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...
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
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Interesting investigation into a dodgy Elsevier journal -- with the additional nugget that the CEO of Elsevier's parent company made more than €15 million in total compensation last year.
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...
english.elpais.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Interesting investigation into a dodgy Elsevier journal -- with the additional nugget that the CEO of Elsevier's parent company made more than €15 million in total compensation last year.
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
I just saw Santa Claus on a motorbike. 😳 Full red suit, bike decked out with lights and tinsel, the works. Did a full-on double take driving past.
November 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I just saw Santa Claus on a motorbike. 😳 Full red suit, bike decked out with lights and tinsel, the works. Did a full-on double take driving past.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
When I ask them: "What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you listening to?" Often, the answer is: nothing. Which has a direct effect on their over-use of prompts and AI, because they can't think of ideas, because they are literally not engaging with a single figurative thing.
November 28, 2025 at 10:33 PM
When I ask them: "What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you listening to?" Often, the answer is: nothing. Which has a direct effect on their over-use of prompts and AI, because they can't think of ideas, because they are literally not engaging with a single figurative thing.
So I've managed to get myself tonsilitis, as a nice little early Christmas present for me. Yay. Got a lovely 5-day course of antibiotics as a bonus!
November 28, 2025 at 3:44 PM
So I've managed to get myself tonsilitis, as a nice little early Christmas present for me. Yay. Got a lovely 5-day course of antibiotics as a bonus!
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Late to the game sharing this: Stage 1 of #CALC26 CfP is out and we're accepting submissions
The Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference is for anyone with research, projects, perspectives on all things using critical practice in libraries and information studies
sites.google.com/view/calccon...
The Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference is for anyone with research, projects, perspectives on all things using critical practice in libraries and information studies
sites.google.com/view/calccon...
CALC
A conference to discuss critical practice in libraries.
sites.google.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Late to the game sharing this: Stage 1 of #CALC26 CfP is out and we're accepting submissions
The Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference is for anyone with research, projects, perspectives on all things using critical practice in libraries and information studies
sites.google.com/view/calccon...
The Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference is for anyone with research, projects, perspectives on all things using critical practice in libraries and information studies
sites.google.com/view/calccon...
Woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and a wicked sore throat, clearly coming down with something - but my brain decided we would address this not by staying in bed, but by getting up and making cornbread before breakfast. Because for sure, why not?
November 27, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and a wicked sore throat, clearly coming down with something - but my brain decided we would address this not by staying in bed, but by getting up and making cornbread before breakfast. Because for sure, why not?
I cannot tell you how many times a day I ask myself, and others, ‘is this a me thing, or an ADHD thing?’ Which is of course unanswerable.
November 27, 2025 at 7:35 AM
I cannot tell you how many times a day I ask myself, and others, ‘is this a me thing, or an ADHD thing?’ Which is of course unanswerable.
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long …
From Sarah Weinman, author of Scoundrel and The Real Lo…
www.goodreads.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman