iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

all infrastructure erodes consent, sometimes it bypasses it completely this is uncomfortable (& often problematic), but it should not be controversial to point out this fact

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The CFP for *Queer Bibliography: Taking Stock* is now open! Full cfp below and at bit.ly/QB2027CfP (Please feel free to circulate these graphics off Bluesky! They're sized for an IG story.)

call for proposals

Queer Bibliography
TAKING STOCK
Manchester, UK and online
2-4 September 2027

details overleaf ❧ ❧ ❧

call for proposals

Taking Stock marks the fifth annual Queer Bibliography conference and is a chance to pause and reflect and to queerly attend to the many meanings of “stock” in bibliography.

Where do we find ourselves and our work?
How might we trace queer histories of queer bibliography? How can we imagine critical futures for bibliographical enquiry within and beyond its traditional academic locations?
From the raw materials of books to the origins and shapes of personal, commercial, and institutional collections, how does "stock" participate in the production, articulation, and study of queer textuality and textual communities?
What is queer about materiality, the ecology of books, and the processes of making and engaging with (collections of) physical textual objects?

We invite participants to engage in stock-taking or to reflect on bibliographical stock, broadly defined. We welcome meta, theoretical, and historiographical work that takes stock of queer bibliography, and we welcome proposals that relate to “stock” in bibliography, book history, and reception studies.

❧ abstracts due 29 January ☙

full cfp: https://bit.ly/QB2027CfP

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The CFP for *Queer Bibliography: Taking Stock* is now open! Full cfp below and at bit.ly/QB2027CfP (Please feel free to circulate these graphics off Bluesky! They're sized for an IG story.)

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Simon is on strike ✊🏻 @simonxix.com · 05/10/2026

Oh look, a direct impact of the strike at University of Edinburgh.

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Anna @superteadrinker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

You can replace the word 'orchestra' with the word 'library' or pretty much any cultural or heritage organisation and this thread still works

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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I'm skeptical because I've seen this happen too many times now. Computer vision is used in historical archives & image collections, we're told it's imperfect and creates errors; but don't worry, people will go back and correct them.

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Sarah Pyke @sarahpyke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Extremely excited to share the CFP for the ✨fifth✨ annual #QueerBibliography conference! bit.ly/QB2027CfP When? 2-4 September 2027 Where? Manchester, UK & online Theme: TAKING STOCK Deadline for abstracts: 29 January 2027 Decisions: by 12 March 2027 Submit here: forms.gle/WGjXKA1d6gWm...

Queer Bibliography
Taking Stock
Manchester, UK and online
2-4 September 2027

Call for Proposals

Since the inaugural 2023 conference, queer bibliography has grown from an interesting concept to a burgeoning field. Our 2027 theme, Taking Stock, marks the fifth annual conference and is a chance to pause and reflect on genealogies of the field, the present state of queer bibliographical enquiry, and our senses of the future. How might we trace queer histories of queer bibliography? How can we imagine critical futures for bibliographical enquiry within and beyond its traditional academic locations? Where do we find ourselves and our work?

Stock also has meaning in bibliography. While “stock” originally referred to a tree trunk or plant stem, and figuratively to the source of a line of descent or even a human torso, it later began to connote an aggregate of goods—in the context of bookmaking, one might own a stock of paper or pasteboard. Towards the mid-nineteenth century, “paper stock” began to connote the raw material of paper itself. “Stock” might refer to the inventories of booksellers, the process of beginning and curating an institutional or personal collection, and the supply and material characteristics of paper. From the raw materials of books to the origins and shapes of personal, commercial, and institutional collections, how does "stock" participate in the production, articulation, and study of queer textuality and textual communities? What is queer about materiality, the ecology of books, and the processes of making and engaging with (collections of) physical textual objects?

We invite participants to engage in stock-taking or reflect on
bibliographical stock, broadly defined. We welcome meta, theoretical, and historiographical work that takes stock of queer bibliography, and we
welcome proposals that relate to “stock” in bibliography, book history, and reception studies.

