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Kristin Briney

@kbriney.bsky.social
285 followers 192 following 142 posts

Biology librarian, data nerd, ISO 8601 enthusiast, privacy advocate, tea drinker, author

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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I love having portable crafts. While the kids were playing this morning, I finished beading the front of my amanita mushroom broach.
Hand holding a white, square piece of felt that has a beaded white mushroom with a red spotted cap on it. The beaded mushroom is about 4 inches tall.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Super excited to see what this team comes up with!
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Many people know how much I love consistent and descriptive file naming (So Much). Yet, I think we need to recognize that it's not the best strategy for data sharing. Shorter and clearer names are better. My reasoning explained: dataabinitio.com?p=1281 #dataSharing #OpenData #fileNamingConventions
dataabinitio.com
File Naming for File Sharing » Data Ab Initio
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I finished drafts of all ten chapters of my new book! A few of them are really rough drafts but this is still a big milestone. Now I get to edit for the remainder of the year. #writing #author
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I just published a new libguide on research data #accessibility: library.caltech.edu/data-accessi... I would be very open to constructive criticism. There's limited guidance on this topic and most of it applies to business documents and not research data. #dataManagement #a11y #research
library.caltech.edu
Library: Research Data Accessibility: Home
Guidance on making research data more accessible
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
One of the joys of writing a book is being able to reference your friends’ books in your writing. @cghlewis.bsky.social @lyndamk.bsky.social
Hand holding two books: “Data Management in Large-Scale Education Research” and “Numeric Data Services and Sources for the General Reference Librarian”
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bibliocat @bibliocat.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
It depends on the context, but this a good use case for image descriptions in combination with tactile diagrams and/or 3D models if at all possible. Best guidance I could find on the topic is in this pdf, starting on page 79.
nwea.org
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I'm trying to find guidelines for writing alt text for chemical structures and the Google Scholar search for "alt text chemical structure" is just so bad. The top 9 results show up because of the text: "alt text is not available for this image," which is just layers of awful. #accessibility #a11y
Google Scholar search for "alt text chemical structure," showing four results. All four results contain the text "alt text is not available for this image" in the title of the article.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I'm trying to find resources on how to make research data more reproducible, specifically about video files (I already have resources for images, audio, spreadsheets, etc.). Anyone know of anything specific to sharing reproducible videos? #dataManagement #dataSharing
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I'm very excited that the @rdapassociation.bsky.social report "Accessibility for Data and Data Repositories: Understanding and Applying the 2024 ADA Title II Rule" is now available: doi.org/10.31274/isu... Lots of useful stuff in there for both librarians and researchers on #accessibility.
doi.org
Accessibility for Data and Data Repositories: Understanding and Applying the 2024 ADA Title II Rule
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
I'm continuing my blog post series on the accessibility of research data with a new post on plain language: dataabinitio.com?p=1265 Plain language isn't applicable to data (don't alter your data) but is perfect for documentation. Use it to make your documentation as understandable as possible.
dataabinitio.com
Plain Language for Research Data Documentation » Data Ab Initio
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Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Issue 52 of #rdmweekly is out! 📬 ➡️ Introducing Open Data Format ➡️ @improvingpsych.org Products ➡️ An Annotated Bibliography of Data Management Books for Librarians @kbriney.bsky.social @hedgielib.bsky.social ➡️ Template for Data Cleaning Guidance and SOP rdmweekly.substack.com/p/rdm-weekly...
rdmweekly.substack.com
RDM Weekly - Issue 052
A weekly roundup of Research Data Management resources.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I'm back from vacation to good news: my article with @hedgielib.bsky.social was published in IASSIST Quarterly: doi.org/10.29173/iq1... There are an overwhelming 32 books on data management/data services for librarians. This article is your guide to pick the right one for you.
doi.org
A surfeit of sources: An annotated bibliography of data management books for librarians | IASSIST Quarterly
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Abigail Goben @hedgielib.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A surfeit of sources: An annotated bibliography of data management books for librarians iassistquarterly.com/index.php/ia... Newest from @kbriney.bsky.social and I ! We examined over 30 books that cover data management for a librarian audience. Find your favorites!
iassistquarterly.com
A surfeit of sources: An annotated bibliography of data management books for librarians | IASSIST Quarterly
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I just turned in my final exam for ASL 4, meaning my two years of studying ASL at PCC are over. It's been a very fun adventure. Learning ASL was very rewarding and I think it's a great idea for people who work with the public, such as librarians, to know a little bit of sign language.
Certificate of Achievement in American Sign Language for Kristin Briney from Pasadena City College.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 03/06/2026
1. How common is LLM use in scientific publishing, and how does it vary across field, publisher, journal prestige, author demographics etc.? @kylesiler.bsky.social has new paper in PNAS that addresses this question on a massive scale: 7.3 million papers from Elsevier, PLOS, MDPI, and Frontiers.
pnas.org
The diffusion of large language models in published academic articles | PNAS
Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly changing academic research, raising questions of who is adopting these tools and under what conditions. Th...
