Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jill ONeill

Farah Bakaari @bakaari.bsky.social · 1d

it’s delightful to be receiving this book when i’m wrestling with another essay about close reading because opening to virtually any page of this book and reading some or all of is a guaranteed win, clarifying and inspiring!

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 2d

B&T is a book distribution company that has been around for more than a century in support of public libraries book acquisition and collection management. That they are closing on such very, very short notice is creating new pressures on both libraries and other vendors in the space. Bad news.

Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 2d

seems very bad www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Baker & Taylor Prepares Plan to Shut Down

At a town hall yesterday, B&T owner and CEO Aman Kochar announced that following the termination of the ReaderLink acquisition deal, he does not see a path to keep the library wholesaler in business.

www.publishersweekly.com

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Reposted by Jill ONeill

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about the “compact” for higher education

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 2d

Quote: "The new policy thus recognizes the importance of peer review, but as a process in which authors receive and respond to feedback from other experts, rather than as a certification decision by a journal editor based on this." Read the full thing. openrxiv.org/preprint-man...

Preprint mandates gather momentum - openRxiv

By Richard Sever, PhD. Chief Science & Strategy Officer, openRxiv Preprints speed up science by enabling researchers to disseminate reports of new findings immediately. They also represent a simple wa...

openrxiv.org

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Reposted by Jill ONeill

Anna E. Clark @annaeclark.bsky.social · 3d

In the category of good things entering the world of ideas: this smart and beautifully conceived collection of essays close reading superlative close readings from @johannawinant.bsky.social @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social from @princetonupress.bsky.social

Book cover with title: Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century, Ed. Sinykin and Winant

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Reposted by Jill ONeill

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 3d

A riddle for @theguardian.com books page.
p.s. My new book 'Physics for Cats' is out this week in bookshops and online. Details at www.tomgauld.com

Title: One door leads to freedom, the others to certain death. You may ask one question.

Image: Three guards with shields and speard stand in front of three doors. One guard sits at a folding table working at a typewriter, his shield and spear leaning against the wall.

Caption: One guard always tells the truth, one always tells lies, and the third always tells an entrancing story that blends reportage with imagination in an attempt to reach a deeper authenticity by moving beyond the narrow categories of fact and fiction.

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 7d

This is interesting. Well, interesting may not be the right word. It's worth consideration by those concerned with how information is packaged and processed. 24/7 might not have been a good model to adopt. news.gallup.com/poll/695762/...

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

Americans' trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a new low of 28%.

news.gallup.com

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Reposted by Jill ONeill

Tony Clark @anthonyclark.bsky.social · 8d

BREAKING: sources say NARA has forced out Dr. Todd Arrington, the federal director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, after he declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a sword from the library for a gift to King Charles

lastcampaign.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

EXCLUSIVE: NARA Ousts Eisenhower Library Director Over Proposed Trump Gift to King Charles

The director, a historian and Army veteran, declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a priceless artifact from the library's permanent collection

lastcampaign.substack.com

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 9d

Remarkable story. My takeaway has to do with the time required to properly assess the place and value of a work of art and how that is threatened in an age of acceleration.
newrepublic.com/article/2010...

The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing

Your great-grandparents paid Ben Shahn and Philip Guston to create gorgeous public murals. Next year they could be rubble.

newrepublic.com

Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 10d

‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... Changing the rules on grad students mid-stream.

‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry

The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded

www.science.org

Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 10d

As you sip this morning's Pumpkin Spice latte, read this essay on the nature of the Gothic (culturedump.substack.com/p/defining-g...) A nice autumnal vibe.

Defining 'Gothic'

A brief introduction to Gothic art and literature

culturedump.substack.com

Reposted by Jill ONeill

Mark Hahnel @hahnel.org · 10d

The alarm bells are ringing for EU basic research funding

www.leru.org/news/eu-basi...

EU basic research funding: LERU Secretary-General Kurt Deketelaere shares its worries | LERU

LERU is sounding the alarm over EU basic research funding. While the European Commission's plans for R&I funding in the 2028-2034 #MFF and #FP10 first seemed promising, it now has become clear that ba...

www.leru.org

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 12d

Also interesting. Crossref is seeking input on two questions having to do with registering DOIs. www.crossref.org/blog/innovat...

