Emma Booth (she/her)

https://tinyurl.com/yc2mmur

MDG July 2025 Bulletin has now been distributed.
Includes: events & training opportunities from our friends at @arlis-uk.bsky.social, @iaml-aibm.bsky.social, and @indexers.bsky.social
Plus Calls for Papers for MDG Conference 2026 and C&I Journal.
Read it at tinyurl.com/yc2mmur
#metadata #cataloguing

Looking forward to the Metadata Justice in Oklahoma Libraries & Archives Symposium, happening online Thursday. Sessions on reparative description, LCSH revisions, Indigenous subject headings, & more. Registration is free! library.uco.edu/mjoklasympos... #critcat

CILIP MDG members are invited to the next Society of Indexers Coffee Morning Zoom meeting on Thursday 17th July at 11am UK time.
@indexers.bsky.social will be joined by true crime author, David Green, who will talk about the experience of indexing his own writings.
www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

A diamond being held between a pair of silver tweezers so that it can be examined, over a plain white surface.

NEW ARTICLE: 'How Should Diamond Open Access Work for Books?'

Published today in Katina Magazine, and written by @alittleroad.bsky.social, @ivamz.bsky.social, Vanessa Proudman, Ursula Rabar, and @nielsstern.bsky.social -- find out more here:

openaccessbooksnetwork.hcommons.org/2025/07/09/h...

Conference 2025: ‘The Heart and Mind of Indexing’ The Society of Indexers 2025 conference will be an in-person residential conference at Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre at the University of Birmingham from Friday 19 September to Sunday 21…

Early bird bookings for our 2025 in-person conference close on Monday 7 July. Join us for The Heart and Mind of Indexing, 19-21 September, at The Writers’ Suite, Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre, University of Birmingham, UK. Full programme and bookings for #SIConf25 at

Open Letter to the UK Government - Prioritising AI Literacy for All Citizens On 9th June the Prime Minister announced a skills drive on AI focussed technical/functional skills for students and workers, with the announcement centred on industry collaborations, and economic impa...

📢 Open Letter to UK Govt: we're urging Keir Starmer, Peter Kyle & Bridget Phillipson to prioritise critical AI literacy for ALL. It's time everyone had access to learning that supports them to choose how they want to engage with AI.

Read here: connectedbydata.org/blog/2025/07... #AILiteracy

More good news 😍 We're really excited to be working with the NUPs on this project to establish a consortial catalogue shared by all participating publishers.

The catalogue is being built using Thoth's customisable publisher website template (via Strapi) thoth.pub/solutions/ho...

badge reading "ALPSP Award for Innovation in Publishing 2025 - Finalist"

We are truly honoured to have received a finalist nomination for the 2025 @alpsp.bsky.social Award for Innovation in Publishing 2025! #MetadataMatters #openinfrastructure #OAbooks

Hannah and Toby just gave their presentation to the ALPSP panel, and we'll know more in about 2 months' time ...

All true for #metadata management as well.

Got ~7 days of work left before I get some (much-needed) annual leave, & I am reminded, yet again, that University Libraries never have a 'quiet time' when it comes to #collectiondevelopment #acquisitions or #metadata work.
Just hope future-me is kind to present-me for leaving a to-do list!

Leading through uncertainty: Fostering morale and connection in challenging times. Library leaders from RLP institutions share insights about leadership in times of austerity and uncertainty. Explore operational adaptation and planning strategies that can strengthen morale and organ...

"Budget uncertainty and staffing shortages create cascading effects throughout #library operations. Library staff at many institutions feel overworked, stressed, and overwhelmed. Morale is low. Staff take on new responsibilities without additional compensation"
hangingtogether.org/leading-thro...

Let's add a no. 4 to the list - managing #metadata updates for the ever-changing shifting sands of #ebook subscription packages!

