Melissa Terras
@melissaterras.bsky.social
Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. Computers versus the past. Digital Humanities and somesuch, including CoSTAR network activities, Creative Informatics, and Transkribus. MBE FREng.
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Can AI be ethical and transparent? At READ-COOP, the unique European cooperative behind Transkribus, we prioritise democratic control and purpose over profit.
Read Melissa Terras' (@melissaterras.bsky.social) thoughts on why this model is a global blueprint:
blog.transkribus.org/en/melissa-t...
Read Melissa Terras' (@melissaterras.bsky.social) thoughts on why this model is a global blueprint:
blog.transkribus.org/en/melissa-t...
Melissa Terras on why cooperatives are the future of AI
Discover why Melissa Terras believes cooperatives like READ-COOP represent the future of AI, fostering community-driven, sustainable technological innovation.
blog.transkribus.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Can AI be ethical and transparent? At READ-COOP, the unique European cooperative behind Transkribus, we prioritise democratic control and purpose over profit.
Read Melissa Terras' (@melissaterras.bsky.social) thoughts on why this model is a global blueprint:
blog.transkribus.org/en/melissa-t...
Read Melissa Terras' (@melissaterras.bsky.social) thoughts on why this model is a global blueprint:
blog.transkribus.org/en/melissa-t...
This is an exciting project, led by @nebulousflynn.bsky.social, to safeguard access to the UK’s digital 3D heritage at risk through over-reliance on commercial and free-to-use platforms for storage and dissemination. I'm happy to be serving on the advisory board and looking forward to discussions.
Wikimedia UK has been awarded a grant of £56,198 from National Lottery Heritage Fund towards our ‘UK Heritage 3D Data at Risk: Developing a Strategy for Long Term Access & Storage’ project. The grant will help ensure future access to the UK’s 3D heritage data.
More info: tinyurl.com/3ma28psr
More info: tinyurl.com/3ma28psr
November 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
This is an exciting project, led by @nebulousflynn.bsky.social, to safeguard access to the UK’s digital 3D heritage at risk through over-reliance on commercial and free-to-use platforms for storage and dissemination. I'm happy to be serving on the advisory board and looking forward to discussions.
Job Alert! DH postdoc at Edinburgh - Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to work on the AHRC-funded project "Voices in Slavery’s Archive: Law, Place and Testimony in British Guiana", which will build a digital archive out of the recorded words of enslaved people. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPN147/p...
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Edinburgh
Explore an exciting academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Job Alert! DH postdoc at Edinburgh - Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to work on the AHRC-funded project "Voices in Slavery’s Archive: Law, Place and Testimony in British Guiana", which will build a digital archive out of the recorded words of enslaved people. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPN147/p...
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
NEW: Common Crawl, the massive archiver of the web, has gotten cozy with AI companies and is providing paywalled articles for training data. They’re also lying to publishers who have asked for material to be removed. “The robots are people too,” CC’s exec director told us when we asked about this.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
Over to Glasgow tonight to hang out at the launch of the Glasgow Library of Synthesised Sound. A fab community run space in an old converted school, supporting access to electronic instruments. It was quite the party! www.gloss.scot
November 21, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Over to Glasgow tonight to hang out at the launch of the Glasgow Library of Synthesised Sound. A fab community run space in an old converted school, supporting access to electronic instruments. It was quite the party! www.gloss.scot
All welcome! I'm so excited about this talk!
We are excited to welcome Dorothy Berry as the speaker for our 2025 annual lecture, "How Users Imagine Archival Research", on December 10th. Register now: https://edin.ac/4pfKrDp #EdCDCS Charing: Melissa Terras
November 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
All welcome! I'm so excited about this talk!
Frosty walk this morning #edinburgh
November 21, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Frosty walk this morning #edinburgh
Disappointed, yet again, by a UK wide UKRI initiative who say things like “Representation matters to us” and pledge “A 50-50 gender balance within the gender binary” for activities, then give out PhD studentships to a cohort of 6 men, and 1 woman. #everydaySexism
November 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Disappointed, yet again, by a UK wide UKRI initiative who say things like “Representation matters to us” and pledge “A 50-50 gender balance within the gender binary” for activities, then give out PhD studentships to a cohort of 6 men, and 1 woman. #everydaySexism
This. My kids are “Crappy-Digital Natives”.
Can I just complain about the fact that 12 year olds are now expected to be able to navigate half-broken, enshittified digital platforms just to do school? On a daily basis they are required to use a mishmash of absolute garbage software that would make *me* rage quit. This is now the norm?
November 20, 2025 at 7:54 AM
This. My kids are “Crappy-Digital Natives”.
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Great work from Rachel & the team at Edinburgh University Archives.
A lovely story of an archivist reaching out for religious community support to fully understand a holy book in the collection, and that community getting a wonderful experience in return.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sikhs flock to see rare outing of ancient holy book in Edinburgh
The Guru Granth Sahib is so fragile it was taken to Edinburgh Gurdwara in a special convoy by curators for just a few hours.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Great work from Rachel & the team at Edinburgh University Archives.