Innovation in scientific publishing and its implications for Crossref DOI registration practices - Request for input - Crossref

Lots of exciting innovations are being made in scientific publishing, often raising fundamental questions about established publishing practices. In this guest post, Ludo Waltman and André Brasil disc...

www.crossref.org

Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 12d

This is an interesting write-up as a benchmark for where we currently are with AI and robots. Watch the video that is included. www.skild.ai/blogs/omni-b... Yes, we're talking about technological tools and the tool is good or bad depending upon who is operating it, but the thing requires thought.

www.skild.ai

Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 13d

Worth a read: jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...

The dawn of the post-literate society

And the end of civilisation

jmarriott.substack.com

Reposted by Jill ONeill

OCLC @oclc.org · 14d

The #OCLCleaderscouncil has elected Keith Webster, Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, to the OCLC Board of Trustees.

⤵️ Read more. 🧵 1/2 #OCLCnews

@cmkeithw.bsky.social @library.cmu.edu @cmu.edu

OCLC Leaders Council elects Keith Webster to Board of Trustees | OCLC

The OCLC Leaders Council has elected Keith Webster, Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries at Carnegie Mellon University, to the OCLC Board of Trustees.

www.oclc.org

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 15d

Gift article from The New York Times: Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven't Always Called it Autism. Important Quote and Key Take Away: "The neurobiology is too complex for easy explanations." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

Opinion | Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven’t Always Called It Autism.

www.nytimes.com

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 15d

First of all, I'm not sure you can assume that Microsoft is speaking specifically to scholarly publishers. It's just as likely (perhaps even more likely) that they were talking to trade publishers. Secondly, OA publication is an option for researchers and academics these days as is self-publishing.

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 16d

"Microsoft is in talks with select U.S. publishers about a pilot program to help launch a two-sided marketplace that would compensate publishers for their content used by AI products, starting with its Copilot assistant." www.axios.com/2025/09/24/m...

Scoop: Microsoft looks to build AI marketplace for publishers

Copilot would be the first buyer in the Publisher Content Marketplace.

www.axios.com

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 16d

If you (as a corporate entity) have an app, you will have terms of service.

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Reposted by Jill ONeill

memeorandum @memeorandum.com · 16d

AI-Generated "Workslop" Is Destroying Productivity (Harvard Business Review)

Main Link | memeorandum Permalink

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Reposted by Jill ONeill

Miles Riven @rivenbydesign.bsky.social · 23d

Mollick argues we are drifting from co-intelligence to wizards. Strong results, opaque steps. I try to ask for receipts and name what must stay in my hands. Worth reading for #AI practice.
www.oneusefulthing.org/p/on-working... #Writing

On Working with Wizards

Verifying magic on the jagged frontier

www.oneusefulthing.org

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 16d

May tend to instill "a set of platitudes that are not rooted in the broader historical context, conflicts, contingencies and change over time that are central to historical thinking". www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

ED Wants Grants to Advance “Patriotic Education”

Professional historians say the department’s plan is part of the Trump administration’s broader attempt to create an Orwellian “truth ministry” and omit the more troubling aspects of the nation’s past...

www.insidehighered.com

Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 17d

ICYMI: 260,000 volumes from Vanderbilt University Heard Library will be digitized as part of the Google Books Project. newsonline.library.vanderbilt.edu/2025/09/2600...

260,000 volumes from Vanderbilt’s Heard Libraries to be digitized by Google Books

A new collaboration between the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries and the Google Books initiative will make it possible for users worldwide to access works that are rare, out of print, or generally u...

newsonline.library.vanderbilt.edu

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Jill ONeill @jillmwo.bsky.social · 18d

Interesting thread attached to this announcement from Univ British Columbia

aj boston @aj-boston.bsky.social · 21d

UBC has purchased access to Sage's backfiles and canceled its subscriptions, looking to interlibrary loan Sage journal article requests going forward. They chose Sage because the UBC community publishes in and reads Sage titles the least of the five big pubs.

about.library.ubc.ca/2025/09/17/a...

An update from the University Librarian: Rethinking the sustainability of our subscription model

Upcoming changes to UBC Library's Collection budget and how we're planning for the future.

about.library.ubc.ca