David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
@spoilheap.bsky.social
Archivist, archaeologist, librarian, historian. 20th century Brit, 21st century USAian. Manc. "spoilheap"/ "SmallFind" on the Bird site. Former circuit digger. Roman & salvage archaeology, ruins, libraries & book history, archaeological archives. (GPA+VT)
Pinned
Quick reminder about my SDUC/ CPDS (UWTSD/ PCYDDS) list. Please "hit me up," if you'd like to be added or removed. #UniversityOfWales, #PrifysgolCymru, #Lampeter, #Llambed. bsky.app/profile/spoi...
#NowReading: Just finishing up a "genre" novel & about to return to Jean Soderlund's "Separate Paths: Lenapes & Colonists in West New Jersey." After that, I have Haviland & Power's "The Original Vermonters: Native Inhabitants, Past & Present" lined up.
November 17, 2025 at 2:14 PM
#NowReading: Just finishing up a "genre" novel & about to return to Jean Soderlund's "Separate Paths: Lenapes & Colonists in West New Jersey." After that, I have Haviland & Power's "The Original Vermonters: Native Inhabitants, Past & Present" lined up.
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Does anyone have or know of a decent reconstruction drawing of the stoa at Brauron? I know there's the isometric drawing from Bouras (that's the one Ekroth uses), but I want something a bit fuller in interpretation (and specifically showing the courtyard). #ClassicsBluesky
November 17, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Does anyone have or know of a decent reconstruction drawing of the stoa at Brauron? I know there's the isometric drawing from Bouras (that's the one Ekroth uses), but I want something a bit fuller in interpretation (and specifically showing the courtyard). #ClassicsBluesky
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Quick reminder about my SDUC/ CPDS (UWTSD/ PCYDDS) list. Please "hit me up," if you'd like to be added or removed. #UniversityOfWales, #PrifysgolCymru, #Lampeter, #Llambed. bsky.app/profile/spoi...
July 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Quick reminder about my SDUC/ CPDS (UWTSD/ PCYDDS) list. Please "hit me up," if you'd like to be added or removed. #UniversityOfWales, #PrifysgolCymru, #Lampeter, #Llambed. bsky.app/profile/spoi...
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Join us on Saturday 6 December, 10:00 to 14:15, for our online AGM and #Conference, where we'll explore topics including woods, land use, John Constable and watermeadows.
It's free to attend.
More details and bookings at www.landscapestudies.com/society-even...
Please share! #landscape #history
It's free to attend.
More details and bookings at www.landscapestudies.com/society-even...
Please share! #landscape #history
Society for Landscape Studies AGM and December Online Conference 2025 – The Society for Landscape Studies
www.landscapestudies.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Join us on Saturday 6 December, 10:00 to 14:15, for our online AGM and #Conference, where we'll explore topics including woods, land use, John Constable and watermeadows.
It's free to attend.
More details and bookings at www.landscapestudies.com/society-even...
Please share! #landscape #history
It's free to attend.
More details and bookings at www.landscapestudies.com/society-even...
Please share! #landscape #history
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
If you're interested in landscapes and landscape history, this online conference should be right up your street...
Join us on Saturday 6 December, 10:00 to 14:15, for our online AGM and #Conference, where we'll explore topics including woods, land use, John Constable and watermeadows.
It's free to attend.
More details and bookings at www.landscapestudies.com/society-even...
Please share! #landscape #history
It's free to attend.
More details and bookings at www.landscapestudies.com/society-even...
Please share! #landscape #history
Society for Landscape Studies AGM and December Online Conference 2025 – The Society for Landscape Studies
www.landscapestudies.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:50 PM
If you're interested in landscapes and landscape history, this online conference should be right up your street...
I have a client asking about software to OCR 18th century manuscripts. To date, I have only done this the old-fashioned way. Do archival professionals have any recommendations? (Ideally, not LLM & something that doesn’t require us to upload images to a third party’s database.)
November 15, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I have a client asking about software to OCR 18th century manuscripts. To date, I have only done this the old-fashioned way. Do archival professionals have any recommendations? (Ideally, not LLM & something that doesn’t require us to upload images to a third party’s database.)
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
*skull callipers snap*
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
econ.st
November 7, 2025 at 9:26 AM
*skull callipers snap*
Recently pulled out my (made by own fair hand) German-language flash cards from grad school.
October 10, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Recently pulled out my (made by own fair hand) German-language flash cards from grad school.
