Category Archives: oa.openwashing

The PA, BA and AAA join together for OpenBooks – a new initiative to reach the next generation of book industry talent – Publishers Association

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“The Publishers Association, Bookseller’s Association and Association of Author’s Agents are proud to collaborate on the development of OpenBooks – a brand new series of free, accessible online events primarily targeting young talent from underrepresented backgrounds.

OpenBooks will launch to the trade with a conversation starting event on the subject of future talent at The Bookseller’s FutureBook Conference on 18 November 2022.

OpenBooks will launch to young people across the UK in February 2023, via a hub at: www.publishers.org.uk/openbooks with a series of virtual live events and panels, plus short video content, all aimed at inspiring and connecting to their interests, creative skills, and passions.

Aimed primarily at 14 to 19-year-olds from underrepresented backgrounds, OpenBooks will showcase a range of book-related career options across publishing, bookselling, literary agenting and beyond. Drawing in a wide range of inspiring speakers, events will be curated to bring insights into the book industry, demystifying career options, identifying routes in, and positioning the books industry alongside other inspirational creative industries such as film, TV and music.

Events will be open to all and freely available to watch online at any time, reducing barriers to accessibility, including travel and cost….”

The PA, BA and AAA join together for OpenBooks – a new initiative to reach the next generation of book industry talent – Publishers Association

Posted on by
Reply

“The Publishers Association, Bookseller’s Association and Association of Author’s Agents are proud to collaborate on the development of OpenBooks – a brand new series of free, accessible online events primarily targeting young talent from underrepresented backgrounds.

OpenBooks will launch to the trade with a conversation starting event on the subject of future talent at The Bookseller’s FutureBook Conference on 18 November 2022.

OpenBooks will launch to young people across the UK in February 2023, via a hub at: www.publishers.org.uk/openbooks with a series of virtual live events and panels, plus short video content, all aimed at inspiring and connecting to their interests, creative skills, and passions.

Aimed primarily at 14 to 19-year-olds from underrepresented backgrounds, OpenBooks will showcase a range of book-related career options across publishing, bookselling, literary agenting and beyond. Drawing in a wide range of inspiring speakers, events will be curated to bring insights into the book industry, demystifying career options, identifying routes in, and positioning the books industry alongside other inspirational creative industries such as film, TV and music.

Events will be open to all and freely available to watch online at any time, reducing barriers to accessibility, including travel and cost….”

Open Source is Everywhere, but So Is Fake Open Source | Hacker Noon

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“Tristan Louis gives weight to new term that I like a lot: fauxpen. Faux in French means “false” or “fake”. So fauxpen means fake open. There has always been a lot of that going around, but since the world of tech inevitably contains more of everything, there’s more fauxpen stuff than ever….”

Trump EPA’s Fast Track for ‘Secret Science’ Rule Nixed (1)

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“The Trump administration’s EPA broke the law when it finalized a “science transparency” rule and made it effective immediately, a federal court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could help the Biden administration scrap the rule.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana said the Environmental Protection Agency failed to justify its decision to make the controversial rule take effect right after its publication in the Federal Register, instead of after 30 days, as is typical….”

Court rules against fast-track of Trump EPA’s ‘secret science’ rule | TheHill

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“A federal judge in Montana late Wednesday ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to fast-track a controversial rule about how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers scientific evidence, endangering its future under the Biden administration. 

The Trump EPA had characterized the rule, which would restrict the use of studies that don’t make their underlying data publicly available, as procedural, allowing it to go into effect immediately.

Judge Brian Morris, an Obama appointee, disagreed, determining that the rule was substantive and ordering that it can’t go into effect until Feb. 5.

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Delaying the rule could jeopardize it, as it would now be subject to a new White House memo that freezes pending regulations for 60 days….”

Environmental groups sue in bid to block EPA ‘secret science’ rule  | TheHill

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“Green groups on Monday filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent a new rule limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) use of certain studies from taking effect.

The lawsuit takes aim at the EPA’s Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule, also known as the “secret science” rule, which restricts the use of studies that don’t make their underlying data public. 

The agency has billed the rule as a transparency measure, though its opponents argue that it will prevent consideration of important public health studies that can’t publish their data for reasons such as privacy. …”

EPA finalizes scientific transparency rule limiting which studies can be used to protect public health – The Washington Post

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“The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule to limit what research it can use to craft public health protections, a move opponents argue is aimed at crippling the agency’s ability to more aggressively regulate the nation’s air and water.

 

The “Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information” rule, which the administration began pursuing early in President Trump’s term, would require researchers to disclose the raw data involved in their public health studies before the agency could rely upon their conclusions. It will apply this new set of standards to “dose-response studies,” which evaluate how much a person’s exposure to a substance increases the risk of harm….”

