Lesley Pitman
@lesleypitman.bsky.social
Librarian at large. Chair of CILIP ILIG. Used to be a Slavonic librarian. Posts a random mix of libraries, Russia, food (gluten free) and the joys of life in Tooting.
https://hcommons.org/members/lesleypitman/
https://hcommons.org/members/lesleypitman/
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
📣 Join our team!
We're looking for an Events Coordinator to join us at CILIP ILIG. Find out more about this exciting voluntary role and how you can help out 👉 bit.ly/4aeaQwy
🚨 Deadline for expressions of interest: 28th February 2026
@cilip.bsky.social
We're looking for an Events Coordinator to join us at CILIP ILIG. Find out more about this exciting voluntary role and how you can help out 👉 bit.ly/4aeaQwy
🚨 Deadline for expressions of interest: 28th February 2026
@cilip.bsky.social
January 26, 2026 at 7:22 PM
📣 Join our team!
We're looking for an Events Coordinator to join us at CILIP ILIG. Find out more about this exciting voluntary role and how you can help out 👉 bit.ly/4aeaQwy
🚨 Deadline for expressions of interest: 28th February 2026
@cilip.bsky.social
We're looking for an Events Coordinator to join us at CILIP ILIG. Find out more about this exciting voluntary role and how you can help out 👉 bit.ly/4aeaQwy
🚨 Deadline for expressions of interest: 28th February 2026
@cilip.bsky.social
Great to see the gluten free restaurant Fifteen Square Metres feature in today’s Observer piece on Broadstairs. Brilliant food from Tony Rodd, whether you are gluten free or not. I had my birthday meal there last year. Really special. www.fifteensquaremetres.co.uk
XV
Fifteen Square Metres is so named because our dining room is a mere 15m2. Cosy & intimate dining and a great selection of wine from around the world.
www.fifteensquaremetres.co.uk
January 25, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Great to see the gluten free restaurant Fifteen Square Metres feature in today’s Observer piece on Broadstairs. Brilliant food from Tony Rodd, whether you are gluten free or not. I had my birthday meal there last year. Really special. www.fifteensquaremetres.co.uk
Interesting to see that Carney constructs his argument around Havel’s Power of the Powerless.
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Interesting to see that Carney constructs his argument around Havel’s Power of the Powerless.
I moan about this occasionally, and it is time to do so again. I want to read a book published three years ago. I do not want to buy it for £55. The BL has it, but it isn’t available at present, for obvious reasons. It is in 30 academic libraries, of which I am lucky enough to have access to two.
January 20, 2026 at 4:29 PM
I moan about this occasionally, and it is time to do so again. I want to read a book published three years ago. I do not want to buy it for £55. The BL has it, but it isn’t available at present, for obvious reasons. It is in 30 academic libraries, of which I am lucky enough to have access to two.
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
Because this *will* disappear it's with sharing with alt text
January 20, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Because this *will* disappear it's with sharing with alt text
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
One again begging everyone to go into settings (via 3 horizontal lines top left of app), and then "accessibility" and then switch on the "remind me to add alt-text" button. And then don't just write "image" or whatever, actually DESCRIBE the image. Please. At least try to keep bsky accessible.
January 17, 2026 at 12:30 PM
One again begging everyone to go into settings (via 3 horizontal lines top left of app), and then "accessibility" and then switch on the "remind me to add alt-text" button. And then don't just write "image" or whatever, actually DESCRIBE the image. Please. At least try to keep bsky accessible.
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
One good tip I picked up from the tv recently that just helped me. If a website looks convincing, follow links on it to other pages. If it’s a scam they probably don’t work as they only replicate the page they need, not the whole website.
January 16, 2026 at 5:09 PM
One good tip I picked up from the tv recently that just helped me. If a website looks convincing, follow links on it to other pages. If it’s a scam they probably don’t work as they only replicate the page they need, not the whole website.
Just went as far as typing my details in reply to a scam text because it fitted my circumstances exactly. I paused just before hitting submit and double checked. These things are extremely convincing nowadays. Feeling quite shaken.
January 16, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Just went as far as typing my details in reply to a scam text because it fitted my circumstances exactly. I paused just before hitting submit and double checked. These things are extremely convincing nowadays. Feeling quite shaken.
Really thought this was hopeless. Phew, as they say. Wordle 1,672 6/6
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January 16, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Really thought this was hopeless. Phew, as they say. Wordle 1,672 6/6
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
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Reading an academic book on my kindle. There are notes at the end of every chapter, which is not unusual. At the end of every chapter I open at least one linked reference in a note instead of turning the page. I just want to turn the page. Please.
January 10, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Reading an academic book on my kindle. There are notes at the end of every chapter, which is not unusual. At the end of every chapter I open at least one linked reference in a note instead of turning the page. I just want to turn the page. Please.
