Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Kaz Cooke

@kazcooke.bsky.social

#Victorians! Our State Library is being trashed by a series of executives with no experience or understanding of public collections. Many hired as 'temps' without full process, who then caused scandals & exodus of specialist & librarian staff: a full wreck looms. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

State Library proposes major cuts to staff and services

The library plans halve the number of reference librarians it employs and reduce the number of computers available for public use in a move that has outraged staff.

www.theage.com.au

November 22, 2025 at 12:05 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Michael Haslam

@twigtechnology.bsky.social

Seals singing in a sea cave

#Orkney 🦭🎧

November 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

We gave up on Covid-19 and now we’re apparently giving up on eradicating the varroa mite that’s killing bees in vast numbers.
No bees = no crops, no food.

1EarthMedia @1earthmedia.bsky.social · 1d

We'll miss the bees when they're gone

Varroa mite detected at Salt Creek, South Australia
"Since the national decision to transition to management, we are now focused on managing varroa in a way that minimises its impact, while ensuring business continuity.."

#auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Varroa mite found at second site in South Australia

The deadly bee parasite has been detected in South Australia again — this time in the state's south-east.

www.abc.net.au

November 21, 2025 at 8:44 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

erin mccann

@mccanner.bsky.social

Like many places these days, Scotland lets the public name their snow plows. But they take it up a notch and offer a live tracking map so you can follow Thistle Grit Through, Robert Brrrns and Ice Sweeper Willie on their rounds

www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

November 21, 2025 at 2:48 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Lovely Cathy and her sweet golden staffy rescue Ruby accused me today of being a dog whisperer ☺️

#CafeLife
#TellYourDogISaidHi
#ItWorksOnCatsToo

November 21, 2025 at 2:14 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

peter fyfe

@fyfepeter.bsky.social

a polite reminder that surveys, especially customer feedback surveys, are not completed under oath and it is your solemn duty as someone uncomfortable with the trajectory of late capitalism to subvert the dominant paradigm and make your answers unusable, specious and hilarious

November 18, 2025 at 11:25 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Aristotle: Politika

(commenting on the Carthaginians, a nation of traders and merchants)

“They think that the rulers should be chosen not only for their merit but also for their wealth, as it is not possible for a poor man to govern well or to have leisure for his duties ... It is a bad thing that the greatest offices of state, the kingship and the generalship, should be for sale. For this law makes wealth more honored than worth, and renders the whole state avaricious; And it is probable that those who purchase their office will learn by degrees to make a profit out of it.”

November 21, 2025 at 12:26 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

ptom

@ptom.net

For those interested in the ritualistic and monumental places of ancestral peoples, I cannot recommend Dr. Kelly's "The Memory Code" highly enough. Its narrative approach to the anthropology of pre-literate memory is filled with a deep respect and affection for humanity and its grand endeavors.

The Memory Code

Share on

www.lynnekelly.com.au

November 20, 2025 at 4:13 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Rachel Happe

@rhappe.bsky.social

This is fabulous -

Communicating online generally and moderating communities specifically, is one of the best leadership development experiences anyone can have.

All teenagers would benefit from it.

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 1d

RESEARCH: What happens when teens steward their own digital spaces?

A study of Discord servers run by and for teens found that moderators not only gained valuable skills, but were better at maintaining engaging, healthy spaces for their peers.

The kids will be alright 🥹

dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Quote from P4 in italic serif font on white background: "I think that people are most effectively able to moderate if they actually care about the community ... [It's also very important] to be a role model to the community. When you're more invested, the community is going to respect you more and listen to you more than someone who has absolutely no idea how the game works. They're obviously not going to listen to what they have to say."

Quote from P3 in italic serif font on white background: "We discuss moderation tactics, best practices for keeping ourselves healthy, keeping communities healthy, make ways to make our lives easier, ways to make sure that we're doing the best job possible ... It's really, really useful to have mentors and people that are way more experienced than me to guide me through different elements of Discord moderation that I've never delved into before."

Quote from P2 in italic serif font on white background: "I think that through Discord, there can be meaningful conversations on relationships, teaching people, connections, that aren't found in schools ... [Our Discord community is] providing that space to be able to [talk to others] in a way that's like, a healthy space. If anything goes wrong, there's actually something [that's going to be] done about it instead of just like being like, 'It happens.' ...[The fact] that [disagreements] are communicated about, and the respect, those are key factors to our group."

Quote from P4 in italic serif font on white background: "Moderation has helped me understand a lot about how to deal with people, especially with regards to managing conflicts, resolving them, working with different types of people [from around the world] ... It has basically helped me a lot in terms of the sort of soft skills that you need to run a community smoothly."

