iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Lovely man down the road delivered my books!

Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Finally got around to dyeing some test pieces in my quest to learn about using plants for fabric dyeing. Super pleased with the colour (turmeric). White muslin included in the photo for contrast.

Bright yellow fabric alongside white fabric

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Slightly disappointing day, but I repurposed one of our meeting rooms as an office and have powered through some things. So that's good. Including all the systematic review abstracts @acraftylibrarian.bsky.social @alicecann.bsky.social

A photo taken inside a small meeting room with a laptop and coffee mug on a table and a large screen behind it.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Today's book: Supporting trans people in libraries by Stephen Krueger. Expecting some harsh truths in here, but I'm at least heartened that on the first page it says "Some libraries are doing spelendidly".

A purple book with a cartoon image on the front of books in trans flag colours. The book is in my lap and you can see a cafe behind me.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Met a friend on my run this morning.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Realised I didnt actually post the photo!

A hardback book called "Wild Dying" and a killer jar full of yellow liquid on a table.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Lol. Absolute carnage with people driving to the top of the hill to see the Eclipse 😂

A big traffic jam of cars stretching all the way down the road.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

14. Do you ever mark/dog ear books you own. I'll write my name in it if I'm lending it, but otherwise not really. I used to dog ear, but now I'm more Chaotic good than Chaotic evil.

Bookmark alignment chart
Lawful good - bookmark, neutral good - sentence pointer, Chaotic good - scrap paper, Lawful neutral bookmark, true neutral proper bookmark, Chaotic neutral - leaf, Lawful evil - memorising page number, neutral evil - leaving bookmark face down, Chaotic evil - dog ear.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Saw a great SCURL one of you and me the other day - right number of fingers and everything. Weirdly, this is the only CILIP conference one I can find of me. It's a bit too "look at me" even for me! But that might be because all the google links to the photo pages are now broken...

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This is another favourite. What is the toxic looking orange liquid, and why has someone been allowed to prop their bike up by the books? (I think it might be 1.5 bikes...) Also, by the clothes I'd peg those people as from the USA, not the UK.

A bunch of people standing around holding large glasses of orange liquid. There are book shelves behind them so they're obviously in the main part of the library, but there are also bicycles.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

All sorts of dreadful decisions, but one of my favourites is this because it's not even an AI problem. It's just a really bad design decision. Why is his suit more important than his face??

An Image of a black man in a suit, only the bottom half of his head is included in the photo. He is standing in front of very blurry book stacks.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I have added a Gin and Tonic to the mix!

A kindle and a wine glass with a clear, slightly blue liquid in it on a black table. Spiky plants are behind ut with a brick wall behind them

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

In my attempts to touch grass a bit more, I've bought a very fancy pizza/everything else oven and and reading outside whilst it cooks the baked potatoes for tea tonight.

A Ninja woodfire oven outside on a black table stand, behind it are french doors and there is greenery to the side.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Just went to a garden party in Nottingham with my postdoc supervisor, other PIs I knew and a couple of folks I used to share the postdoc office. Genuinely one of the best afternoons I've had in years. Hanging out with properly clever people who are just interested in stuff makes me so happy.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Bottom 5: The Courtier, the Jansenist, the Military Entrepreneur, the Common Mercenary, the Carmelite Mystic

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Top 5: The Virtuoso, the Empiricist, the New Astronomer, the Projector, the Cambridge Platonist.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

The Virtuoso - Yeah, that's pretty me.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

What do we need to do? 1. Better & more metadata 2. Support linking and versioning 3. Adopt APIs 4. Machine friendly formats 5. Sustainable funding 6. Remain open! #RLUKRepositories

A screen with a slide. The content in the slide is in the post.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Hong Kong was really great, but Australia feels like home. #Holibobs

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Ah, Saturday on a double bank holiday weekend. West Street in Sheffield always reminds me a bit of Gin Lane 😬

Gin Lane, a drawing by Hogarth. Lots of debauchery.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Happy Trans Day of Visibility. Wish I'd brought my Non-Binary "It's Dr Actually" badge with me.

A suit jacket lapel with two pin badges. One has the University of Sussex crest, the other says "Its Dr, actually" and has the non binary flag colours behind it.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Really interesting discussion about how most research doesn't have enough metadata to tell you if its what you're looking for - on the other hand AO3 has a really helpful metadata schema. #UKSG2026

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

We have these at work - they don't even properly have lids. Lovely easily recyclable idea that is very difficult to use in practice!

The good cup, a cardboard cup that folds over to create a lid.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I asked it to make it more interesting, and I guess it's a little more interesting. Maybe 365 Copilot is just really bad at powerpoint. I hope the version inside powerpoint (which I don't have yet) might actually be able to do something!

A powerpoint slide with a banner heading that says Research Data Management for Scientists and then has details of the event.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

On my continual quest to get 365 copilot to be useful, I asked it to create a poster for my RDM training event. Initial version was way too much (also, not my face), so I asked it to tone it down and also to make it an editable powerpoint version. Apparently it isn't good at middle ground.

First version of my poster. Busy background. Doesn't feel like an academic event. Also, that isn't my face.

A white powerpoint slide with the details written on it. The writing doesn't quite fit the slide.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

First vendor trying to get time with me at #UKSG2026 - I'm sorry but if you can find my name, but not bother to research me enough to get the title right, you go on the naughty list.

