Against the Grain - The Podcast

Against the Grain is your key to the latest news about libraries, publishers, book jobbers, and subscription agents. Our goal is to link publishers, vendors, and librarians by reporting on the issues, literature, and people that impact the world of books and journals.

ATGthePodcast 308 - A Conversation with Stevan Harnad, Professor of Cognitive Science, University of South Hampton 02/23/2026

ATGthePodcast 307 - A Conversation with Rupert Gatti and Alessandra Tosi, Co-Founders, Open Book Publishers 02/21/2026

ATGthePodcast 306 - A Conversation with Paul Rosenzweig, Principal, Red Branch Consulting and a Lecturer at George Washington University 02/12/2026

ATGthePodcast 306 - A Conversation with Paul Rosenzweig, Principal, Red Branch Consulting and a Lecturer at George Washington University The following interview is part of the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. In this series, we sit down with leaders and innovators who are making a real difference in scholarly publishing, libraries, and the broader information world. Each conversation is a chance to hear firsthand how these decision makers tackle new challenges, rethink traditional models, and collaborate across sectors. Today’s episode features the next conversation from the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. Heather Staines Senior Consultant, Delta Think, and a Conference Director, talks with Paul Rosenzweig, Principal, Red Branch Consulting and a Lecturer at George Washington University. Paul has had what could be called a “zigzaggy” career, but it all came full circle. He started out as a chemist with a master’s in chemical oceanography and expected he would be a senior oceanographer examining the world by now. However, due to difficulty obtaining government funding, and the job being not as interesting as he had hoped, he decided to change paths and follow in his father’s footsteps. Paul started law school with the idea of focusing on environmental law to tie into his oceanography background. But, instead, he ended up in the environmental crime section at the Department of Justice where he found that he liked the criminal law side a lot more than the environmental side. He talks about the disruption of 9-11 and losing friends and, as a result, transitioning from criminal law to Homeland Security criminal law and doing cybersecurity work for the Department of Homeland Security. Things came full circle here for Paul as he now leaned on the early computer programming and large-scale data basing he had done as an oceanographer. When the cybersecurity crisis hit the government, Paul was early on the scene. In 2009, he left this position and started his consulting company and began teaching at George Washington University part-time as an adjunct. One of his clients is the American Library Association. The video of this interview can be found here: Social Media: LinkedIn: Keywords: #LeoLo #CharlestonConference #AgainstTheGrain #AnnualReviews #LeadershipInLibraries #InnovationInLibraries #TeamWork #Team #ConferenceEvolution #LibraryCommunity #Librarianship #ProfessionalDevelopment #LibrarianJourney #LibraryEducation #InformationAccess #LibraryCommunity #libraries #librarians #libraryCareer #librarySchool #LibraryLove #academic #AcademicPublishing #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #learning #learnon #information #leaders #leadership #2024ChsConf ##career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/40084320

ATGthePodcast 305 - A Conversation with Leo Lo, Dean of Libraries and Advisor for AI Literacy at the University of Virginia 02/02/2026

ATGthePodcast 305 - A Conversation with Leo Lo, Dean of Libraries and Advisor for AI Literacy at the University of Virginia The following interview is part of the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. In this series, we sit down with leaders and innovators who are making a real difference in scholarly publishing, libraries, and the broader information world. Each conversation is a chance to hear firsthand how these decision makers tackle new challenges, rethink traditional models, and collaborate across sectors. Today’s episode features the next conversation from the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. Erin Gallagher, Chair, Acquisitions & Discovery Services at the University of Florida, and a Conference Director, talks with Leo Lo, Dean of Libraries and Advisor for AI Literacy at the University of Virginia. Leo shares that he has a film degree and originally wanted to be a film scholar and film preservationist and didn’t realize that librarianship could be a career until he discovered it by accident when searching for a graduate program in film preservation. One of his professors suggested that he look into the library science programs for preservation specialization. Leo says he became interested immediately, as it was an exciting time when the internet was exploding and changing everything, including librarianship. He earned his MLIS at Florida State University. He says librarianship is the intersection between honoring the past and shaping the future. In this conversation, Leo gives an employer’s perspective as to some steps future librarians could take to better prepare for a landscape where AI is really going to play a large and evolving role. He talks with Erin about his unique role as Dean of Libraries but also being appointed as advisor to the provost for AI literacy, the value for librarians in joining organizations like ALA and ACRL and his experience the first time he used ChatGPT. The video of this interview can be found here: LinkedIn: Keywords: #LeoLo #CharlestonConference #AgainstTheGrain #AnnualReviews #LeadershipInLibraries #InnovationInLibraries #TeamWork #Team #ConferenceEvolution #LibraryCommunity #Librarianship #ProfessionalDevelopment #LibrarianJourney #LibraryEducation #InformationAccess #LibraryCommunity #libraries #librarians #libraryCareer #librarySchool #LibraryLove #academic #AcademicPublishing #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #learning #learnon #information #leaders #leadership #2024ChsConf ##career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/39960790