November 20, 2025 at 6:34 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Mid-century modernism at the Gordon Institute in Geelong, built in the 1950s. The neighboring Lascelles Laboratory building with its classical frills is a little older (1920s).

An off-kilter photo of a three-storey building facade. The glass doors are recessed under a small porch bearing a shield with an eternal flame and the motto “meliores priori.” Above, stretching the full height of the wall, are three parallel sets of tall, narrow windows. The facade is rendered and painted in creamy white on a base of wet-sand brown. The overall effect is streamlined, strong, elegant, ambitious.
To the right, a small part of the neighboring building is visible. This one has a basement level and two storeys; it features Romanesque columns with carved capitals, giving a colonnade effect to the upper floors.

November 20, 2025 at 12:26 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Perfect location for a dark academia novel.

Hugh Jones @hbsj.bsky.social · 2d

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social

If you like this image, please retweet it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

An old colour picture postcard showing a dramatic view of Queen's University, Belfast, seen at night with a full moon. Handwritten at the foot of the card is "Hope you will like this"

November 20, 2025 at 9:18 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Your public library: so much more than books.

View from the mezzanine: a library workstation with computer, sewing machine and overlocker ready for anyone to stroll in and use.

November 20, 2025 at 2:04 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Older woman in a scarlet wool coat fronts up to the library desk and asks for a copy of today’s newspaper: “I want to check whether I’ve died yet.”

November 20, 2025 at 1:56 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

At the library. Signage is cute, but the cafe staff still can’t spell croissant 🤣

Glass display case at the library cafe, topped with a few books and a trailing pot plant. On the side, hand-written with a marker pen: “Coffee… because Adulting is hard!”

Gluten-free treats on display in a glass case, with labels on a (somewhat misogynistic) theme:
- henchmen cookies: peanut butter and chocolate chip
- the boss: black velvet brownie
- lady assassin: lemon slice
- the mistress: passionfruit, lemon and coconut slice

Pastries and breads in a glass display case. Hand-written on the glass: “Plain crissont” with a heart drawn underneath. Last time I visited, the word was spelled “crisonat,” so they’re getting closer…

November 19, 2025 at 11:56 PM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Chief Skeet 👑🖤✊🏾🌱

@longlivethechief.bsky.social

You’ve grown into someone who would’ve protected you as a child.

And that’s the most powerful decision you’ve made.

July 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Kaz Cooke

@kazcooke.bsky.social

This. And why the continuing fiasco re executives at the State Library of Victoria?! Why are Australia's cultural boards stuffed to the gunwhales with ex-Liberal Party donors/businessfolk/pensioned-off-mates & other people with no dedication to or understanding of public collections and services?

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 4d

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...

The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?

The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity

www.cityam.com

November 18, 2025 at 10:41 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

In search of… a good reference for deciphering Wilkinson’s Royal Staffordshire Pottery marks. Any clues…?

Photo of maker’s marks on the bottom of a ceramic vase.

November 18, 2025 at 1:34 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Elle Cordova

@ellecordova.bsky.social

Grammarian and Errorist are at it again! 🖊️

November 18, 2025 at 3:38 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Lovely short thread (👇🏻) on the value of directing your attention away from bad and negative art, and towards beauty and fun.

(thanks, @wolfierankin.bsky.social)

Matt Baume 🏳️‍🌈 @mattbaume.bsky.social · 4d

I've been reading the novel of The Neverending Story lately, and I think it's something that you should read too, for a couple of reasons. First, and most important, it's a lot of fun! I love it. Very different from the movie, which I love too.

Covers of various language editions of The Neverending Story, including an english version that very annoyingly does not have AURYN on the cover, which shouldn't be allowed

November 18, 2025 at 3:54 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

In search of… a good reference for deciphering Wilkinson’s Royal Staffordshire Pottery marks. Any clues…?

November 18, 2025 at 1:34 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Miles Franklin Award winner Siang Lu’s novels contain some magnificent examples of heroic failure. Excited to hear him speak this Thurdsay at the Wheeler Centre.
www.wheelercentre.com/events-ticke...

The E. W. Cole Lecture: Siang Lu on Failure

www.wheelercentre.com

November 18, 2025 at 12:27 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Women's Agenda

@womensagenda.bsky.social

Instead of asking how to get more women into startups, it’s time to flip the script and rethink the systems that have been designed to exclude them.
womensagenda.com.au/partner-cont...