Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Peter Barr

LSE Impact Blog @lseimpactblog.bsky.social · 13d

💥New: How scholarly publishers wield soft power

✍️Eleonora Colangelo

#AcademicPublishing #ScholComm #SciComm

How scholarly publishers wield soft power - Impact of Social Sciences

Scientific publishers exercise 'soft power' through their role in managing and curating research, but how is this role changing in an open research landscape?

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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Reposted by Peter Barr

Holly Ranger @themauvedesert.bsky.social · 14d

📢 Come work with us! The Open Research Manager is a reformulated role in our team - it would suit someone with a strong research support background, but I'm happy to chat to anyone about the role and criteria.

Open Research, University of Sheffield @openresshef.bsky.social · 14d

🔊 Vacancy: Open Research Manager, University of Sheffield Library (full-time, open-ended). The role will involve supporting projects across Sheffield and nationally with the @ukrepro.bsky.social to accelerate open research practices. Closing date 22 October: jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Open-Res...

Open Research Manager

jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 14d

"An unreasonable expectation would be if that librarian felt the need to make sure that that patron, or any patron, never had a negative thing to say about the library. In my experience, it appears that librarians and libraries seem to have high expectations of influence."

In the Library with the Lead Pipe @libraryleadpipe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Going around in Circles: Interrogating Librarians’ Spheres of Concern, Influence, and Control by Jordan Moore

Going around in Circles: Interrogating Librarians’ Spheres of Concern, Influence, and Control – In the Library with the Lead Pipe

www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 15d

Tbh, it would be simpler if they didn't divvy the money out and just bundled it at source and invested it.

Expecting individual libraries to act dilutes the effectiveness of their funding (as all sorts of local anxieties get in the way)

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 15d

Yeah, wellcome could definitely be more explicit. You should, rather than you could, support OA.

UKRI are a bit more hamstrung by all the political lobbying from the big publishers that stop them taking a position

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 15d

It's annoying because both that and UKRI money was originally meant to facilitate a transition - which OI, Diamond palpably is - not to be baked into fading inst. content budgets to subsidise stagnant TAs

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 15d

Even if you do understand this, the issue is whether there is any 'spare' WT money to spend on Open Infrastructure?

If there isn't, could you prioritise this spend over APCs? (most libraries - as ever 🙄 - err on the side of caution, and meet the immediate user demand)

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Reposted by Peter Barr

Danny Kingsley @dannykay68.bsky.social · 15d

I mean, that quote seems to indicate that Clarivate has no agency in the embedding. These tools are being actively added to products by without the option of turning them off. Here's a thought. Maybe get the products right before releasing them like an untested virus into the scholarly environment?

Danny Kingsley @dannykay68.bsky.social · 15d

MAYBE DON'T FORCE THEM ON US? "Yet, as these tools become embedded in scholarly workflows, the segment faces a complex challenge: how do we balance responsible AI use and the prevention of harmful outputs with the need to preserve academic freedom & research integrity?" clarivate.com/academia-gov...

Guardrails for Responsible AI

Clarivate on AI guardrails: balancing responsible AI, safety, and academic freedom through shared standards and community collaboration.

clarivate.com

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Reposted by Peter Barr

IOP Publishing @ioppublishing.bsky.social · 22d

32% of researchers use AI tools to support peer review, yet 57% wouldn’t want AI reviewing their work. This is one of several insights from our latest global survey, explored by Laura Feetham-Walker in her Q&A with Research Professional News, marking #PeerReviewWeek.

🔗 ow.ly/BCbU50WXooV

Doublethink on AI highlights tensions in peer review - Research Professional News

Survey reveals publishers’ tricky task in balancing efficiency and integrity, says Laura Feetham-Walker

ow.ly

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 20d

"Our job is to look at the big picture - across the university, across our consortia, across the publishing landscape—and make decisions based on that specialized knowledge...[stakeholder] input is critical... but that there’s not a straight line from their input to the final outcomes."

In a Tough Environment, How Should We Make—and Communicate—Collections Decisions?

In this interview, Madeline Kelly discusses the Western Washington University Libraries’ annual collections evaluation process and what she’s learned about sharing news of subscription cancellations.

katinamagazine.org

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 21d

More news from outside the the library bubble...

Did you know that Dora the Explorer is a significantly more popularly thing to search for than Dora the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment 🤯

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 22d

steady on...