Trump’s new rule restricting EPA’s use of certain science could have short life | Science | AAAS

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“President Donald Trump’s administration yesterday finalized a controversial rule that would make it more difficult for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use major health studies to guide pollution regulations. But the new rule—which has been fiercely opposed by the scientific community—could have a short life. The apparent victory by Democrats yesterday in two Senate races in Georgia is expected to give the party control of the U.S. Senate, and lawmakers could use a rarely invoked law to revoke the rule by a simple majority vote….”

StrengtheningTransparency inPivotal Science UnderlyingSignificant RegulatoryActions andInfluentialScientific Information

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“SUMMARY: This action establishes how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will consider the availability of dose-response data underlying pivotal science used in its significant regulatory actions and influential scientific information. When promulgating significant regulatory actions or developing influential scientific information for which the conclusions are driven by the quantitative relationship between the amount of dose or exposure to a pollutant, contaminant, or substance and an effect, the EPA will give greater consideration to studies where the underlying dose-response data are available in a manner sufficient for independent validation. This action also requires the EPA to identify and make publicly available the science that serves as the basis for informing a significant regulatory action at the proposed or draft stage to the extent practicable; reinforces the applicability of peer review requirements for pivotal science; and provides criteria for the Administrator to exempt certain studies from the requirements of this rulemaking….”

In a parting gift, EPA finalizes rules to limit its use of science | Ars Technica

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“The EPA’s new rule, which will be formally published tomorrow, is an attempt to set additional standards for the evidence it considers when establishing new regulations for pollutants. In principle, the rule sounds great: it wants the data behind the scientific papers it uses to be made publicly available before it can be used to support regulatory decisions. In reality, the rule is problematic, because many of these studies rely on patient records that need to be kept confidential. In other cases, the organizations with the best information on some environmental hazards are the companies that produce or work with them, and they may not be interested in sharing proprietary data.

The practical result of this sort of change is that the EPA would be precluded from relying on scientific papers that contained the clearest indications of public harm. This would almost certainly lead to weaker rules or a decision not to regulate at all….”

White House appears to conclude review of EPA ‘secret science’ rule | TheHill

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“The White House appears to have concluded its review of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that’s expected to limit the types of scientific research the agency can consider in its rulemaking process. 

The website for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget lists the rule’s review as concluded this week. 

The rule, which the agency has billed as a transparency measure, is expected to limit the EPA’s ability to consider studies that don’t make their underlying data public. 

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Critics argue that this could cause the agency to exclude important research like landmark public health studies that can’t release participants’ information. 

EPA spokesperson James Hewitt, however, declined to say whether the rule had been finalized and signed by Administrator Andrew Wheeler, saying “we have nothing to announce at this time” in an email to The Hill. 

“The American public deserve transparency and access to data that determine regulatory decisions and in a way that protects the privacy of individuals and other confidential information,” Hewitt added. …”

E.P.A.’s Final Deregulatory Rush Runs Into Open Staff Resistance

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“As President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency rushes to complete its regulatory rollbacks, agency staff, emboldened by the Biden victory, moves to stand in the way….

Thomas Sinks directed the E.P.A.’s science advisory office and later managed the agency’s rules and data around research that involved people. Before his retirement in September, he decided to issue a blistering official opinion that the pending rule — which would require the agency to ignore or downgrade any medical research that does not expose its raw data — will compromise American public health….”

EPA’s independent science board says ‘secret science’ proposal may ‘reduce scientific integrity’ | TheHill

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“The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) independent board of science advisers had harsh words for an agency plan to limit the types of studies it considers when crafting regulations, saying the EPA had failed to justify the need for the policy.

The policy was first proposed by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in 2018 to battle “secret science.” He argued that in order to increase transparency, the agency should limit consideration of studies that don’t share their underlying data….

The SAB’s review is consistent with longstanding criticism of the proposal, as science and medical groups have argued it will lead the EPA to ignore important public health research that must protect the privacy of human subjects….”

JSTOR’s paywall is still alive, but it’s trying to score brownie points during a pandemic

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“But now, in an attempt to extend solidarity during the coronavirus crisis, JSTOR has announced free access to over 6,000 books and 150 journals. Great news, right? Except it’s not. Twitter users have pointed out that JSTOR has not released any essay that was under paywall; instead, it is just replugging those articles and papers that users already had open access to.

 

Essentially, JSTOR has simply tried to score brownie points on the back of a deadly virus that has claimed more than 10,000 lives globally. But then, the archival site is not known to be particularly kind to people. 

Just for perspective, JSTOR has been unable to bring itself to give academics and researchers open access to ‘publicly sourced’ content at a time when the whole world is under quarantine and going through an unprecedented and unnatural crisis. Then again, it’s also a time to get on the bandwagon and be appreciated for doing nothing….”