Mike Townsend
@miketownsend.bsky.social
Collections and Metadata librarian at the IHR @ihr.bsky.social (https://www.history.ac.uk/library-digital) | History | Photography | Curious rather than competent language learner
Reposted by Mike Townsend
Both in-person and online booking are available for this special @ihr.bsky.social event in Senate House at 2.00pm BST on Wednesday 29 April marking the 100th anniversary of the General Strike. Register here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
February 5, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Both in-person and online booking are available for this special @ihr.bsky.social event in Senate House at 2.00pm BST on Wednesday 29 April marking the 100th anniversary of the General Strike. Register here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Mike Townsend
How much ill grace and stupidity do we have to keep rejecting the hands held out to us?
February 4, 2026 at 8:37 AM
How much ill grace and stupidity do we have to keep rejecting the hands held out to us?
I once accidentally woke up Michael Foot
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
December 29, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I once accidentally woke up Michael Foot
Reposted by Mike Townsend
What historians (and other scholars do) is create knowledge. We should use that phrase more and talk about what it means. I think we don't, and it's part of why AI enthusiasts are confused when we don't readily agree that our work can be replicated/replaced by their products.
December 21, 2025 at 8:39 PM
What historians (and other scholars do) is create knowledge. We should use that phrase more and talk about what it means. I think we don't, and it's part of why AI enthusiasts are confused when we don't readily agree that our work can be replicated/replaced by their products.
Reposted by Mike Townsend
It will surprise nobody that the cataloguing system that is slopwashing like this turns out to be Primo.
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
When viewing the fake article in Google scholar on my university network, there is a link to access the article via my uni's library. That link sends me to a library page that makes fake article appear real... Turns out library page is made programmatically from info on Google scholar 🤦
December 21, 2025 at 8:31 AM
It will surprise nobody that the cataloguing system that is slopwashing like this turns out to be Primo.
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
Foggy early start
December 20, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Foggy early start
Early morning commutes aren't all bad
December 5, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Early morning commutes aren't all bad
Reposted by Mike Townsend
Faire entrer Maryse Condé au Panthéon !
"Depuis le décès de l'autrice guadeloupéenne en avril 2024, Tressy Angelo s'engage pour panthéoniser Maryse Condé. Une procédure longue et fastidieuse qui passe d'abord par une pétition en ligne. "
la1ere.franceinfo.fr/une-petition...
"Depuis le décès de l'autrice guadeloupéenne en avril 2024, Tressy Angelo s'engage pour panthéoniser Maryse Condé. Une procédure longue et fastidieuse qui passe d'abord par une pétition en ligne. "
la1ere.franceinfo.fr/une-petition...
Une pétition pour faire entrer Maryse Condé au Panthéon
Depuis le décès de l'autrice guadeloupéenne en avril 2024, Tressy Angelo s'engage pour panthéoniser Maryse Condé. Une procédure longue et fastidieuse qui passe d'abord par une pétition en ligne.
la1ere.franceinfo.fr
November 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Faire entrer Maryse Condé au Panthéon !
"Depuis le décès de l'autrice guadeloupéenne en avril 2024, Tressy Angelo s'engage pour panthéoniser Maryse Condé. Une procédure longue et fastidieuse qui passe d'abord par une pétition en ligne. "
la1ere.franceinfo.fr/une-petition...
"Depuis le décès de l'autrice guadeloupéenne en avril 2024, Tressy Angelo s'engage pour panthéoniser Maryse Condé. Une procédure longue et fastidieuse qui passe d'abord par une pétition en ligne. "
la1ere.franceinfo.fr/une-petition...
Winter sunset over Store Street looking west
November 22, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Winter sunset over Store Street looking west
Just curious to see what Grok thought (at the moment) about trillionaires. Unfortunately the response was a bit too long to compress in 4 images.
![Text from Grok in response to the question, Should there be trillionaires? [8/11/2025]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6u4j2qgukjiordvyvxqxcgai/bafkreibkehqvrmoyqlczhkees4ydnbqbnsr2wac7hl3sdncjtf7kmicqee@jpeg)
![Text from Grok in response to the question, Should there be trillionaires? [8/11/2025]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6u4j2qgukjiordvyvxqxcgai/bafkreibg5dza2cb43jbvq3frfjuafvwshhiopdekitfzb2c7aq6ibeavc4@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Just curious to see what Grok thought (at the moment) about trillionaires. Unfortunately the response was a bit too long to compress in 4 images.
