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
Please feel free to share! We want to understand how to better support autistic and or ADHD undergraduate students at UK universities. The entire study team is neurodivergent (as you can imagine we had some excellent meetings!)
We are a team at the University of Manchester researching what UK undergraduates with ADHD and/or autism would like to see in university staff training on ensuring undergraduate courses are accessible to them.
Study link: www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...
Study link: www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...
December 15, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Please feel free to share! We want to understand how to better support autistic and or ADHD undergraduate students at UK universities. The entire study team is neurodivergent (as you can imagine we had some excellent meetings!)
Reposted by Caroline Ball
this is one of the most psychotic things Trump has ever posted
December 15, 2025 at 2:52 PM
this is one of the most psychotic things Trump has ever posted
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
A bystander seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach is being heralded as a hero who saved lives.
Bystander shown in videos disarming gunman during Australian beach shooting commended for bravery
A bystander seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach is being heralded as a hero who saved lives.
bit.ly
December 14, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Caroline Ball
The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing.
All from his movies.
All from his movies.
December 15, 2025 at 3:51 AM
The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing.
All from his movies.
All from his movies.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
This is not normal, and continued and ever-increasing rhetoric like this should not be treated as normal. #holdfast #steadystate
December 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
This is not normal, and continued and ever-increasing rhetoric like this should not be treated as normal. #holdfast #steadystate
Reposted by Caroline Ball
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Reposted by Caroline Ball
"To attempt to find useful information + instead take part in the solidification of the internet as an ad-delivery business, where you’re given no option but to be the product... You think about how different it all was: when pages loaded quickly, half the internet wasn’t locked behind paywalls..."
Revised Definitions of the Verb “To Google”
1. To look something up quickly and then spend twenty minutes fact-checking the AI summary, only to find out that it was absolutely wrong.
2. To se...
www.mcsweeneys.net
December 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
"To attempt to find useful information + instead take part in the solidification of the internet as an ad-delivery business, where you’re given no option but to be the product... You think about how different it all was: when pages loaded quickly, half the internet wasn’t locked behind paywalls..."
Call for speakers! 📚
On 18.03.26 @nlisn.bsky.social is running a full-day online event on neurodivergency and entry into the LIS profession. We welcome proposals from current students, recent graduates, early-career, long-term staff, recruiters, anyone!
More info & form - forms.gle/MjT2djGSXp1o...
On 18.03.26 @nlisn.bsky.social is running a full-day online event on neurodivergency and entry into the LIS profession. We welcome proposals from current students, recent graduates, early-career, long-term staff, recruiters, anyone!
More info & form - forms.gle/MjT2djGSXp1o...
Neurodivergency and Entry into the Profession - Call for Speakers
The Neurodivergent Library and Information Staff Network (NLISN) invites proposals for presentations at our full-day online event exploring the experiences, challenges, and possibilities around entry ...
forms.gle
December 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Call for speakers! 📚
On 18.03.26 @nlisn.bsky.social is running a full-day online event on neurodivergency and entry into the LIS profession. We welcome proposals from current students, recent graduates, early-career, long-term staff, recruiters, anyone!
More info & form - forms.gle/MjT2djGSXp1o...
On 18.03.26 @nlisn.bsky.social is running a full-day online event on neurodivergency and entry into the LIS profession. We welcome proposals from current students, recent graduates, early-career, long-term staff, recruiters, anyone!
More info & form - forms.gle/MjT2djGSXp1o...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
December 10, 2025 at 1:44 AM
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.