Sarah Ames
@semames.bsky.social
Digital Scholarship Librarian, National Library of Scotland
Here for the digital humanities, open research and the long nineteenth century
Here for the digital humanities, open research and the long nineteenth century
Reposted by Sarah Ames
We've been working on our new Digital Collections Platform - launching formally in 2026. Thanks @emmahorrell.bsky.social for all your UX guidance and support!
blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-comm...
blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-comm...
How usability testing guided user-centred improvements of the Digital Collections Platform – Website and Communications Blog
blogs.ed.ac.uk
October 8, 2025 at 9:17 AM
We've been working on our new Digital Collections Platform - launching formally in 2026. Thanks @emmahorrell.bsky.social for all your UX guidance and support!
blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-comm...
blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-comm...
'Who decides what’s worth remembering, and how does that shape our shared story?' @andreakocsis.bsky.social and Dorsey Kaufmann's exhibition, Digital Ghosts, opens in November. Really happy that NLS could partially fund this work through our Digital Research Fellowship: data.nls.uk/projects/dig...
Digital Ghosts – Data Foundry
data.nls.uk
September 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
'Who decides what’s worth remembering, and how does that shape our shared story?' @andreakocsis.bsky.social and Dorsey Kaufmann's exhibition, Digital Ghosts, opens in November. Really happy that NLS could partially fund this work through our Digital Research Fellowship: data.nls.uk/projects/dig...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
A really interesting piece on the Return/Enter key. aresluna.org/the-day-retu...
I also did some work on the terminology of "return" in this context in www.sup.org/books/media-...
I also did some work on the terminology of "return" in this context in www.sup.org/books/media-...
The day Return became Enter
A deep dive into the convoluted and fascinating story of one of the most important keys on the keyboard
aresluna.org
September 6, 2025 at 12:05 PM
A really interesting piece on the Return/Enter key. aresluna.org/the-day-retu...
I also did some work on the terminology of "return" in this context in www.sup.org/books/media-...
I also did some work on the terminology of "return" in this context in www.sup.org/books/media-...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Customer feedback this week;
‘Please can you get some more diversity at the National Trust by encouraging more hot men to visit.’
Ideas for how we do this v welcome. Nothing too racy please - we are the National Trust not the National Tryst.
‘Please can you get some more diversity at the National Trust by encouraging more hot men to visit.’
Ideas for how we do this v welcome. Nothing too racy please - we are the National Trust not the National Tryst.
September 6, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Customer feedback this week;
‘Please can you get some more diversity at the National Trust by encouraging more hot men to visit.’
Ideas for how we do this v welcome. Nothing too racy please - we are the National Trust not the National Tryst.
‘Please can you get some more diversity at the National Trust by encouraging more hot men to visit.’
Ideas for how we do this v welcome. Nothing too racy please - we are the National Trust not the National Tryst.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
So @theturing.bsky.social has decided they no longer need Humanities (!) - so the The Alan Turing Institute’s Humanities and Data Science Interest Group are having one final event: "Network power: the humanities and data science in collaboration" In person and online, Oxford, 25th Sept. Pls share!
Network power: the humanities and data science in collaboration
digitalscholarship.web.ox.ac.uk
September 4, 2025 at 1:22 PM
So @theturing.bsky.social has decided they no longer need Humanities (!) - so the The Alan Turing Institute’s Humanities and Data Science Interest Group are having one final event: "Network power: the humanities and data science in collaboration" In person and online, Oxford, 25th Sept. Pls share!
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Spent the morning seeing if I could map some of London pornographers' addresses during the mid-19th century w/ the National Library of Scotland's georeferenced maps. Did I need to do this? Probably not. But very neat to see some of them laid out spatially.
August 29, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Spent the morning seeing if I could map some of London pornographers' addresses during the mid-19th century w/ the National Library of Scotland's georeferenced maps. Did I need to do this? Probably not. But very neat to see some of them laid out spatially.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Is this our youngest author on Transkribus Sites?
Scottish writer Marjory Fleming was just seven years old when she starting writing her diary, which became popular in the late Victorian period.
You can read the diary in full on Transkribus Sites 👇
app.transkribus.org/en/sites/mar...
Scottish writer Marjory Fleming was just seven years old when she starting writing her diary, which became popular in the late Victorian period.
You can read the diary in full on Transkribus Sites 👇
app.transkribus.org/en/sites/mar...
