Gene @dzshuniper@ausglam.space

Good news: I don't have COVID.

When I filled out the testing form I selected 'Education - tertiary (staff and students)' as my employment category. The doctor I spoke to asked me if I was a lecturer or a student. I told her I was "a librarian". I'm not, technically, but I figured a drive-through COVID testing centre in a multi-storey car park was not the place to try to explain the nuances in the difference (if any) between librarians, archivists, records managers, and data curators.

TIL that Janelle Monáe started their career busking on the steps of the Robert W. Woodruff Library in Atlanta.

Very powerful editorial by Dr Pooja Sawrikar on gender inequity and academic progression: https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11010023

Trapped in house. Spider has built a human-sized web outside front door. 🕸️ #AustralianProblems

The importance of natural hair care for Black women as part of Black cultural identity, as well as the way in which Effie's hair came alive as part of her transformation reminded me a little of the Binti stories, in which there is also culturally significant hair care routines and science fictional transformations of hair into living/communicating/sensing organs. #SFFBookClub

One of the things I liked was the way Morrow incorporated natural hair styling and care into the story in a significant way: Tavia following a style vlogger for natural haircare tips, being frustrated that her non-Black peers don't understand Black hair and beauty culture; Effie wearing a different natural style suitable for regular swimming. It's her hair and skin that are the first parts of her to show signs of her true form. #SFFBookClub

Sign the open letter to Prof Duncan Maskell (Vice Chancellor) and Prof Russell Goulbourne (Dean of Arts) to stop transphobia at the University of Melbourne before 9am AEST on Thursday 4 March.

The open letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sDbh6iO9bYvStZyeiI4We5Z9EgxEfk1UhvjtO1zJyMI/edit

The form to add your signature: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnsyyk671e5NwP8-tdL_IOz5GlPH0xUpHOEkK1TCz6s0U5dQ/viewform?fbzx=-5972234977700075048

Ooh, and I've just noticed that one of their previously recorded webinars was on adapting Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Kindred into graphic novel format. Bookmarking this to watch later: https://mediacentral.princeton.edu/media/AfrofuturismA+The+Graphics+of+Octavia+Butler/0_sxt5w106

This is a little early on a Saturday morning for Australasian timezones, but might be of interest for North Americans. Acrobatics: Moving Through the Trans Archives, a webinar highlighting trans studies in Princeton University Library collections and private archives: https://libcal.princeton.edu/calendar/events/transarchives

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) working group on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for Research Software have a principles discussion document out for community input. Thought some folks here might have useful input: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ju-89HBrIGmZG3H0psewr1LNTcjcElz2Ciuvkt2zzk/edit

Downloaded a seminal 20+ year old digital preservation text in PDF. This was what greeted me on opening it. 😬

I've been using my Slingshot planner as a visual journal. Last week's journalling theme was how I felt about being in and coming out of lockdown.

Mind you, it's still a more in depth and considered response than we've had from Australian institutions with similar histories. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-university-bows-to-pressure-removes-racist-professors-name-from-campus-20170321-gv2sjc.html

It's concerning that UCL's announcement about facing up to its eugenics history involves "Expanded opportunities for students to engage with the subject of eugenics" rather than, say "Expanded opportunities for students to critically engage with the history of eugenics". This is going to be done through "improved access to archives and special collections". I hope this means that archival descriptions are being reviewed to centre disabled and BAME perspectives. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/jan/ucl-makes-formal-public-apology-its-history-and-legacy-eugenics

"Archives need to broaden their perception of relevant records to go beyond cultural information and retrospective memory making about Indigenous peoples. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are still here existing and living and evolving today, and our modern culture and lives are just as important to the history of Australia as our traditional culture and lives."

"The silence of galleries, archives, libraries and museums (GLAM) might be seen by some as an attempt to remain neutral, but the choice to not engage with BLM [Bla(c)k Lives Matter] during NRW [National Reconcilation Week] demonstrated that GLAM institutions are more comfortable celebrating Indigenous activism long after the event has passed and the historical narrative for the event has been decided."