scott b. weingart
@scottbot.bsky.social
past: circus performer; historian of science; librarian; grantmaker; chief data & evaluation officer at NEH.
present: dad; resident scholar at dartmouth; chief technology officer at the library of virginia.
personal account.
https://scottbot.github.io
present: dad; resident scholar at dartmouth; chief technology officer at the library of virginia.
personal account.
https://scottbot.github.io
Pinned
📌Hi! I'm Scott, a historian of science.
Before DOGE, I helped the US fund the humanities efficiently and impactfully, to reach the breadth of the American public.
Now I help make the Library of Virginia's rich collections and services digitally accessible to all.
Personal account, mostly silly.📌
Before DOGE, I helped the US fund the humanities efficiently and impactfully, to reach the breadth of the American public.
Now I help make the Library of Virginia's rich collections and services digitally accessible to all.
Personal account, mostly silly.📌
Since NEH is in the news twice today, I once again direct you to its legislative charge:
That democracy demands wisdom, that we need to celebrate the nation's diversity, and that technology must be in service to society rather the vice versa. Fostering the humanities is crucial to that mission.
That democracy demands wisdom, that we need to celebrate the nation's diversity, and that technology must be in service to society rather the vice versa. Fostering the humanities is crucial to that mission.
1965 founding legalistion of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
February 14, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Since NEH is in the news twice today, I once again direct you to its legislative charge:
That democracy demands wisdom, that we need to celebrate the nation's diversity, and that technology must be in service to society rather the vice versa. Fostering the humanities is crucial to that mission.
That democracy demands wisdom, that we need to celebrate the nation's diversity, and that technology must be in service to society rather the vice versa. Fostering the humanities is crucial to that mission.
oops I just wrote a 4,000-word biography of a rabbi that died a hundred years ago that nobody will ever read
February 10, 2026 at 9:28 PM
oops I just wrote a 4,000-word biography of a rabbi that died a hundred years ago that nobody will ever read
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Hello non-fiction writers of the internet!
If you or someone you know is feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or could use an outside reader, I still have some availability this spring for writing coaching and editing. ✨
You can learn more about working with me here:
halperta.com/categories/e...
If you or someone you know is feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or could use an outside reader, I still have some availability this spring for writing coaching and editing. ✨
You can learn more about working with me here:
halperta.com/categories/e...
Writing and Editing
Towards a better future for the humanities.
halperta.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Hello non-fiction writers of the internet!
If you or someone you know is feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or could use an outside reader, I still have some availability this spring for writing coaching and editing. ✨
You can learn more about working with me here:
halperta.com/categories/e...
If you or someone you know is feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or could use an outside reader, I still have some availability this spring for writing coaching and editing. ✨
You can learn more about working with me here:
halperta.com/categories/e...
I taught my toddler about Gay when we went to his friend's parents house and he asked which of the two women were his friend's mom and I said "both of them" and he said "okay."
always so funny to me when people are like “how am I supposed to explain Gay to my kids?” my kid asks me way harder shit all the time. “why did they build the road this way? why are some people bad?” I don’t know. please ask me about Gay
February 10, 2026 at 11:17 AM
I taught my toddler about Gay when we went to his friend's parents house and he asked which of the two women were his friend's mom and I said "both of them" and he said "okay."
So I'm gonna guess that's a 'no'?
Hey math friends: is the name of Richard Kadison (prominent operator algebra theorist beginning in the 1950s), or any of the things named after him, still well-known?
February 9, 2026 at 12:01 PM
So I'm gonna guess that's a 'no'?
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Hey math friends: is the name of Richard Kadison (prominent operator algebra theorist beginning in the 1950s), or any of the things named after him, still well-known?
February 8, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Hey math friends: is the name of Richard Kadison (prominent operator algebra theorist beginning in the 1950s), or any of the things named after him, still well-known?
Some of you may be wondering: Scott, were you replaced by a 106-year-old Jewish man from Hester Street?
And the answer is no, I have always been this way, going to my local delicatessen to order a tongue sandwich with Cel-Ray soda.
And the answer is no, I have always been this way, going to my local delicatessen to order a tongue sandwich with Cel-Ray soda.
Not a sandwich, but grape jelly omelettes are only for me.
this is further corroboration of my theory of the private sandwich, that many of us have a sandwich (often stemming from late childhood) that we make only for ourselves.
February 8, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Some of you may be wondering: Scott, were you replaced by a 106-year-old Jewish man from Hester Street?
And the answer is no, I have always been this way, going to my local delicatessen to order a tongue sandwich with Cel-Ray soda.
And the answer is no, I have always been this way, going to my local delicatessen to order a tongue sandwich with Cel-Ray soda.
Not a sandwich, but grape jelly omelettes are only for me.
this is further corroboration of my theory of the private sandwich, that many of us have a sandwich (often stemming from late childhood) that we make only for ourselves.
This is so oddly specific — I did this as a kid! I’ve never seen anyone else do it and forgot about it until I saw this picture.
February 8, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Not a sandwich, but grape jelly omelettes are only for me.
Hey math friends: is the name of Richard Kadison (prominent operator algebra theorist beginning in the 1950s), or any of the things named after him, still well-known?
February 8, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Hey math friends: is the name of Richard Kadison (prominent operator algebra theorist beginning in the 1950s), or any of the things named after him, still well-known?
Reposted by scott b. weingart
my new ice cream scoop and I are about to vibe code some cookies 'n cream
February 7, 2026 at 4:51 PM
my new ice cream scoop and I are about to vibe code some cookies 'n cream
Reposted by scott b. weingart
If there’s one thing I learned from Juicero, it’s that you could absolutely get millions in funding for an AI ice cream scoop startup.
