Against the Grain - The Podcast

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Ross Mounce, Director of Open Access, Arcadia, a family philanthropy. A paleontologist, Ross has a PhD in evolutionary biology. When he began his PhD research at the University of Bath, he realized the lack of access to research papers and the data, and he believed researchers need to be more open and transparent with their work. Ross began working with Acadia around 8 years ago. Since 2002, Arcadia has awarded $1.3 billion to organizations around the world. Arcadia funding areas include conserving and restoring nature, recording cultural heritage and promoting open access. In this interview, Ross talks about the Arcadia funding model, and how it is managed.   Ross says "We love to see practical change in the world. So, that doesn't always mean commissioning people to do research. It means really commissioning people to do things that will change the world." Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmounce/ Keywords: #Arcadia #OpenAccess #OpenScience #OpenKnowledge #OpenResearch #ResearchTransparency #AcademicTools #OpenSource #ResearchImpact #metadata #OpenResearch #DigitalLibrary #DigitalTransformation #LibraryTechnology #Innovation #career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Herbert Van de Sompel, Researcher Fellow at Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) and Guest Professor at Ghent University. Although Herbert has spent the last 25 to 30 years working in libraries, he doesn't describe himself as a librarian but as what he calls an "infrastructure plumber."  With a background in mathematics and information science, he has done years of infrastructure work within the library to allow technology to be used to improve research communication. Starting with Ghent University Library, where he did his thesis, and which he says was behind in automation compared to other European libraries, he began with automation of administrative processes, but he says that he didn't then fully understand what automation in an academic library would be fully about. Herbert got to work with a vision- he didn't feel that library automation was catalog automation. It was about providing access to all kinds of other sources. In this conversation, we'll hear how Herbert worked to modernize library services at Ghent, propelling them from way behind to way ahead in automation and his contributions to developing SFX and the OpenURL framework. Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbertvandesompel/ Keywords: #OpenAccess #ResearchInfrastructure #AcademicTools #LibraryAutomation #OpenSource #OpenScience #metadata #OpenResearch #DigitalLibrary #DigitalTransformation #LibraryTechnology #Innovation #career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