This three-day hybrid conference will be hosted at the John Rylands
Library, part of the University of Manchester, and online on 2–4 September 2027. The conference will feature two days of panels, conversation, and discussion on 2 and 3 September and will be followed by an optional workshop on 4 September. Conference programming may also include evening receptions, tours of Manchester libraries (including Chetham’s Library, the oldest public library in England), and collection viewings at the Rylands.

The conference welcomes participants from a diverse range of fields and
career stages, including: book arts practitioners, activists, postgraduates,
early career researchers, independent scholars, librarians, archivists, and
booksellers, both in person and via video conference. As in past years, the goal of the broadly articulated theme of “taking stock” is to bring people in and to shape conversation, not to exclude or limit. All submissions that engage with the intertwined relationship between queerness and bibliography are encouraged.

Participants will be invited to submit a 2000-word pre-circulated paper,
before presenting in panels of 10-minute papers. We also welcome
alternative contributions, such as workshops, roundtables, or self-organised seminars and creative presentations, with a pre-circulated submission that provides a grounding for the conference contribution.

Contributors should submit an abstract of 200–300 words, along with a
short bio, by 29 January 2027:

https:/ /forms.gle/WGjXKA1d6gWmtfjZ8

Prospective speakers will be informed of the outcome by 12th March. Pre-circulated papers will be collected and shared in mid-July.

Any questions should be directed to: queerbibliography@gmail.com

http://queerbibliography.org

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The way AI is going to “kill everyone” is just by manufacturing consent for ever worse outcomes & conditions, like many governments do. It is a governing technology after all. And like bureaucracy it launders responsibility so the people & institutions who deploy it aren’t accountable for the harms

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Oh, I forgot: if you’re entering on a student visa, a hard copy of a uni letter proving your course of study! They asked me for it at the border, I didn’t have it, and I had a few moments of panic trying to log into my email for it before they just let me take fingerprints and go.

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

very, very niche, but: do you expect to need a DBS check for any of the work/volunteering you’ll be doing? if you’ve lived outside the UK for extended periods in the last five years, they need a police report from that country. More info: www.gov.uk/government/p...

gov.uk

Criminal records checks for overseas applicants

Who can apply, how to apply and contact details for criminal record checks overseas.

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The Verge @theverge.com · 02/09/2026

As a new Harry Potter trailer makes the rounds, it bears repeating that there’s no way to watch this show without supporting J.K. Rowling’s bigotry and the structural violence she’s inflicting on the trans community.

theverge.com

There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series

You can’t without supporting Rowling’s transphobic bigotry.

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David Brauer @dbrauer.net · 28/08/2026

Sucks that the Univ of Minnesota libraries are closed to the public. If the past several years have taught us anything, it’s that knowledge is necessary to fighting stupid bad fascists. So here’s a helpful doc on how to assist good U people who want knowledge freed: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

UMN Libraries Public Access

THE CONTEXT After slowly closing parts of campus off to the public over a handful of years, in January of 2026 amidst Operation Metro Surge, the University of Minnesota’s upper administration decided...

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I have seven invitations from student groups to talk about A.I. They know what I think about A.I. That's why they asked me. They aren't feeling it, y'all.

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 27/08/2026

Ok I can share—today MSLIS student Nadja Robot donated a teletype machine to @skeuomorphpress.org’s Undead Media Lab But this is not just any teletype—it’s the one Michael S. Hart used to digitize the Declaration of Independence & Alice in Wonderland—the 1st texts in what became Project Gutenberg

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

If it was given at my school, I don’t remember it! But this was the sort of school that covered all the fees for our AP tests, and the AP tests filled the gyms. (Fairfax, VA)

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I’m so curious that this was required for you! At my US public school, we certainly weren’t, but that was a wealthy Virginia school…

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kelly jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

This. Libraries are places where HUMANS with EDUCATION and EXPERTISE help you navigate information and connect you with resources. Data centers are warehouses. Libraries are not warehouses. They can be repositories, but they don't just store. They're alive. Support the fuck out of the PEOPLE.