ATGthePodcast 304 - A Conversation with Paolo Manghi, CTO, OpenAIRE, and Researcher, Italian National Research Council 01/27/2026

ATGthePodcast 303 - A Conversation with Gregory Laynor, PhD, Director, NYU Meta-Research Collaborative and Systemic Review Librarian, NYU Health Science Library 01/25/2026

ATGthePodcast 302 - A Conversation with Andrew Smeall, VP, Product Innovation, Sage 01/12/2026

ATGthePodcast 301 - A Conversation with Michele Frison, Postdoctoral Research Assistant, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge 01/06/2026

ATGthePodcast 301 - A Conversation with Michele Frison, Postdoctoral Research Assistant, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge Today’s episode features guest host Michael Upshall (guest editor, Charleston Briefings) who talks with Michele Frison, Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge. Michele is originally from Italy and completed his PhD at UCL in England with a focus on cell biology. He defines himself as a cell biologist and biochemist, and much of his current research specializes in cell and mitochondrial biology, aging and disease. The Mitochondrial Biology Unit is part of a larger infrastructure that runs clinical trials for rare diseases. Michele says the process is very slow, taking up to a decade or so, but that he has been fortunate enough to have made a recent discovery that could well lead to clinical trial: the protein target that he’s worked with is actually a target for drugs that have already passed phase one clinical trials and are now passing phase two for Parkinson's disease. If the research he has done in models replicates in humans, then it could well lead to a drug for diseases that affect one in 8,000 humans. Michele also talks about the disconnect between the public understanding of science and scientific practice, research culture and competition, open science and the review process, and the vast amount of literature that scientists have to keep up with, as well as his views on the use of AI and social media in his field. The video of this interview can be found here: Social Media: LinkedIn: Twitter: Keywords: #UniversityOfCambridge #MBU #LifeSciences #OpenScience #BiomedicalResearch #Research #OpenResearch #ResearchCulture #CellBiology #MitochondrialBiology #PostDoc #ScientificPublishing #PeerReview #LibraryTechnology #Innovation #career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/39622940

ATGthePodcast 300 - A Conversation with Judy Russell, Former Dean of University Libraries, University of Florida 12/22/2025

ATGthePodcast 300 - A Conversation with Judy Russell, Former Dean of University Libraries, University of Florida The following interview is part of the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. In this series, we sit down with leaders and innovators who are making a real difference in scholarly publishing, libraries, and the broader information world. Each conversation is a chance to hear firsthand how these decision makers tackle new challenges, rethink traditional models, and collaborate across sectors. Today’s episode features the next conversation from the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. Meg White, Senior Consultant, Delta Think, and a Conference Director, who talks with Judy Russell, Former Dean of Libraries at the University of Florida. Judy has had a long, distinguished career. She served as Superintendent of Documents at the US Government Printing Office and as Deputy Director for the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and just completed 18 years as the first dean of university libraries at University of Florida, before recently retiring. In this conversation, she talks about her journey into librarianship and her professional development along the way, playing an important role in the transition from print to digital information in her work with electronic government information. She plans to continue her important work in accessibility with groups in Panama after her retirement. Judy says she believes in the durability and resiliency of libraries, despite the ongoing challenges. The video of this interview can be found here: Social Media: LinkedIn: Twitter: Keywords: #CharlestonConference #AgainstTheGrain #AnnualReviews #LeadershipInLibraries #InnovationInLibraries #TeamWork #Team #ConferenceEvolution #LibraryCommunity #Librarianship #ProfessionalDevelopment #LibrarianJourney #LibraryEducation #InformationAccess #LibraryCommunity #libraries #librarians #libraryCareer #librarySchool #LibraryLove #academic #AcademicPublishing #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #learning #learnon #information #leaders #leadership #2024ChsConf ##career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/39496205