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · 28d

New OA Book by Lever Press one of the publishers that @sheffielduni.bsky.social Library supports via its Open Scholarship Fund 🔓📘

Lever Press @leverpress.bsky.social · 29d

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN by @shanedenson.bsky.social is now available! As the inaugural volume of the film|minutes series, this book offers a minute-by-minute analysis of James Whale's 1935 masterpiece Bride of Frankenstein. Start reading here: buff.ly/U96DFVI

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Sep 5

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7jA...

UKSG GREEN 2025 | Sonic Mania | Tails (No Emeralds Glitched) | jordiiee | 48:24

YouTube video by United Kingdom Speedrunner Gathering

www.youtube.com

Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Sep 5

While looking for an old @uksg.bsky.social talk, I have stumbled across the other UKSG!! (UK Speedrunning Gathering) where people try and complete computer games quickly.

I expect a WWF style lawsuit...

(we can't have people playing sonic when they should be learning about OA policy)

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Sep 4

"more than 60% of librarians see themselves as key figures in AI guidance at their institution, more than academic staff, more than support staff... and far more than senior leadership"

www.helibtech.com/helibtech-vi...

Librarians in the AI Age: Established Skills, New Technologies

A starting point for anyone interested in library technology in Higher Education

www.helibtech.com

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Sep 1

I basically haven't got over the phrase "that's a big word for a little turd" that was commonly used at my school. I just thought I was finally in a space where I could use the word apotheosis without it coming up again

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Sep 1

rewriting a journal article and still grumbling on the feedback "the language choices are esoteric"

But "esoteric" as a descriptor is an esoteric choice in itself.😡

Reviewer, review thyself

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Reposted by Peter Barr

RLUK Research Libraries UK @rluk.ac.uk · Aug 14

In a new #RLUK blog post, @davidprosser.bsky.social looks at how we can anticipate future challenges for research libraries & how this may shape the development of RLUK’s next strategy.

Blog Post | Looking to the Future - Mapping the Environment for Research Libraries - Research Libraries UK

The current RLUK strategy, Transforming the Library, runs until the end of 2025. This year, we have been looking to draft a new strategy that will take us to 2030. Predicting the environment in which...

bit.ly

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Reposted by Peter Barr

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · Aug 20

Many UK universities are likely to walk away from journal access agreements after several publishers put forward “business-as-usual proposals” with “year-on-year price rises” rather than the cheaper deals demanded by national negotiators, a library chief has predicted. @jgro-the.bsky.social reports

‘Business-as-usual’ offers from publishers raise walk-away fears

Disappointing offers which ‘miss financial reality’ faced by UK higher education have heightened speculation that institutions will ditch proposed deals

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Aug 19

The old 'walled garden' only survives if you can afford seeds in 20 years time.

It's true that some libraries haven't got explicit endorsement of their support for OA, but it doesn't follow that they can't get it (and portray it as strategic and mission-aligned)

👀 sheffield.ac.uk/library/libr...

Library Comprehensive Content Strategy

An overview of the Library's mission statement and the standards we maintain.

sheffield.ac.uk

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Aug 19

It's true there are sustainability problems with S2O, but there is with virtually all academic publishing.

Why not strategically invest in a more sustainable alternative - the end game of which might be that the money doesn't come from the library and those budgets shrink accordingly

The Scholarly Kitchen @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social · Aug 18

Subscribe-to-Open Is Doomed. Here’s Why. scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/18/s...

Subscribe-to-Open Is Doomed. Here's Why. - The Scholarly Kitchen

A scholarly communication ecosystem that relies on voluntary support rather than charging for access to content becomes radically less capable of keeping money in the system.

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org

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Peter Barr @tweeterbarr.bsky.social · Aug 19

*AND* only 5 times the price of a regular ebook 🙃

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Reposted by Peter Barr

Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · Aug 18

Is there actually no-one in the UK Library landscape who wants to become Chair of the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network, or are we just not getting the message out.

I can't continue - way to much going on, but without a chair, the network folds... If you've been mulling it over, now is the time to get in touch!

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Reposted by Peter Barr

Hannah Shelley, MLIS (Metadata, Lattes & Impostor Syndrome) @hannahshelley.bsky.social · Aug 13

Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared

Google Scholar Is Doomed

Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?

hannahshelley.neocities.org

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