iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Just published! New co-authored article in the edited collection Libraries, Archives and Collective Grief. Its title: "The Past(s) We Access Online: Ethical Challenges of Digital Archives." Editors: @kpalex91.bsky.social & @librarianchef.bsky.social bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/libraries-ar...

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Which was the premise of Jurassic Park 🙃

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Internet Archive @archive.org · 25/08/2026

We've been getting a lot of questions about how the Internet Archive digitizes books. The short answer: page by page, by hand. You may remember our viral 2021 video of Eliza Zhang scanning a book. That's still how we do it. Meet Eliza, and learn how we scan books: blog.archive.org/2021/02/09/m...

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Richard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Really worthwhile CFP f/ Computational Humanities Research on "Peripheries," inviting work that uses data-driven approaches to recovering marginalized, lost voices in the cultural record/archive & what's been lost through processes of mass corpus digitization: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

Peripheries

Call for Papers: Peripheries

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Archival research is rarely about what you really seek. It's about all those lives that you encounter along the way, some as simple mentions in mundane records, others whose name resists the enclosure of neat tables and is scribbled outside, and yet others who resist capture on paper thrgh silence.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

We have published a new collection of advertisements about apothecaries and medicines in 18th c. Bridgetown, Barbados. dloc.com/collections/... More information in the thread. 1/

Screenshot of digital items of the collection Apothecaries and Medicines in colonial Bridgetown.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

We have published a new collection of advertisements about apothecaries and medicines in 18th c. Bridgetown, Barbados. dloc.com/collections/... More information in the thread. 1/

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

📢 Once more for the people in the back: - Most [more than 95%] of archives have not been digitized. - Most of humanity's knowledge and memory is *not* reachable by LLMs. - Believing that AI can provid you with comprehensive, definitive, "intelligent" results is folly.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The worst depiction of an archivist in media is the archivist in Minas Tirith who brings FIRE into the record store. The best depiction of an archivist in media is Brother Armbruster in A Canticle for Leibowitz, who absolutely Gets It™

A screenshot from the LOTR films showing ol' Gandalf himself walking through the archives beneath Minas Tirith. He's being escorted by an absolutely psychopathic 'archivist' who is walking around with a FLAMING TORCH next to documents. No wonder Denethor is losing his mind, we'd be doing the same if this is the staff we employed.

An extract from the book 'A Canticle for Leibowitz', with Brother Armbruster (the librarian/archivist at the monastery) begrudgingly producing documents from their storage. He philosophises that the reason to look after books is that they can then be looked after forever, and actually using them to research is a threat to this purpose.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

We have created a booklet with advertisements of self-emancipating enslaved people in Barbados in the 18th and 19th centuries. It aims to make these ads more accessible and contains images of c. 20 ads, their transcriptions, and a short introduction contextualizing them. tinyurl.com/26zkuxf7 1/

Cover of a booklet of advertisements for Self-Emancipating enslaved people in Barbados, in 18th and 19th centuries.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

I've written a new piece, together with my colleague Virginia Dressler. Thank you to @cliocontemporary.bsky.social for providing the platform. Special thanks to the many archivists, librarians, and information professionals who work on making these stories accessible.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

🤬 You do not "fill the gap" in archives. You ask *why* the gap is there in the first place. That is where the real information resides. Also: LLMs train on digitized materials. Do you have any idea how little has been digitized? LLMs train on a *sliver* of the human past and human knowledge.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

HMML @visithmml.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

For #InternationalArchivesWeek, consider how digitized copies of manuscripts can preserve access to a manuscript's contents, provide a record of ownership if the object is removed, and provide access to cultural heritage if a community is displaced. Learn more: hmml.org/stories/reversal-of-fates

The same manuscript, in the collection of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Patriarchate of Baghdad, Iraq. The manuscript was photographed by Arthur Vööbus (1) and decades later by the Centre Numérique des Manuscrits Orientaux and HMML (2), where it was identified by Grigory Kessel. Its texts include poetry, a commentary on the Nicene Creed, and Ephrem of Qirqesion’s "Explanation of Yawsep Ḥazzāyā’s Chapters of Knowledge." Both photographic copies are preserved by HMML. (Baghdad 513; CPB 00463)

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The more things change, the more they stay the same... Nice study that essentially corroborates Michel Rolph Trouillot's silencing framework. The diagram embodies all silencing processes (fact creation/assembly/retrieval/retrospective significance), a bleak reminder on how power operates today.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Dr. Felicia Fricke @feliciafricke.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

This data article about fugitive adverisements in eastern #Caribbean newspapers is the result of years of work by the team at @inthesamesea.bsky.social Read it at scholarlypublishingcollective.org/msup/jsdp/ar... and find the dataset at enslaved.org - an open-access research resource!

