Fletcher Durant
@fletcherdurant.bsky.social
Preservation : Conservation : Academic Libraries : Archives : Stuff
University archives are home to many under-described hazards. Especially if they have or had medical or dental programs.
"As I have been working on an inventory of our medical instruments..." Archivists really do have the coolest jobs in libraries. From University of Louisville Libraries 📚 uofllibraries.wordpress.com/2026/01/07/f...
From the archives: When poison was medicine
By Cassidy Polack As I have been working on an inventory of our medical instruments in the Kornhauser Health Sciences Library’s historical collection, I have come across a wide variety of items. Su…
uofllibraries.wordpress.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:08 PM
University archives are home to many under-described hazards. Especially if they have or had medical or dental programs.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Please join @dlocaribbean.bsky.social for a series of workshops focused on Copyright and Ethical Reuse facilitated by copyright expert @perrycollins.bsky.social. Register here, dloc.domains.uflib.ufl.edu/workshops/, to receive the Zoom links.
January 8, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Please join @dlocaribbean.bsky.social for a series of workshops focused on Copyright and Ethical Reuse facilitated by copyright expert @perrycollins.bsky.social. Register here, dloc.domains.uflib.ufl.edu/workshops/, to receive the Zoom links.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
The power of ephemera! These things will have been mass-produced to be disposable, thousands manufactured and tossed out straight away; I suspect many will be the only surviving example. Everyday "rubbish" becomes a time-capsule if you just wait long enough.
A collection of more than 1,100 napkins are being preserved in perpetuity alongside documents from the Founding Fathers and tomes dating to the 15th century.
The collection offers a window into decades of American history and social change.
The collection offers a window into decades of American history and social change.
A Virginia woman’s epic paper napkin collection is being preserved
Her collection of more than 1,000 napkins, which the Library of Virginia is keeping safe, includes a series from the Pentagon that warns of threats.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:31 AM
The power of ephemera! These things will have been mass-produced to be disposable, thousands manufactured and tossed out straight away; I suspect many will be the only surviving example. Everyday "rubbish" becomes a time-capsule if you just wait long enough.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
One of the chief virtues of the book is that it’s nearly the only remaining form of media that isn’t constantly being interrupted by ads. Between the covers is the last place on earth where no one is trying to sell you shit, a place where you can still be a human being rather than a mark.
January 2, 2026 at 10:16 PM
One of the chief virtues of the book is that it’s nearly the only remaining form of media that isn’t constantly being interrupted by ads. Between the covers is the last place on earth where no one is trying to sell you shit, a place where you can still be a human being rather than a mark.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
On of my biggest scoops: www.nydailynews.com/2016/01/04/e...
January 1, 2026 at 10:44 PM
On of my biggest scoops: www.nydailynews.com/2016/01/04/e...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as NYC's first Muslim mayor on a Qur'an from the personal collection of the great Afro-Boricua intellectual Arturo Schomburg—as well as Qur'ans owned by Mamdani's grandparents. www.nypl.org/press/schomb...
December 31, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as NYC's first Muslim mayor on a Qur'an from the personal collection of the great Afro-Boricua intellectual Arturo Schomburg—as well as Qur'ans owned by Mamdani's grandparents. www.nypl.org/press/schomb...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Power outage in San Francisco has taken archive.org offline. Back online as soon as possible.
Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine
archive.org
December 31, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Power outage in San Francisco has taken archive.org offline. Back online as soon as possible.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Tomorrow is public domain day!
In the US, most materials under copyright created through 1930 (and audio recordings created through 1925) join the public domain! 🎉
web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...
In the US, most materials under copyright created through 1930 (and audio recordings created through 1925) join the public domain! 🎉
web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...
Public Domain Day 2026 | Duke University School of Law
January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US l...
web.law.duke.edu
December 31, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Tomorrow is public domain day!
In the US, most materials under copyright created through 1930 (and audio recordings created through 1925) join the public domain! 🎉
web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...
In the US, most materials under copyright created through 1930 (and audio recordings created through 1925) join the public domain! 🎉
web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
This story reminds us that:
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
December 31, 2025 at 8:15 PM
This story reminds us that:
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Aged 11, Princess Elizabeth made New Year’s gift for her stepmother, Queen Katherine Parr. 🎁
Bound in embroidered blue silk, it has been preserved at the Bodleian since 1729: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/a3a60c14-8a31-42b9-b8e7-a0986e276459/
Shelfmark: Bodleian Library MS. Cherry 36
Bound in embroidered blue silk, it has been preserved at the Bodleian since 1729: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/a3a60c14-8a31-42b9-b8e7-a0986e276459/
Shelfmark: Bodleian Library MS. Cherry 36
December 31, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Aged 11, Princess Elizabeth made New Year’s gift for her stepmother, Queen Katherine Parr. 🎁
Bound in embroidered blue silk, it has been preserved at the Bodleian since 1729: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/a3a60c14-8a31-42b9-b8e7-a0986e276459/
Shelfmark: Bodleian Library MS. Cherry 36
Bound in embroidered blue silk, it has been preserved at the Bodleian since 1729: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/a3a60c14-8a31-42b9-b8e7-a0986e276459/
Shelfmark: Bodleian Library MS. Cherry 36
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
“The tell isn’t that fake citations look wrong. It’s that they look too right. Too convenient. Too perfectly aligned with whatever point the AI is making“
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
How to Spot AI Hallucinations Like a Reference Librarian
The verification tricks that would make fact-checkers weep with joy.
