Sian Collins
LightNews LightNews
banner
siancollins.bsky.social
Sian Collins
@siancollins.bsky.social
130 followers 140 following 60 posts
Head of Special Collections and Archives, University of Wales Trinity St David
Posts Replies Media Videos
siancollins.bsky.social
#whamageddon ☹️

I think this is the longest I've stayed in the game so mustn't grumble!🎄
December 18, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
🎁 Sneak a peek into the past this December! Our online Advent Calendar reveals a daily dose of festive charm from UWTSD’s Special Collections. 🎅 Scan the QR code or follow this link to unwrap the magic!

tuerchen.app/iVpnFm6YLBkk...

#UWTSDlib #SpecialCollections #ArchiveMagic
A square image with a background of a snowy landscape. In the right side there is a wooden house with snow on the roof. In the centre of the image there is text in English and Welsh that says “UWTSD Special Collections Advent Calendar.”. Below this text is a QR code. In the top right corner there is the UWTSD library logo and in the left there is the UWTSD logo.
December 18, 2025 at 9:55 AM
siancollins.bsky.social
Looking forward to the 3rd - and final - day of our Jane Austen celebration at @uwtsdlib.bsky.social in Lampeter. It's been a frantically busy couple of days but so rewarding to share some wonderful items relating to Jane, including 3 books actually owned by her and her sister!😍
December 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
opwireland.bsky.social
The #WinterSolstice livestream link is now available
Join us on 21 Dec @ 8:40 am to witness the solstice sunrise live from inside the #Newgrange chamber, weather permitting.
Save the link now and be part of this extraordinary moment.
🔗www.gov.ie/solstice
#ShareTheSolstice
December 17, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
ramblers.org.uk
Jane Austen loved a ramble!

250 years since her birth, we’re celebrating the paths and landscapes that inspired her life and writing.

Explore the new Jane Austen trails ➡️ www.ramblers.org.uk/features/footsteps-jane-austen
Quote over an autumnal countryside background reads: “Elizabeth continued her walk alone, crossing field after field at a quick pace, jumping over stiles and springing over puddles with impatient activity, and finding herself at last within view of the house, with weary ankles, dirty stockings, and a face glowing with the warmth of exercise
December 17, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
Rydym wedi dathlu pen-blwydd Jane Austen yn 250 oed mewn steil. Yn niwrnod agored ein Casgliadau Arbennig, gwelodd ymwelwyr gopi Jane ei hun o L’ami de l’adolescence gan Arnaud Berquin. Yn ogystal, gwnaethom arddangos casgliad o gyfrolau cynnar eraill a gafodd eu crybwyll yn nofelau Austen.
Person in period costume standing beside a display case with old books in a library. A community room with people attending a presentation, decorated with seating areas and a Christmas tree.
December 17, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
We have celebrated Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in style. At our Special Collections open day, visitors saw Jane’s own copy of Arnaud Berquin’s L’ami de l’adolescence. We also displayed a collection of other early volumes mentioned in Austen’s novels.
December 17, 2025 at 11:36 AM
siancollins.bsky.social
V excited for our drop-in sessions in @uwtsdlib.bsky.social Lampeter today to show off 3 delightful books formerly owned by Jane Austen & her sister! We're v happy & honoured to care for them here.

If you're in Lampeter 10-12 or 2-4, please pop in for a look!

(or just to get out of the rain...😉)
December 17, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
(1/2)
The 16th December is a very special Day for Jane Austen aficionados as it marks the beloved and iconic author's birthday.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of her birth and to celebrate the occasion, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Roderic Bowen Library and Archives will...
The image features an open book with a focus on the inside of the front cover and the first page. The pages are yellowed with age, showing signs of wear. On the right page, in cursive handwriting, is the name "Jane Austen" followed by the year "1797." Above this, in smaller print, there are inscriptions including what appears to be "XIV" and other numbers.
December 16, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
theul.bsky.social
✨This book was once owned by Jane Austen! ✨

There are very few books that Jane Austen is known to have owned, making this one at the UL incredibly special. We're delighted to show it to you today, on her 250th birthday!

#JaneAusten250
December 16, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
stopworkplacebu.bsky.social
Workplace bullying tactics
#workplacebullying
Support Networks
workplacementalhealthresources.com/resources/
November 20, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
alisonharding.bsky.social
This gull just noticed that a careless dog owner had allowed his animals into the woodland lake, suffice to say many birds were disturbed.

If you can’t control your dogs, or if in the presence of other animals, then keep them on a lead.

