Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Judith Barr

Science Magazine @science.org · 11h

DNA and historical sleuthing have traced the extinct bird’s remains to a museum in Ohio. https://scim.ag/4791YqA

Fate of the last female great auk is finally solved

DNA and historical sleuthing have traced the extinct bird’s remains to a museum in Ohio

scim.ag

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County @nhm.org · 16h

A new paper by an international team of researchers, including #NHMLA's Curator of Marine Mammals, Dr. Jorge Velez-Juarbe, uncovers more secrets of aquasloths with one of the most complete skeletons ever discovered: go.nhm.org/aquatic-sloths

An illustration featuring aquatic sloths on a sunset beach amid sea lions, seagulls, and penguins. Artwork by Alex Boersma.

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social · 2d

New open-access publication: Discover how a multidisciplinary approach helped identify and contextualise three Qurʾānic parchment fragments from the University of Münster collection, revealing their shared origins in an Umayyad Qur’an:
www.nature.com/articles/s40...

From fragments to text and ink: a scientific and historical study of an Umayyad Qur’ān - npj Heritage Science

npj Heritage Science - From fragments to text and ink: a scientific and historical study of an Umayyad Qur’ān

www.nature.com

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 1d

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

New Orleans couple discovers ancient Roman grave marker in their yard

Discovery of 1,900-year-old headstone dedicated to Roman sailor sets off effort to repatriate item to Italy

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 1d

What the shit, Clarivate! Anyone using Ebook Central MARC records, be warned. They're jamming those records with AI generated metadata. Auto-enabled but you can disable it.

Dear Alex,
We are writing to share an important update coming to Ebook Central that will help improve ebook discoverability. At the end of October 2025, Ebook Central Express MARC records will include AI-generated metadata when publisher metadata fields are not available.

Why are we introducing AI-generated metadata to Ebook Central records?

Most publishers include subject information in their metadata, but there are times when this information is not included, leading to limited search availability in discovery systems. For this reason, we are providing AI-generated Library of Congress subject headings only when not available from the publisher to improve the completeness of our metadata and discoverability of Ebook Central titles.

Which AI-generated fields are included in Express MARC? 

The AI-generated fields will include Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) (6XX); Library of Congress Classification (050); Dewey Decimal (082); Description (520); and Source of Description (588). To learn more, please visit our FAQ page.

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Mémoires du livre / Studies in Book Culture @memoiresdulivre.bsky.social · 2d

Emma Hagström Molin examines the rise of provenance in nineteenth-century Europe through a case study of manuscript research, analyzing the ways in which the Benedictine scholar Beda Dudík worked with classification: id.erudit.org/iderud...

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 2d

What I say: microfilm is a great way of accessing publications that are otherwise dust! wow it’s the whole hearst inventories! ALL OF SOTHEBY’S WITH BUYER ANNOTATIONS!!!

what they hear:

three skeletons are dancing in a cemetery

Alt: three skeletons are dancing in a cemetery

media.tenor.com

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 2d

I make the interns learn about microfilm because I enjoy my role as departmental spooky skeleton

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 2d

I have been trying to explain a microfiche machine to one of my dear, brilliant, talented, but clearly too young to be alive collaborators. And it is taking the last of my soul.

“Micro…fish?? I have never heard that word in my life.” I recorded the timestamp so it can be put on my tombstone.

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Gabriel Bodard @palaeofuturist.bsky.social · 2d

If you work in a classics library, as the classics librarian in a general academic library, in any research library or heritage institution that contains some classics content, or are in any capacity involved in cataloguing or taxonomising ancient world data, you may be interested in…
#digiclasswiki

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Naomi Clark (@metasynthie) 暗悪直美 @halfrobot.com · 3d

The elimination of exact text search from a growing number of services is a form of enshittification that I keep getting surprised by. It's search: computationally expensive (?) and a foundationally useful tool. Blunting it into uselessness is a shocking capitulation to the internet as garbage pile

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 6d

This is why museum documentation matters! Without, it's very easy to misplaced an entire buffalo for decades

