Conversations around labor issues in the profession are not new. But at the DLF Forum this past fall and at other conferences and meetings (including CHSC Summit and SAA), certain aspects of how labor practices affect the work we do have come up again and again. What kind of guidelines for creating healthier grant-funded positions might be provided for grant writers and reviewers? Should LAM institutions be contracting with the prison-industrial complex at all? Are there concrete steps that could be taken to make this contracted employment of incarcerated persons more ethical? How can institutions address the problems of credential creep in DH and other positions?

These problems aren't unique to the digital sphere. However, one must start somewhere and the DLF has offered to provide a space for this work and may endorse and promote its outcomes. One does not have to be a DLF member or attending Fall 2017's Forum to participate in the working group. If you're interested, please read the full post on the DLF website. I look forward to feedback and hope to work with some of you on this.

Thank you,

Ruth Kitchin Tillman