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Do any UK peeps remember the author of the Mark’s Gospel commentary that was a set text for the NEA Religious Studies GCSE, c. 1985-1989?
October 3, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Do any UK peeps remember the author of the Mark’s Gospel commentary that was a set text for the NEA Religious Studies GCSE, c. 1985-1989?
FWIW, there ARE problems with the Windows 10 Extended Support Updates—but I think I have the privacy settings set correctly AND it buys me some time to switch to Linux.
October 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
FWIW, there ARE problems with the Windows 10 Extended Support Updates—but I think I have the privacy settings set correctly AND it buys me some time to switch to Linux.
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
If you, like me, have no desire to upgrade to Windows 11 but Microsoft is rattling their metaphorical "no more protections for YOU!" saber,
Enroll in extended security updates. Took me less than five minutes for both devices.
Do it before October 14!!!!!
windowsforum.com/threads/how-...
Enroll in extended security updates. Took me less than five minutes for both devices.
Do it before October 14!!!!!
windowsforum.com/threads/how-...
How to Enroll in Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) Before Support Ends
As the end of official support for Windows 10 approaches on October 14, 2025, many users are seeking ways to maintain their system's security without transitioning to Windows 11. Microsoft's Extended ...
windowsforum.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:43 PM
If you, like me, have no desire to upgrade to Windows 11 but Microsoft is rattling their metaphorical "no more protections for YOU!" saber,
Enroll in extended security updates. Took me less than five minutes for both devices.
Do it before October 14!!!!!
windowsforum.com/threads/how-...
Enroll in extended security updates. Took me less than five minutes for both devices.
Do it before October 14!!!!!
windowsforum.com/threads/how-...
Lovely picture of a Modern (yes, the 1980s are still Modern, that whispering wag at the back--at least, relatively speaking) staging of Eumenides: bsky.app/profile/woke...
October 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Lovely picture of a Modern (yes, the 1980s are still Modern, that whispering wag at the back--at least, relatively speaking) staging of Eumenides: bsky.app/profile/woke...
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Me (to The Internet, everybody listening, or just looking my way for more than 5 sec): „Look what we did!“
I received the prints of our #RepresentationMatters publication yesterday evening. It’s not only a collection of papers on the way we reproduce and communicate our knowledge towards audience.
I received the prints of our #RepresentationMatters publication yesterday evening. It’s not only a collection of papers on the way we reproduce and communicate our knowledge towards audience.
October 8, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Me (to The Internet, everybody listening, or just looking my way for more than 5 sec): „Look what we did!“
I received the prints of our #RepresentationMatters publication yesterday evening. It’s not only a collection of papers on the way we reproduce and communicate our knowledge towards audience.
I received the prints of our #RepresentationMatters publication yesterday evening. It’s not only a collection of papers on the way we reproduce and communicate our knowledge towards audience.
Do any UK peeps remember the author of the Mark’s Gospel commentary that was a set text for the NEA Religious Studies GCSE, c. 1985-1989?
October 3, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Do any UK peeps remember the author of the Mark’s Gospel commentary that was a set text for the NEA Religious Studies GCSE, c. 1985-1989?
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
“AI” isn’t a tool or technology or even a cluster of technologies with a misleading name. It’s the infrastructure at the foundation of a form of capitalism dependent on data brokering. We should be teaching our students about this and not teaching them about “responsible” use.
September 28, 2025 at 1:38 AM
“AI” isn’t a tool or technology or even a cluster of technologies with a misleading name. It’s the infrastructure at the foundation of a form of capitalism dependent on data brokering. We should be teaching our students about this and not teaching them about “responsible” use.
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Read the long version here. www.artforum.com/features/gen...
MACHINE YEARNING
Sonja Drimmer critically examines art historians’ recent embrace of generative AI as a tool for humanities research.
www.artforum.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Read the long version here. www.artforum.com/features/gen...
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
It just got worse.
My notetaking app on my iPad now has a Pro version where I can <wait for it> “chat” with my notes.
I wrote my notes. WTAF.
My notetaking app on my iPad now has a Pro version where I can <wait for it> “chat” with my notes.
I wrote my notes. WTAF.
Oh ffs. No, I do not want to "Chat with the PDF" of this interesting looking academic journal article I just came across.
I would like to read it. With my own eyeballs. And think about it. You know, with that grey matter sitting between my ears.
Just make it stop.
#AcademicChatter
I would like to read it. With my own eyeballs. And think about it. You know, with that grey matter sitting between my ears.