Denver Museum of Nature & Science @denvermuseumns.bsky.social · 7d

🕵️‍♀️🦬 Mystery solved! Our missing 650-pound Museum bison has returned after 50 years. Learn about its journey back to the Museum in #Catalyst. https://dmns.mobi/47bCc43

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Dr Ross Barnett @deepfrieddna.bsky.social · 7d

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Extinct megafauna dominated human subsistence in southern South America before 11,600 years ago

The high position of megafauna among the hunting prey of humans in South America reinforces their central role in extinctions.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Martin Porr @martinporr.bsky.social · 7d

I was invited to provide some comments on the fascinating story below, which discusses the earliest known examples of the use of blue pigment during the European Palaeolithic. Interesting results with some intriguing implications.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Paleolithic painters had the blues

Two recent studies shine light on the earliest known artistic usages of blue pigment

www.science.org

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Harald Klinke @hxxxkxxx.det.social.ap.brid.gy · 9d

CFP: The Art Museum in the Digital Age – 2026
How do museums navigate truth, fakes, and knowledge sovereignty in the digital age?

The 8th edition of this international conference (19–23 Jan 2026, Vienna/online) invites contributions on AI in museums, digital provenance, disinformation […]

Original post on det.social

det.social

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Christophe Robin @xopherobin.bsky.social · 7d

3 jours passionnants (1-3 oct.) de colloque "Études de #provenance des collections de sciences naturelles et humaines" au Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. Ceci ne concerne pas que les biens spoliés en 39-45 ou contexte colonial (avec #restitution ?), mais une démarche de documentation des collections.

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Reposted by Judith Barr

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 10d

“In 2023, cars and their drivers killed 8,820 American pedestrians and bicyclists — 7,314 pedestrians and 1,166 cyclists. They injured another 136,281, an increase of over 5,300 injuries from 2022.”

Put the responsibility where it belongs. Via @jalopnik.bsky.social www.jalopnik.com/1979666/defe...

No, Defensive Walking Isn't The Solution For Road Deaths - Jalopnik

It's victim-blaming, it's bull, and it's not the solution we need.

www.jalopnik.com

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 11d

#provenanceonview

provenance-updates.bsky.social @provenance-updates.bsky.social · 11d

www.thedartmouth.com/article/2025...

New Hood exhibition ‘Hidden Histories: Art, Provenance and the Nazi Era’ opens

Curated as part of the “A Space for Dialogue” program, the exhibition grapples with questions around artworks’ acquisition and stewardship.

www.thedartmouth.com

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 12d

Like truly doodles are so fun, go make an art, it can be bad!

Paint supplies- palettes, brushes, tubes- and in progress cat with a sea of colorful fish below

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 12d

Inscriptions in forgotten locales: a provenance tale of a fragment at the Powell-Cotton Museum

www.instagram.com/p/DPDtiMviY-...

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 12d

when in doubt can I recommend doodles

Watercolors of imaginary seas, with paint pans and brush

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 13d

As far as I know actual mummy brown hasn‘t been made since the mid 20thc but it‘s not a preferred term for human remains now and it‘s a pretty horrific history- given that and given that it IS functionally a different medium now, I’m not a fan

Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 13d

honestly feels really nice to just help support some cool science education in a nice museum — make some sharks smile and donate if you can too!

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 13d

We have a little more than $800 to go to reach our goal!

Help the The Natural History Society of Maryland fund their new shark science and conservation exhibit, which I'm working with them to design! 🧪🦑🌎🦈

www.southernfriedscience.com/help-support...

www.southernfriedscience.com

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 13d

these are beautiful pastels but yikes

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 13d

Sennelier has a video playing up the grotesque origins of mummy brown which features images of human remains and a man dressed as a mummy but does anyone know if they‘ve ever been approached about changing it?

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Judith Barr @jebarr.bsky.social · 13d

Innocently in the pastels aisle and BAM

Oil pastels in color “Mummy”, a wildly horrific reflection of its origin as a color that incorporated mummified remains

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