Melissa Terras
@melissaterras.bsky.social
Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. Computers versus the past. Digital Humanities and somesuch, including CoSTAR network activities, Creative Informatics, and Transkribus. MBE FREng.
Reposted by Melissa Terras
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-...
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 6:27 AM
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-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
View from a hotel room, #Leicester #academicglamour. Did a PhD viva today. Home tomorrow… a lot of travel just now, but that’s my own fault! Always interesting to see what happens elsewhere…
November 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
View from a hotel room, #Leicester #academicglamour. Did a PhD viva today. Home tomorrow… a lot of travel just now, but that’s my own fault! Always interesting to see what happens elsewhere…
Reposted by Melissa Terras
The transcription of Edinburgh University Library’s Receipt Book for the Book Borrowing Surgeons project is well underway. Kit Baston gives an update on her project, funded by an OEC Jean Guild Grant. #edinburghsurgeons #edinburghuniversitylibrary #RCSEd
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
November 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The transcription of Edinburgh University Library’s Receipt Book for the Book Borrowing Surgeons project is well underway. Kit Baston gives an update on her project, funded by an OEC Jean Guild Grant. #edinburghsurgeons #edinburghuniversitylibrary #RCSEd
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/kit-baston-t...
Reposted by Melissa Terras
If you care about the future of University of Edinburgh, call or email your local MSP on Monday:
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Lobby Your MSP! — UCU Edinburgh
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
November 16, 2025 at 10:47 AM
If you care about the future of University of Edinburgh, call or email your local MSP on Monday:
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...
Time to go to the airport, after a fab few days in Turkey. Will miss seeing cats everywhere…
November 16, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Time to go to the airport, after a fab few days in Turkey. Will miss seeing cats everywhere…
A day off, exploring Istanbul. Sun shone. Am most taken by these dog prints in a tile from c. 1650 in the Topkapi palace. And the tiles! And the mother of pearl inlays!
November 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
A day off, exploring Istanbul. Sun shone. Am most taken by these dog prints in a tile from c. 1650 in the Topkapi palace. And the tiles! And the mother of pearl inlays!
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Just to say, I am a supervisor here:
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
2026 Studentships
www.responsiblenlp.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Just to say, I am a supervisor here:
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world Natural Language Processing
www.responsiblenlp.org/2026-student...
If you are reading things like this and planning PhD project, do reach out:
www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
Good to see coverage of this common but not well known condition in pregnancy. I spent 6 months in a wheelchair with my 1st... and it took a private osteopath to put me back together again, as best they could. Support for this is lacking at the moment, and we must do more to support women with PGP.
I could hardly walk - the issue that affects 1 in 5 mums
Two mothers who experienced pelvic girdle pain say being aware of the risk will help people seek treatment.
www.bbc.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Good to see coverage of this common but not well known condition in pregnancy. I spent 6 months in a wheelchair with my 1st... and it took a private osteopath to put me back together again, as best they could. Support for this is lacking at the moment, and we must do more to support women with PGP.
Just me hanging out with the President of @coopseurope.bsky.social, Giuseppe Guerini, who I had the pleasure of explaining to that @transkribus.bsky.social is Europe's first AI cooperative, and is doing well! On the right, Tobias Schweitzer, who is setting up an AI supported carbon-capture coop.
November 14, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Just me hanging out with the President of @coopseurope.bsky.social, Giuseppe Guerini, who I had the pleasure of explaining to that @transkribus.bsky.social is Europe's first AI cooperative, and is doing well! On the right, Tobias Schweitzer, who is setting up an AI supported carbon-capture coop.
Absolutely delighted to keynote Cooperative AI in Istanbul today: telling everyone how we built @transkribus.bsky.social, and how it has flourished under READ-COOP. I usually speak about this to DH, Library & Archive audiences - great to show our wares to researchers of coops, & fab discussions.
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Absolutely delighted to keynote Cooperative AI in Istanbul today: telling everyone how we built @transkribus.bsky.social, and how it has flourished under READ-COOP. I usually speak about this to DH, Library & Archive audiences - great to show our wares to researchers of coops, & fab discussions.
