Editor's Desktop

The timely and important focus of this issue is open science in the humanities. Our coverage draws from the third annual Virtual Symposium on Information & Technology in the Arts & Humanities, presented on April 18 and 19, 2017, by the ASIS&T Special Interest Groups/Arts and Humanities (SIG/AH) and Visualization, Images and Sound (SIG/VIS). Special section editor Jeremy McLaughlin provides an extensive Introduction, including a synopsis of all the talks. In addition, papers based on four of the presentations are included in the section. Together, they touch on many of the recurring issues in adapting aspects of open science to the humanities, including open access publishing, collaboration, introducing students to born-digital publishing and the role of metrics in academic evaluation in the humanities.

In Association news, as part of its tradition of striving to increase diversity and enhance inclusion across boundaries, including international and cultural differences, ASIS&T held a Diversity and Inclusion Luncheon for the first time at the 2016 Annual Meeting The purpose was both to celebrate our successes in this area and to generate ideas for improvement and expansion going forward. Annual Meeting co-chairs, Diane Sonnenwald and Lauren Harrison, designed and organized the luncheon, while eight colleagues, Judit Bar-Ilan, Harry Bruce, Toni Carbo, Lynn Connaway, Ixchel Faniel, Sandra Hirsch, Fidelia Ibekwe-SanJuan and Adam Worrall, led discussions at the lunch tables. In “2016 ASIS&T Annual Meeting Diversity and Inclusion Luncheon: Report and Recommendations,” the organizers include details of the event as well many of the thoughtful recommendations for both the Annual Meeting and ASIS&T as a whole generated by the table discussions.

On the “President's Page” Lynn Silipigni Connaway introduces new ASIS&T executive director Lydia Middleton, who started work at the Association on May 8. She announces the plenary speakers for the Annual Meeting, details plans for our 80 Anniversary celebration there and reminds us of deadlines associated with the meeting program. Other topics include her two weeks as a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong promoting information science research and ASIS&T and her attendance with past president Nadia Caidi at the meeting of the Council for Scientific Society Presidents.