Caroline Ball
@heroicendeavour.bsky.social
Academic Librarian, SFHEA, #ebookSOS campaigner, WikimediaUK trustee, NLISN committee member. UK Wikimedian of the Year 2020, JISC Community Champion 2025.
Pinned
Since Bluesky appears to be my new academic home (and Threads, I don't know what that is!), I'm just posting my publications in a pinned thread for easy reference...
Woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and a wicked sore throat, clearly coming down with something - but my brain decided we would address this not by staying in bed, but by getting up and making cornbread before breakfast. Because for sure, why not?
November 27, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and a wicked sore throat, clearly coming down with something - but my brain decided we would address this not by staying in bed, but by getting up and making cornbread before breakfast. Because for sure, why not?
I cannot tell you how many times a day I ask myself, and others, ‘is this a me thing, or an ADHD thing?’ Which is of course unanswerable.
November 27, 2025 at 7:35 AM
I cannot tell you how many times a day I ask myself, and others, ‘is this a me thing, or an ADHD thing?’ Which is of course unanswerable.
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long …
From Sarah Weinman, author of Scoundrel and The Real Lo…
www.goodreads.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Reposted by Caroline Ball
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
November 25, 2025 at 8:23 AM
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
Brrrr, it’s looking cold and wintery out there! Can I stay in bed?
November 26, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Brrrr, it’s looking cold and wintery out there! Can I stay in bed?
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Reposted by Caroline Ball
you fire right back at them and you FIRE RIGHT AWAY.
November 24, 2025 at 6:52 PM
you fire right back at them and you FIRE RIGHT AWAY.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
There's still time to register for our New Member Showcase this afternoon, where we'll be introducing our newest members to the community - @archumanities.bsky.social, @barbarabudrich.bsky.social, @pkp.sfu.ca, @sidestone.bsky.social, and Edizioni Ca' Foscari (Venice University Press)!
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: OBC New Members Showcase. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
The Open Book Collective (OBC) invites colleagues from across the library and open access community to join our upcoming New Member Showcase - an open session for libraries, consortia, and others inte...
us06web.zoom.us
November 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM
There's still time to register for our New Member Showcase this afternoon, where we'll be introducing our newest members to the community - @archumanities.bsky.social, @barbarabudrich.bsky.social, @pkp.sfu.ca, @sidestone.bsky.social, and Edizioni Ca' Foscari (Venice University Press)!
There's an animated buddie movie just waiting to be filmed here...
CCTV captures fox and otter’s tour of Lincoln city centre
A wildlife expert says the footage of the animals wandering past shops and bars is
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
There's an animated buddie movie just waiting to be filmed here...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
I literally could not stop myself from inappropriately laughing out loud for real
November 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
I literally could not stop myself from inappropriately laughing out loud for real
Reposted by Caroline Ball
If you have time for a long read this weekend, make it this excellent article. It considers the nature of the internet, i.e. dominance of white, Western commercial content, which underpins GenAI output production & the impact of excluding local & Indigenous language & knowledge from this.
November 21, 2025 at 1:05 PM
If you have time for a long read this weekend, make it this excellent article. It considers the nature of the internet, i.e. dominance of white, Western commercial content, which underpins GenAI output production & the impact of excluding local & Indigenous language & knowledge from this.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Ok but this is totally something Charlotte Church would do
Just realised this is referring to a church in North Carolina and not the Welsh singer
November 20, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Ok but this is totally something Charlotte Church would do
Reposted by Caroline Ball
for the humanity left in us 🖤
November 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
for the humanity left in us 🖤
Reposted by Caroline Ball
NLISN is on YouTube now, and we've shared our best video as the first one :-)
"What does it mean to be information literate for an autistic person in the academic library workplace" An online presentation by @ahaire.bsky.social given on 20/1/25 for @nlisn.bsky.social
🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDUl...
#LibraryWorker
#Librarian
#Autism
#Neurodiverse
#Neurodiversity
🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDUl...
#LibraryWorker
#Librarian
#Autism
#Neurodiverse
#Neurodiversity
Amelia Haire presenting her research on autistic workplace information literacy.
YouTube video by NLISN
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:18 AM
NLISN is on YouTube now, and we've shared our best video as the first one :-)
Reposted by Caroline Ball
We’ve been reading the new 'Technology Needs of Small and Medium Journal Publishers report' - and despite its focus on journals, there’s a fair amount here that is equally applicable to small and medium OA *book* publishers too.
Thread 👇
Thread 👇
2025 Report: Technology Needs of Small and Medium Journal Publishers
Insights into smaller-sized publishers' technical priorities, from research integrity to AI adoption.
lp.scholasticahq.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:40 PM
We’ve been reading the new 'Technology Needs of Small and Medium Journal Publishers report' - and despite its focus on journals, there’s a fair amount here that is equally applicable to small and medium OA *book* publishers too.