Cold but happy on the ucu picket today, dancing to an impromptu band. C- to Edinburgh Uni management with their lack of leadership, plans, or care.
November 19, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Cold but happy on the ucu picket today, dancing to an impromptu band. C- to Edinburgh Uni management with their lack of leadership, plans, or care.
Am proud of this stat… although let’s not pile our fragile historical texts that high! 😉
A total of 150 million document images have already been processed in Transkribus!
Stacked on top of each other, they would form an impressive 15-kilometre-high tower—almost double the height of Mount Everest. 🏔️
Stacked on top of each other, they would form an impressive 15-kilometre-high tower—almost double the height of Mount Everest. 🏔️
November 18, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Am proud of this stat… although let’s not pile our fragile historical texts that high! 😉
Heading home on the train to 🏴 and there is snow on those hills!
November 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Heading home on the train to 🏴 and there is snow on those hills!
Reposted by Melissa Terras
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
October 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
Am looking for PhD students to supervise under this particular call! And v interested in Home student applicants - please share with any ambitious DH/LIS students you know who are on the technical side…
The call for PhD applications for the Centre for Doctoral Training in Designing Responsible Natural Language Processing is live - deadline 7th January 2025! We have webinars for potential applicants to ask us questions and seek advice. www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
November 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Am looking for PhD students to supervise under this particular call! And v interested in Home student applicants - please share with any ambitious DH/LIS students you know who are on the technical side…
Reposted by Melissa Terras
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
View from a hotel room, #Leicester #academicglamour. Did a PhD viva today. Home tomorrow… a lot of travel just now, but that’s my own fault! Always interesting to see what happens elsewhere…
November 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
View from a hotel room, #Leicester #academicglamour. Did a PhD viva today. Home tomorrow… a lot of travel just now, but that’s my own fault! Always interesting to see what happens elsewhere…
Reposted by Melissa Terras
The transcription of Edinburgh University Library’s Receipt Book for the Book Borrowing Surgeons project is well underway. Kit Baston gives an update on her project, funded by an OEC Jean Guild Grant. #edinburghsurgeons #edinburghuniversitylibrary #RCSEd
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
November 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The transcription of Edinburgh University Library’s Receipt Book for the Book Borrowing Surgeons project is well underway. Kit Baston gives an update on her project, funded by an OEC Jean Guild Grant. #edinburghsurgeons #edinburghuniversitylibrary #RCSEd
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
Reposted by Melissa Terras
If you care about the future of University of Edinburgh, call or email your local MSP on Monday:
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Lobby Your MSP! — UCU Edinburgh
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
November 16, 2025 at 10:47 AM
If you care about the future of University of Edinburgh, call or email your local MSP on Monday:
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Time to go to the airport, after a fab few days in Turkey. Will miss seeing cats everywhere…
November 16, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Time to go to the airport, after a fab few days in Turkey. Will miss seeing cats everywhere…
A day off, exploring Istanbul. Sun shone. Am most taken by these dog prints in a tile from c. 1650 in the Topkapi palace. And the tiles! And the mother of pearl inlays!
November 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
A day off, exploring Istanbul. Sun shone. Am most taken by these dog prints in a tile from c. 1650 in the Topkapi palace. And the tiles! And the mother of pearl inlays!
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Just to say, I am a supervisor here:
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
2026 Studentships
www.responsiblenlp.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Just to say, I am a supervisor here:
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
Good to see coverage of this common but not well known condition in pregnancy. I spent 6 months in a wheelchair with my 1st... and it took a private osteopath to put me back together again, as best they could. Support for this is lacking at the moment, and we must do more to support women with PGP.
I could hardly walk - the issue that affects 1 in 5 mums
Two mothers who experienced pelvic girdle pain say being aware of the risk will help people seek treatment.
www.bbc.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Good to see coverage of this common but not well known condition in pregnancy. I spent 6 months in a wheelchair with my 1st... and it took a private osteopath to put me back together again, as best they could. Support for this is lacking at the moment, and we must do more to support women with PGP.
Just me hanging out with the President of @coopseurope.bsky.social, Giuseppe Guerini, who I had the pleasure of explaining to that @transkribus.bsky.social is Europe's first AI cooperative, and is doing well! On the right, Tobias Schweitzer, who is setting up an AI supported carbon-capture coop.
November 14, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Just me hanging out with the President of @coopseurope.bsky.social, Giuseppe Guerini, who I had the pleasure of explaining to that @transkribus.bsky.social is Europe's first AI cooperative, and is doing well! On the right, Tobias Schweitzer, who is setting up an AI supported carbon-capture coop.
Absolutely delighted to keynote Cooperative AI in Istanbul today: telling everyone how we built @transkribus.bsky.social, and how it has flourished under READ-COOP. I usually speak about this to DH, Library & Archive audiences - great to show our wares to researchers of coops, & fab discussions.
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Absolutely delighted to keynote Cooperative AI in Istanbul today: telling everyone how we built @transkribus.bsky.social, and how it has flourished under READ-COOP. I usually speak about this to DH, Library & Archive audiences - great to show our wares to researchers of coops, & fab discussions.