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Robert Paulett @robertpaulett.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This is the chart I made for my undergrads that’s worked pretty well for me.

Chart of text laying out different ways of reading.

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Adam Koszary @adamkoszary.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

people underestimate the power of the curators. they can just pick up, like, a baked bean and put it in the collection. bean will be there for forever. bean will have a label.

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Dr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Someone outside academia once suggested I "get my PA to organise a workshop so we could discuss [topic]" and I laughed and laughed and laughed. Mate, I barely have my own desk, let alone a PA.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Mechanical Turk may be shutting down, but AI will always depend on data workers whose knowledge trains and tunes models. AI runs on extracted cultural skills and knowledge, and culture is always changing. Less the end of an era, but the end of an early prototype.

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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

We (the fabulous Science & Technology department @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social) are looking for a FT fixed-term Assistant Curator. Details here: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/936922 Deadline: 6 September

careers.nms.ac.uk

Assistant Curator, Technology

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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

How on earth is the framing for this about dopamine and not the expansion of mining for behavioral data to those who cannot afford to buy the things they want? restofworld.org/2026/south-k...

restofworld.org

The online shopping trend where you buy nothing

On South Korea’s “dopamine sites,” the pleasure comes from aspirational shopping rituals like browsing, curating, and tracking — not from a delivery.

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Jonathan @jsench.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

PBSA is searching for an Editorial Assistant! Review of applications begins September 1 and goes through the 15th. Information & instructions to apply are at the link below. Position manages logistics of journal processes. $5000 annual honorarium, 1 year w possibility of renewal.

docs.google.com

Editorial Assistant job description

PBSA Editorial Assistant description and qualifications The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA) seeks an Editorial Assistant. PBSA is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal published o...

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Tamara Atkin @tamarajatkin.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I was first contacted by Callum at the Island Archives in 2024, and it feels like barely a month goes by without a new discovery! Shout out not only to him and @drdavidrundle.bsky.social but also J.R Mattison, with whom I’ve been writing about the Griselda fragment. Excellent collaborators all!

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claire m. l. bourne @roaringgirle.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

now in press! 📖 the contributions to this collection are brilliant and a little bit weird (compliment!) & i can’t wait for it to be out in the world. forthcoming 2027… ✨

the table of contents of a collections called SHAKESPEARE AND TEXTUAL FAILURE printed on white computer paper. full text here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/utntr2lzaby23fzfjqhlo/TOC-shakespeare-and-textual-failure.pdf?rlkey=cog3pis71494adnioh3o0h6el&st=m5axwkxt&dl=0

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Recline in style while cursing every photon of light in your vicinity and wishing you could put your head in a vice to get enough pressure on it! …I may need to pursue a migraine diagnosis, huh.

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Talia "ATTACK DOGS is out now!" Bhatt ⚢ @taliabhatt.itch.io · 22/08/2026

I better not see anyone waving this around as though a worthless statement counterbalances funding a right wing hate campaign and constant legal attacks on trans people's ability to exist in public.

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Still not sure if my regular headaches are migraines, but when paracetamol only takes the edge off, I slap on an ice cap (like the Headache Hat(TM), those cheaper gel ones don’t stay cold for long) and go straight to bed.

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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

what's funny about this is that monks were perfectly delighted with the printing press, the myth that the late medieval church resisted printing is false, you can actually embellish printed books and people did, illuminators and scribes are not the same people, and simon should read more.

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Oh, I could 100% see that! The photo isn’t quite capturing a really faint line at the bottom of the u, perhaps.

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

That’s my suspicion, too! I’m curious about the words before it—“to dice”? What does one do to a priest’s office—say it, recite it, read it, hear it?