Productive day out, and good to see the off-site collections again.
October 29, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Productive day out, and good to see the off-site collections again.
Reposted by Mike Townsend
⭐ Ahead of History Day 2025, why not take a moment to read our blog on LGBTQ+ books in the IHR Library? The blog highlights some of our more recent titles, uncovering hidden stories, challenging narratives and celebrating queer history 🏳️🌈
👉 Read here: blog.history.ac.uk/2025/04/new-...
#HistDay25
👉 Read here: blog.history.ac.uk/2025/04/new-...
#HistDay25
October 21, 2025 at 10:05 AM
⭐ Ahead of History Day 2025, why not take a moment to read our blog on LGBTQ+ books in the IHR Library? The blog highlights some of our more recent titles, uncovering hidden stories, challenging narratives and celebrating queer history 🏳️🌈
👉 Read here: blog.history.ac.uk/2025/04/new-...
#HistDay25
👉 Read here: blog.history.ac.uk/2025/04/new-...
#HistDay25
Reposted by Mike Townsend
New blog from @ihrlibrary.bsky.social trainees, Sasha Pond and Sarah Snelling, highlighting new titles in which reflect the diversification of our collections across Black history.#BlackHistoryMonth blog.history.ac.uk/2025/10/blac...
Black History Month 2025 – Recent Acquisitions in the IHR Library - On History
Over the past year, the IHR Library has acquired a number of new titles on various aspects of Black history. In this blog, we highlight seven of these new titles which reflect the diversification of…
blog.history.ac.uk
October 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
New blog from @ihrlibrary.bsky.social trainees, Sasha Pond and Sarah Snelling, highlighting new titles in which reflect the diversification of our collections across Black history.#BlackHistoryMonth blog.history.ac.uk/2025/10/blac...
Reposted by Mike Townsend
Very much this. The IHR really is open to everyone and this includes our common room and our library as well as our wonderful seminars. All free, all welcome!
History curious? You don't need to be in London (or the UK) to attend many Institute of Historical Research seminars, although if you're in Bloomsbury you'll enjoy doing so. Most are hybrid (online/in person). They're free, usually fortnightly and open to the public.
Starting this week:
Starting this week:
Events
Stay up to date with the upcoming events organised or hosted by the Institute of Historical Research
www.history.ac.uk
September 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Very much this. The IHR really is open to everyone and this includes our common room and our library as well as our wonderful seminars. All free, all welcome!
Those 5 espressos during the day made the walk between stations...brief
September 25, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Those 5 espressos during the day made the walk between stations...brief
Reposted by Mike Townsend
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
September 6, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
@cathamclarke.bsky.social Spotted in the Piccadilly Waterstones last night, and - huge announcement - comes with a complimentary bookmark
August 30, 2025 at 10:05 AM
@cathamclarke.bsky.social Spotted in the Piccadilly Waterstones last night, and - huge announcement - comes with a complimentary bookmark
Well, that was a week
August 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Well, that was a week
Reposted by Mike Townsend
The power of the response "I don't know" is really underrated. It's not only a display of humility that resonates with others, but it's also the necessary basis for curiosity about the world around us, which is fundamental to being human.
The lost art of admitting what you don’t know
Even LLMs are starting to show this worrying human tendency
www.ft.com
August 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
The power of the response "I don't know" is really underrated. It's not only a display of humility that resonates with others, but it's also the necessary basis for curiosity about the world around us, which is fundamental to being human.
Part of a lost canto from the Inferno
August 8, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Part of a lost canto from the Inferno
Interesting tour of the west cemetery today, and wandering around the east, retracing mum's leisurely root to school in the 50s from Waterlow Park to Brookfield
August 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Interesting tour of the west cemetery today, and wandering around the east, retracing mum's leisurely root to school in the 50s from Waterlow Park to Brookfield
July 1, 2025 at 7:12 AM
