Notices by Eira Tansey (teammidwest@glammr.us)

@slothrop I've been reading Gretchen Bakke's the Grid and it's blowing my mind

even though i've had my ham license for a while (which requires passing a test that gets into electrical theory), trying to wrap my brain around how the electrical grid works is always a mind-bending exercise (i find the concept of load balancing totally fascinating). This is such a helpful primer about why scientifically and economically, electricity is not like other consumer commodities https://practical.engineering/blog/2024/11/14/which-power-plant-does-my-electricity-come-from

I am intensely fascinated with the heirs of oil industry barons who have done an about face and have been thinking about this a lot again in the context of Getty, the climate crisis, and the LA fires. Anyway, the Rockefeller family heirs seemed to have set the standard but here is what another Getty heir has been doing https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/21/getty-oil-heiress-funds-climate-crisis-activism-just-stop-oil

“Another thing I've thought about is we're kind of trying to make brain rot for intellectuals, using formats that are fun and funny on social media and trying to capture people's attention that way to bring them in.” I guess I’m glad someone at Substack (which I am increasingly having a Big Feelings attitude about that mirrors my eventual departure from twitter early in the first Trump term) is saying the quiet part out loud?? https://open.substack.com/pub/embedded/p/substack-social-media-instagram?r=sx43&utm_medium=ios

Folks, there was a book title I ran across recently that I think was a short story collection by an Asian author (I think), and potentially about themes of climate change/technology/weird futures. Can anyone jog my memory what this might have been? I remember wanting to request it from the library and I think I forgot to do so. #literature #books

Also reminder that the End of Term web archive exists if you really want to get involved with existing web archiving work around federal government agency transitions https://eotarchive.org/

guys I'm not trying to harsh anyone's vibes but a lot of people tried the whole "downloading every bit of climate data we could find from a .gov website" this time 8 years ago and most of those projects didn't actually work out very well. For example, the original DataRescue project basically petered out https://www.datarefuge.org/ and EDGI had to narrow its scope https://envirodatagov.org/edgis-data-program-examines-the-role-of-environmental-data-governance-through-the-lenses-of-power-justice-and-equity/

Like, speaking as someone who has worked as an actual digital archivist, the most vital thing you can do is agitate for robust enforcement of **existing** recordkeeping laws, trying to replicate the entire apparatus of existing federal records and data is.... a lot harder than folks realize. It's like thinking you can replace the closure of a public library with a Little Free Library. That's not how it works.

pour one out for those of us working in climate change policy land because lol wtf who knows what happens next. I like Four Roses Small Batch and Maker's if anyone wants to resupply my liquor cart.

Still thinking about how I learned this summer that Florida has its own *reinsurance* program which is pretty wild when you think about it since reinsurance typically exists across very large markets to spread risk (and it is the only state with its own reinsurance program). I shared this with a friend a while back and they were like, kind of like how Texas has its own electric grid https://floridapolicyproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/FINAL_Florida-Insurance-Market-Report.pdf

Here's a podcast episode summarizing this report on the risks of the Florida insurance market that will live rent free in your head for the rest of your life https://www.americaadapts.org/episodes/house-of-cards-florida-and-property-insurance-in-the-age-of-climate-change

I need someone to give me a backstory behind the creation of this org. https://alplibraries.org/

I'd rather not disclose where this conversation is taking place, but I have seen this explicitly presented as an alternative for library/archives workers who are seemingly alienated by the main library/archives professional associations (left unstated in what I've seen but I assume is also the implication that it's meant for those with conservative perspectives)

I will say that from my time working as library faculty chair at a major ARL, I am very unsurprised by the creation of an organization like this. For reasons I can't explain (my Quaker predilection for listening to anyone who wants to talk with me? WHO KNOWS?!) I have often had conservative/heterodox types disclose to me their sense of alienation from a lot of librarianship stuff in recent years. I don't know how to address that, but it's a phenomenon that absolutely exists, even if it's small.

Yall, I’ve been listening to the know your enemy podcast since their early days and deliberately read conservative news outlets for a reason. As a terminally online leftist I’m not naive about what’s going on with the rhetoric on this website, my question about this organization’s back story is whether they have formal ties to other right-wing organizations or if this is more of a clubhouse for disaffected conservative librarians and archivists.

been writing a thing in my head for years about the difference between one's work - which may or may not be paid or recognized within capitalist society but which is what often provides purpose and meaning for many people - and one's job, which is specifically what most of us need to survive capitalism. It's vitally important to distinguish between the two, and I think a lot of the spiritual crises (except no one calls it that in a secular society) is bc of the disconnect.

We have over 6,000 archivists working in the United States and it is enormously frustrating to see the same 1-2 archivists cited in articles about digital archives. I am begging journalists to source some quotes from archivists who are not white men deeply embedded in Silicon Valley culture.

I've had to stay quiet about this news for WEEKS and I can finally announce it! My 2023 pub Green New Deal for Archives won the Waldo Gifford Leland award, which is the American archives profession's highest honor for excellent writing! Massive shout out to my wonderful friend and comrade @j_feral who helped coordinate letter writing in support! https://www2.archivists.org/recipients/2024/waldo-gifford-leland-award-eira-tansey

This has been an incredibly rough year and winning the Leland award means a lot - it's got a great history and a lot of previous super smart people have won it. Proud to be in their company.

One of the things that I still carry baggage around from my time in higher ed is how difficult and lonely it is to be the one who speaks out while others thank you in private for your "bravery." It takes a massive unbelievable toll on people. Truth tellers do not want to be thanked for their bravery, they want you at their side also adding your voice to the mix. United we bargain, divided we beg.