The Authority File

In this second episode of the four-part series, Stephanie Espinoza Villamor and Kimberly Shotick, coauthors of  Practical Marketing for the Academic Library , discuss the primary audiences of library marketing initiatives, and how messaging differs based on the distinct needs of students, faculty, and administration. In addition, our guests highlight the benefits of strong relationships with admin...

Although primary source databases now feature technology like handwritten text recognition, keyword search, and—most crucially—digitized versions of physical items, interpreting primary sources still require traditional skills in patience, organization, and general research. For example, Anne Lister, a 19th-century lesbian diarist, traveler, and landowner, wrote hundreds of journal entries through...

Marketing—whether volunteer-based or through designated staff—is an essential component of the modern library. Informing students of resources, aiding faculty with curriculum goals, and demonstrating impact to administration all fall within the scope of library marketing. Beyond reaching these groups, marketing allows library staff to reassess offerings, improve services, and better understand pat...

Primary sources provide unique insights into the past. But for Rachel Friars, a PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at Queen’s University, they also offer a context and history that informs the present. More specifically, Rachel’s research in lesbian literature and neo-Victorianism calls for historical queer perspectives that go beyond medical or legal representation,...

In the final episode of this four-part series, Jason Camlot and Jeffrey Weingarten, coeditors of  Unpacking the Personal Library: The Public and Private Life of Books , share key takeaways on collection practices and the value of personal libraries. First, Jeffrey parses out the library’s complexity as a research tool, and the need to suspend all assumptions on which parts of a personal collection...

In the final episode of this four-part series, Dr. Rebecca “Bek” Cooney, Chief Editor of  Nature Mental Health , discusses the current publishing landscape and future of mental health research. She explores the balance between open access and subscription models through an equity lens, highlighting the importance of author-first and choice-driven perspectives. She also explains how the librarian’s...

In the third episode of this four-part series on personal libraries, Jason Camlot and Jeffrey Weingarten, coeditors of  Unpacking the Personal Library: The Public and Private Life of Books , examine what’s lost when libraries discard volume duplicates or rely solely on digital copies. Highlighting the traces left from marginalia, publisher blurbs, and differing publication years, our guests discus...

The forthcoming  Nature Mental Health  aims to build DEI principles into its editorial approach, thereby underpinning mental health as a human right. However, bringing these goals to fruition requires intentionality through inclusive initiatives and equitable publication practices—such as, global partnerships, lived experience advisory boards, and community-based recognition. In the third episode...

A library collection is more than its contents. The setting, purpose, or owner all influence a library’s definition and relationship with a reader. The various contexts surrounding a collection—whether political, social, or personal—transform how it is used, categorized, and preserved. As Jeffrey Weingarten, coeditor of  Unpacking the Personal Library: The Public and Private Life of Books , puts i...

While outlining the forthcoming journal  Nature Mental Health , the editorial team wanted to build equity, awareness, and transparency into its framework. As Chief Editor Dr. Rebecca “Bek” Cooney notes, the journal’s scope underpins mental health as a human right in order to spotlight the lack of understanding and structural support for mental health issues. How can a journal intentionally establi...

Whether it’s a dog-eared stack of The Boxcar Children, an annotated collection of Sylvia Plath poetry, or an encyclopedic array of Guinness World Records, a personal library can reflect a holder’s academic interests, personal values, or position in a community. But more often than not, after a scholar’s death or retirement, their personal libraries face a crossroads. Does it fit in an archive, aca...

The language surrounding “mental health” is often clouded with vague lifestyle tips (get plenty of sleep! Light a candle!) or out-of-touch direction pointing toward a healthcare system that cannot support the barrage of people seeking care. Even further, our mental health systems often don’t account for the disparities in support across social, racial, and economic lines, leading to inequitable ca...

