Alison McNab
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alisonmcnab.bsky.social
Alison McNab
@alisonmcnab.bsky.social
Retired academic librarian (specialised in research support and econtent). Exiled Scot. Christian. Owned by a greyhound. Chatting about personal & professional stuff, incl #TheArchers
I don’t believe that Helen has an upmarket cardigan. Alice is much more likely to have an Underwood’s Finest Cashmere cardi than Helen. The latter will have a hand-spun (from goat hair) hand-knitted (by Pat) cardi. #TheArchers
November 18, 2025 at 7:12 PM
And no bunk beds feature in the Warwick Uni Conf accommodation #TheArchers #AcademicArchers
🩷10th Anniversary - just got to be there 🤞#TheArchers
November 18, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Plus as someone who has driven and been driven the Midlands to Aberdeen route many multiple times, I know that it is critical to time your journeys to stop off at Tebay and Cairn Lodge Services…#TheArchers
I am worried about Tony having to unexpectedly drive up to Scotland. The M6 leg of the journey can be dreadful. I suspect T hasn’t driven that distance for some years. It is tiring and driving in the dusk/dark gets trickier as one gets older.
Not ageist - speaking from experience.
#TheArchers
November 16, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I am worried about Tony having to unexpectedly drive up to Scotland. The M6 leg of the journey can be dreadful. I suspect T hasn’t driven that distance for some years. It is tiring and driving in the dusk/dark gets trickier as one gets older.
Not ageist - speaking from experience.
#TheArchers
November 16, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Rather pleasing the way Tom got his comeuppance! He was so patronising with Tony and for once Lilian was right about Peggy wanting both her surviving children on holiday #TheArchers
November 16, 2025 at 7:32 PM
#TheArchers Beaver Grylls…
November 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Alison McNab
Could you co-supervise a PhD working with unexplored areas of our collection?

We’re seeking proposals from academics at HEI’s on four specially selected research themes: bit.ly/BritishLibra...
November 7, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Any other long term #TheArchers listeners think Freddie sounded rather like his Dad (Nigel) when he put his foot in it?
October 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Found the report. Published June 2025, analysing results from survey conducted in November 2024.
blog.degruyter.com/wp-content/u...
October 29, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Despite now only viewing academia from the outside, I’ve been very conscious of the fragmentation of social media. I therefore found it helpful to read this summary: scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/10/29/g...
Guest Post — The Great Pullback: Why Academic Social Media’s Fragmentation Matters - The Scholarly Kitchen
Today's guest bloggers share insights into the fragmented, tiring, and uncertain digital landscape for academics, and evidence that a shift is underway — with implications for scholarly communication ...
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org
October 29, 2025 at 11:50 AM
#TheArchers Has Esme no friends who could at least talk her through funeral options on the phone? Rather than having to ask complete strangers?
October 19, 2025 at 6:21 PM
@thecidershedpod.bsky.social patreons are reassuring Matthew that we love his TCS ads.

One commentator pointed it that they often highlight ridiculous moments on #TheArchers that we miss while listening.
October 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Chocolate meditation? Count me in!

“I run chocolate meditation workshops and tastings to explore the importance of terroir and biodiversity in single-origin chocolates…”.
www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...?
‘Expensive, but totally worth it’: the best (and worst) supermarket dark chocolate, tasted and rated
Our in-house chocolate aficionado struggles through luxury bars of high cocoa dark chocolate so you don’t have to
www.theguardian.com
October 5, 2025 at 11:41 AM
That should be @bookshop.org
Delighted to hear that @bookshop_org_uk have launched an ebook service. exists to link readers with independent bookshops for purchasing print (and now e-) books. There are some free classics so suggest you use one to test out the platform.
uk.bookshop.org/ebooks
October 1, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Delighted to hear that @bookshop_org_uk have launched an ebook service. exists to link readers with independent bookshops for purchasing print (and now e-) books. There are some free classics so suggest you use one to test out the platform.
uk.bookshop.org/ebooks
October 1, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Alison McNab
Don't forget the Call for Papers for the 10th Academic Archers Conference!
Join us at the University of Warwick from March 28-29, 2026, to celebrate 10 years of this amazing community.

#TheArchers #AcademicArchers #CallForPapers #Ambridge
1/
September 5, 2025 at 10:09 AM
One of Britain’s largest stocks of second-hand books ever amassed can be found in the unlikeliest of locations: a vast former youth hostel in a pretty corner of the Yorkshire Dales. www.worldofinteriors.com/story/richar...
Lonesome spines: buyer sought for over 150,000 books and the one-time Yorkshire Dales youth hostel in which they’re housed
Richard Axe is celebrated in the bookselling trade for his vast collection of antiquarian and second-hand volumes. Since 2005, his stock has been arrayed on over a mile’s worth of shelving in a former...
www.worldofinteriors.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Alison McNab
#AcademicArchers #TheArchers www.buzzsprout.com/979729/episo...
Starting from today new podcasts will be released every Wednesday at 11 am, from 29 August through to 17 December. On 18 December the full set of conference videos will be released on the Academic Archers YouTube channel.
The Men of Ambridge - Academic Archers
Welcome to the fifth series in the annual podcast programme from Academic Archers, bringing you papers from our 2024 conference.This episode shares the three papers from the session The Men of Ambridg...
www.buzzsprout.com
August 18, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Alison McNab
Recently, I shared a Lord of the Rings subway map, & I had a bunch of people asking me to do a Narnia version. Well...here you go!

It's covers all 7 books, so it's a lot more complicated the the LoTR ones. And if you like it, it's available to buy on my Etsy store:
www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...
August 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Alison McNab
Reimagining the Public Library by John Pateman is out now! Capturing major debates that influenced the LIS profession over the past 25 years, Pateman explores how these ideas can inform the future development of public libraries.

🔗Get your copy now: www.facetpublishing.co.uk/reimagining-...
July 8, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Alison McNab
Half the people on the new 8-person Intellectual Freedom Committee don't need to be CILIP members, we're looking for a range of experts across the profession & beyond
“Now more than ever, we need strong, confident voices speaking up for freedom of expression & access to information” CILIP CEO @LouisMMCoiffait. Could you lead our new #IntellectualFreedom Committee & help ensure these values stay central to our profession? www.cilip.org.uk/news/703258/...
Help shape the future of intellectual freedom – build CILIP’s new committee
CILIP is pleased to announce a new Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) and is inviting applications for its inaugural Chair.
www.cilip.org.uk
July 12, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Vannevar Bush was not forgotten by those who studied aspects of information retrieval a few decades ago…
theconversation.com/the-forgotte...
The forgotten 80-year-old machine that shaped the internet – and could help us survive AI
Leading American engineer and scientist Vannevar Bush thought that the memex was the answer to information nightmare of the 1940s.
theconversation.com
July 14, 2025 at 7:04 AM
I’m sure Eddie is using a pub ploy that Joe did back in the day…. #TheArchers
July 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Very best wishes to all those heading to #CILIPConf25 tomorrow cilipconference.org.uk/programme-ov...
Programme Overview - CILIP Conference 2025
Programme Overview
cilipconference.org.uk
June 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Why "Grandma Hobbies" Could Be the Secret to Better Mental Health.
www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a641741...
Scientists Say That "Grandma Hobbies" Could Be a Secret Key to Happiness
Time to pick up those knitting needles!
www.goodhousekeeping.com
June 30, 2025 at 5:40 PM