We're also at that time of year when #EBA schemes need attention; 'perpetually licensed' titles need to be safeguarded
NB. ISBNs are not a reliable matching method.

https://tinyurl.com/4py42mw9

MDG's June Bulletin has been distributed: tinyurl.com/4py42mw9
- C&I Vol 211 on AI in metadata work 💻
- C&I Call for Papers 'non-MARC' cataloguing 📝
- Uncataloguing Event 🐈
- Visit to the BFI Library 📚
- Call for Proposals: MDG Conference '26 #MetaFutures 🔍
#metadata #cataloguing #events #conference

Save the date: "We Are Enough: Practical Open Access for Everyone" panel session as part of #OAweek 2025 at @pennstateuniv.bsky.social Libraries with @samuelmoore.org @sarahlamdan.bsky.social and @petersuber.bsky.social
Oct 23rd 2025 4PM in the UK
psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Open%2...

The webinar has been recorded and will be made available shortly on the NAG website (for free!) keep an eye on nag.org.uk/event/rethin... and NAG's social media @uklibrariesnag.bsky.social

Kevin @openbookcollective.bsky.social is a partnership, a collaboration between libraries, publishers and authors - all the stakeholders work together on the common goal of producing high quality peer reviewed content that is sustainably funded & supports bibliodiversity

Andrew: Run an OER pilot at your institution to demonstrate the value of Open textbooks. Get data on engagement/usage to win over the sceptics and show the value of switching to open both from a pedagogical perspective and an efficiencies and money-saving perspective

Matt: Collaboration with other institutions is key - community funding initiatives and community-led and owned OA presses - see @oipassoc.bsky.social - We also need to change the narrative about library acquisitions and coll dev and how it relates to OA and Open Research - don't work in a silo

OA Mandates play a role in winning over institutional leads and researchers, but they are not the only way to win over hearts and minds. Advocacy has to come from a place of positivity - communicating the benefits and greater reach that OA brings for academics & their work; carrot as well as stick

Publishers have sold Gold OA as the only option or route to 'transformation' but it is not working - APCs and BPCs are not affordable or equitable. Transformation to open is not happening anywhere near as quickly as promised.

Kevin: Even if libraries only ringfenced a small percentage of their content budget for supporting diamond OA then we would have a much more bibliodiverse & equitable knowledge ecosystem. OA is many things to many people - there are many flavours, some more expensive or equitable than others.

Matt: Supporting Diamond OA content is the ethical/moral thing for libraries to do - not just for sustainable acquisitions & coll dev on the institutional level, but also for supporting global knowledge dissemination on a macro scale

Andrew: If all academic authors published only as OA and shared their teaching resources as OERs or Open Textbooks it would be transformative for education and research globally.

Libraries want to be able to ensure long-term equitable and sustainable access to content rather than ever-changing subscriptions that get more expensive every year. Continuing to create walled-gardens of perpetual access content is not affordable or scalable

Supporting OA infrastructure & DiamondOA models is a necessity not a 'nice-to-have' - embedding OA resources within the library's collection supports ethical, sustainability and EDI policies, & offers a more equitable cost-effective alternative to the shifting sands of subscription paywalled content

Sharon acknowledges that progress begins with small steps, nudging the dial toward broader acceptance that 'open is the future'
Andrew agrees that a critical mass of libraries are needed in order to advocate for this shift to open on a larger scale

Kevin speaks to the issue of paywalled e-resources essentially only ever being 'rented'
OA content removes risk of content withdrawal as it can be hosted by the library plus existing community-governed open infrastructures such as @oapenbooks.bsky.social are protected from commercial acquisition

Conversations are already happening between libraries & faculty about broader adoption of OA content on Reading Lists. Dev of broader OA policies will necessitate moving away from only using budgets for paywalled content - solutions need to be ready & embedded in our collection dev practices

Diamond OA Publishers also produce OA Books for research purposes - OA Monographs. These provide high quality peer-reviewed resources to support wider learning and research. Much of this content is supported by open metadata that supports sharing and reuse eg via @thoth-metadata.bsky.social