Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Molly Hardy @mollyhardy.bsky.social · 15h

Come for this pitcher commemorating the first Federal Census and stay for my plea for rethinking data. Thanks to @jmheberling.bsky.social for the inspiration and to @kawulf.bsky.social for the encouragement.

Guest Post - Rethinking Disciplinary Data Regimes - The Scholarly Kitchen

Between a political policy environment focused on defunding and deleting data collections – an environment in which little can be trusted – and an onslaught of new AI tools that feed indiscriminately ...

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org

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Kelly Smith @kellylsmith.bsky.social · 18d

As a government information librarian who archives a lot of federal web pages, I strongly recommend this approach. The Internet Archive and similar tools are great, but, as mentioned here, are imperfect tools and there is just too much uncertainty about continued access to federal resources.

Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 18d

This moment is disturbing even in the mundane: I’ve started taking screenshots of historical sources I’m using in research from the national park service, the smithsonian, and the national archives, just in case they get taken down. It’s now a part of my process and takes time I have to plan for.

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Data Rescue Project #DataRescue @datarescueproject.org · Aug 26

Hey #DataRescuers! Join us this Labor Day weekend to #SaveOurSigns The deadline is near and we have some priority locations. You can also connect with DRP members in NYC!

Get out, spread the word, and help us #SaveOurSigns.

Save Our Signs: Let’s Get It Done

Help us finish strong with #SaveOurSigns this Labor Day. Plus, if you’re in NYC, come see us in person!

www.datarescueproject.org

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Data Rescue Project #DataRescue @datarescueproject.org · Aug 26

Calling all NYC #DataRescuers, we're going to be in your area! Help #SaveOurSigns finish strong with an in-person rescue event. Please register in advance.

lu.ma/w7cfkk26

#SaveOurSigns Manhattan · Luma

We will gather together before splitting off into groups to work on saving signs at NPS sites around Manhattan. We will provide a list of sites that we need…

lu.ma

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Library Innovation Lab @harvardlil.bsky.social · Jan 22

What insights emerge when a librarian, a software engineer, and a legal scholar come together to experiment with Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to explore over 800,000 French legal articles 🇫🇷?

Blog post: lil.law.harvard.edu/blog/2025/01...
Case study: lil.law.harvard.edu/open-french-...

Title "Open French Law RAG" overlaid on llama dressed in a French lawyer robe in front of an abstract background.

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Data Rescue Project #DataRescue @datarescueproject.org · Aug 22

Say you can't sleep, baby, we know, that's that [threat to government data].

Fuel up on espresso (or your favorite caffeinated beverage of choice) and join the #DataRescueVolunteers

FAQ

Welcome to the Data Rescue Project! We are excited to have you join us. What is the Data Rescue Project? The Data Rescue Project is a coordinated effort among a group of data organizations, including…

www.datarescueproject.org

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Molly Hardy @mollyhardy.bsky.social · Aug 22

Bonafide @harvardlil.bsky.social and so very happy to be the Project Lead for Public Data

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Data Rescue Project #DataRescue @datarescueproject.org · Jun 23

The Data Rescue Project has launched the Data Rescue Project Portal (www.datarescueproject.org/data-rescue-...). It is a dashboard for our tracker and provide more visibility for data rescues across the DR community. It is still in beta & we welcome any feedback. We hope that you find it useful. ❤️🛟

Data Rescue Project Launches New Portal

The Data Rescue Project (DRP) is excited to announce the launch of the DRP Portal—a milestone in our collective effort to protect and preserve at-risk public information. As of June 2025, DRP voluntee...

www.datarescueproject.org

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Molly Hardy @mollyhardy.bsky.social · Apr 30

Gaskell rocks!

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NEH Union - AFGE L3403 @nehafge3403.bsky.social · Apr 9

Every grant listed here represents hundreds of hours of work: from our applicants who submit proposals, to the program staff and peer reviewers who read them, to the grant managers who oversee awards.

Are we just supposed to accept the abrupt termination of all this labor? #NEH #humanities

Jessica Otis @jmotis.bsky.social · Apr 8

Want to see the scope of what the NEH grant terminations is? The ACH ( @ach.bsky.social ) has compiled a database: impact.ach.org

NEH Grants 2025

impact.ach.org

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Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · Apr 4

If you are feeling discouraged, powerless, or terrified, it is so tempting to retreat into solitude, but you need to be in community right now. Come out tomorrow if you possibly can. handsoff2025.com

Hands Off!

Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. They're taking everything they can get their hands on and daring the world to stop them. On Saturday, April 5th, we're taking to the stre...

handsoff2025.com

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Lindsay DiCuirci @ldicuirci.bsky.social · Apr 3

🚨At midnight DOGE terminated all #NEH grants via a letter that claims they “no longer effectuate the agency’s needs and priorities” & adds “the termination of your grant represents an urgent priority for the administration.” Unreal & enraging. Flood the phones, join #HandsOff on Saturday

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Molly Hardy @mollyhardy.bsky.social · Apr 4

Thank you. 💜💜💜

Lindsay DiCuirci @ldicuirci.bsky.social · Apr 3

🚨At midnight DOGE terminated all #NEH grants via a letter that claims they “no longer effectuate the agency’s needs and priorities” & adds “the termination of your grant represents an urgent priority for the administration.” Unreal & enraging. Flood the phones, join #HandsOff on Saturday

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Jason Rhody @jasonrhody.bsky.social · Apr 2

A few tips for NEH grantees:
1) if you've spent money on an awarded grant but have not yet drawn down the funds, make sure to submit the paperwork to drawn down funds ASAP.

2) the NYTimes article suggests that "DOGE" might cancel awards. If you receive an email from DOGE cancelling your NEH award,

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NEH Union - AFGE L3403 @nehafge3403.bsky.social · Apr 4

We had planned to make a post this morning celebrating 100+ bluesky followers for the #NEH union #AFGE 3403.

Instead, we are learning that a large number of our members were placed on Administrative Leave at almost midnight last night, cut off from our systems, and facing unknown days ahead.

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Molly Hardy @mollyhardy.bsky.social · Mar 27

Help Us Say Farewell to Newspaper Navigator! | The Signal blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/20...
@bcgl.bsky.social

Help Us Say Farewell to Newspaper Navigator! | The Signal

The Library will retire the Newspaper Navigator application on April 21st, 2025. Created by Benjamin Charles Germain Lee while he was in service as a Library of Congress Innovator in Residence, the ap...

blogs.loc.gov

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Deidre Lynch @drbibliomane.bsky.social · Mar 25

Just finished rereading Charlotte Brontë's Villette, & this time round, its ending strikes me as one of the most romantic ever, maybe b/c I inhabit an age of hiring freezes & academic precarity.
M. Paul loves Lucy Snowe, & to demonstrate it, he gives her a classroom in which to teach.
Swoon! #19thc

Illustration to Villette--showing a young woman in 19th century dress, swept by the wind, in front of the double door of an imposing building; the words "Pensionnat de Demoiselles" carved above the doorway.

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David Stein @davidstein.bsky.social · Jan 21

New @charlotteerosen.bsky.social banger ‼️🚨‼️ proteanmag.com/2025/01/20/t...

The End of Resistance History

As the Biden administration is swept into the dustbin, Charlotte Rosen wonders: what was the liberal Hashtag-Resistance "Twitterstorian"? And, as a product of the first Trump term, what did commentato...

proteanmag.com

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Charlotte E. Rosen @charlotteerosen.bsky.social · Mar 18

podcast bro'ed out about resistance history: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

E202 - The End of Resistance History w/ Charlotte Rosen

Podcast Episode · American Prestige · 03/18/2025 · 1h 7m

podcasts.apple.com

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Nightmarica @n1ghtmarica.bsky.social · Mar 20

#OCCUPY IMLS! Starting Tomorrow!
955 L'Enfant Plaza North SW, Suite 4000, Washington, DC 20024-2135

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Sean Vanatta @seanvanatta.bsky.social · Mar 17

Thrilled my book, Plastic Capitalism, was named a finalist for the Business History Conference's (@businesshistoryc.bsky.social) 2025 Hagley Prize and received an honourable mention for the 2025 Ralph Gomory Prize.

@yalebooks.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Plastic Capitalism

How bankers created the modern consumer credit economy and destroyed financial stability in the process “As much as it enriches our scholarship, Vanatta...

yalebooks.yale.edu

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Natalie Davis @nataliedavis.journa.host.ap.brid.gy · Mar 17

A St Patrick’s Day Socialist Guide to Irish Film and TV https://jacobin.com/2025/03/st-patricks-day-irish-film/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #socialism

A St Patrick’s Day Socialist Guide to Irish Film and TV

From Dancing at Lughnasa to The Wind That Shakes the Barley, from Peaky Blinders to Kneecap, here’s a list of Irish-themed films and TV shows for the discerning left-wing viewer — including the time Jackie Chan took on the IRA.

jacobin.com

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pam lach @plach.bsky.social · Mar 15

Here’s an explainer re possible impacts to the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). It “enumerates which programs are "shall" programs and duties, meaning that they are mandated by Congress, and which programs are "may" programs, meaning that they are discretionary for IMLS”

Understanding IMLS's “Shall” and “May” Language

EveryLibrary Institute is a 501c3 organization that supports library funding in the United States.

www.everylibraryinstitute.org

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Molly Hardy @mollyhardy.bsky.social · Mar 1

a man in a suit and tie stands in front of an elevator with the words yeah the guy in the $ 4000 suit below him

ALT: a man in a suit and tie stands in front of an elevator with the words yeah the guy in the $ 4000 suit below him

media.tenor.com