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...
Interested in AI, ethics and open access? I’ll be speaking at this @uksg.bsky.social webinar on 5 February - it’s free to register, so please come along!
www.uksg.org/events/free-...
www.uksg.org/events/free-...
FREE UKSG webinar: The Open Access – AI Conundrum: Does Free to Read Mean Free to Train? - UKSG
This is a fantastic opportunity to listen to expert speakers with no travelling required. This is a free webinar - Please note that advance registration is required. This webinar will be recorded and ...
www.uksg.org
January 6, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Interested in AI, ethics and open access? I’ll be speaking at this @uksg.bsky.social webinar on 5 February - it’s free to register, so please come along!
www.uksg.org/events/free-...
www.uksg.org/events/free-...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Hi library friends & colleagues in the UK! Check out @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social on BBC 4 Storyville: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
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BBC Four - Storyville, The Librarians
Documentary about the US librarians who are risking their safety to defend free speech.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Hi library friends & colleagues in the UK! Check out @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social on BBC 4 Storyville: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
📚 📜
📚 📜
Reposted by Caroline Ball
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
January 5, 2026 at 4:12 PM
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Four generations of my family have served our country. Service is in my blood. The President wouldn’t know anything about that.
January 5, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Four generations of my family have served our country. Service is in my blood. The President wouldn’t know anything about that.
I guess America has moved on from the old surreptitious, plausible deniability, ‘pay the Mafia to bump off foreign leaders to effect regime change’ playbook, huh? Let’s just openly abduct them instead!
January 3, 2026 at 3:41 PM
I guess America has moved on from the old surreptitious, plausible deniability, ‘pay the Mafia to bump off foreign leaders to effect regime change’ playbook, huh? Let’s just openly abduct them instead!
Reposted by Caroline Ball
It’s a good thing Congress isn’t alive to see this
June 22, 2025 at 12:47 AM
It’s a good thing Congress isn’t alive to see this
Reposted by Caroline Ball
wild to see every news outlet use the term "capture" to describe what happened. we're not at war with venezuela! this is *objectively* an illegal kidnapping of a sovereign country's leader
January 3, 2026 at 2:25 PM
wild to see every news outlet use the term "capture" to describe what happened. we're not at war with venezuela! this is *objectively* an illegal kidnapping of a sovereign country's leader
Reposted by Caroline Ball
What does it mean when your doctors keep insisting you redo the cognitive exam
January 2, 2026 at 2:58 PM
What does it mean when your doctors keep insisting you redo the cognitive exam
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America by Colin Woodard
Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America by Colin Woodard
Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered…
The bestselling author of American Nations offers a pow…
www.goodreads.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:05 PM
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America by Colin Woodard
Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America by Colin Woodard
I was hit by a lorry a few years ago - a man in a white van helped me climb out the car (driver’s door was crushed against the front of the lorry), sat me on the curb with water & a KitKat, called the police, dealt with the lorry driver, all while holding my hand & telling me it was okay.
I would like to hear about a time someone, a stranger even, was very kind to you without any prompting, ulterior motive, or strings attached.
December 31, 2025 at 8:44 AM
I was hit by a lorry a few years ago - a man in a white van helped me climb out the car (driver’s door was crushed against the front of the lorry), sat me on the curb with water & a KitKat, called the police, dealt with the lorry driver, all while holding my hand & telling me it was okay.
Ending the year with news of a journal article acceptance - nice way to round things out!
December 31, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Ending the year with news of a journal article acceptance - nice way to round things out!
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
April 9, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
Never thought I'd find anyone who would agree to do a cheesy Christmas photoshoot with me - and in the end, it was his idea, even the matching pyjamas! Definitely a keeper. 😂
December 24, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Never thought I'd find anyone who would agree to do a cheesy Christmas photoshoot with me - and in the end, it was his idea, even the matching pyjamas! Definitely a keeper. 😂
Weeding discourse. It comes around again and again and again and AGAIN and can people not just trust that librarians know how to do our jobs? That librarians, of all people, aren't in the habit of just chucking away books for no good reason?
You know what time of the year it is, #LibrarySky?
IT’S LIBRARY FESTIVUS!
Today is the Airing of Grievances.
Don’t hold back; there will be no judgement here.
IT’S LIBRARY FESTIVUS!
Today is the Airing of Grievances.
Don’t hold back; there will be no judgement here.
an older man in a red cardigan says i got a lot of problems
ALT: an older man in a red cardigan says i got a lot of problems
media.tenor.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Weeding discourse. It comes around again and again and again and AGAIN and can people not just trust that librarians know how to do our jobs? That librarians, of all people, aren't in the habit of just chucking away books for no good reason?
Reposted by Caroline Ball
Christmas reading:
The junkification of research - Rhodes & Linnenluecke (Organization, 2025)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #academicsky
Pictured: the downward spiral of junkification ⬇️
The junkification of research - Rhodes & Linnenluecke (Organization, 2025)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #academicsky
Pictured: the downward spiral of junkification ⬇️
December 23, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Christmas reading:
The junkification of research - Rhodes & Linnenluecke (Organization, 2025)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #academicsky
Pictured: the downward spiral of junkification ⬇️
The junkification of research - Rhodes & Linnenluecke (Organization, 2025)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #academicsky
Pictured: the downward spiral of junkification ⬇️
Reposted by Caroline Ball
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
Reposted by Caroline Ball
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.
Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
Why do historians go to archives? Hasn’t everything already been digitized?
contingentmagazine.org
December 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
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.
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good by Colin Woodard
American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good by Colin Woodard
American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Betw…
The author of American Nations examines the history of …
www.goodreads.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
#FinishedReading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good by Colin Woodard
American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good by Colin Woodard
Reposted by Caroline Ball
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
This looks amazing, May is too long to wait.
December 19, 2025 at 9:34 AM
This looks amazing, May is too long to wait.
We want the media and politicians to recognise that there is a large number of women who are supportive of the trans+ community. We call on them to report truthfully about the sources of violence against women and to address the systems that perpetuate harm. notinourname.org.uk/petition/not...
Women in support of the trans+ community - Not in our name
notinourname.org.uk
December 19, 2025 at 9:16 AM
We want the media and politicians to recognise that there is a large number of women who are supportive of the trans+ community. We call on them to report truthfully about the sources of violence against women and to address the systems that perpetuate harm. notinourname.org.uk/petition/not...
Reposted by Caroline Ball
It's a big milestone for free knowledge! 🎉
The Wikimedia Foundation spoke at the UN General Assembly Hall, representing Wikipedia’s volunteer community.
We showed that the future of the internet and sustainable development depend on protecting public spaces online and the people who build them.
The Wikimedia Foundation spoke at the UN General Assembly Hall, representing Wikipedia’s volunteer community.
We showed that the future of the internet and sustainable development depend on protecting public spaces online and the people who build them.
December 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM
It's a big milestone for free knowledge! 🎉
The Wikimedia Foundation spoke at the UN General Assembly Hall, representing Wikipedia’s volunteer community.
We showed that the future of the internet and sustainable development depend on protecting public spaces online and the people who build them.
The Wikimedia Foundation spoke at the UN General Assembly Hall, representing Wikipedia’s volunteer community.
We showed that the future of the internet and sustainable development depend on protecting public spaces online and the people who build them.