After a Herculean effort, coinciding with open access week 2020, our edited volume Reassembling Scholarly Communications: Histories, Infrastructures, and Global Politics of Open Access has now been published by The MIT Press. It's available both in print to purchase and as a CC BY open-access download. I wanted to take this opportunity to write a few words about the goals of the volume, which speak to my interests in open access.

I am, at present, working on a book currently entitled _Warez: The Economic Artforms and Illicit Crafts of the Topsite Scene_, under contract with punctum books. The title has changed since it went under contract in order to better reflect the content -- and it might well change again.

Today, in the _Observer_, the Sunday national newspaper of the liberal Guardian Media Group, Will Hutton offered a sobering retrospective of the university crisis during the Covid pandemic, from his position as the former principal of Hertford College, Oxford.

Today, in the Observer , the Sunday national newspaper of the liberal Guardian Media Group, Will Hutton offered a sobering retrospective of the university crisis during the Covid pandemic, from his position as the former principal of Hertford College, Oxford.

A journalist recently asked me for a comment on why I, as an academic who studies academic publishing, signed [a petition](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nwWTW2sNrkn9mwxtcUBcGVZL2x6hXv7FOX3P_3VgTLA/edit) calling for the retraction of Mead, Lawrence M., ‘Poverty and Culture’, Society, 2020 . I wanted to publish my full reasoning here ahead of any publication that might quote me. When I saw this petition circulating, I took time to read the

There’s an article out today in Research Fortnight detailing some of the frustrations that we had with a recent AHRC/UKRI grant proposal.

There's an article out today in Research Fortnight detailing [some of the frustrations](https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-research-councils-2020-8-applicants-to-ukri-covid-19-rapid-response-call-complain-of-delays/) that we had with a recent AHRC/UKRI grant proposal.

The pandemic is not over. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill just went back for a week of in-person term. Seven days later, they have shut down, with over 500 students in isolation. They can now offer only remote tuition. So I repeat to those who are being optimistic about this year: no, the pandemic is not over, it is far from over, and there are many many challenges ahead.

I recently participated in the American Historical Association’s open peer review experiment on the manuscript of ‘History Can Be Open Source’. I enjoyed reading the manuscript and welcomed the experiment. I would like to offer some experiential observations on the meta-process, in the open. I’ve used CommentPress before, so the technology was familiar.

I recently participated in the American Historical Association's open peer review experiment on the manuscript of '[History Can Be Open Source](https://ahropenreview.com/HistoryCanBeOpenSource/)'. I enjoyed reading the manuscript and welcomed the experiment. I would like to offer some experiential observations on the meta-process, in the open. I've used CommentPress before, so the technology was familiar.

A note to self (and others) for when this problem happens again. My university today updated the certificate for their OWA webmail service, signed by a certificate authority that I did not have in my trust chain.