Welcome to LJAN Resources, our monthly academic content roundup. We’ll be curating standout InfoDocket posts and nonfiction LJ book reviews once every month for quick access to news and reviews you can use.
From WIRED: The company is starting to roll out long-term memory in ChatGPT—a function that maintains a memory of who you are, how you work, and what you like to chat about. Called simply Memory, it’s an AI personalization feature that turbocharges the “custom instructions” tool OpenAI released last July. Using ChatGPT custom instructions, a person could tell the chatbot that they’re a technology journalist based in the Bay Area who enjoys surfing, and the chatbot would consider that information in future responses within that conversation, like a first date who never forgets the details.
Moving from reaction to action, higher education stakeholders are currently exploring the opportunities afforded by AI for teaching, learning, and work while maintaining a sense of caution for the vast array of risks AI-powered technologies pose. To aid in these efforts, we present this inaugural EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study, in which we summarize the higher education community’s current sentiments and experiences related to strategic planning and readiness, policies and procedures, workforce, and the future of AI in higher education.
The MIT Press proudly announces that applications are now open for shift+OPEN, an initiative designed to flip existing subscription-based journals to a diamond open access publishing model. Launched with generous funding from Arcadia and expanded with funding from the National Science Foundation, shift+OPEN seeks to catalyze needed change in journals publishing, introduce authors to new readerships, and increase the reach of vital scholarship that has previously been locked behind paywalls.
AIP is delighted to announce the appointment of Trevor Owens as its first Chief Research Officer. Starting February 12, Owens will lead AIP Research, a core element of the Institute’s strategic transformation enabling AIP to leverage its work in statistical research, history, policy, culture, and its library and archives to bring thought leadership to the wider community.
Colleges and universities often have a hard time effectively showcasing their special collections for the general public. The University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences has solved this challenge with an easy-to-use digital platform called Recollect.
From The Guardian: Details of Charles Darwin’s vast personal library, from a paper on epileptic guinea pigs to the Elizabeth Gaskell novel he adored, are being published in their entirety for the first time. The project has involved nearly two decades of painstaking, detective-like work to track down the thousands of books, journals, pamphlets, and articles in the naturalist’s library.
A new project led by McGill University researchers seeks to understand one of humanity’s oldest practices and most powerful tools—storytelling. From ancient oral traditions to modern-day literature and digital narratives, storytelling is an essential part of the lived experience that is not yet fully understood. “The Lives of Literary Characters” is a first-of-its-kind initiative, harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and the collective wisdom of readers worldwide to explore the question: why do we tell stories?
As more academic journals embrace open access publishing models in response to shifting requirements from funders, open access content is playing an increasingly significant role in modern research.
From the life of Prathia Hall, an activist theologian who inspired Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, to the story of Bree Newsome Bass, who climbed a flagpole to remove the Confederate flag at the South Carolina statehouse in 2015, less than two weeks after the murder of nine people in Charleston’s A.M.E. Church, this book delivers a powerful, passionate, and educational reading experience.
A must for scholars, yet still accessible to general audiences, by arguably the preeminent scholar of African American studies. This gem brilliantly reflects multiple depictions of what it means to be a Black American amid complex, structured interracial and color-based discrimination discourses, in which writing and language are keys.
A great addition to collections about the history of film or organized crime, chronicling famous and lesser-known mobsters who made a killing, literally and figuratively, in Hollywood. Sussman’s diligent research and juicy storytelling will appeal to fans of his other works.
WWAV’s experiences serve as an exemplar of Black women organizing in the South. Highly recommended for readers interested in grassroots activism and community organizing.
A poignant glimpse into the lives and obstacles in an impoverished postindustrial county. Includes a call to action to unite and empathize with others.
Harris’s weighty ruminations may serve as either a cautionary tale or a wake-up call for Black women readers, young and older, who are considering higher education. Readers interested in social issues within academia should also peruse the book.
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JOB OF THE WEEK The Prince George's County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) is seeking an Executive Director for its Support Services Division.
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