Me: it’s nice out so let’s dial into a work call from a park bench, given its mild in Istanbul
Conference Venue Cat: I spies lap!
Conference Venue Cat: I spies lap!
November 13, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Me: it’s nice out so let’s dial into a work call from a park bench, given its mild in Istanbul
Conference Venue Cat: I spies lap!
Conference Venue Cat: I spies lap!
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Every time someone’s like “put that in the louvre,” my head now goes “and then steal it from the louvre, the security password is louvre”
November 11, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Every time someone’s like “put that in the louvre,” my head now goes “and then steal it from the louvre, the security password is louvre”
Does Britain value culture any more? Ask the striking workers at the British Library - great speech by @zadiesmith.bsky.social #lovelibraries www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Does Britain value culture any more? Ask the striking workers at the British Library | Zadie Smith
The dispute over pay at this great national institution gets to the heart of our misplaced priorities, says novelist Zadie Smith
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Does Britain value culture any more? Ask the striking workers at the British Library - great speech by @zadiesmith.bsky.social #lovelibraries www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Melissa Terras
If you use digital newspaper collections this new OA paper is for you - it’s full of great insights into how to understand what’s in them and the many hidden perils of digital search (like the systemically poorer OCR for cheaper and more left-leaning newspapers - who knew?). Please share
!Stop Press! Article on bias in digitised newspaper collections: ’Whose News’, in the new journal of @comphumresearch.bsky.social by Kaspar Beelen, @jonhistorian61.bsky.social, @kmcdono.bsky.social and me. See blog for summary & 🧵 1/7
Article doi.org/10.1017/chr....
Blog is.gd/2IFc30
#dh #c19 🗃️
Article doi.org/10.1017/chr....
Blog is.gd/2IFc30
#dh #c19 🗃️
Whose news? Critical methods for assessing bias in large historical datasets | Computational Humanities Research | Cambridge Core
Whose news? Critical methods for assessing bias in large historical datasets - Volume 1
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you use digital newspaper collections this new OA paper is for you - it’s full of great insights into how to understand what’s in them and the many hidden perils of digital search (like the systemically poorer OCR for cheaper and more left-leaning newspapers - who knew?). Please share
In Istanbul for the Cooperative AI conference. First conference I’ve been to where cats and chickens freely roam - and attend! 😍
November 11, 2025 at 3:49 PM
In Istanbul for the Cooperative AI conference. First conference I’ve been to where cats and chickens freely roam - and attend! 😍
We are featured in over 50 news outlets today: PhD student David Mahoney's research using web archives, @archive.org, to measure historic website emissions, offering a new method and open-source code for analysing & highlighting online environmental impact. www.energylivenews.com/2025/11/11/c...
COP websites emit 10 times more carbon than average webpages - Energy Live News
COP conference websites emit more carbon per page view than typical webpages
www.energylivenews.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:34 AM
We are featured in over 50 news outlets today: PhD student David Mahoney's research using web archives, @archive.org, to measure historic website emissions, offering a new method and open-source code for analysing & highlighting online environmental impact. www.energylivenews.com/2025/11/11/c...
View from a hotel room, Istanbul. Here to keynote the cooperative AI conference. It would be #academicglamour but all the computers are down so no wifi… and no doors opening or locking. I may raid the minibar given that sensor is offline too. While I pile furniture against the door… #postdigital
November 10, 2025 at 6:52 PM
View from a hotel room, Istanbul. Here to keynote the cooperative AI conference. It would be #academicglamour but all the computers are down so no wifi… and no doors opening or locking. I may raid the minibar given that sensor is offline too. While I pile furniture against the door… #postdigital
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Currently doing some marking. A reminder to everyone involved in archives and collections: digitisation is not preservation. If I digitise a box of records and put the files on a USB stick I haven't preserved a thing. It's all about what you do with the files post-digitisation. #archives #digipres
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Reposted by Melissa Terras
The Pope out here guest lecturing in the iSchools.
November 7, 2025 at 5:39 PM
The Pope out here guest lecturing in the iSchools.