Thread 👇
Thread 👇
Reposted by Caroline Ball
mr president sir theres a story coming about how you intervened to help a sex criminal. no sir, not that sex criminal you helped….no not that one either…sir, please stop guessing sex criminals that you helped. ill give you a hint sir, hes a trafficker. no sir, not that trafficker a different one
NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:10 PM
mr president sir theres a story coming about how you intervened to help a sex criminal. no sir, not that sex criminal you helped….no not that one either…sir, please stop guessing sex criminals that you helped. ill give you a hint sir, hes a trafficker. no sir, not that trafficker a different one
Reposted by Caroline Ball
"... from an AI Ethics standpoint, academic librarians should always question their use of AI and, if it is not necessary or morally beneficial, opt out of using it to help stop the erosion of human dignity and work to ensure environmental survivability."
📚
www.ala.org/acrl/publica...
📚
www.ala.org/acrl/publica...
Keeping Up With… AI Ethics
www.ala.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
"... from an AI Ethics standpoint, academic librarians should always question their use of AI and, if it is not necessary or morally beneficial, opt out of using it to help stop the erosion of human dignity and work to ensure environmental survivability."
📚
www.ala.org/acrl/publica...
📚
www.ala.org/acrl/publica...
I'll admit I don't know much about economics, but maybe an industry with a business model that can only function through copyright infringement on a truly colossal scale, run by CEOs who apparently didn't see this kind of legal action coming as a result, is not one that really deserves to exist?
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I'll admit I don't know much about economics, but maybe an industry with a business model that can only function through copyright infringement on a truly colossal scale, run by CEOs who apparently didn't see this kind of legal action coming as a result, is not one that really deserves to exist?
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Community-led publishing offers more efficient and economically productive routes for publication and dissemination. But offers much more than that; knowledge production itself is enhanced through greater collaboration and self-governing of the ecosystem.
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
November 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Community-led publishing offers more efficient and economically productive routes for publication and dissemination. But offers much more than that; knowledge production itself is enhanced through greater collaboration and self-governing of the ecosystem.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Join us next year (26-27 February 2026) to explore the future of community-led open access book publishing 🔮
📍 Loughborough University | London or online
🥳 Registration is now open!
🎫 Get your ticket now! buff.ly/DhtaOAJ
#CopimConference
📍 Loughborough University | London or online
🥳 Registration is now open!
🎫 Get your ticket now! buff.ly/DhtaOAJ
#CopimConference
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Join us next year (26-27 February 2026) to explore the future of community-led open access book publishing 🔮
📍 Loughborough University | London or online
🥳 Registration is now open!
🎫 Get your ticket now! buff.ly/DhtaOAJ
#CopimConference
📍 Loughborough University | London or online
🥳 Registration is now open!
🎫 Get your ticket now! buff.ly/DhtaOAJ
#CopimConference
Precisely why AI companies have been working so hard to shove it down our throats, whether we want it or not. They’ve been building themselves a tax-payer-guaranteed safety net.
I say let them fail! AI hasn’t been around long enough or working well enough, to be that system-critical yet.
I say let them fail! AI hasn’t been around long enough or working well enough, to be that system-critical yet.
Google boss Sundar Pichai warns 'no company immune' if AI bubble bursts
The AI boom has been an
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Precisely why AI companies have been working so hard to shove it down our throats, whether we want it or not. They’ve been building themselves a tax-payer-guaranteed safety net.
I say let them fail! AI hasn’t been around long enough or working well enough, to be that system-critical yet.
I say let them fail! AI hasn’t been around long enough or working well enough, to be that system-critical yet.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
November 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Millions of toxic plastic beads from Southern Water have washed up on Camber Sands beach, threatening dolphins, seals, seabirds, and our beaches. Sign the petition to make sure water companies pay for the cleanup of spills like this, not their customers: 38d.gs/water_mess_e...
Sign the petition: Water companies should pay to clean up the pollution they cause
Millions of toxic plastic beads from Southern Water have washed up on Camber Sands beach, threatening dolphins, seals, seabirds, and our beaches. Sign the petition to make sure water companies pay for...
38d.gs
November 17, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Millions of toxic plastic beads from Southern Water have washed up on Camber Sands beach, threatening dolphins, seals, seabirds, and our beaches. Sign the petition to make sure water companies pay for the cleanup of spills like this, not their customers: 38d.gs/water_mess_e...
Me? Why would you say such a thing. No, I would never.
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every librarian I know would crawl over broken glass for the chance to fistfight an ebook company executive. the ebook policies are genuinely diabolical
November 17, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Me? Why would you say such a thing. No, I would never.
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