scott b. weingart
@scottbot.bsky.social
past: circus performer; historian of science; librarian; chief data officer at NEH.
present: dad; resident scholar at dartmouth; chief technology officer at the library of virginia.
personal account; views solely my own.
https://scottbot.github.io
present: dad; resident scholar at dartmouth; chief technology officer at the library of virginia.
personal account; views solely my own.
https://scottbot.github.io
Pinned
scott b. weingart
@scottbot.bsky.social
· Sep 17
📌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.📌
When my grandpa died last year at nearly 104, he left me this mantel clock. He kept it wound, and in meticulous shape. The thing is stone—extremely heavy.
He got it from a friend in the '60s, who got it from some television personality a few decades earlier. Apparently it's 19th century French.
He got it from a friend in the '60s, who got it from some television personality a few decades earlier. Apparently it's 19th century French.
November 11, 2025 at 1:15 PM
When my grandpa died last year at nearly 104, he left me this mantel clock. He kept it wound, and in meticulous shape. The thing is stone—extremely heavy.
He got it from a friend in the '60s, who got it from some television personality a few decades earlier. Apparently it's 19th century French.
He got it from a friend in the '60s, who got it from some television personality a few decades earlier. Apparently it's 19th century French.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Great news! This is out: Opening the black box of EEBO academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
Opening the black box of EEBO
Abstract. Digital archives that cover extended historical periods can create a misleading impression of comprehensiveness while in truth providing access t
academic.oup.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Great news! This is out: Opening the black box of EEBO academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
Reposted by scott b. weingart
“And then you have librarians who are experiencing a real existential crisis because they are getting asked by their jobs to promote [AI] tools that produce more misinformation. It's the most, like, emperor-has-no-clothes-type situation that I have ever witnessed.” - Alison Macrina
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 7, 2025 at 7:15 AM
“And then you have librarians who are experiencing a real existential crisis because they are getting asked by their jobs to promote [AI] tools that produce more misinformation. It's the most, like, emperor-has-no-clothes-type situation that I have ever witnessed.” - Alison Macrina
Reposted by scott b. weingart
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.
This week I received four items through interlibrary loan and document delivery, and I gotta say, that service suite continues to be a shining example of society functioning as it should. Eduroam is another.
Thank your librarians working on ILL in the background. They do saintly work.
Thank your librarians working on ILL in the background. They do saintly work.
November 4, 2025 at 1:49 PM
This week I received four items through interlibrary loan and document delivery, and I gotta say, that service suite continues to be a shining example of society functioning as it should. Eduroam is another.
Thank your librarians working on ILL in the background. They do saintly work.
Thank your librarians working on ILL in the background. They do saintly work.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
The first (1955) Danish edition of Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451. Later editions did not convert the title, so this is the only SI-compatible edition! 🎢
November 1, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The first (1955) Danish edition of Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451. Later editions did not convert the title, so this is the only SI-compatible edition! 🎢
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Haven't seen any linguistics research on character limits, but perhaps someone who follows me might know of some!
Hey, @gretchenmcc.bsky.social, sorry to at you like this out of the blue, but couldn't think of anyone better to ask.
Are you aware of any research looking at how character limits influence word choice on social media?
Are you aware of any research looking at how character limits influence word choice on social media?
November 1, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Haven't seen any linguistics research on character limits, but perhaps someone who follows me might know of some!
Reposted by scott b. weingart
A permanent post in my department. Closing date Dec 14th 2025, interviews in March. Please spread #histsci
Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400
Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400, in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Please note
www.cam.ac.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 AM
A permanent post in my department. Closing date Dec 14th 2025, interviews in March. Please spread #histsci
Reposted by scott b. weingart
As DH grows, it’s increasingly important to publish conference papers, but there hasn’t been a clear venue for that.
So I’m thrilled to share this new home for DH proceedings, which will include CHR papers & more.
Thanks to @taylor-arnold.bsky.social for leading this effort!
bit.ly/ach-anthology
So I’m thrilled to share this new home for DH proceedings, which will include CHR papers & more.
Thanks to @taylor-arnold.bsky.social for leading this effort!
bit.ly/ach-anthology
October 29, 2025 at 3:39 PM
As DH grows, it’s increasingly important to publish conference papers, but there hasn’t been a clear venue for that.
So I’m thrilled to share this new home for DH proceedings, which will include CHR papers & more.
Thanks to @taylor-arnold.bsky.social for leading this effort!
bit.ly/ach-anthology
So I’m thrilled to share this new home for DH proceedings, which will include CHR papers & more.