In the final episode of this series, our guests dig into how faculty and student perspectives allow librarians to remain flexible and adjust services to better suit undergraduate needs. Ian Snowley, Dean of Student Learning Development & University Librarian at the University of Lincoln, Jamie Wood, professor of History and Education at the University of Lincoln, and Samantha Sharman, a studen...

In this third episode on the undergraduate workflow, Ian Snowley, Dean of Student Learning Development & University Librarian at the University of Lincoln, Jamie Wood, professor of History and Education at the University of Lincoln, Samantha Sharman, a student at the University of Lincoln, and Matt Hayes, Managing Director at Technology from SAGE, discuss how faculty and librarians can partner...

The student perspective is a key factor when building a workflow that functions for faculty, librarians, and, yes, students. Thanks to a recent research project on the undergraduate workflow, our four guests gleaned valuable guidance from students on building reading lists. Takeaways included pointing to a particular chapter instead of an entire book, and providing narrower materials to start, the...

Students, faculty, and librarians belong to the same higher education ecosystem. And yet, the three stakeholders often lack strong communication and collaboration, leading to accessibility issues, outdated resources, and a general misunderstanding of each party’s unique responsibilities and obstacles. In fact, when faced with something as (seemingly) simple as a course reading list, the student, p...

In the final episode of this four-part series, Felicity Plester, Editorial Director for Humanities, and Tamsine O’Riordan, Editorial Director for Social Science, both at Palgrave Macmillan, discuss the publisher’s future formats and emerging topics in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). They reflect on the power of e-resources in publishing and scholarly dissemination, in addition to flexibl...

In the final episode of this series, Dr. Niklas Lidströmer, co-editor of  Artificial Intelligence in Medicine , looks at future trends of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM). Niklas covers major innovations ahead and their potential impacts on treatment and the patient and doctor relationship. In addition, he discusses the current global applications of AIM and his forthcoming title on Artif...

The publication of the  United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  motivated publishers to assess their own mission statements and level of engagement within the scholarly community. Centering goals in gender equality, clean energy, and quality education can strengthen research, heighten impact, and encourage a global perspective. How else can community engagement goals facilitate a pub...

The ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM) include questions of privacy, safety, and authority. In fact, the ownership of medical data and safeguarding patients’ identities is only one part of the puzzle. Additional challenges like preventing biases from entering diagnosis or alerting patients to the use of AI—and receiving consent—are crucial hurdles to overcome with the adoption of...

Publishers today are working to implement robust internal practices that center diversity, equity, and inclusion. Palgrave Macmillan—a publisher whose titles focus on issues of race, gender, disability, class, and more—is no different. What kind of DEI initiatives, projects, and training has the publisher introduced? How do they ensure that this work is outlined with intention and paid roles inste...

Introducing Artificial Intelligence to the medical world has reaped advancements in symptom detection, diagnosis procedures, and patient autonomy. However, it has also sparked questions of security, privacy, and ownership. Who owns medical data? What governing body dictates that ownership? How do practitioners and stakeholders create standards for implementing AI into medicine? In this second epis...

Scholarly publishing extends beyond disseminating research. Editorial and internal practices, community engagement, and spreading awareness for social issues all comprise a publisher’s mission and cultural influence. So how do publishers strike a balance between activism and critical research? Are those two goals really in opposition to each other? How can recognizing and responding to the current...

Over a decade ago, specialist physician and researcher Dr. Niklas Lidströmer found electronic health records to be unorganized, error-prone, and underutilized. Convinced of the value in sifting through and connecting this medical data, Niklas tried to persuade stakeholders of the data’s efficacy, eventually leading to his work in artificial intelligence—a practical tool that could handle sorting t...

Throughout this series, Deanna Reder, Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and English at Simon Fraser University, has discussed her many contributions to the growing field of Indigenous Studies: her latest book,  Autobiography as Indigenous Intellectual Tradition , her time as Series Editor for the  Indigenous Series  at Wilfrid Laurier University Press, and her work for organizations like t...