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Glad to see this (for my own research)! I’m curious about this line: “For example, catalogue metadata may not be routinely released in MARC format, because of contractual agreements with third parties.” Is that copy-cataloguing related?? Which third parties??

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026

I've never seen such an effort to censor a document as I have the Amnesty International report on gender critical groups because of JK Rowling. They removed the report from the Wayback Machine and now I got a DMCA strike on my Google Drive for having it. It was deleted and removed from my account.

A screenshot of an email viewed in dark mode with the subject line "Google DMCA Violation." The email from Google informs the recipient that they have received a notification under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that some of their materials allegedly infringe on copyrights. It explains the removal process, mentions that notice details will be posted on Lumen, warns against repeated violations, and lists one affected Google Drive URL at the bottom

A nearly identical mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. It shows a search for the same Amnesty International UK resources URL, resulting in the same message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."

A mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. A URL for an Amnesty International UK resources page is entered in the search bar, but the page displays the message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."

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Kate Crowe @kcrowe.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I have had to clarify that when I'm labeled an AI skeptic it's mostly that I am a capitalism and potential for state violence skeptic. My field of librarisnship used punch cards and semiautomatic data processing to create expansive access to the world's libraries. The same technology...

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sarah clark (they) @sarahclark.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

i hope being in the hole in omelas looks good on my resume

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Finch Collins @finchinthestacks.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I think I’d say “you guys’s stuff” (grew up northern VA, several years in IN/MO) but wouldn’t blink if someone said “your guys’s” (maybe it’s a Midwest thing?)

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Steven J. Gibbons @stevenjgibbons.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

In the continuing onslaught of in-your-face AI, it is now almost impossible to open a scientific paper without an AI-summary coming up. Your first instinct may be “Ah that is useful”, but is it really close to the truth or what the author intended? (contd. - full "rant" on lnkd.in/p/euwbwNgY)

Snapshot of how the article “Improvements to Seismic Monitoring of the European Arctic Using Three-Component Array Processing at SPITS“ by S. J. Gibbons et al. (https://doi.org/10.1785/0120110109) appears on line with an AI-generated summary. The author has highlighted each of the highlights listed by the AI with criticism to how useful it is, even to the point of distracting from the true key points.

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Elizabeth (Liz) Lehfeldt (she/her/hers) @lizlehfeldt.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Super-niche question: I'm looking for descriptions/insight into how #earlymodern people would have crafted sheets of paper into provisional "notebooks" for the purposes, say, or record keeping/accounting. Not formal, bound books, but spaces for jotting things down, etc.

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Kate Ozment @grubstreetwomen.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Hold the phone -- the London Book Trades database is BACK and I missed it! It was a limited but useful index of tradespeople that was a victim of the "oh no hackers" Bodleian takedown in 2024. AND because it's back I found another woman publisher!! lbt.bibsoc.org.uk/index.php?ti...

lbt.bibsoc.org.uk

History of the Project - London Book Trades

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Beth DeBold @elizaaudacis.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Also a lot of what researchers might view as a small/annoying favour are either routine, easier than you’d think, or are actually interesting! So ask librarians and archivists for small/annoying favours! (Just be prepared to hear “it may take us a couple days” or “no” if it really isn’t possible)

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thene @thene.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

out it goes: my long post about Rachel Hope Cleves's claim that Tillie Walden plagiarised her book. It's long because Cleves's claim is much, much more bizarre than it looked on first reading. I'm not going to bury the lede here. Cleves's claim does not hold up. buttondown.com/thene/archiv...

stick a pin in this metaphor

…because these covers are a microcosm of the entire conflict; Walden's book is mostly built on writing and other objects left by Sylvia Drake, Charity Bryant, and others. Her work includes many elements from these records that Cleves does not refer to in her book, and many of her interpretations of those records are different from Cleves's interpretations, often intentionally so. In addition to her historical basis, Walden's book includes fictional dialogue and story elements that are original to her work, some of which are inspired by Walden's own life.

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