Thanks to @taylor-arnold.bsky.social for leading this effort!
bit.ly/ach-anthology
Reposted by scott b. weingart
If you can do so, now is a great time to donate cash to food banks in your region.
Good people are going to need to do some mental gymnastics in the coming days.
US government spent $100.3 billion on SNAP last fiscal year & that was still only 1.5% of our budget. SNAP feeds 40 million people.
Replacing that is bonkers.
We have to do it anyway.
usafacts.org/answers/how-...
US government spent $100.3 billion on SNAP last fiscal year & that was still only 1.5% of our budget. SNAP feeds 40 million people.
Replacing that is bonkers.
We have to do it anyway.
usafacts.org/answers/how-...
How much does the federal government spend on SNAP every year? | USAFacts
About $100.3 billion during fiscal year (FY) 2024. That’s 1.5% of all federal spending. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as the Food Stamp program, is administered by t...
usafacts.org
October 27, 2025 at 1:27 AM
If you can do so, now is a great time to donate cash to food banks in your region.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Every time discover a new piece on the dangers of LLMs, particularly for research and teaching, I add it to a Zotero library. I figure that I might as well share it, so here's my library of Cautionary AI Tales: www.zotero.org/groups/62758...
October 28, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Every time discover a new piece on the dangers of LLMs, particularly for research and teaching, I add it to a Zotero library. I figure that I might as well share it, so here's my library of Cautionary AI Tales: www.zotero.org/groups/62758...
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Online! Free!
@londonmedievalsoc.bsky.social London Medieval Society will be hosting its first colloquium of the academic year on the 22nd November 2025 on the subject of Women and Knowledge in the Middle Ages. 😊
You can find the Zoom link here: us02web.zoom.us/j/81823681150
You can find the Zoom link here: us02web.zoom.us/j/81823681150
October 27, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Online! Free!
If you can do so, now is a great time to donate cash to food banks in your region.
Good people are going to need to do some mental gymnastics in the coming days.
US government spent $100.3 billion on SNAP last fiscal year & that was still only 1.5% of our budget. SNAP feeds 40 million people.
Replacing that is bonkers.
We have to do it anyway.
usafacts.org/answers/how-...
US government spent $100.3 billion on SNAP last fiscal year & that was still only 1.5% of our budget. SNAP feeds 40 million people.
Replacing that is bonkers.
We have to do it anyway.
usafacts.org/answers/how-...
How much does the federal government spend on SNAP every year? | USAFacts
About $100.3 billion during fiscal year (FY) 2024. That’s 1.5% of all federal spending. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as the Food Stamp program, is administered by t...
usafacts.org
October 27, 2025 at 1:27 AM
If you can do so, now is a great time to donate cash to food banks in your region.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
'Cost-Effective Machine Learning for Automatically Processing Bibliographic Metadata' is a very readable account of using DistilBERT for specific DH tasks www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.... #AI4LAM
www.euppublishing.com
October 25, 2025 at 12:17 PM
'Cost-Effective Machine Learning for Automatically Processing Bibliographic Metadata' is a very readable account of using DistilBERT for specific DH tasks www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.... #AI4LAM
Reposted by scott b. weingart
(I've occasionally heard the argument that even rejections add "value" to the general "market." For example, research applications help scholars gather thoughts, and can be reused for articles. Which is true, but may not outweigh the sunk costs & resource rebalancing from poor to rich institutions.)
October 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
(I've occasionally heard the argument that even rejections add "value" to the general "market." For example, research applications help scholars gather thoughts, and can be reused for articles. Which is true, but may not outweigh the sunk costs & resource rebalancing from poor to rich institutions.)
Reposted by scott b. weingart
Weirdly, this means in some cases that adding a (competitive, onerous, and popular) grant program where one didn't exist can actually cost a community more than if it didn't exist at all. So, that's cursed knowledge for you!
October 24, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Weirdly, this means in some cases that adding a (competitive, onerous, and popular) grant program where one didn't exist can actually cost a community more than if it didn't exist at all. So, that's cursed knowledge for you!
Reposted by scott b. weingart
PSA: Grant programs with sufficiently low acceptance rates and payouts can cost more for applicants than they distribute to awardees.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
October 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
PSA: Grant programs with sufficiently low acceptance rates and payouts can cost more for applicants than they distribute to awardees.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments.
#medievalsky
www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...
#medievalsky
www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...