This episode is sponsored by Moara.io and contains corporate sponsored content. All content is provided by Moara.io. The views, opinions, and content expressed during this sponsored episode are those of the participants, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast or the Charleston Hub. Sponsorship does not imply endorsement of any products, services, or statements made during the episode. Thank you to Moara.io for supporting ATG the Podcast and its mission to connect librarians, publishers, and vendors. Moara.io:  (a next gen literature review workflow tool), "Organize and review your research papers. Streamline your literature review process with guided workflows, seamless collaboration, and AI enablement." Today's episode features a conversation between John Frechette , CEO, moara.io; Adjunct Instructor, George Washington & Stevenson University; Ben Kaube, Co-founder, Cassyni; and Aaron Tay,  Head of Research & Data Services, Singapore Management University. This conversation explores how AI is reshaping the research process - from how papers are discovered to how findings are analyzed, shared, and rewarded. John talks with Ben and Aaron about the new realities of AI-driven search, publishing, and research workflows. Together, they discuss where automation helps or harms, how publishers and librarians are adapting, and what the rise of AI means for research quality and integrity. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfrechette/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-kaube/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarontay/  Keywords: #Moara.io #Research #ResearchIntegrity #ResearchQuality #ResearchWorkflows #FutureOfResearch #AI #AITools #AIDriven #AIEthics #ResearchTools #AcademicTools #AcademicInnovation #PublishingInnovation #DigitalPublishing #OpenAccess #OpenSource #OpenScience #OpenResearch #Innovation #career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Adam Hyde, Founder, Coko (Collaborative Knowledge Foundation). Adam is known for innovating in publishing. In this conversation, he talks about an interesting career progression and how he transitioned into scholarly publishing. Born in New Zealand, he earned his master's in philosophy at Waikato, a small University. However, he began his career managing community radio in the 1990s, becoming manager of the station after applying numerous times for the position.  He built a recording studio, with a devoted community and events around it, being one of the few independent radio stations in the country, even starting a community TV station, right as the internet was taking off. Adam moved to Australia and began working for an IT Consultancy, where he was introduced to Linux and streaming. He then moved over to Europe as a media activist and artist and then worked for an independent internet service provider in Amsterdam.     He traveled around teaching workshops on media technology and promoting open-sourced software. Adam developed FLOSS Manuals and Book Sprints, and was eventually noticed by PLOS, where he helped design a new journal platform.    He applied for funding from the Shuttlesworth Foundation, and used this funding to found Coko, a nonprofit organization that builds open-source publishing tools for scholarly and scientific communication.    Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamhyde/ Keywords:#CokoFoundation #AcademicTools #PublishingInnovation #DigitalPublishing #OpenAccess #OpenSource #OpenScience #OpenResearch #Innovation #career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Abel Packer, Co-Founder, SciELO. In this conversation, Abel talks about beginning his career in engineering and computer science, working on UN demographic data projects in Latin America and creating the early bibliographic system, DocPop. He then earned his Masters in Library Science and, in 1997, co-founded SciELO, a decentralized, open access platform, to improve both visibility and access to Latin American Scientific Journals. Beginning with only 10 journals, SciELO is now used across 17 countries. Abel feels that, despite the success, SciELO is often overlooked globally, possibly due to its Global South origins.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/abel-l-packer-2b29a540/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/scielo---scientific-electronic-library-online/posts/?feedView=all Twitter: Keywords: #SciELO #LibraryScience #OpenAccess #OA #OpenScience #GlobalSouth #GlobalLibraries #career #collaboration #Innovation #AcademicInnovation #KnowledgeEquity #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Joy Connolly, President, American Council of Learned Societies. Joy has been President of ACLS since 2019. Prior to this, she was provost and interim president of the CUNY Graduate Center. Joy says she has always had an interest in the classics and has written two books on Roman Political Theory and rhetoric and is currently working on her third. In this conversation, Joy talks about the turn from a highly successful academic career to taking on the role at the nonprofit ACLS, which is very much aligned with academic institutions. Joy says this transition gave her an opportunity to bring to a different context some of the skills that she had gained as an academic administrator, faculty member, scholar, and teacher. The. video of this podcast can be found here: https://youtu.be/NtjQ2Za1jO0 Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-connolly-a26b40280/ Twitter: Keywords: #ACLS #Humanities #ClassicalStudies #EducationLeadership #AcademicLeadership #GlobalAcademia #HigherEd #NonprofitLeadership #AcademicTransitions #scholarship #career #collaboration #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Rob Johnson, Managing Director, Founder, Research Consulting. Rob Johnson is founder and CEO of Research Consulting, well-known in scholarly publishing for investigations into policy. In this interview, we talk with Rob about his background and talk about his group's recent large-scale reports on society publishing. Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/robjohnsonresearchconsulting/ Twitter: Keywords: #AcademicWriting, #AcademicNetworking, #ScholarlyWriting, #PublishingAdvice #GlobalAcademia #career #collaboration #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Steve Gump, Author and Associate Director, Fellowships, University of Virginia. Steve is author of the recently published How to Review Scholarly Books (Princeton University Press). In addition to working as a fellowship advisor at University of Virginia, he has also worked as a book review editor for the Journal of Scholarly Publishing since 2024, where he solicits, develops, and publishes scholarly book reviews. He talks about the benefits of building a network through reviewing, working with reviewers in other countries, and what authors of scholarly books really want. Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-gump/ Keywords: #BookReview #BookReviewEditor #PeerReview #ScholarlyReview #AcademicWriting, #AcademicNetworking, #ScholarlyWriting, #PublishingAdvice #GlobalAcademia #career #collaboration #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Rice Majors, Associate University Librarian, University of California, Davis. Rice studied music and worked in the library as an undergraduate, where he was initially hired during the Summer to work on a retroactive barcoding project of their collections, looking at stacks of the music library. In this conversation, Rice talks more about his background, his current role as Associate University Librarian and his involvement as principal investigator for Project LEND, a major investigation into the use of digital books within institutions. LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricemajors/ Keywords:  #DigitalLibraries #HigherEducation #LibraryInnovation #Innovation #KnowledgeSharing #LibraryJobs #career #collaboration #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts

Today's episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Ronald Snijder, CTO, Head of Research, OAPEN Foundation. Ronald first obtained his bachelor's in librarianship, then worked in IT, and then moved into academic publishing with Amsterdam University Press. He says he combines all these experiences with OAPEN library work, where he focuses on open access for books, and is responsible for the technical infrastructure of both OAPEN and the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB). In this interview, he talks about his compelling career, which includes libraries, Not-for-profit foundations, and software companies. LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mupshall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronaldsnijder/ Keywords:  #OAPEN #DOAB #OpenAccess #OpenAccessBooks #PublishingTech #DigitalLibraries #HigherEducation #LibraryInnovation #Innovation #LibraryScience #KnowledgeSharing #LibraryJobs #career #collaboration #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts