Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 59m

“In a recent survey of its British Library members, the union found that most workers struggle each month to make ends meet.”

Museums Association @museumsassociation.org · 1h

News | Strikes loom at national institutions – @britishlibrary.bsky.social and Tate workers plan walkouts as industrial action continues at National Coal Mining Museum (@ncmme.bsky.social)

@pcsunion.bsky.social @unison.org.uk

Strikes loom at national institutions - Museums Association

British Library and Tate workers plan walkouts as industrial action continues at National Coal Mining Museum

www.museumsassociation.org

3 8

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

Museums Association @museumsassociation.org · 1h

News | Strikes loom at national institutions – @britishlibrary.bsky.social and Tate workers plan walkouts as industrial action continues at National Coal Mining Museum (@ncmme.bsky.social)

@pcsunion.bsky.social @unison.org.uk

Strikes loom at national institutions - Museums Association

British Library and Tate workers plan walkouts as industrial action continues at National Coal Mining Museum

www.museumsassociation.org

1 5 8

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 1h

Come to our rallies, you get to meet good dogs. This is Yogi, Ruby and Kevin also in attendence but did not stay still long enough for photos.

2

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 4h

Oh and for anyone who didn't get an email but maybe has some Thoughts about e.g. companies that profit from land theft and are complicit in genocide here is a link clarivate.com/voice-of-cus...

Our Voice of Customer Survey Program | Clarivate

The Voice of Customer survey program is our commitment to integrity and accountability to our colleagues, customers and communities. Find out more.

clarivate.com

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 5h

For anyone who got a feedback request from Clarivate (Ex Libris) today - zine from Librarians & Archivists with Palestine

librarianswithpalestine.org

1 3 5

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 7h

Sign up to the FLJ contact list to get our newsletter! Future planned posts included a nuanced discussion of pay and big angry rant about AI.

FairLibraryJobs @fairlibraryjobs.bsky.social · 7h

Announcement! The Fair Library Jobs newsletter is getting off Subtack. Sign up to our contact list to receive future blog posts via email docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

FLJ Contact List

This list is to submit your name to the Fair Library Jobs contain list. We will use the contact list to update subscribers on news, website updates and new blog posts. The list of email addresses wi...

docs.google.com

3

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 9h

We've got events happening during today's strike action!

10 AM- Teach out on "What is Chaos" @ Mrs. B's
12:40 PM- Rally for Jobs @ Trent Courtyard
6 PM- Teach out on "Exposing Empire" @ Coates Road Auditorium

See you all there!

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 1d

Strike action is BACK ON this week and we have plenty of events to show solidarity and learn from each other:

RALLIES will be held on Tues and Thurs at 12:40, starting in the Trent Courtyard.

We also have 3 TEACH OUTS during the week: uonucu.org/teachouts/

See you there!

TEACHOUTS

Lecturers are on strike.
Come learn.

Upcoming teachouts:

What is Chaos:
Martin Richter,
10am 14/10/25,
Mrs B’s catering cafe

Exposing Empire: War, Capital & Palestine:
Victor Kattan & Andreas Bieler,
6pm 14/10/25,
Coates Road Auditorium

The social construction of mental illness:
Ella Guerin,
12pm 20/10/25,
Online

4 4

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 17h

Oh I think I’ve just seen the same and I need to go scream into a pillow about the future of evidence-based medicine

1 4

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 1d

UK HE in 2025: sending an apology email for missing a focus group on precarity because I was out on industrial action against compulsory redundancy.

1 6

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 1d

Strike action is BACK ON this week and we have plenty of events to show solidarity and learn from each other:

RALLIES will be held on Tues and Thurs at 12:40, starting in the Trent Courtyard.

We also have 3 TEACH OUTS during the week: uonucu.org/teachouts/

See you there!

6 7

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting! I’d love to see counts by different output types. I know Matilda and OpenAlex count peer reviews, and OpenAlex indexes individual book chapters (even for monographs) but not sure how much of a difference those quirks make over all.

Isidro F. Aguillo @isidroaguillo.bsky.social · 1d

Our periodic review of the coverage of the major bibliographic databases (October 2025)
GS no longer the largest due to the huge increase of OpenAlex. New data for Xueshu

1 2 6

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 2d

Yes that’s the official Fair Library Jobs position

6

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 2d

Writing a blog post on using AI in recruitment decisions and using a lot of words to say it’s bad and you should feel bad if you do it.

1 8

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

Bethan @bethanar.bsky.social · 2d

Chartership now involves toerings

Marjorie James Keenan @unenthusiast.com · 2d

In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

rm -rf ~/

hammancheez @hammancheez.bsky.social · 2d

"The chancellor approved it"

5 3 13

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

Marc Watkins @marcwatkins.bsky.social · 4d

Some teachers are using AI to grade and few are talking about it. Scantrons are one thing, but automating grading, feedback, and assessing written work with AI poses massive ethical challenges and should not become the default or go to choice in education.

👇 in comments

1 8 22

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 3d

We pick up strike action again next week and this recent article from the BBC shows just how much we are fighting for.

First step: take compulsory redundancies off the table.

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens - BBC News

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

3 4

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 4d

If the university is actually "committed to minimising any disruption to our students and our research," they should show it.

No compulsory redundancies or no labour from the people that make this university what it is. Your choice

#StoptheCuts #SaveHE

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/dundee-...

Dundee, UWS and Nottingham latest to face further strikes

UCU Scotland members back taking action over job cuts plans, while staff at Nottingham reject deal that would have postponed any compulsory redundancies

www.timeshighereducation.com

4 3

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 4d

Anyone else going to the LIS-Bibliometrics conference in November? Just had it all officially confirmed, I'm presenting a talk: "Disciplinary differences in databases: lessons from an institutional case study at the University of Nottingham"

4

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 4d

Happy birthday! 🥳

1

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

Vanessa is the name of the Doctor! @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 4d

Timely reminder that if you're an assoc prof or above in history you can nominate someone for the nobel peace prize.
www.nobelpeaceprize.org/nobel-peace-...

Criteria for nominators - Nobel Peace Prize

A nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is only considered valid if submitted by a person who meets certain criteria.

www.nobelpeaceprize.org

11 30

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 5d

There are two cat beds in this room and a chair next to me but Goblin is only happy here. If I am in a meeting with you there will be a cat tail waving in front of the camera, it’s unavoidable.

Cat sitting on a desk in front of a key board, next to but entirely ignoring a cat bed.

8 9 290

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 5d

Also all of the colleges are separate employers and legal entities, I have a horrible suspicion the situation for their buildings will be even worse.

1

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 5d

When I was maintenance officer for a housing co-operative I brought us into compliance with asbestos regulations. If I can do it the University of Oxford can. There is no excuse - organisations make choices about where to allocate resources and staff safety has to be a priority.

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 5d

🚨Asbestos scandal at Oxford Uni

An academic has been killed by mesothelioma & the university’s own auditors later found it in breach of asbestos regulations.

Universities across the UK are riddled with asbestos. It’s time for senior managers to act‼️

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/2552472...

University denies cancer-inducing asbestos risk despite audit documents

The University of Oxford has denied that asbestos in its buildings could cause cancer despite successive audits showing non compliance.

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk

1 1 2

Kirsten the Librarian @librarykirsten.bsky.social · 5d

Best practice ergonomic position not really compatible with Goblin‘s desire to be on my lap 100% of the time

Photo of a cat from behind with desk equipment in the background

3

Reposted by Kirsten the Librarian

Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 7d

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.

7 70 110