ATGthePodcast 299 - A Conversation with Kathleen McEvoy, Senior Policy Fellow, EveryLibrary Institute 12/15/2025

ATGthePodcast 299 - A Conversation with Kathleen McEvoy, Senior Policy Fellow, EveryLibrary Institute The following interview is part of the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. In this series, we sit down with leaders and innovators who are making a real difference in scholarly publishing, libraries, and the broader information world. Each conversation is a chance to hear firsthand how these decision makers tackle new challenges, rethink traditional models, and collaborate across sectors. Today’s episode features the next conversation from the 2025 Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. Meg White, Senior Consultant, Delta Think, and a Conference Director, who talks with Kathleen McEvoy, Senior Policy Fellow, EveryLibrary Institute. Kathleen is a senior communication executive with expertise in public relations, crisis communications, and public affairs. In this conversation, Kathleen talks with Meg about her professional journey from broadcast journalism to public relations to now her work with EveryLibrary. Kathleen also describes the dual role of EveryLibrary with their work to help libraries build local, state and national support as well as secure funding, and EveryLibrary Institute, which is public education on the role and value of libraries in American society. In the past 13 years, EveryLibrary has insured $2 billion in library funding through their efforts. The video of this interview can be found here: LinkedIn: Twitter: Keywords: #CharlestonConference #AgainstTheGrain #AnnualReviews #LeadershipInLibraries #InnovationInLibraries #TeamWork #Team #ConferenceEvolution #LibraryCommunity #Librarianship #ProfessionalDevelopment #LibrarianJourney #LibraryEducation #InformationAccess #LibraryCommunity #libraries #librarians #libraryCareer #librarySchool #LibraryLove #academic #AcademicPublishing #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #learning #learnon #information #leaders #leadership #2024ChsConf ##career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/39410185

ATGthePodcast 298 - A Conversation with Roger Schonfeld, Managing Director of JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services 12/08/2025

ATGthePodcast 298 - A Conversation with Roger Schonfeld, Managing Director of JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services The following interview is the first in this year’s Charleston Conference Leadership Interview Series. In this series, we sit down with leaders and innovators who are making a real difference in scholarly publishing, libraries, and the broader information world. Each conversation is a chance to hear firsthand how these decision makers tackle new challenges, rethink traditional models, and collaborate across sectors Today’s episode features Meg White, Senior Consultant, Delta Think, and a Conference Director, who talks with Roger Schonfeld, Managing Director of JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services. Roger is very prolific in the scholarly communication industry, both as a leader and as an innovator, with a large part of his career having been devoted to advancing and supporting the work of libraries. In this conversation, Roger talks with Meg about his background in librarianship and how he came to ITHAKA SNR over 20 years ago. He also talks about the new initiative that he’s working on since recently becoming Managing Director of Digital Stewardship Services, which is a platform that helps libraries and archives generate discovery and impact and maximize access for their special and distinctive collections, working with all kinds of different materials- archives, photographs, rare books, oral histories, videos- with a goal to modernize the category to better help libraries manage their digital and digitized distinctive special collections, and bring together the core functionalities of a digital asset management system. The video of this interview can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megmorelandwhite/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerschonfeld/ Keywords: #CharlestonConference #AgainstTheGrain #AnnualReviews #LeadershipInLibraries #InnovationInLibraries #TeamWork #Team #ConferenceEvolution #LibraryCommunity #Librarianship #ProfessionalDevelopment #LibrarianJourney #LibraryEducation #InformationAccess #LibraryCommunity #libraries #librarians #libraryCareer #librarySchool #LibraryLove #academic #AcademicPublishing #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #learning #learnon #information #leaders #leadership #2024ChsConf ##career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/39318560

ATGthePodcast 297 - A Conversation with Ross Mounce, Director of Open Access, Arcadia 12/02/2025

ATGthePodcast 296 - A Conversation with Herbert Van de Sompel, Researcher Fellow at Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) and Guest Professor at Ghent University 11/24/2025

ATGthePodcast 295 - A conversation with John Frechette , Ben Kaube, and Aaron Tay 10/27/2025

ATGthePodcast 295 - A conversation with John Frechette , Ben Kaube, and Aaron Tay This episode is sponsored by and contains corporate sponsored content. All content is provided by . 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. : (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, ; 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. Keywords: # #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 /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/38789285

