Dr. Ben Mitchell
banner
drlibraryben.bsky.social
Dr. Ben Mitchell
@drlibraryben.bsky.social
(he/they) Scholar. Geek. Nova Scotian. 🌍 Libraries (#GLAM), medical humanities, history/public history, neurodiversity and disability studies. 🌍 Geekier at: @willow0wisp.bsky.social
"Impact" metrics, no matter how positive, don't feel like they are often used to actually inform any kind of evidence based decision making, but mainly serve as post hoc rationalizations when a reason is needed for taking something away. It is another form of governance through gaslighting.
November 4, 2025 at 8:51 PM
August 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Glad to see @smallhistory.bsky.social on BlueSky

Celebrating with a copy of one of their first posts that really caught my eye (still don't know what lobster smacking is though)

#NovaScotia #Seamonsters #lobstersmacking
July 11, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Between workplace surveillance, surveillance capitalism, state surveillance, and social surveillance (the cop in your head and everyone else's), I can't help but keep thinking of this fundamental animal need:

Even lizards need hides.
June 30, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Going over student feedback from last year and just remembering this gem.

This will get me tenure, surely?
May 16, 2025 at 4:44 PM
After getting covid again in February, I'm finally accepting that it's not like public health is going to get _better_ any time soon. May as well be fancy with it.
April 15, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I think I may have been under-watering my tradescantia. It's flowering much more frequently now.
April 13, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Speaking as an academic librarian, this is my preferred one-shot model:
March 24, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Whenever anyone asks me about my heritage on my mother's side of the family:
March 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
"Registration for Breaking Barriers: APLA Virtual Conference 2025, is now open!

Proposal Submission Deadline is March 14, 2025!

[Virtual]

Click here to visit our website! tinyurl.com/49pkevkb "
March 8, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Tradescantia blooming
February 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Seventh night of Hannukkah, and the last night of 2024.
January 1, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Hate flying. Love being with the people I love.
November 26, 2024 at 5:16 PM
Honoured to announce that I have been invited to be a keynote speaker at the Atlantic Provinces Library Association's annual conference: Breaking Barriers #APLA2025.

The working title is:

Rainbows at Night: Neurodiverging Literacy and Librarianship in “the Darkest Timeline”
November 19, 2024 at 7:52 PM
November 19, 2024 at 4:26 AM
I've been asked to do an "Academic Integrity in Context" kind of talk.... Not sure they knew what they were getting themselves into.
October 3, 2024 at 10:53 PM
September 27, 2024 at 3:53 PM
September 27, 2024 at 3:34 PM
CFP: Fungal Horror and Popular Culture networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
September 24, 2024 at 3:12 PM
July 12, 2024 at 10:39 AM
Source: Annika Stefanie Reinhold et al., Behavioral and neural correlates of hide-and-seek in rats. Science 365, 1180-1183(2019). DOI:10.1126/science.aax4705
June 20, 2024 at 7:51 AM
As the campus librarian at a small satellite campus, it's easy to feel more like a mascot than a decision maker... then I realized that if I had to be a mascot, at least I could be the library's Gritty.
June 11, 2024 at 8:00 PM
The frequency which with Greg Rutkowski's art is used in AI art was brought up today at #CAPAL24 once again bringing my Magic: The Gathering obsession into these sphere of my professional activity. Though about making a Karn commander deck, but decided to use Alibou, Ancient Witness instead.
June 7, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Ah, how I miss the unique and vibrant culture of Halifax
May 24, 2024 at 8:20 PM
When your colleague takes a picture of you sleeping in his talk.

(I was mostly awake, like 70% of the talk [non-contiguous] I swear XD)
May 19, 2024 at 10:02 PM