Deborah Lee-Talbot
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colourfulhistories.bsky.social
Deborah Lee-Talbot
@colourfulhistories.bsky.social
Historian. Currently researching the history of Pacific Island archives and use, alongside gen-AI and Ethics. Easily distracted by women's history and local politics.

www.colourfulhistories.com.au
Pinned
Thank you to History Australia editor, Yves Rees, & @austhistassoc.bsky.social for the forum to share my new article about historians and GenAI. So interesting to see where a little curiosity and some generous librarians can take research

#history #archives #library #avatar #AI #academic
Historians and generative AI: challenges and opportunities in digital historical practice
Published in History Australia (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
Note to self. Keep the conference paper achievable and small scale. Just something tidy and interesting.

Low hanging fruit. Go for the low hanging fruit.

Or I could say fuck it. Where's the fun in that?
a cartoon of a girl with the words voices in my head below her
ALT: a cartoon of a girl with the words voices in my head below her
media.tenor.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Today I'm wrapping up a scoping survey regarding the standardisation of AI use in Higher Ed. This research was conducted in collaboration with research &teaching staff at the Pacific Adventist University, PNG & is part of a broader project regarding the impact of AI on student experiences in PNG.
November 27, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Fuck it. I'm going to learn how to do this coding business.
November 25, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Sitting at my local library, wondering how I'm still locating marvellous music from the ever glorious B-52s. Today's find: b-mesopotamia. The lyrics are a gem.

Go read a book.
a man wearing glasses and a white shirt says " read a book "
ALT: a man wearing glasses and a white shirt says " read a book "
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Curious to see that once upon a time we had "field research" as the standard practice and now "desk research" is a norm.

I wonder how often the latter leads to the former?

Signed, a desk-bound historian with boots that need walkin'
a man in a lab coat sitting in front of a computer
ALT: a man in a lab coat sitting in front of a computer
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Deborah Lee-Talbot
ICYMI - APH Director, A/Prof Carolyn Holbrook, was featured in the new ABC show 'When the war was over', speaking about how the film 'Gallipoli' changed Australian war memory:

"Without art in the form of the film Gallipoli, the Anzac legend might have just died"

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
The Gallipoli story was being forgotten in Australia, until this film
By the 80s, the story of the Anzacs at Gallipoli had started to fade from the public consciousness. Then an Australian anti-war filmmaker had an idea.
www.abc.net.au
November 24, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Hopeful for all those who dedicated time, effort, experience and dreams to this brutal application process.
ARC says they’ll announce DECRA and LIEF outcomes tomorrow (Tuesday 25th Nov).

In recent times these announcements have been around 11am Canberra time. With 2 schemes on the same day, I assume they’ll announce one of them later in the day (probably DECRA first).
November 24, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Happiness is choosing baking over journal revisions.
November 23, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Hair back. Apron on. Spices assembled. Tunes on.

It's time to Christmas bake.
November 23, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Ah, it seems thwock season is upon us.

You'd think there would be one season of relief for the non-sporty sort.
a woman is playing cricket with a bat and ball .
ALT: a woman is playing cricket with a bat and ball .
media.tenor.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Damn. I would've been knocked out at the first line.
This week, I withdrew from a speaking engagement at a public university because they sent me a list of prohibited “words & concepts.” I will not humor this censorship. It does a disservice to the stories I’m discussing & the audience, who deserve unfettered access to information & conversation.
November 21, 2025 at 5:03 AM
I'm not saying "traditional" Christmas films don't still have a place in the annual rotation, but seeing Gremlins and Die Hard as a staple at our local cinemas is a fine festive treat.

If only they had Prometheus...
November 20, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Ah, mulberry season. The time of year when my dog also dyes herself purple.
November 20, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Deborah Lee-Talbot
As mentioned in my post yesterday, I'm going to run a workshop on the GLAM Workbench while I'm in Melbourne in a couple of weeks. It's aimed at GLAM organisations who want to encourage people to do cool stuff with their data […]
Original post on hcommons.social
hcommons.social
November 20, 2025 at 5:13 AM
The Nat Museum Singapore used AI to create videos and images of stories led by "lesser know protagonists". My friends, welcome to the Rat Resistance: iampingpong.com/rewriting-hi...

Not how I'd create it, but good to see animals being given a voice in history.

#AI #GLAM #History #publichistory
Loo Yong Ping / Creative - Rewriting History with AI
The oldest museum in one of the world’s youngest nations is facing a decline in interest and engagement. Not only was the National Museum of Singapore (NMS) perceived as “dated”, it was also regarded ...
iampingpong.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 AM
If universities want to use AI they need to stop saying "we're ethical!" and share their ethical details and ambitions with staff.
If universities want to use AI, one good task would be to automatically populate a university ethics application form from the original grant application. That would save a lot of time. Also considering that the forms are not written for historians. #AI #academichistory #universities
November 20, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Sometimes one's vocab. stagnates. Words become old friends, flung about every day with abandon and, sometimes, lack of care.

But then I learn about phrases like "donor prospecting" and I think to myself I should get involved in this word game. Bring some geek and joy mashups to the world.
two men are standing next to each other in a black and white photo .
ALT: two men are standing next to each other in a black and white photo .
media.tenor.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 PM
When did "thinksmiths" become a thing?

Also, a stupid meme to the person who guesses what social site I saw this word used on.
November 19, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Deborah Lee-Talbot
And if there's any other GLAM organisations out there that want someone to come in and play with their data for a few months, let me know!
November 19, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Today years old learning how cute baby kookaburras sound and that mama kookaburra is not quite as scary as an Emu, but more fierce than a maggie.
a small bird perched on a tree branch with a long beak
ALT: a small bird perched on a tree branch with a long beak
media.tenor.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Deborah Lee-Talbot
A government that can’t bring itself to tax fossil fuel, big tech or any wealth properly but defunds its critical institutions is not a good government, sorry
November 18, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Nooooooooooooooo.
No-one I know would do this. Would they? 👀

#resdev #resdevmemes #academicsky
November 17, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Tomorrow's challenge: share details from my recent involvement with Uni Melb Archives & Deakin Uni History, Artificial Intelligence & Ethics projects on the "Artificial Heritage" panel at the Australia ICOMOS Conference.

I'll be the fast-talking, enthusiastic historian speaking about the potential
November 17, 2025 at 1:29 AM