August 29, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Is this our youngest author on Transkribus Sites?
Scottish writer Marjory Fleming was just seven years old when she starting writing her diary, which became popular in the late Victorian period.
You can read the diary in full on Transkribus Sites 👇
app.transkribus.org/en/sites/mar...
Scottish writer Marjory Fleming was just seven years old when she starting writing her diary, which became popular in the late Victorian period.
You can read the diary in full on Transkribus Sites 👇
app.transkribus.org/en/sites/mar...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
The fact this confected issue has smothered everything else in the national debate – and is being allowed to by the government – is a tragedy and going to end very badly if the course does not change quickly.
'Immigration doesn't bother me but it seems to bother everyone else' – Everyone.
This is what happens when the media runs away with Hard Right narratives.
This is what happens when the media runs away with Hard Right narratives.
August 26, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The fact this confected issue has smothered everything else in the national debate – and is being allowed to by the government – is a tragedy and going to end very badly if the course does not change quickly.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
GenAI FOMO has spurred businesses to light nearly $40 billion on fire
www.theregister.com/2025/08/18/g...
www.theregister.com/2025/08/18/g...
Generative AI does nothing for 95 percent of companies
: MIT NANDA study finds only 5 percent of organizations using AI tools in production at scale
www.theregister.com
August 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM
GenAI FOMO has spurred businesses to light nearly $40 billion on fire
www.theregister.com/2025/08/18/g...
www.theregister.com/2025/08/18/g...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
Reposted by Sarah Ames
"Developing AI technologies in ways that truly benefit the public and treat common resources with care would constitute a more responsible practice, requiring further commitments to transparency and accountability around negative externalities."
Noroozian et al on AI and the digital commons.
Noroozian et al on AI and the digital commons.
Generative AI and the Future of the Digital Commons: Five Open Questions and Knowledge Gaps
The rapid advancement of Generative AI (GenAI) relies heavily on the digital commons, a vast collection of free and open online content that is created, shared, and maintained by communities. However,...
www.arxiv.org
August 14, 2025 at 3:09 AM
"Developing AI technologies in ways that truly benefit the public and treat common resources with care would constitute a more responsible practice, requiring further commitments to transparency and accountability around negative externalities."
Noroozian et al on AI and the digital commons.
Noroozian et al on AI and the digital commons.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
On Gaza’s killing fields, journalism faces its darkest hour – but that won’t stop us reporting | Asef Hamidi
On Gaza’s killing fields, journalism faces its darkest hour – but that won’t stop us reporting | Asef Hamidi
Israel’s actions are an assault not only on individual reporters but on the entire global public’s right to know the truth, says Asef Hamidi of Al Jazeera
www.theguardian.com
August 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
On Gaza’s killing fields, journalism faces its darkest hour – but that won’t stop us reporting | Asef Hamidi
Reposted by Sarah Ames
The University of Warwick has paid a lot of money, I'm guessing, for their internet banner ads on the Guardian and elsewhere.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
August 8, 2025 at 8:22 AM
The University of Warwick has paid a lot of money, I'm guessing, for their internet banner ads on the Guardian and elsewhere.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Many VLM-based OCR models have been released recently. Are they useful for libraries and archives?
I made a quick Space to compare VLM OCR with "traditional" OCR using 11k Scottish exam papers from @natlibscot.bsky.social
huggingface.co/spaces/davanstrien/ocr-time-capsule
I made a quick Space to compare VLM OCR with "traditional" OCR using 11k Scottish exam papers from @natlibscot.bsky.social
huggingface.co/spaces/davanstrien/ocr-time-capsule
August 1, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Many VLM-based OCR models have been released recently. Are they useful for libraries and archives?
I made a quick Space to compare VLM OCR with "traditional" OCR using 11k Scottish exam papers from @natlibscot.bsky.social
huggingface.co/spaces/davanstrien/ocr-time-capsule
I made a quick Space to compare VLM OCR with "traditional" OCR using 11k Scottish exam papers from @natlibscot.bsky.social
huggingface.co/spaces/davanstrien/ocr-time-capsule
Reposted by Sarah Ames
[Blogged] The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search - From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched
aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...
aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...
The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search
From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched
aarontay.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 6:19 PM
[Blogged] The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search - From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched
aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...
aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Here's a write-up of my keynote from #DH2025, since academic publishing is slow and this was written for right now. roopikarisam.com/talks-cat/dh...