#BirdPhotography
December 14, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
crowdcymru.bsky.social
Casgliad prosiect bach neis ar ddiwedd y flwyddyn, gyda diolch i @archiveswales.bsky.social 🌟🌟🌟 archifau.cymru/2025/12/07/c... 🌟 #archifaudigidol #prosiectgwirfoddol #cyfranogiadtorfol #Cymru
#CrowdCymru – gwirfoddoli digidol gydag archifau Cymru
Y tro diwethaf i mi gyfrannu at y blog hwn oedd nôl ym mis Chwefror 2024 [darllenwch e yma] pan oedd ein prosiect yn agosáu at ddiwedd ei flwyddyn gyntaf. Dechreuodd y cyfan gyda chyllid gan  Gronf…
archifau.cymru
December 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
crowdcymru.bsky.social
Nice little end of year project round-up courtesy of @archiveswales.bsky.social 🌟🌟🌟 archives.wales/2025/12/07/c... 🌟 #digitalarchives #volunteerproject #Wales #crowdsourcing #volunteering
#CrowdCymru – digital volunteering with the archives of Wales
I last contributed to this blog back in February 2024 [read it here] when our project was nearing the end of its first year. It began with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in the wak…
archives.wales
December 11, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
Mae ein gwirfoddolwyr yn gweithio gyda channoedd o geisiadau gan fyfyrwyr unigol o’r 1923au i’r 1960au – maent yn darganfod deunydd arbennig.

#EichArchifau #LlyfrPCYDDS
The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image is a photograph of an open folder with the paper document contents faced up. The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image there is a photograph of a shelf with rows of paper bags containing documents.
December 7, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
Our volunteers are working with hundreds of individual student applications from the 1920s to the 1960s – they’re discovering some wonderful material.

#YourArchives #UWTSDlib
The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image is a photograph of an open folder with the paper document contents faced up. The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image there is a photograph of a shelf with rows of paper bags containing documents.
December 7, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
crowdcymru.bsky.social
Cyfarchion y Nadolig rhwng dau fardd, 114 mlynedd yn ôl #AEADathliadau Daw ein casgliad diweddaraf o Gasgliadau Arbennig ac Archifau Prifysgol Caerdydd ac mae'n cynnwys llythyrau gan #EdwardThomas at ei gyd-fardd a'i ffrind, #GordonBottomley.
Llun yn dangos manylion llythyr oddi wrth Edward Thomas at Gordon Bottomley –y dyddiad ar y llythyr yw Nadolig 1911, o Wick Green. Casgliad sy’n rhan o Gasgliadau Arbennig ac Archifau Prifysgol Caerdydd.
December 6, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
crowdcymru.bsky.social
Festive greetings between two poets from 114 years ago on #EYAAnniversaries. Our most recent collection comes from Cardiff University Special Collections & Archives and features letters from #EdwardThomas to fellow poet and friend, #GordonBottomley. @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social #WWI #warpoets
Image shows detail of a letter from Edward Thomas to Gordon Bottomley – the letter is dated Christmas 1911 from Wick Green. Collection held at Cardiff University Special Collections & Archives.
December 6, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
camdiglib.bsky.social
If you're after a Friday read? Why not join us on a virtual adventure to explore a different way of thinking about how we interact and engage with digitised cultural heritage:
www.theheritagelab.in/digital-rasa...
Digital Rasa: Can Ancient Indian Aesthetic Theory Guide Our Engagement with Manuscripts and Photographs online?
This essay reflects on the concept of rasa (ancient Indian aesthetic theory) & rethinks our digital engagement with manuscripts & photos in collections.
www.theheritagelab.in
December 5, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
librarywales.bsky.social
On the 5th of April 2023, a hundred-year-old Peace Petition signed by almost 400,000 Welsh women was returned to Wales, marking the centenary of a women-led, Welsh anti-war effort.

Learn more about digitising the petition.
www.library.wales/news/article...

#ExploreYourArchive #EYADigital
The entrance to the 'Peacemakers' exhibition
December 4, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
amaliasl.bsky.social
"You find yourself in an archive. You are there because you are seeking something... You expect order, you need order. Instead, you find instability, difficulty, and danger. Your plans fall apart and time unravels. You have been lured in; it is a labyrinth."

Edmund de Waal, an Archive
December 2, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Sian Collins
uwtsdlib.bsky.social
The stain on our 13th century Monks Blood Manuscript is most likely spilt wine rather than the blood of slaughtered monks!

#EYAMedieval #UWTSDlib
The image is square with a photograph if an old manuscript in the centre. The manuscript is a two page spread. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right corner there is the UWTSD library logo. The image is square with a photograph in the centre of an old manuscript. The photograph shows a wine stain covering the page. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right corner there is the UWTSD library logo.
December 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
siancollins.bsky.social
The red sky this morning was an ominous warning of the amber weather alert due later today! 💨💦👀
November 30, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
camdiglib.bsky.social
We've got some HUGE news! We've DOUBLED in size overnight! Not only have we added "some" more Cairo Genizah fragments, but "ALL" of them @theul.bsky.social !!!
This now brings the total number of items in Cambridge Digital Library to OVER 160,000!
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
November 28, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Sian Collins
willpooley.bsky.social
What makes historic collections difficult? And how do researchers work with “difficult” collections?

New CFP from Paper Trails here:

blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...

Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
Call for Papers: Difficult Collections | UCL UCL Special Collections
UCL Homepage
blogs.ucl.ac.uk
November 27, 2025 at 6:21 PM