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...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Media literacy is vital for our democracy 🗳️
Today we joined a group of experts urging the Govt to back curriculum reform with proper funding for schools and librarians. You can read more here: www.mila.org.uk/mil-car-statement
Today we joined a group of experts urging the Govt to back curriculum reform with proper funding for schools and librarians. You can read more here: www.mila.org.uk/mil-car-statement
Media and information literacy: a joint statement following the Curriculum and Assessment Review - Media and Information Literacy Alliance
Curriculum reforms will falter without media literacy funding for schools, say 35+ experts close to the issue Over 35 organisations and experts warn that planned media literacy reforms will fail witho...
www.mila.org.uk
December 9, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Media literacy is vital for our democracy 🗳️
Today we joined a group of experts urging the Govt to back curriculum reform with proper funding for schools and librarians. You can read more here: www.mila.org.uk/mil-car-statement
Today we joined a group of experts urging the Govt to back curriculum reform with proper funding for schools and librarians. You can read more here: www.mila.org.uk/mil-car-statement
Reposted by Caroline Ball
I know there are lots of people at fault here, but the fact that such an obviously unethical article got published is another illustration of how publishers have completely lost control of what they're publishing in the push for APCs.
Springer Nature retracting papers based on bonkers dataset
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e... Good. #autism
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e... Good. #autism
Springer Nature retracts, removes nearly 40 publications
The dataset contains images of children’s faces downloaded from websites about autism, which sparked concerns at Springer Nature about consent and reliability.
www.thetransmitter.org
December 9, 2025 at 7:14 AM
I know there are lots of people at fault here, but the fact that such an obviously unethical article got published is another illustration of how publishers have completely lost control of what they're publishing in the push for APCs.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
“AI models not only point some users to false sources but also cause problems for researchers and librarians, who end up wasting their time looking for requested nonexistent records…”
AI Slop Is Spurring Record Requests for Imaginary Journals
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that artificial intelligence models are making up research papers, journals and archives
www.scientificamerican.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:30 PM
“AI models not only point some users to false sources but also cause problems for researchers and librarians, who end up wasting their time looking for requested nonexistent records…”
Reposted by Caroline Ball
some significant part of this is just catch-all fear for “this is not the child I ordered” I think
Oh, here's a big surprise. The transphobes don't believe in ADHD either.
then, the transphobes , feeling victorious at how many people they have made unhappy and despairing in the previous week, move on to anything else that has a spectrum and the possibility of more colours than they can conceive - such hateful people - they cannot understand anything that is not THEM
December 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
some significant part of this is just catch-all fear for “this is not the child I ordered” I think
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Who has made this 🤣
December 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Who has made this 🤣
Well, I guess that rules most librarians out, with our pesky commitment to knowledge equity and open access and information literacy! 📚
Trump administration moves to deny visas to factcheckers and content moderators
Action detailed in a state department memo directs officials to deny visas to any applicant engaging in ‘censorship’
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Well, I guess that rules most librarians out, with our pesky commitment to knowledge equity and open access and information literacy! 📚
Reposted by Caroline Ball
If you're a librarian interested in supporting the Open Book Collective, check out our website (openbookcollective.org) or email us at [email protected] to find out how! #AcademicSky #OpenAccess 📚
December 8, 2025 at 9:20 AM
If you're a librarian interested in supporting the Open Book Collective, check out our website (openbookcollective.org) or email us at [email protected] to find out how! #AcademicSky #OpenAccess 📚
Reposted by Caroline Ball
It's only through the support of libraries like @lshtm.bsky.social and others whose support we are endlessly grateful for, that our work towards sustaining a better future for open access book publishing can continue - so thank you to them, and to all of you - past, present and future supporters!
December 8, 2025 at 9:18 AM
It's only through the support of libraries like @lshtm.bsky.social and others whose support we are endlessly grateful for, that our work towards sustaining a better future for open access book publishing can continue - so thank you to them, and to all of you - past, present and future supporters!
I didn’t think FIFA had much credibility left to lose, and yet…
December 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I didn’t think FIFA had much credibility left to lose, and yet…
Well, they've got 15 minutes to sneak in within their window. The odds are not looking good.
Waiting for an engineer to do my fibre installation (I will tell you sometime about the ongoing fibre saga at my house that has involved 4 different internet providers!) - but oh, I really hate when they just give you a ‘window’ in which to expect them. 8am to 1pm. Will probably turn up at 12.55!
December 5, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Well, they've got 15 minutes to sneak in within their window. The odds are not looking good.
Waiting for an engineer to do my fibre installation (I will tell you sometime about the ongoing fibre saga at my house that has involved 4 different internet providers!) - but oh, I really hate when they just give you a ‘window’ in which to expect them. 8am to 1pm. Will probably turn up at 12.55!
December 5, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Waiting for an engineer to do my fibre installation (I will tell you sometime about the ongoing fibre saga at my house that has involved 4 different internet providers!) - but oh, I really hate when they just give you a ‘window’ in which to expect them. 8am to 1pm. Will probably turn up at 12.55!
Reposted by Caroline Ball
comparia.beta.gouv.fr is so awesome for AI literacy - it makes it so easy to get a sense of different models, rate their responses on accuracy etc, then see what the models were and how they compare, plus the carbon footprint of your queries (as on the screenshot) #FF2025
December 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
comparia.beta.gouv.fr is so awesome for AI literacy - it makes it so easy to get a sense of different models, rate their responses on accuracy etc, then see what the models were and how they compare, plus the carbon footprint of your queries (as on the screenshot) #FF2025
I am but a sheep when it comes to the yearly 'lists of'... so come on, hit me with your #SpotifyWrapped - what was your 13th most listened to song this year?