February 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM
If there’s one thing I learned from Juicero, it’s that you could absolutely get millions in funding for an AI ice cream scoop startup.
my new ice cream scoop and I are about to vibe code some cookies 'n cream
February 7, 2026 at 4:51 PM
my new ice cream scoop and I are about to vibe code some cookies 'n cream
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Come work with me at the Library of Virginia in Richmond!
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
February 6, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Come work with me at the Library of Virginia in Richmond!
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
End of an era. I've enjoyed so many First Monday publications over the years.
"First Monday is one of the first openly accessible peer review journals solely on the Internet, about the Internet. Indeed, First Monday was openly accessible well before formal definitions of open access appeared."
"First Monday is one of the first openly accessible peer review journals solely on the Internet, about the Internet. Indeed, First Monday was openly accessible well before formal definitions of open access appeared."
"First Monday will cease publication, after 30 years, with the May 2026 issue, volume 31, number 6, scheduled for release around the first Monday of May, 4 May 2026" firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
February 7, 2026 at 12:32 PM
End of an era. I've enjoyed so many First Monday publications over the years.
"First Monday is one of the first openly accessible peer review journals solely on the Internet, about the Internet. Indeed, First Monday was openly accessible well before formal definitions of open access appeared."
"First Monday is one of the first openly accessible peer review journals solely on the Internet, about the Internet. Indeed, First Monday was openly accessible well before formal definitions of open access appeared."
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Do you have to be a social scientist to know how funny this is?
February 3, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Do you have to be a social scientist to know how funny this is?
Reposted by scott b. weingart
"It is vital to a democracy to honor and preserve its multicultural artistic heritage as well as support new ideas, and therefore it is essential to provide financial assistance to its artists and the organizations that support their work."
1965 founding legalistion of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
February 6, 2026 at 12:33 PM
"It is vital to a democracy to honor and preserve its multicultural artistic heritage as well as support new ideas, and therefore it is essential to provide financial assistance to its artists and the organizations that support their work."
Reposted by scott b. weingart
"Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants."
1965 founding legalistion of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
February 6, 2026 at 12:26 PM
"Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants."
Reposted by scott b. weingart
1965 founding legalistion of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
February 6, 2026 at 12:24 PM
1965 founding legalistion of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
Title 20 U.S. Code. Chapter 26. Section 951.
"The Congress finds and declares the following:
The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States."
(cont'd.)
Come work with me at the Library of Virginia in Richmond!
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
February 6, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Come work with me at the Library of Virginia in Richmond!
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
We're an awesome state library/archive with 100m+ items going back 400+ years.
Grant writer / donor comms ($50k-$55k): lvafoundation.org/grants-and-e...
Director of org excellence & assessment ($90k+): www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/directo...
Reposted by scott b. weingart
I am however saying that people claiming LLMs aren't good at transcriptions are—for certain types of documents—not up to date on the latest approaches. Now it's a question of trade offs and concerns, what may happen in spite of them, and how that may reshape the world around historical documents.
February 5, 2026 at 10:39 PM
I am however saying that people claiming LLMs aren't good at transcriptions are—for certain types of documents—not up to date on the latest approaches. Now it's a question of trade offs and concerns, what may happen in spite of them, and how that may reshape the world around historical documents.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
I'm not necessarily saying LLMs for transcription are inevitable. There's still a slim chance of a market collapse that takes these models off the shelf entirely, though enough now are run-locally portable that even that might only slow down future improvement of LLMs as transcription services.
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 PM
I'm not necessarily saying LLMs for transcription are inevitable. There's still a slim chance of a market collapse that takes these models off the shelf entirely, though enough now are run-locally portable that even that might only slow down future improvement of LLMs as transcription services.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
From my perspective one of the most interesting questions is how the bias of the spotlight of what's searchable will reshape how people (lay people and researchers alike) will engage with the past. That is, how will history be remembered and written in new ways, and privileging what new voices?
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 PM
From my perspective one of the most interesting questions is how the bias of the spotlight of what's searchable will reshape how people (lay people and researchers alike) will engage with the past. That is, how will history be remembered and written in new ways, and privileging what new voices?
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Human-led transcriptions will still thrive in many corners: places where it's used largely to engage an interested public in the past, places where the costs outweigh the risks, places where machines still don't do well, etc.
But those will increasingly feel like "special cases."
But those will increasingly feel like "special cases."
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Human-led transcriptions will still thrive in many corners: places where it's used largely to engage an interested public in the past, places where the costs outweigh the risks, places where machines still don't do well, etc.
But those will increasingly feel like "special cases."
But those will increasingly feel like "special cases."
Reposted by scott b. weingart
There will be, like there was with OCR, debates about whether documentary accuracy, precision, and fidelity are too important to trust to a computer. Similarly some parties will Just Go, others will Refuse, and some will start building interfaces to blend elements of humans and machines.
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 PM
There will be, like there was with OCR, debates about whether documentary accuracy, precision, and fidelity are too important to trust to a computer. Similarly some parties will Just Go, others will Refuse, and some will start building interfaces to blend elements of humans and machines.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
There are / will continue to be debates around whether the perceived ethical/legal/etc. risks (whether they be about the environment, intellectual property, labor, whatever) outweigh the benefits of fast and mostly-accurate transcriptions, and there will be many who ignore those debates and Just Go.
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 PM
There are / will continue to be debates around whether the perceived ethical/legal/etc. risks (whether they be about the environment, intellectual property, labor, whatever) outweigh the benefits of fast and mostly-accurate transcriptions, and there will be many who ignore those debates and Just Go.