Just make it stop.
#AcademicChatter
September 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM
It just got worse.
My notetaking app on my iPad now has a Pro version where I can <wait for it> “chat” with my notes.
I wrote my notes. WTAF.
My notetaking app on my iPad now has a Pro version where I can <wait for it> “chat” with my notes.
I wrote my notes. WTAF.
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
PLEASE sign up for Skype a Scientist:
www.skypeascientist.com
They need more archaeologists! It's fun, answer kids questions on zoom for an hour.
www.skypeascientist.com
They need more archaeologists! It's fun, answer kids questions on zoom for an hour.
SKYPE A SCIENTIST
Skype a Scientist matches your classroom, scout troop, or library with scientists for Q&A sessions for free!
www.skypeascientist.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
PLEASE sign up for Skype a Scientist:
www.skypeascientist.com
They need more archaeologists! It's fun, answer kids questions on zoom for an hour.
www.skypeascientist.com
They need more archaeologists! It's fun, answer kids questions on zoom for an hour.
No, Clarivate—I do not want an “AI” assistant in my EndNote.
September 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
No, Clarivate—I do not want an “AI” assistant in my EndNote.
“FEW dissenting voices”—🙄😳
Okay. After complaining—only yesterday—that LIS lit had fee dissenting voices on the subject of LLM AI, I am finding more. Thank heavens.
September 25, 2025 at 10:58 AM
“FEW dissenting voices”—🙄😳
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
Jonathan Last on the decline of the fieldwalking as a method in the CBA Fieldwalking conference in Grantham #Archaeology
September 24, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Jonathan Last on the decline of the fieldwalking as a method in the CBA Fieldwalking conference in Grantham #Archaeology
In slightly happier news, I will attending not one but TWO archaeology events in Vermont.
Anyone else going to the Vermont Archaeological Society’s Annual Meeting? www.eventbrite.com/e/vermont-ar...
Anyone else going to the Vermont Archaeological Society’s Annual Meeting? www.eventbrite.com/e/vermont-ar...
Vermont Archaeological Society Annual Meeting 2025
Discover Archaeology at the VAS Annual Meeting! Join us at the Old Stone House Museum for presentations and tours. Limited tickets!
www.eventbrite.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM
In slightly happier news, I will attending not one but TWO archaeology events in Vermont.
Anyone else going to the Vermont Archaeological Society’s Annual Meeting? www.eventbrite.com/e/vermont-ar...
Anyone else going to the Vermont Archaeological Society’s Annual Meeting? www.eventbrite.com/e/vermont-ar...
“AI Workslop Is Killing Productivity”—in no great surprise, this study describes how people using LLM AI pass the “cognitive load” to colleagues, forcing them to check & correct poor quality / erroneous work “product.” Unsurprisingly, this caused some resentment.
www.404media.co/ai-workslop-...
www.404media.co/ai-workslop-...
AI ‘Workslop’ Is Killing Productivity and Making Workers Miserable
AI slop is taking over workplaces. Workers said that they thought of their colleagues who filed low-quality AI work as "less creative, capable, and reliable than they did before receiving the output."
www.404media.co
September 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
“AI Workslop Is Killing Productivity”—in no great surprise, this study describes how people using LLM AI pass the “cognitive load” to colleagues, forcing them to check & correct poor quality / erroneous work “product.” Unsurprisingly, this caused some resentment.
www.404media.co/ai-workslop-...
www.404media.co/ai-workslop-...
Okay. After complaining—only yesterday—that LIS lit had fee dissenting voices on the subject of LLM AI, I am finding more. Thank heavens.
September 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Okay. After complaining—only yesterday—that LIS lit had fee dissenting voices on the subject of LLM AI, I am finding more. Thank heavens.
Reposted by David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS
i wrote this so library workers had something to cite that explicitly calls for refusal. technology is not inevitable
This article from part 2 of the Library Trends issue on Generative AI is a must read, from Kay Slater.
"In seeking to bridge the digital divide and save ourselves time, do we sacrifice our principles in favor of acquiescing to the latest trends in technology?" muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
"In seeking to bridge the digital divide and save ourselves time, do we sacrifice our principles in favor of acquiescing to the latest trends in technology?" muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
Project MUSE - Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library
muse.jhu.edu
September 22, 2025 at 8:35 PM
i wrote this so library workers had something to cite that explicitly calls for refusal. technology is not inevitable