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I'm working on a series about research data accessibility on my blog and this month's post is about the use of color in research data: dataabinitio.com?p=1258 #accessibility #a11y #dataManagement #dataSharing
dataabinitio.com
Color Accessibility for Research Data » Data Ab Initio
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I'm working on a series about research data accessibility on my blog and this month's post is about the use of color in research data: dataabinitio.com?p=1258 #accessibility #a11y #dataManagement #dataSharing
dataabinitio.com
Color Accessibility for Research Data » Data Ab Initio
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
I'm writing book #4 and today's random search is: how effective is a sledgehammer for destroying data on a hard drive? The answer seems to be somewhat, if you hit the drive enough times with a big enough hammer. But other methods are more reliable. darwinsdata.com/does-hammeri...
darwinsdata.com
Does hammering a hard drive destroy it? - Darwin's Data
Hammering a hard drive can definitely destroy it, but whether it does so completely depends on a few factors. In this article, we'll look at whether hammering
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I'm catching up on NNLM Region 5's regular newsletter and am really annoyed to see Autism Speaks listed in the Resource Spotlight section. This is a general reminder to not support that group because Autistic people say not to, for myriad reasons. If you want a better resource, try ASAN.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I’m hyper-focusing on a new hobby: bead embroidery. I got this kit from Etsy (CraftShopOnline) and absolutely loved putting it together. It’s so shiny and pretty.
Hand holding a beaded orchid broach, made with shiny beads and crystals in clear, pink, and purple.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Yes, yes, I know. Would you accept a new book about data sharing instead? No? Too bad, because that’s what I’m currently writing.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I have lots of feelings about the DMSPs templates that will be implemented next week by the NSF and next month by the NIH: + potential for easier compliance for everyone (researchers, agencies, and more) - the roll out of the new templates has been problematic My thoughts: dataabinitio.com?p=1250
dataabinitio.com
New U.S. DMSP Templates on the Horizon » Data Ab Initio
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Reflecting on how many talks at #RDAP26 describe a curated data repository and an uncurated documents repository. My library does the opposite: an uncurated data repository and a curated article repository. I think this works for us, as we have 75k+ data records and 100k+ articles. But interesting.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
My kids’ school is expected to strike starting tomorrow and my laptop is still with IT after a worm hit our library network hard last week. 🙃 But somehow, I’m going to still try to make all of #RDAP26 this week because it’s my favorite conference of the year.
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Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
I've been doing a lot of Mad Libs with my son lately, and I thought it would be fun to put one together with a data management theme. You can complete your own here: cghlewis.github.io/data_mgmt_ma...
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Thank you to CaRCC's data-facing track for having me today to talk about accessible research data. I had fun presenting and we had a lovely discussion afterward.
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JeSLIB @jeslibjournal.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
We have published a Book Review of @kbriney.bsky.social's book "The Data Management Workbook" written by our very own Data Editor Allie Tatarian 📘 Check it out #DataLibs! doi.org/10.7191/jesl...
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
🎉🎉🎉
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
I’m trying to figure out what type of birds these are. I saw them today in Los Angeles (San Fernando Valley) but they don’t look like any ducks I’m used to seeing. Anyone have any help? My bird book was no help. #bird #birding #birdID #help
Two duck-like birds on a green lawn. The birds are grey with brown heads and wings and a brown ring around their necks. The birds have webbed feet.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thanks so much Allie and @jeslibjournal.bsky.social for such a lovely review of my book!
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
I'm honored to appear in Nature for the third (!) time this academic year, this time discussing the data deluge: doi.org/10.1038/d415... I'm so pleased to see Nature covering such important data topics and it was an honor to discuss them with journalist Sarah Wild.
doi.org
Drowning in data sets? Here’s how to cut them down to size
Indefinite data retention is neither financially nor practically possible, but there are ways to give your data maximal long-term value.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Very cool story about finding and reusing old data!
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David Baumiller @apolloyorp.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I have an Excel joke it's really good most people rate it Oct 10
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I have a data sharing joke but it’s only available by request.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Honored to have been interviewed by UW-Madison iSchool about what I've been up to since I got my MLIS. I'm in great company with other amazing UW alums. ischool.wisc.edu/2026/03/17/c...
ischool.wisc.edu
Catching up with alumni shaping the future of library and information education
Meet four alumni putting the Information School’s commitment to public service and community impact into practice. By Thomas Jilk Nationwide, Information School (iSchool) alumni are shaping the future...
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Darren Dahly @statsepi.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Every day is a good day for sharing one of the most useful papers about research data ever written. PLEASE get your people to understand and follow this advice. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Data Organization in Spreadsheets
Karl W. Broman
& Kara H. Woo
Pages 2-10 | Received 01 Jun 2017, Accepted author version posted online: 29 Sep 2017, Published online: 24 Apr 2018