An image of my jacket lapel with a badge in the non-binary flag colours saying "It's Dr, Actually" and another with the crest of the University of Sussex - my PhD is from the Brighton & Sussex Medical School.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Off to my great aunt's funeral today - she was 104, it's not a sad day, nice opportumity to celbrate a life instead. Spent the morning on a pilgrimage to find the road they named after my great uncle for being a brilliant GP ❤️

A picture of me in a grey suit, black suit, tartan tie, black coat leaning against a street sign that says "Burrowes Close".

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

This on the side of a new Sheffield Hallam cafe gave me a good giggle on the way to the station this morning. Drop bears aren't Indigenous to this country though- I wonder if they're an international student?

An image on a window of a cartoon Koala wearing a hat, drinking a coffee with a tshirt that says Drop Bear est. 2026

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Finally Sheffield has seen some decent snow this winter 😀

A photograph of a snowy scene. There is a tree in the foreground and fields in the background.

A photograph of a snowy scene. The are some snow covered houses and a large expanse of snow and sky.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Not many surprises in my Steam replay - although I would have expected Starfield to come higher than Captain of Industry. Crusader Kings III barely made an appearance this year 😮 #Gaymer #GrownUpsGameToo

Steam replay graphic. 21 games played, 28 achievements, 230 sessions, 7 new games. It then has cover images of 5 games with the percentage of time I spent in them: Factorio 42%, Rimworld 26%, Stardew Valley 16%, Oxygen Not Included 6%, Captain of Industry 2%

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Glad to see that my #spotifywrapped still pretty much defies categorisation. A nice mix of classical/choral, country music and musicals.

Spotify wrapped top artists : Mandela, Piranha Lambert, Sutton Foster, Jessie Mueller, Academy of st Martin in the fields.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Starting off the schedule by talking about "Discovering the hidden insight between data points". Starting off by stating that AI and technological changes aren't going to replace people - we still need humans for stories, context, unheard voices. #UKSGForum2025

A Christmas jumper that says "that wasn't very data driven of you"

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

It's the Crick Annual Science Meeting today - a great internal conference including everybody. The library team have a poster highlighting our Open Science services (shown). We're also on the general ITO poster which has a really cool monopoly based design!

A poster with a big yellow title box saying "Open Science with the Library & Information Services Team" there are then 9 boxes below it showcasing the library open access services.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Sharing our love of society publishing today at the @crick.ac.uk - goodies from @royalsociety.org @microbiologysociety.org and @biologists.bsky.social and showcasing @chronoshub.bsky.social Although lots of the really good items had already gone by the time I got down there! #openaccessweek

A table with pens and booklets on, and librarian sits behind it looking towards a big digital screen. Behind her are some posters, one of which says international open access week 2025.

A table with pens, stickers and booklets on it.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Did you miss the LIS Research seminar on "Obstacles to Open Access publishing for researchers with weak institutional ties"? If so, never fear, the recording is now out! I'd really recommend giving it a listen. doi.org/10.52843/cas... #Library #openaccess #LISResearch #Librarian

A banner image for a seminar entitled "Obstacles to Open Access publishing for researchers with weak institutional ties - epistemic injustice in academic publishing" The seminar is by Nataliia Kaliuzhna and Zeynep Aydin. In the background is a faded out image of academic library bookshelves.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

The first of this term's LIS research seminars is starting in just under 30 mins. I'm looking forward to seeing those of you who've registered there. If you've not registered yet, you can still do so from this page cassyni.com/events/RY5W1...

A website panel which says "Obstacles to Open Access publishing for researchers with weak institutional ties - epistemic injustic in academic publishing - Nataliia Kaliuzhna and Zeynep Aydin

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Honestly, who let this graph through? Why are categorical data with no inherent order being presented as a line graph? It makes literally no sense.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Unfortunately, I think it's often a case of:

Mad Men still saying "I don't think about you at all"

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Did not know there was a whole other section of old books about librarianship in Sheffield's Western Bank library...and I used to work in that library (tbf I never went into the stacks).

A shelf of old books containing titles such as "Handbook of Black Librarianship" and "Comparative Librarianship"

A photo of a few books entitled "The power and the dignity", "Who's who in library service, fourth edition, 1966" and "Librarian and Administrator".

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Today's office is the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Some days I do feel I'm missing out by not having any dedicated library space 😍

The Mitchell Library. A light stone building, the front is rounded with a massive front entrance, copper, now green, dome on the top. Pretty epic looking.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Unusual, but nice, to be in Glasgow when its not UKSG season!

A Black and white photo of me outside Glasgow Central Station.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Name a TV Show you're positive no else remembers. I dont know about no-one...but Orm and Cheep was a big deal in my family.

The cover of a video tape with a hand drawn image of a pink worm and a blue bird. It says Orm and Cheep in big yellow writing and that it was narrated by Richard Briers.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Missed the coffee social with the @crick.ac.uk gays this morning bc I had to do real work. But, I've made it out with the Uni of Shef gays so today came good.

A pub table with a pint of Guinness and a pride progress flag.

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Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Sheffield train station has a very nice little ecology research display, interesting exhibits on otters and butterflies etc. Not sure of the inclusion of these exhibits. I get that some people might not have seen a box of tips, but a pen? 😂 Still great to see some outreach!

Pipette box in a display case with a label saying "Pippette tips in yellow box"

Museum display case containing a pipette and a pen with a label "pen for levelling tubes"

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