ATGthePodcast 294 - A Conversation with Adam Hyde, Founder, Coko (Collaborative Knowledge Foundation) 10/20/2025

ATGthePodcast 294 - A Conversation with Adam Hyde, Founder, Coko (Collaborative Knowledge Foundation) 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: Keywords:#CokoFoundation #AcademicTools #PublishingInnovation #DigitalPublishing #OpenAccess #OpenSource #OpenScience #OpenResearch #Innovation #career #scholcomm #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/38646220

ATGthePodcast 293 - A Conversation with Abel Packer, Co-Founder, SciELO 10/06/2025

ATGthePodcast 292 - A Conversation with Joy Connolly, President, American Council for Learned Societies 09/22/2025

ATGthePodcast 291 - A Conversation with Rob Johnson, Managing Director, Founder, Research Consulting 09/15/2025

ATGthePodcast 290 - A Conversation with Steve Gump, Author and Associate Director, Fellowships, University of Virginia 09/08/2025

ATGthePodcast 289 - A Conversation with Rice Majors, Associate University Librarian, University of California, Davis 08/25/2025

ATGthePodcast 288 - A Conversation with Ronald Snijder, CTO, Head of Research, OAPEN Foundation 08/19/2025

ATGthePodcast 287 - A Conversation with Brian Nosek, Executive Director, Center for Open Science 08/11/2025

ATGthePodcast 286 - A Conversation with Damien Pattinson, Executive Director, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. 07/30/2025

ATGthePodcast 285 - A Conversation with Emily McElroy; Matt Carson; Wind Cowles and Dr. Rebecca Taylor-Grant 07/21/2025

ATGthePodcast 285 - A Conversation with Emily McElroy; Matt Carson; Wind Cowles and Dr. Rebecca Taylor-Grant This episode is sponsored by Taylor & Francis, and 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 Taylor & Francis for supporting ATG the Podcast and its mission to connect librarians, publishers, and vendors. Today’s episode features Emily McElroy, Vice President, Academic Relations, Taylor & Francis, who talks with Matt Carson, Head of the Data Management and Technology Department, Galter Health Sciences Library and Learning Center at Northwestern University; Wind Cowles, Associate Dean for Data Research and Teaching at Princeton University Library; and Dr. Rebecca Taylor-Grant, Director of Open Science Strategy & Innovation, Taylor & Francis. In this conversation, Matt and Wind, whom have both built strong data services programs and contributed to national efforts to improve them, describe the data services that their libraries provide for their campuses, how they help fill in the gaps for research support, meet researchers where they are, and their work to spread awareness of what their libraries can offer for researchers. Rebecca, who offers the perspective of a humanities and social sciences publisher who works to facilitate data sharing policies, talks about what is valuable for libraries in supporting their institutions and supporting better data sharing practices. Keywords: #Taylor&Francis #LibraryScience #DataCuration #DataSharing #DataResources #OpenData #SocialSciences #ResearcherSupport #ResearchData #OpenResearch #DataServices #HigherEducation #InstitutionalSupport #StudentSuccess #LibraryCollections #LibraryInnovation #career #partnerships #collaboration #scholcomm #FacultySupport #ScholarlyCommunication #libraries #librarianship #LibraryNeeds #LibraryLove #LibrarySpaces #UniversityLibrary #AcademicLibrary #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #publishing #LibrariesAndPublishers #podcasts /episode/index/show/atgthepodcast/id/37476590

ATGthePodcast 284 - A Conversation with John Willinksy, Founder, Public Knowledge Project (PKP) 07/14/2025

ATGthePodcast 283 - A Conversation with Stephen Webster, Director, Science Communication Unit, Imperial College, London 07/07/2025

ATGthePodcast 282 - A Conversation with David Worlock, Digital Strategy Advisor 06/30/2025

ATGthePodcast 281 - A Conversation with Liam Bullingham, Assistant Director of Academic and Research Services, University of Essex 06/23/2025

ATGthePodcast 280 - A Conversation with Richard Sever, Assistant Director, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 06/17/2025

ATGthePodcast 279 - A Conversation with Richard Jefferson, Founder & CEO, Cambia, Executive Director, Lens.org 06/09/2025

Against the Grain - The Podcast

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