Well this is fab - Itiner-e – The Digital Atlas of Ancient Roads: the most detailed open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire. Hasn't quite reached Scotland yet (plenty of Roman roads up here yet to be added), but fun to explore! itiner-e.org
itiner-e
itiner-e.org
November 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Well this is fab - Itiner-e – The Digital Atlas of Ancient Roads: the most detailed open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire. Hasn't quite reached Scotland yet (plenty of Roman roads up here yet to be added), but fun to explore! itiner-e.org
How do we navigate gaps and challenges in quantifying and understanding innovation and R&D in the creative sector? Excellent roundup from @suzannerblack.bsky.social on how difficult it is to count and map innovation, and "return on funder investment", in the creative industries.
I have a new essay out on the CRAIC site as part of a larger piece of work around data-led approaches in the creative industries. I hope you enjoy it! craic.lboro.ac.uk/essays/captu... @designinf.bsky.social @melissaterras.bsky.social @lborouniversity.bsky.social
Capturing the value of creative R&D: data-collection for the Creative Industries Clusters Programme
Dr Suzanne R Black, CRAIC, Loughborough University London, and CoSTAR Foresight Lab Introduction This essay addresses gaps and challenges in quantifying and understanding innovation through ...
craic.lboro.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
How do we navigate gaps and challenges in quantifying and understanding innovation and R&D in the creative sector? Excellent roundup from @suzannerblack.bsky.social on how difficult it is to count and map innovation, and "return on funder investment", in the creative industries.
Reposted by Melissa Terras
The FBI is trying to unmask the owner of infamous archiving site Archive.is, according to a subpoena the site posted. No other information given, the site quietly posted the document a few days ago. FBI telling domain registrar to hand over all sorts of ID'ing info
www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...
www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...
FBI Tries to Unmask Owner of Infamous Archive.is Site
The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The FBI is trying to unmask the owner of infamous archiving site Archive.is, according to a subpoena the site posted. No other information given, the site quietly posted the document a few days ago. FBI telling domain registrar to hand over all sorts of ID'ing info
www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...
www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...
Reposted by Melissa Terras
We’re thrilled to launch our new Humans of AI podcast!
Prof. @melissaterras.bsky.social of @transkribus.bsky.social — a cooperative AI platform transforming how libraries, archives, and museums bring history to life.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/ce0399b5
📺 youtu.be/qK5x4j7jiuQ
#AI #CulturalHeritage
Prof. @melissaterras.bsky.social of @transkribus.bsky.social — a cooperative AI platform transforming how libraries, archives, and museums bring history to life.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/ce0399b5
📺 youtu.be/qK5x4j7jiuQ
#AI #CulturalHeritage
November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
We’re thrilled to launch our new Humans of AI podcast!
Prof. @melissaterras.bsky.social of @transkribus.bsky.social — a cooperative AI platform transforming how libraries, archives, and museums bring history to life.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/ce0399b5
📺 youtu.be/qK5x4j7jiuQ
#AI #CulturalHeritage
Prof. @melissaterras.bsky.social of @transkribus.bsky.social — a cooperative AI platform transforming how libraries, archives, and museums bring history to life.
🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/ce0399b5
📺 youtu.be/qK5x4j7jiuQ
#AI #CulturalHeritage
I really do try to respond to every PhD application enquiry I get, but I've had 10 already today and its only 3pm... At some point, I'm going to have to make my peace with not being able to keep up...
November 4, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I really do try to respond to every PhD application enquiry I get, but I've had 10 already today and its only 3pm... At some point, I'm going to have to make my peace with not being able to keep up...
Reposted by Melissa Terras
Did you miss our beginners' webinar last week? The complete recording of our step-by-step introduction to Transkribus is now available on YouTube 👇
Transkribus Webinar for Beginners (English)
Transkribus is the most popular tools for automatic text recognition of historical documents.
By watching this webinar recording, you will learn how to upload documents to Transkribus, perform…
youtu.be
November 3, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Did you miss our beginners' webinar last week? The complete recording of our step-by-step introduction to Transkribus is now available on YouTube 👇