October 24, 2025 at 10:58 PM
A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments.
#medievalsky
www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...
#medievalsky
www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...
PSA: Grant programs with sufficiently low acceptance rates and payouts can cost more for applicants than they distribute to awardees.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
October 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
PSA: Grant programs with sufficiently low acceptance rates and payouts can cost more for applicants than they distribute to awardees.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
Say it costs $5k in salaried hours to complete a proposal. 1k people apply. $1m is distributed overall. For every $1 spent, 20¢ of funding goes out.
This happens.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
October 24, 2025 at 12:47 AM
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
listen, yinz spend so much time focusing on the Voynich Manuscript that you keep forgetting the Codex Seraphinianus
October 24, 2025 at 12:01 AM
listen, yinz spend so much time focusing on the Voynich Manuscript that you keep forgetting the Codex Seraphinianus
Reposted by scott b. weingart
We're reopening our survey to gather more responses. If you didn't get a chance before, we'd love to hear about your DH experiences in the United States. The survey will remain open until 12/15.
We are conducting a survey to assess career satisfaction of individuals who completed formal Digital Humanities training during undergrad/grad school in the United States. The survey takes about 20 minutes. Must be 18. IRB protocol # 2024-347.
#DH #digitalhumanities
forms.gle/PZxYoGHZFa58...
#DH #digitalhumanities
forms.gle/PZxYoGHZFa58...
Digital Humanities Job Survey
This survey aims to assess how Digital Humanities (DH) and DH-adjacent programs in the United States have influenced career paths and professional development. The goal is to evaluate how well undergr...
forms.gle
October 23, 2025 at 8:45 PM
We're reopening our survey to gather more responses. If you didn't get a chance before, we'd love to hear about your DH experiences in the United States. The survey will remain open until 12/15.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
In an obscure corner of Kazakhstan, the remains of an ocean millions of years old have created probably the most surreal landscape on earth -- as captured by photographer Daniel Kordan
mymodernmet.com/daniel-korda...
mymodernmet.com/daniel-korda...
October 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
In an obscure corner of Kazakhstan, the remains of an ocean millions of years old have created probably the most surreal landscape on earth -- as captured by photographer Daniel Kordan
mymodernmet.com/daniel-korda...
mymodernmet.com/daniel-korda...
Reposted by scott b. weingart
'History and Archives in Practice, 2026': call for participation bit.ly/4pITZrs
HAP26 takes place in Sheffield on the theme of 'Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: The Impact of Archives & Historical Research'. With @ihr.bsky.social & @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy Closing date 31 October.
HAP26 takes place in Sheffield on the theme of 'Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: The Impact of Archives & Historical Research'. With @ihr.bsky.social & @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy Closing date 31 October.
History and Archives in Practice, 2026: Call for participation now open - RHS
The call is now open for participants to 'History and Archives in Practice, 2026' (HAP26), the annual gathering of historians and archivists, jointly hosted by the Royal Historical Society, Institute ...
bit.ly
October 22, 2025 at 8:03 AM
'History and Archives in Practice, 2026': call for participation bit.ly/4pITZrs
HAP26 takes place in Sheffield on the theme of 'Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: The Impact of Archives & Historical Research'. With @ihr.bsky.social & @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy Closing date 31 October.
HAP26 takes place in Sheffield on the theme of 'Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: The Impact of Archives & Historical Research'. With @ihr.bsky.social & @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy Closing date 31 October.
Reposted by scott b. weingart
OCR is one of AI's oldest challenges (first systems: early 1900s!)
Modern vision-language models have transformed what's possible: handwriting, 100+ languages, math formulas, tables, signature extraction...
New @hf.co guide on OCR
huggingface.co/blog/ocr-ope...
Modern vision-language models have transformed what's possible: handwriting, 100+ languages, math formulas, tables, signature extraction...
New @hf.co guide on OCR
huggingface.co/blog/ocr-ope...
Supercharge your OCR Pipelines with Open Models
We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science.
huggingface.co
October 22, 2025 at 8:58 AM
OCR is one of AI's oldest challenges (first systems: early 1900s!)
Modern vision-language models have transformed what's possible: handwriting, 100+ languages, math formulas, tables, signature extraction...
New @hf.co guide on OCR
huggingface.co/blog/ocr-ope...
Modern vision-language models have transformed what's possible: handwriting, 100+ languages, math formulas, tables, signature extraction...
New @hf.co guide on OCR
huggingface.co/blog/ocr-ope...