Image from the online interactive map with data from the fugitive advertisements, showing the islands of ghe eastern Caribbean from Puerto Rico to Isla de Margarita. See article for full reference.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Heather Freund @heatherfreund.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

I'm excited this is out! We spent countless hours building the database in a way that will hopefully be usable for other scholars and students of fugitivity in the Caribbean. scholarlypublishingcollective.org/msup/jsdp/ar...

scholarlypublishingcollective.org

Enslaved Fugitives in the Lesser Antilles, 1760s-1860s

Dataset CreatorsRasmus Christensen, University of CopenhagenGunvor Simonsen, University of CopenhagenHeather Freund, University of CopenhagenFelicia Fricke, University of CopenhagenGabriëlle La Croix,...

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Beautiful essay, and...recordkeeping galore in the thread. 😍 It took a lot of effort (and intention) for information to 'travel' to us today. #histarchives

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Emily Higgs Kopin @ehkopin.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Cross-disciplinary solidarity

Handshake meme between “medievalists” and “digital archivists” with the joined hands labeled “hating the phrase ‘dark age’”

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

⬇️ I can't repost this 🔥 thread about the fragility of humanity's digital memory enough.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

In an era of speed and volume, there is value in slow research in archives. Let me start out by clarifying what slow research is and is 𝒏𝒐𝒕: Slow research is not slow. You can still go through hundreds of pages in one day, even in one hour. 1/

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

I have a chapter in this newly published book. "‘Runaway’ Ads as Records of Life Writing: Ariadne’s Story." The essay explores methodological & epistemological issues of using colonial records of violence from the Caribbean in life writing abt enslaved people. www.routledge.com/InDependent-...

routledge.com

(In)Dependent Selves: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Life Writing, Slavery and Dependency

This book brings into conversation perspectives from the disciplines of history, literary studies, archival studies and religious studies, and explores the entanglements of life writing and dependency...

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 15/04/2026

an incredibly important project by Connie Walker — most Canadians don't know that the government has an archive of 38,000 residential school survivor testimonies, which are slated to be destroyed next year www.cbc.ca/news/indigen...

cbc.ca

Journalist plans to create new archive of residential school survivor stories — before it's too late | CBC News

A new project from award-winning journalist Connie Walker aims to create an archive of testimonies of abuse at residential schools before the accounts are destroyed in September 2027.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

"Microscopy in PRTD allows us to investigate materiality on a new scale, shifting our perspective so that we can continue to check our assumptions, help preserve the collections, and answer questions about materiality."

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

We need more historians because history is one of the most powerful forms of knowledge. Just ask any autocrat why they want to control it! #TalkAboutHumanities

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

"AI research assistant" researching data that is incomplete biased skewed missing excluded obscured extracted from collections that were already a partial, skewed view of the past (unless one really interrogates the sources of the data). What could go wrong...

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The University of Virginia Archival AI Protocol governs "how artificial intelligence systems may access + use arch collections." Core rules: - item-level provenance + attribution - institutional control - donor + community responsibilities #ai #archives libraopen.lib.virginia.edu/public_view/...

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Archives are neither dusty nor old stuff neither dead nor boring. Archives are what we make of them. Each generation, each of us sees diferent things in an item. Each of us adds something new every time we engage. Each item in the archives is the sum of all these interactions.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Also worth noting for the ‘everything is online’ crowd that the numbers of archives being destroyed means that an increasing proportion cannot ever be online.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Awesome work, result of *collaboration* btwn historians & comp scientists! Nice shoutout to underlying work of generations of archivists and librarians who "over more than a century, transcribed, collated, gathered and published biographical records for over 20,000 individuals." #archives #labor

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

⬇️ This. Many collections everywhere, but particularly beyond Europe or N. America, are undercatalogued or not catalogued at all. When they burn, no trace survives.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

For the "everything is online" crowd in the back: Important to consider that "everything" cultural heritage related that is accessible online represents only 1% (one percent) of archives, libraries, and museum collections worldwide.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

In The Same Sea @inthesamesea.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

IN THE SAME SEA's team and Dr. Joy Lewis have guest-edited the special issue “Small Islands, Proximity and Connection in the Eastern Caribbean” of the Journal of Caribbean History. See: www.uwipress.com/journals/the... Thanks to all contributors and the journal’s main editor Kathleen Monteith.

uwipress.com

Journal of Caribbean History | University of the West Indies Press

The Journal of Caribbean History (JCH) is a peer reviewed journal produced by the Departments of History, The University of the West Indies, and published by the University of the West Indies Press. T...