    1. Introduction
    2. Be Consistent
    3. Choose Good Names for Things
    4. Write Dates as YYYY-MM-DD
    5. No Empty Cells
    6. Put Just One Thing in a Cell
    7. Make it a Rectangle
    8. Create a Data Dictionary
    9. No Calculations in the Raw Data Files
    10. Do Not Use Font Color or Highlighting as Data
    11. Make Backups
    12. Use Data Validation to Avoid Errors
    13. Save the Data in Plain Text Files

ABSTRACT

Spreadsheets are widely used software tools for data entry, storage, analysis, and visualization. Focusing on the data entry and storage aspects, this article offers practical recommendations for organizing spreadsheet data to reduce errors and ease later analyses. The basic principles are: be consistent, write dates like YYYY-MM-DD, do not leave any cells empty, put just one thing in a cell, organize the data as a single rectangle (with subjects as rows and variables as columns, and with a single header row), create a data dictionary, do not include calculations in the raw data files, do not use font color or highlighting as data, choose good names for things, make backups, use data validation to avoid data entry errors, and save the data in plain text files.
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Data Rescue Project #DataRescue @datarescueproject.org · 09/03/2026
It's important for the public to be able to reuse #RescuedData, but the context a README or similar documentation provides is necessary for understanding. Be like Barbie. Help yourself have a great day every day, and on this #MemeMonday, remember to document your data.
Barbie driving down the road singing, text reads "downloading data for reuse. bottom panel: barbie and Ken screaming with text reading "there's no README"
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Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Issue 35 of #rdmweekly is out! Including: ➡️ Building Realistic Fake Datasets with Pointblank @richmeister.bsky.social ➡️ Rethinking TXT Files @kbriney.bsky.social ➡️ Economic Benefits of OS @plos.org ➡️ What Is Data Governance? @thegovlab.org and more! Link: rdmweekly.substack.com/p/rdm-weekly...
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PHD Comics @phdcomics.com · 04/03/2026
Data
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
These make me want to get back into cross stitch.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Attending Axe-Con this week, a great virtual conference about tech accessibility. It starts early on the west coast, meaning that my kid got to watch Haben Girma’s keynote with me over breakfast. She was such a good speaker that even my 10-year old was interested!
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Jenna Jordan @jennajordan.me · 23/02/2026
“Librarians like to say that an hour in the library is worth a month in the laboratory, quips @kbriney.bsky.social “ Featuring quotes from many more #datalibs as well! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Why every scientist needs a librarian
Librarians can be key research partners who help to scour the literature, manage data and make science open.
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
I'm really looking forward to my favorite conference of the year. It's virtual and inexpensive, so if you're interested in research data management and sharing, you should definitely attend!
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
The recording of my "Accessible Data for Everyone" workshop is now available for anyone who wasn't able to attend: doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
doi.org
Accessible Data for Everyone
How do you format a dataset so it can be understood by a blind person, deaf person, or other disabled individual? This question is increasingly relevant given new requirements from the US Department o...
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Abigail Goben @hedgielib.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Happy Love Data Week! My webinar today was about the Data Departure Checklist authors.library.caltech.edu/records/kynw... that @kbriney.bsky.social and I created. It's a customizable word document to help you offload remembering what all you need to get back from a research team colleague📚
authors.library.caltech.edu
Data Departure Checklist
The Data Departure Checklist (DDC) helps research teams and individuals plan for when a team member is leaving a project, lab, team, or institution. By providing a series of prompts for the departing ...
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Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Luckily markdown is a fairly easy language to learn, and there many tool options, but it's definitely not the low barrier to entry that opening a TXT file is. Really appreciate this thought provoking post!
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Kristin Briney @kbriney.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
This #LoveDataWeek, I'm thinking about making our shared data more accessible. This involves rethinking the README.txt as the default recommended documentation file. Is there a better file format that .txt? I've written up a few thoughts: dataabinitio.com?p=1235
dataabinitio.com
Rethinking TXT Files » Data Ab Initio
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
ICE has grabbed so many people from their vehicles that there are abandoned cars across Minnesota. This tow truck driver returns the cars for free as a public service, and he’s been getting death threats. They hate the helpers. Which is why must keep helping.
cbsnews.com
Twin Cities tow truck driver returns abandoned vehicles to families after ICE arrests
Juan Leon sends a "chase" car to check out where abandoned vehicles are located and arranges discreet drop-offs. Since late December, he estimated they have dropped off 250 cars.
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