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
I cannot stress enough that you should not do this.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records — The Verge
OpenAI has been dropping hints this week about AI’s role as a “healthcare ally” — and today, the company is announcing a product to go along with that idea: ChatGPT Health.
apple.news
January 8, 2026 at 8:51 PM
I cannot stress enough that you should not do this.
Hm. I love my fitbit, which I only use in my pocket for monitoring steps. I am really not comfortable about giving even that minimal data to Google, and there’s no opt out. Does anyone know of good alternatives?
January 8, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Hm. I love my fitbit, which I only use in my pocket for monitoring steps. I am really not comfortable about giving even that minimal data to Google, and there’s no opt out. Does anyone know of good alternatives?
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
Want to level up your library career this year?
We’re looking for international mid-career library and archive professionals to join us this summer at our International Library Leaders Programme.
Learn more link.bl.uk/ILLP2026
We’re looking for international mid-career library and archive professionals to join us this summer at our International Library Leaders Programme.
Learn more link.bl.uk/ILLP2026
January 6, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Want to level up your library career this year?
We’re looking for international mid-career library and archive professionals to join us this summer at our International Library Leaders Programme.
Learn more link.bl.uk/ILLP2026
We’re looking for international mid-career library and archive professionals to join us this summer at our International Library Leaders Programme.
Learn more link.bl.uk/ILLP2026
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
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
Home from a delightful but chilly stay in Penzance. I think I have identified a gap in the market for a lightweight but very warm dressing gown that folds up small for packing. Does such a thing exist? I need one for next time.
December 30, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Home from a delightful but chilly stay in Penzance. I think I have identified a gap in the market for a lightweight but very warm dressing gown that folds up small for packing. Does such a thing exist? I need one for next time.
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
Zelensky lands in Miami. Not a single US official is on hand to greet him. In the language of diplomacy this send an unequivocal message of coldness and hostility. Compare it with the lavish pomp and red carpet shown to Putin when he landed in Alaska a few weeks ago.
December 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Zelensky lands in Miami. Not a single US official is on hand to greet him. In the language of diplomacy this send an unequivocal message of coldness and hostility. Compare it with the lavish pomp and red carpet shown to Putin when he landed in Alaska a few weeks ago.
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
The Embassy staff of Germany, France and the United Kingdom sing Schedryk in the Kyiv underground.
Wonderful!
Wonderful!
December 24, 2025 at 10:29 PM
The Embassy staff of Germany, France and the United Kingdom sing Schedryk in the Kyiv underground.
Wonderful!
Wonderful!
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
This Christmas Day join us for #JoinIn on Bluesky. Just use or look for the #JoinIn hashtag. Lovely people coming together for chat and cheer - especially for those who may be alone or troubled at Christmas, or just looking for a bit of fellowship. See you there!
Please share
Please share
December 22, 2025 at 7:58 PM
A wonderful example of an undigitised primary source in today’s Guardian. I was going to call it niche, but all primary sources are niche, and almost all are undigitised. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
December 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
A wonderful example of an undigitised primary source in today’s Guardian. I was going to call it niche, but all primary sources are niche, and almost all are undigitised. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Evri have surpassed themselves, which can’t be easy. Meet our food waste bin.
December 23, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Evri have surpassed themselves, which can’t be easy. Meet our food waste bin.
Reposted by Lesley Pitman
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.
The entitlement of some of the coeliac community can be a bit much sometimes. Products appear on the wrong shelf sometimes. Overworked staff, especially right now, and harassed customers, make mistakes. Don’t complain unless it’s consistently wrong. Read the damn labels.
December 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
The entitlement of some of the coeliac community can be a bit much sometimes. Products appear on the wrong shelf sometimes. Overworked staff, especially right now, and harassed customers, make mistakes. Don’t complain unless it’s consistently wrong. Read the damn labels.
Good. The British Library really has enough on its plate right now.
Libraries Connected and the CILIP have called on the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to reject a recommendation in the Hodge review that would transfer the development role for libraries from Arts Council England to the British Library 👇 #BookSky
Library bodies urge government to retain ACE’s development role
ebx.sh
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Good. The British Library really has enough on its plate right now.
Just had to use Google’s AI overview to find out how to remove the drip tray in our new coffee machine. Too obvious to be in the manual, apparently, but it was defeating us. You grab it and pull. Wasn’t expecting that to be the first time AI has been really invaluable.
December 14, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Just had to use Google’s AI overview to find out how to remove the drip tray in our new coffee machine. Too obvious to be in the manual, apparently, but it was defeating us. You grab it and pull. Wasn’t expecting that to be the first time AI has been really invaluable.
At last!
Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kalesnikava freed by authorities, report says reut.rs/48Sqps3
Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kalesnikava freed by authorities, report says
Opposition politician Maria Kalesnikava has been freed from prison in Belarus after serving more than five years, independent news outlet Zerkalo cited her sister Tatsiana Khomich as saying on Saturday.
reut.rs
December 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM
At last!