Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Trinity College Library, Cambridge @trincolllibcam.bsky.social · Aug 19

It started as a routine book move. Before we know it, it’s a modern art installation (or perhaps a minor safety concern).

It's hard to say.

#FoundArt

Red filing boxes piled between two pillars in a random and nonsensical way, with some upside down, to the side, or balancing on the corner.

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Aimee Cozza Illustration @aimeecozza.com · Jul 8

*slams it down* I finished it

My article

About AI use, impacts, etc, with lots and lots of links

It's uh

Really long

Opinion: Is it worth it to use AI? Some things you should know

AI has shown us again and again how it aims to change our society. Is this technology really "here to stay" and what's it doing to us?

www.foundationwebdev.com

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Adam Care @adamcare.bsky.social · Jul 1

Interrupting a fortnight's holiday for 9, The Pirate Queen, at the Minack Theatre, at the very edge of Cornwall. The ADC has some way to go to match this view...

Photo from the top of the Minack Theatre, an open-air auditorium carved into the cliffs of western Cornwall. The stage overlooks directly onto the sea, with the faintest hint of sun poking through the clouds above

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Lucy Woolhouse (she/her) @lucywoolhouse.bsky.social · Jun 12

I know right? I'm going to add it into all my RDM training 😂

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Lucy Woolhouse (she/her) @lucywoolhouse.bsky.social · Jun 12

Research data management at its finest outside a building in Cambridge!

#RDM #research #librarians

A filing cabinet outside a building. The drawers say: 'Aladdin's Cave (no idea what this stuff is', 'old data, disks, notebooks', 'probably belongs to someone' and 'old equipment that might be useful'.

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Frith 🐉 An Odd Type of Dragon @oddtypeofdragon.bsky.social · Jun 4

Important news: the Weston Library in Oxford (part of the Bodleian) has added a small baby play space.

And they've called it the Toddleian.

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Dr Theresa Oakley @archaetexts.bsky.social · May 22

Completely agree - research support should be for everyone! @lucywoolhouse.bsky.social & #FrankieMarsh #Darts9

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Dr Theresa Oakley @archaetexts.bsky.social · May 22

@lucywoolhouse.bsky.social & #FrankieMarsh Workshop on making open research more inclusive. #TechniciansCommitment #darts9

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Lucy Woolhouse (she/her) @lucywoolhouse.bsky.social · May 22

Thanks @alicecann.bsky.social for liveblogging our workshop! We hope #DARTS9 enjoyed it 😊

Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · May 22

The final presentation at #DARTS9 is by Lucy Woolhouse & Frankie Marsh, from the University of Cambridge, on ‘How to make open research more inclusive by supporting under-recognised research professionals’.

Relevant to previous talks, & I heard a little about this talking with Frankie earlier.

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · May 8

A Sage journal that holds the distinction of highest number of retracted articles in the Retraction Watch Database likely made in excess of $400,000 in revenue from those papers, by our calculations.

Journal collected $400,000 from papers it later retracted

A Sage journal that holds the distinction of highest number of retracted articles in the Retraction Watch Database likely made in excess of $400,000 in revenue from those papers, by our calculation…

retractionwatch.com

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Christine Hall @brideoflinux.bsky.social · May 7

Just published on FOSS Force: The Mobile Browsers That Stick Their Noses Into Your Business the Most fossforce.com/2025/05/the-...

The Mobile Browsers That Stick Their Noses Into Your Business the Most - FOSS Force

The folks behind Surfshark VPN have looked to see which mobile Browsers are most likely to compromise your privacy, and offers some ways that you can protect yourself.

fossforce.com

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Binni Brynolf (they/them) @brynolf.bsky.social · May 2

On Tuesday 27 May 1-2pm, I'm presenting a webinar on behalf of @ciliplgbtq.bsky.social, "How to be a good ally to trans*, non-binary and gender-conforming people"

I've spoken about this before but allies are more vital than ever now...

Register and share please!

www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · Apr 28

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon

Title:
SOME GRAMMATICAL VOICES FOR USE IN SCIENTIFIC WRITING

ACTIVE VOICE
e.g.
Our team collected samples and then we tested them.

CLICKBAIT VOICE
e.g.
We collected some samples...
You won't believe what happened next!

PASSIVE VOICE
e.g.
Samples were collected and tested.

HAIKU VOICE
e.g.
Quiet science lab.
Workers arrive with samples.
The testing begins.

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE VOICE
e.g. We did all the collecting and testing.
No need to thank us.
Just doing our job.

CONSPIRACY VOICE
e.g.
Mysterious "Samples" were harvested and covertly "tested" by so-called scientists.