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Katie McDonough @kmcdono.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Missed this 3 days ago, but we're thrilled this is out. @ruthahnert.bsky.social @danielwilson.bsky.social & I wrote this after 6 years of collaboration + discussions about - what "data" and "digitization" mean [in History] - what we need to do to ensure data is findable & accessible

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

"Cultural institutions face a perfect storm of risk factors. Operating budgets prioritise immediate public service – acquisitions, exhibitions, programmes, access – over invisible infrastructure investments." informationsecuritybuzz.com/the-cyberatt...

informationsecuritybuzz.com

The Cyberattack That Exposed The Fragility Of Digital Heritage

Saturday 28 October 2023 is a date that will live long in the memory of staff at the British Library. As they arrived for work that day, they encountered

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

mia ridge @miaout.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

On ransomware and under-funded GLAMs: 'At no point was the British Library particularly negligent or unprepared. Instead, it was hindered by vulnerabilities shared by the majority of cultural institutions. ...the attack [is] a warning to the whole sector.' informationsecuritybuzz.com/the-cyberatt...

informationsecuritybuzz.com

The Cyberattack That Exposed The Fragility Of Digital Heritage

Saturday 28 October 2023 is a date that will live long in the memory of staff at the British Library. As they arrived for work that day, they encountered

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Important article that emphasizes proliferation + fragmentation of hist datasets & the need to - rethink our responsibility+commitment as scholars to FAIR principles - reeducate in dig skills for locating/navigating/using hist datasets - build communities around data to naturalize reuse/engagement

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

1/ Important new article by Dr. Tara Inniss that discusses the "chronic underfunding, aging infrastructure, and climatic threats" of Caribbean archives, compounded by vulnerabilities and policy gaps. Thread w recent examples of destruction of collections by fire: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

One British Archive: “Burning Archive”: The Barbados Department of Archives | Journal of British Studies | Cambridge Core

One British Archive: “Burning Archive”: The Barbados Department of Archives - Volume 65

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Community archives "have been chronically underfunded by government agencies and private foundations..., passed over in favor of wealthier institutions that...promise longer term stability and prestige, but they also propagate dominant narratives." medium.com/community-ar...

medium.com

If Federal Museums Aren’t Allowed to Tell the Truth About the Past, it’sTime to Start Supporting…

By Michelle Caswell and Bergis Jules

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

📣 The public deserves more than basic training on how to use AI. That’s why we’re launching a new AI Civics initiative, treating AI not as a tool to be mastered, but as a domain of civic life where people have rights, responsibilities, & avenues for collective action. datasociety.net/points/build...

Image: Jamillah Knowles & We and AI / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
A neural network comes out of the top of an ivory tower, above a crowd of people's heads. Some of them are reaching up to try and take some control and pull the net down to them. Watercolor illustration.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Everyone should be following the digitization and posting of the Adam Jacobs Collection. A 10,000 live concert chronicle of rocknroll-live-in-Chicago between the mid-1980s and today. archive.org/details/aada...

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

The Weekly Read is "Indigenous Archives" by Floridalma Boj Lopez, which analyzes the modes through which young Mayas in Los Angeles and Guatemala make sense of and respond to transnational structures of settler colonialism. Read the entire book for free now thanks to TOME! buff.ly/BTvGoKo

Cover of Indigenous Archives: The Maya Diaspora and Mobile Cultural Production by Floridalma Boj Lopez. The cover features a photograph of two young Mayan women wearing traditional clothing sitting on steps. Below this is solid purple with the title written in white in all caps. A yellow line separates the title and subtitle. The subtitle is written smaller in white. Below is the author's name italicized and written in all caps.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Digitization in countries beyond Europe and North America is often a fine balance between standards and realities on the ground. Several institutions provide digitization guidelines (and grants) that have been developed for projects in such locations. Here I point to some:

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

we here®️ @wehere.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

now available — the house archives built & other thoughts on black archival possibilities by @dorothyjberry.bsky.social (3rd printing) www.weherepress.org

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Reposted by Amalia S. Levi, PhD

IHR British History in the Long C18th Seminar @long18thsem.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Next week Wednesday 11 February we are delighted to have @pbhellawell.bsky.social & @libertypaterson.bsky.social present their paper titled 'The Ship Bedford: Atlantic and Archival Crossings in the Long Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade'. Join us either in person at the IHR or online from 17:30

history.ac.uk

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Beautiful public outreach! Academic research on archival material "transformed into a series of stunning musical arrangements on stage."

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