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:08 PM
“The tell isn’t that fake citations look wrong. It’s that they look too right. Too convenient. Too perfectly aligned with whatever point the AI is making“
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
get ready to say “semiquincentennial” a lot more than you previously did
December 29, 2025 at 7:59 PM
get ready to say “semiquincentennial” a lot more than you previously did
May we never need to have such a public discussion about the differences between conservation and restoration.
www.euronews.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
May we never need to have such a public discussion about the differences between conservation and restoration.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Simply one of my favorite stories ever. RIP to one of the great artists of our age www.euronews.com/culture/2025...
Cecilia Giménez, the painter who 'botched' the Ecce Homo dies aged 94
The Borja resident, who rose to fame in 2012 for her widely mocked restoration of Elías García Martínez's fresco 'Ecco Homo', has died at the age of 94.
www.euronews.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Simply one of my favorite stories ever. RIP to one of the great artists of our age www.euronews.com/culture/2025...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Collection dev/donor ethics case study about Derrida's papers in the new issue of Archivaria. 📜
Armendariz, Anastasia & Kate Orazem. "Fevered Inheritances: Ethics of Care and Donor Power in Starchives." Archivaria, vol. 100, 2025, p. 126-157. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/978334
Armendariz, Anastasia & Kate Orazem. "Fevered Inheritances: Ethics of Care and Donor Power in Starchives." Archivaria, vol. 100, 2025, p. 126-157. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/978334
December 29, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Collection dev/donor ethics case study about Derrida's papers in the new issue of Archivaria. 📜
Armendariz, Anastasia & Kate Orazem. "Fevered Inheritances: Ethics of Care and Donor Power in Starchives." Archivaria, vol. 100, 2025, p. 126-157. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/978334
Armendariz, Anastasia & Kate Orazem. "Fevered Inheritances: Ethics of Care and Donor Power in Starchives." Archivaria, vol. 100, 2025, p. 126-157. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/978334
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Our photographer Alex Kormann captured the exact moment the presses stopped for the last time in Minneapolis, ending a 158 history of locally printed newspapers.
December 28, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Our photographer Alex Kormann captured the exact moment the presses stopped for the last time in Minneapolis, ending a 158 history of locally printed newspapers.
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
This site is digitizing found cassette tapes of old dj sets, mixes & radio shows from around the world
intertapes.net
intertapes.net
December 13, 2025 at 10:21 AM
This site is digitizing found cassette tapes of old dj sets, mixes & radio shows from around the world
intertapes.net
intertapes.net
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Most things will not be archived and that's ok. It's always been so.
December 27, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Most things will not be archived and that's ok. It's always been so.
Mechanical engineer uses AI to “conserve” paintings. Fails to understand “conservation” or frankly “art”. Slapping a digital
fill onto a canvas. Unclear why he didn’t just suggest using a digital replica if the goal is disappointing the viewer.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
fill onto a canvas. Unclear why he didn’t just suggest using a digital replica if the goal is disappointing the viewer.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Meet the MIT engineer who invented an AI-powered way to restore art
The new method could be 70 times faster than repairing painting by hand.
www.nature.com
December 25, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Mechanical engineer uses AI to “conserve” paintings. Fails to understand “conservation” or frankly “art”. Slapping a digital
fill onto a canvas. Unclear why he didn’t just suggest using a digital replica if the goal is disappointing the viewer.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
fill onto a canvas. Unclear why he didn’t just suggest using a digital replica if the goal is disappointing the viewer.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Loving the new flyer for next year's (50th anniversary) Magic Lantern Society convention
December 23, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Loving the new flyer for next year's (50th anniversary) Magic Lantern Society convention
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
In Europe less than 5% of collections have been digitised. There are millions and millions of pages to identify before you even consider the prohibitive costs and pre-digitisation conservation work
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Seems like it's worth posting this one again.
December 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
In Europe less than 5% of collections have been digitised. There are millions and millions of pages to identify before you even consider the prohibitive costs and pre-digitisation conservation work
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
New article out by me and @ashleyblewer.com titled “Each character you create requires a full 15 blocks!” Preserving Video Game Memory Cards in the Age of Cloud Storage." In it, we examine the sociotechnical challenges of preserving video game memory cards.
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
“Each character you create requires a full 15 blocks!” preserving video game memory cards in the age of cloud storage
The act of saving in video games has shifted from a material, active practice to a passive, near imperceptible occurrence. However, until systems like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 were releas...
www.tandfonline.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
New article out by me and @ashleyblewer.com titled “Each character you create requires a full 15 blocks!” Preserving Video Game Memory Cards in the Age of Cloud Storage." In it, we examine the sociotechnical challenges of preserving video game memory cards.
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Books are low-key goated when preserving the intellectual + creative birthright of all humanity is the vibe
December 22, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Books are low-key goated when preserving the intellectual + creative birthright of all humanity is the vibe
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
Church organ tuning records mirror our warming climate
The records appear to reflect climate change, as well as the increased heating of churches in winter
www.thereengineer.pro
December 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
Reposted by Fletcher Durant
Wait until you hear that LLMs can only train on digitized/datafied info.
Most of the FACTS scholars use are in archives/libraries.
Less than 1% of archival colletions worldwide have been digitized.
Also: lots of facts are not even in archives, but in the attics.
Most of the FACTS scholars use are in archives/libraries.
Less than 1% of archival colletions worldwide have been digitized.
Also: lots of facts are not even in archives, but in the attics.
suspect a big reason why many academics and others who work in areas where getting facts RIGHT is key are disinterested in using LLMs for research:
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
December 21, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Wait until you hear that LLMs can only train on digitized/datafied info.
Most of the FACTS scholars use are in archives/libraries.
Less than 1% of archival colletions worldwide have been digitized.
Also: lots of facts are not even in archives, but in the attics.
Most of the FACTS scholars use are in archives/libraries.
Less than 1% of archival colletions worldwide have been digitized.
Also: lots of facts are not even in archives, but in the attics.