Mine was 'A Lot More Free' by Max McNown.
Mine was 'A Lot More Free' by Max McNown.
A Lot More Free
open.spotify.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I am but a sheep when it comes to the yearly 'lists of'... so come on, hit me with your #SpotifyWrapped - what was your 13th most listened to song this year?
Mine was 'A Lot More Free' by Max McNown.
Mine was 'A Lot More Free' by Max McNown.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
December 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
Lovely example of confirmation bias in action here. Can't help but feel that setting out to look for 'evidence of over-diagnosis' means they're almost certainly going to find it!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Streeting orders review into mental health and ADHD diagnoses
The health secretary said the aim was to tackle a rising demand for services and the increased pressure on the NHS.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Lovely example of confirmation bias in action here. Can't help but feel that setting out to look for 'evidence of over-diagnosis' means they're almost certainly going to find it!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
👏 👏 👏
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency that provides funding for America's libraries, has announced it is reinstating all grants it had previously terminated, including those to libraries and library organizations across the U.S.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4496W4V
Read more: https://bit.ly/4496W4V
December 4, 2025 at 7:43 AM
👏 👏 👏
It’s a very rare occasion when I applaud anything a church does, but in this case… 👏 🔥
December 4, 2025 at 7:42 AM
It’s a very rare occasion when I applaud anything a church does, but in this case… 👏 🔥
Definitely one to read. The manufactured momentum and language of inevitability around AI very much seems to me a deliberate strategy aimed at eroding and undermining library agency - so it's critically important we don't let it!
In “Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library,” I examine LIS as in need of a values-realignment, asking readers to refuse the technosolutionism we are so often offered in place of human-centered possibilities, like taking racism, climate change, and labor rights seriously
doi.org/10.1353/lib....
doi.org/10.1353/lib....
Project MUSE - Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library
doi.org
December 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Definitely one to read. The manufactured momentum and language of inevitability around AI very much seems to me a deliberate strategy aimed at eroding and undermining library agency - so it's critically important we don't let it!
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Today is #GivingTuesday, a global celebration of giving in all forms - donating, volunteering, sharing, campaigning, fundraising - and what is Open Access if not a form of giving?
So this Giving Tuesday, let’s celebrate the free & open sharing of knowledge, research, data, information, expertise!
So this Giving Tuesday, let’s celebrate the free & open sharing of knowledge, research, data, information, expertise!
December 2, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Today is #GivingTuesday, a global celebration of giving in all forms - donating, volunteering, sharing, campaigning, fundraising - and what is Open Access if not a form of giving?
So this Giving Tuesday, let’s celebrate the free & open sharing of knowledge, research, data, information, expertise!
So this Giving Tuesday, let’s celebrate the free & open sharing of knowledge, research, data, information, expertise!
It really is baffling how little attention has been paid to the British Library., even within the academic and research communities. More attention by far was paid to Trump's removal of the Librarian of Congress than a crippling cyberattack on our own National Library!
💥New: Don’t rely on government to save the British Library
✍️ @simonxix.com
#BritishLibrary #HigherEducation #ResearchInfrastructure
✍️ @simonxix.com
#BritishLibrary #HigherEducation #ResearchInfrastructure
Don’t rely on government to save the British Library - Impact of Social Sciences
Following a catastrophic hack British Library remains in crisis. Can it recover by refocusing on the people, skills and systems that enable it to function?
blogs.lse.ac.uk
December 2, 2025 at 4:43 PM
It really is baffling how little attention has been paid to the British Library., even within the academic and research communities. More attention by far was paid to Trump's removal of the Librarian of Congress than a crippling cyberattack on our own National Library!
And we are very grateful for @uoyopenres.bsky.social’s support - in the world of open access, a little can go a very long way!
We're supporting both LSE Press and Arc through our membership of the @openbookcollective.bsky.social
OBC brings together publishers, service providers and institutions, working collectively on the production and dissemination of OA books in traditional and innovatively experimental forms (6/7)
OBC brings together publishers, service providers and institutions, working collectively on the production and dissemination of OA books in traditional and innovatively experimental forms (6/7)
Open Book Collective
openbookcollective.org
December 2, 2025 at 10:50 AM
And we are very grateful for @uoyopenres.bsky.social’s support - in the world of open access, a little can go a very long way!
Today is Giving Tuesday!
English-language Wikipedia fundraising banners raise money that goes to the global Foundation, not Wikimedia UK, so please also consider donating whatever you can afford, or consider worthwhile, to support our programmes and partnerships here in the UK. Thank you!
English-language Wikipedia fundraising banners raise money that goes to the global Foundation, not Wikimedia UK, so please also consider donating whatever you can afford, or consider worthwhile, to support our programmes and partnerships here in the UK. Thank you!
How will you give 'your way' this Giving Tuesday? - Wikimedia UK
This Giving Tuesday, you have a chance to give 'your way' and support Wikimedia UK's vital work of keeping knowledge free and accessible.
wikimedia.org.uk
December 2, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Today is Giving Tuesday!
English-language Wikipedia fundraising banners raise money that goes to the global Foundation, not Wikimedia UK, so please also consider donating whatever you can afford, or consider worthwhile, to support our programmes and partnerships here in the UK. Thank you!
English-language Wikipedia fundraising banners raise money that goes to the global Foundation, not Wikimedia UK, so please also consider donating whatever you can afford, or consider worthwhile, to support our programmes and partnerships here in the UK. Thank you!
Raising Hare: A Memoir
A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, …
www.goodreads.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:35 PM