July 19, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Here's a write-up of my keynote from #DH2025, since academic publishing is slow and this was written for right now. roopikarisam.com/talks-cat/dh...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Unsure if that's an opposition to AI or an opposition to the opposition of AI. But the culture of backlash it has created is a real danger that could undo 20 years of utopian thinking, argumentation, and implementation.
July 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Unsure if that's an opposition to AI or an opposition to the opposition of AI. But the culture of backlash it has created is a real danger that could undo 20 years of utopian thinking, argumentation, and implementation.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
The Library of Congress is looking for feedback on their amazing/unique "Selected Datasets" collection. You can see the collection here and the survey link is at the top of the page. www.loc.gov/collections/... Anyone interested in working with datasets check out the collection and take the survey.
About this Collection | Selected Datasets | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
Datasets are increasingly a key digital resource used in a wide range of fields. The Library of Congress selects, preserves, and provides enduring access to datasets with the goal of cultivating a bro...
www.loc.gov
July 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The Library of Congress is looking for feedback on their amazing/unique "Selected Datasets" collection. You can see the collection here and the survey link is at the top of the page. www.loc.gov/collections/... Anyone interested in working with datasets check out the collection and take the survey.
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Stanford HAI AI Index: 'training compute doubles every five months, datasets every eight, and power use annually' but AI models 'often fail to reliably solve logic tasks even when provably correct solutions exist, limiting their effectiveness in high-stakes settings where precision is critical'
The 2025 AI Index Report | Stanford HAI
hai.stanford.edu
July 9, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Stanford HAI AI Index: 'training compute doubles every five months, datasets every eight, and power use annually' but AI models 'often fail to reliably solve logic tasks even when provably correct solutions exist, limiting their effectiveness in high-stakes settings where precision is critical'
Reposted by Sarah Ames
For 30 years I've been experimenting with ways to see & use the online collections of libraries, archives & museums. I've made useful things, playful things, & weird things. Here's a big list of them for you to explore! https://wraggelabs.com #glam #histodons #digitalhumanities
Wragge Labs
A compilation of things I've built over the last 30 years to help people see and use the online collections of libraries, archives, and museums.
wraggelabs.com
July 4, 2025 at 6:12 AM
For 30 years I've been experimenting with ways to see & use the online collections of libraries, archives & museums. I've made useful things, playful things, & weird things. Here's a big list of them for you to explore! https://wraggelabs.com #glam #histodons #digitalhumanities
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Is it human to make a huge profit from knowledge? asks Hilde Van Wijngaarden from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in this afternoon's session on Knowledge as a Catalyst. #LKFS2025
June 27, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Is it human to make a huge profit from knowledge? asks Hilde Van Wijngaarden from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in this afternoon's session on Knowledge as a Catalyst. #LKFS2025
Reposted by Sarah Ames
here's my presentation to the super #LKFS2025; super important conversations. Many thanks to @masudk.com and colleagues for showing the way to knowledge futures. and here's Allan Ginsberg on the library dancefloor!
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/k...
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/k...
Knowledge Futures
I want to start in a singular place of culture, the British Museum. From the Great Court one can now peer into that symbol of human knowledge, the round reading room. We all somehow have it i…
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com
June 27, 2025 at 2:10 PM
here's my presentation to the super #LKFS2025; super important conversations. Many thanks to @masudk.com and colleagues for showing the way to knowledge futures. and here's Allan Ginsberg on the library dancefloor!
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/k...
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/k...
Happy to see this published today, and it's been a real privilege to work on with Paul Gooding, @melissaterras.bsky.social and the @facetpublishing.bsky.social team. Thanks to all the wonderful contributors! Here's the link: www.facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/...
June 26, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Happy to see this published today, and it's been a real privilege to work on with Paul Gooding, @melissaterras.bsky.social and the @facetpublishing.bsky.social team. Thanks to all the wonderful contributors! Here's the link: www.facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/...
Reposted by Sarah Ames
Hurrah! My next book is instantiated, and in-the-world! Library Catalogues As Data: Research, Practice, Usage. Edited with Paul Gooding and @semames.bsky.social. Proud of this one! Official publication date soon… www.facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/...
June 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Hurrah! My next book is instantiated, and in-the-world! Library Catalogues As Data: Research, Practice, Usage. Edited with Paul Gooding and @semames.bsky.social. Proud of this one! Official publication date soon… www.facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/...