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Sandeep Bakshi @sandeepbak.bsky.social · Apr 16

UK SC's definition of 'woman' is a serious affront to decades of labour in queer studies to decouple sex & gender that even WHO recognises. It's a colonial-racial chokehold to safeguard power of TERFs & GCs. Moving forward, all women will have rights curtailed.
www.thepinknews.com/2025/04/16/s...

UK Supreme court rules legal definition of a woman excludes trans women

The UK Supreme Court has ruled the legal definition of a woman excludes trans women.

www.thepinknews.com

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Good Law Project @goodlawproject.bsky.social · Apr 16

On what is a really difficult day, here are some resources for our trans friends and allies.

Solidarity 💜
goodlawproject.org/resource/sup...

Support resources for our trans friends and allies | Good Law Project

At a time when anti-trans discrimination is rife and hate crime has reached record levels, it’s important to know what support is out there for trans, non-binary or gender-questioning individuals and ...

goodlawproject.org

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

🕷️Gory Thing🕷️ @korybing.bsky.social · Apr 8

Instead of believing the myth that three expensive, genetically modified wolves are “de-extinct” dire wolves, let’s look at animals humanity has actually brought back from the brink of extinction using proven science and dedicated hard work: 🧵/6

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · Apr 9

This is the literal destruction of knowledge.

Mississippi libraries are being ordered to remove academic research on race and gender from library databases.
mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/m...

Mississippi libraries ordered to delete academic research in response to state laws - Mississippi Today

The two research collections state officials ordered for deletion included material from professional journals, conference papers, books, student dissertations, periodicals and newspaper articles.

mississippitoday.org

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Lucy Woolhouse (she/her) @lucywoolhouse.bsky.social · Mar 20

Shortlisting for a library assistant role currently, and I'd forgotten just how frustrating it is when people refer to experience in their statement that they haven't listed in their job history *head desk*

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Feb 21

PLOS has issued a statement on recent US Executive Orders and scientific integrity.

We are determined to stand firmly behind our mission, our values and our principles, and against any attempt at censorship or undermining of the core principles of scientific inquiry.

plos.io/3D4O8cH

PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders and scientific integrity - The Official PLOS Blog

Since its founding over twenty five years ago PLOS has been dedicated to advancing open science, ensuring that knowledge is accessible to…

plos.io

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Hilda Bastian @hildabast.bsky.social · Feb 14

Hate that it has come to this, but it's time to consider PubMed vulnerable to enshittification. My latest post @plos.org discusses the lines we need to fight to hold – and alternatives we can rely on internationally:

absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/02/14/w...

#medlibs

What if We Can't Rely on PubMed? - Absolutely Maybe

PubMed is incredibly reliable. And a lot depends on it. It’s an ecosystem built around MEDLINE, the steady feed of new publications…

absolutelymaybe.plos.org

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Stephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · Feb 10

Far more sense & informed comment on the REF PCE pilot & proposals from @lizziegadd.bsky.social than you will find in the pages of the Times. wonkhe.com/blogs/anothe...

Another way of thinking about the national assessment of people, culture, and environment

Can we make better use of existing mechanisms to examine research culture in REF 2029? For Elizabeth Gadd there is scope to make the assessment of research culture better for everyone

wonkhe.com

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Lucy Woolhouse (she/her) @lucywoolhouse.bsky.social · Jan 12

Had to do some PGCTLHE work today (next Day School on Wednesday and first assignment due on 20th!). Particularly interested in studies on the different experiences of public school and state school students in supervisions - we have to do better to provide a level playing field and foster belonging.

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Emily Barney @ebarney.bsky.social · Jan 11

It was helpful to search through the spreadsheet directly here, I wasn't surprised to find a simple game I play with lots of ads in it was on the list. I checked and it doesn't have personalized ads or location tracking in my permissions, not sure if that means much. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

gravy_app_list

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Caroline Ball @heroicendeavour.bsky.social · Jan 8

Another one bites the dust. York now confirming they are dropping the Elsevier deal, alongside Surrey and Sheffield. @librarianth.bsky.social you must be crushed... 😅

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Another UK university drops big Elsevier deal - Research Professional News

York becomes third institution known to have cancelled agreement with academic publishing giant

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Lucy Woolhouse (she/her)

Eamon Costello @eam0.bsky.social · Jan 8

"The University of Surrey has opted out of a subscription deal with the academic publishing giant Elsevier, saying the arrangement is not financially sustainable.

The move, coming after the University of Sheffield cancelled its subscription deal"

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

UK university drops Elsevier deal - Research Professional News

Surrey says Jisc-negotiated deal “not sustainable in the current financial climate”

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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