer

With more than 400 episodes of The Authority File under our belts, it’s certainly a tall task to narrow down one’s top picks! Nonetheless, these three episodes captured my attention due to their passionate speakers and applicability both within and outside of academia. 

Episode 384 centers on inclusive science and equity in publishing, a topic that’s critical to everyone involved in the research lifecycle, including readers. The dedication of guest Ritu Dhand, Chief Scientific Officer of Springer Nature, to her craft is evident as she speaks about the value of diverse editorial boards and tackling unconscious bias. In episode 394, Amanda White and Elysia French, coeditors of Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada, share how art can inspire action. Amanda and Elysia’s conversation transcends the classroom as they chat about art’s impact on environmental issues and provide examples of interdisciplinary collaborations. Lastly, episode 402 builds on the US presidential debate and considers how students (and the public) can tackle fake news. Our speakers’ focus on the importance of effective science communicators, or “SciCommers,” is especially pertinent in today’s political climate.

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Episode 384: Supporting the Global South and Inclusive Science

Ritu Dhand, Chief Scientific Officer of Springer Nature, underscores the need to engage with and support the Global South in scholarly communication. She walks through the rising research output and impact from nonwestern nations and the unconscious bias in peer reviewers and editorial boards that prevent this scholarship from reaching a larger audience. Further, Ritu explains the core tenets of inclusive science and chats about equitable open access and defines regional novelty and its connection to inclusive science and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Listen to episode 384.

Episode 394: How Art Changes Culture and the (Interdisciplinary) Future of the Environmental Humanities

Amanda White and Elysia French, coeditors of Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada, discuss the influence of art on environmental action and the future of the environmental humanities. Exploring how art can inspire change, Amanda and Elysia discuss the impact of building community, evolving curriculum, and changing the culture around environmental issues. Our guests share how they envision future partnerships and support for various modes of inquiry between disciplines and how their book highlights existing examples of cross-departmental environmental humanities projects. Listen to episode 394.

Episode 402: Navigating the Changing Information Landscape

Dan Chibnall, STEM Librarian & Associate Professor of Librarianship at Drake University, and Nick Anstead, Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, examine the expanded range of today’s news sources and the impact of fake news on the information landscape. Further, Nick highlights the history and recent developments in public opinion polling, and Dan dives into the role of scientists to educate the public on current research. Listen to episode 402.

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Sabrina Cofer, TAF Editor

For my picks (out of more than 45 episodes, 20 guests, and 10 series!), I selected episodes where the speakers are intent on making something—a workflow, collaboration, learning process—better. Whether featuring librarians, academics, or publishers, these episodes focus on improving day-to-day tasks or new areas of development.

First, how could I not choose episode 400? This milestone episode features Jamie Hutchins and Emily McElroy of Taylor & Francis and Natya Hans, Informatics and Reproducibility Librarian at University of Florida, who talk strategies for collaboration between the library and research office and how T&F can aid the adoption of open research policies. Next, episode 376 turns to librarian skill development, with guests discussing gaps in library school education and what skills librarians truly value in their roles. My next selection gets a little meta. In episode 406, podcasters and academics Dario Llinares and Lori Beckstead explore why academics have turned to podcasts to disseminate their research and how podcasting can challenge the traditional principles of scholarly communication. Last, we go back to one of our first episodes of the year with Nathan Rupp, Acquisitions & E-Resources Librarian at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies. In episode 369 Nathan examines the logistics of negotiating resource licenses, underscoring changes in the process and how AI tools have begun to pop up in vendor contracts.

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Episode 400: Improving Research Integrity and Library-Research Office Partnerships

Our guests discuss navigating the adoption of open research policies at the library and how publishers can assist with this implementation. Jamie Hutchins, Director of Open Research, Americas at Taylor & Francis, Natya Hans, Informatics and Reproducibility Librarian in the Academic Research and Consulting Services Department at University of Florida, and Emily McElroy, Vice President of Academic Relations at Taylor & Francis, surface strategies like campus outreach, data training programs, and collaboration across departments. Closing with thoughts on “post-collections” librarianship, Jamie and Emily highlight the philosophical goals of library work and the importance of demonstrating its value to the institution. Listen to episode 400.

Episode 376: On the Ground Realities of Librarian Skill Development

Our guests tackle the on the ground realities of librarian skill development following the recent white paper from Technology from Sage and Skilltype, Librarian Futures Part III: The Librarian Skills Landscape. Marcy Simons, Director of Hesburgh Libraries Organizational and Personnel Development at the University of Notre Dame, and Tony Zanders, Founder & CEO of Skilltype, dig into how library schools have failed to address the evolving demands of academic librarianship. Further, Marcy and David Erlandson, Head of Cataloguing and Metadata Services at Rice University Fondren Library, chat about the report’s results on student success and how their libraries support this initiative. Finally, Tony and Matthew Weldon, Library Patron Consultant at Technology from Sage, reflect on the report’s finding that librarians value building transferable skills rather than those specific to certain products. Listen to episode 376.

Episode 406: Defining Podcast Studies: Challenging the traditional principles of scholarly communication

Podcaster and academic Dario Llinares and Lori Beckstead, Associate Professor of sound media in the RTA School of Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, explore how scholarly podcasting can challenge the traditional principles of academic research. Our guests share the ways podcast studies fits within media studies and outline why academics choose podcasting to discuss their scholarship. Further, Lori and Dario explain that while institutions have begun to appreciate the scholarly potential and rigor of podcasting, the medium’s emphasis on fostering ongoing dialogues opposes traditional research’s focus on citations and output. Listen to episode 406.

Episode 369: Evaluating Resource Licenses, Negotiations, and AI Clauses

Nathan Rupp, Acquisitions & E-Resources Librarian at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, digs into the details of evaluating and negotiating resource licenses. He first walks through his March 2024 Against the Grain article where he outlined key items he looks for in resource licenses. Further, he highlights how the negotiation process has changed in recent years, such as vendors using online terms and conditions or factoring in consortium needs for whole ebook lending. Last, Nathan chats about what he’s seen in terms of artificial intelligence offerings showing up in vendor clauses and contracts. Listen to episode 369.

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