Reposted by Faye McLeodMerriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 02/12/2025“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas” Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas. 10139941053
Reposted by Faye McLeodMaria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 22/10/2025Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe. 10251961354
Reposted by Faye McLeodDaniel F Gosling @thegozfather.bsky.social · 10/09/2025A lovely endorsement on the back of this deed, "this deed was cancelled by cause it is forged" TNA C 147/1097 2267
Reposted by Faye McLeodRebecca Menmuir @rebeccamenmuir.bsky.social · 24/08/2025Accidentally took the mathematically perfect shot of our local cat. 3667
Reposted by Faye McLeodH e t e r o t o p ia @artsofexistence.bsky.social · 13/08/2025Insult your local politicians, even your friends, like a true Shakespearean! 46219
Reposted by Faye McLeodOdd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 10/08/2025Today is the 47th anniversary of this clearly unimprovable photo, from a story so absurd that it shouldn’t be true, but is: the day a team of workers from British Waterways pulled the plug out of the Chesterfield Canal, and all the water emptied out 612578938
Faye McLeod @saffiemcleod.bsky.social · 05/08/2025Struggling to believe the sloes are ripe so early this year, but they are soft and have their waxy coating. Time to make gin (and worry about the weather) 010
Reposted by Faye McLeodHeather Froehlich @heatherfro.bsky.social · 04/08/2025ok cool not a big deal at all 32816
Reposted by Faye McLeodAaron Tay @aarontay.bsky.social · 29/07/2025[Blogged] The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search - From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...aarontay.substack.comThe AI powered Library Search That Refused to SearchFrom Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched 26750
Reposted by Faye McLeodinthefade @ihavethatonvinyl.com · 29/07/2025good morning. on the blog today, a piece i wrote in 2003 about love, marriage and what happens when "i love you" becomes meaningless to only one of you. it's about witnessing the end of someone else's relationship. please read to the addendum at the end michelecatblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/i...michelecatblog.wordpress.comi love you. i know.when words ring hollow [i originally wrote this in 2003, please see footnote for an update] I know this couple. They have been married long enough to have accumulated children and a complete set of… 2203
Reposted by Faye McLeodUniversity of Illinois RBML @illinoisrbml.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Have you ever seen a book made entirely of silk? One item getting a lot of reading room attention recently is this "Livre de Prières." This book was manufactured with the Jacquard process, which relied on perforated punch cards to operate a loom, and is considered a precursor to early programming. 12346128
Reposted by Faye McLeodThe Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 22/07/2025Time to update... nay downdate your slang! 719935
Faye McLeod @saffiemcleod.bsky.social · 21/07/2025Completely charmed by these fabric samples found in a file of Sir Louis Mallet's papers relating to Anglo-French trade agreements 1826-1877 #BalliolArchives 110
Reposted by Faye McLeodRebecca Menmuir @rebeccamenmuir.bsky.social · 17/07/2025Whispering different possibilities for pronouncing 'Boger' in the manuscripts reading room like I'm playing a weird version of Bogies 251
Faye McLeod @saffiemcleod.bsky.social · 02/07/2025Oooo. Goody. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comWarwickshire council boss vetoed Reform's Pride Flag removal requestReform UK accuses Warwickshire council's chief executive of a "coup d'etat" in a Pride flag row. 010
Reposted by Faye McLeodDavid Veevers @davidveevers.bsky.social · 30/06/2025Archive Monday: love these ink drawings from MS Tanner 118 in the Bodleian. Skeleton representing death with various scenes of a moralistic nature. Dress suggests late Elizabethan / early Jacobean. Scenes include royal court, hunting, duelling, trade/banking, religious/political persecution. 2269
Reposted by Faye McLeodJess M. F. Hughes @jessmfh.bsky.social · 24/06/2025TIL AI is not only stealing our archives, it’s killing them. www.404media.co/ai-scraping-...404media.coAI Scraping Bots Are Breaking Open Libraries, Archives, and Museums"This is a moment where that community feels collectively under threat and isn't sure what the process is for solving the problem.” 03718
Reposted by Faye McLeodHelen Dafter @historyhelen123.bsky.social · 20/06/2025Working on file appraisal today. The first file I picked up had the unholy trio - elastic bands, post its, and metal fastenings 😬 1122
Faye McLeod @saffiemcleod.bsky.social · 14/06/2025A great chance to get out some of my favourites from the @ballioloxford.bsky.social archives and show off the catalogue conversion project. 031
Reposted by Faye McLeodOld English Wordhord @oewordhord.bsky.social · 12/06/2025þyrel, n.n: hole. (THUE-rell / ˈθy-rɛl) Image: De natura rerum; E France, 9th century; Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Nat.1, f. 26v. #OldEnglish #WOTD 14616
Reposted by Faye McLeodThe Rubaiyat of Victor Kiam @phantomcorsair.bsky.social · 07/06/2025When I searched to see if Mary Shelley and Jane Austen could have met in Bath, Google AI informed me that they were, in fact, sisters... 47657212
Reposted by Faye McLeodOld English Wordhord @oewordhord.bsky.social · 07/06/2025lǣwede, adj: lay, i.e. not learned, not of the church; by gradual change of meaning it became modern English ‘lewd’. (LAE-weh-duh / ˈlæː-wɛ-də) #OldEnglish #WOTD 02510
Reposted by Faye McLeodUniversity of Reading Special Collections @uorspeccoll.bsky.social · 06/06/2025‘The feminine monarchie…’ by Charles Butler revolutionised beekeeping in 1609 by confirming the queen bee existed. It also includes musical notation of bee’s drones, recipes for marmalade, and descriptions of bees building little wax chapels in their hives! [Bee Coll. Cotton 01] 1282
Reposted by Faye McLeodMuseum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 04/06/2025This Friday the Museum is open late for our Summer Late Night event. Both we and the Pitt Rivers Museum will be open until 10pm (free ticket required for entry) where we will have a host of activities, talks, tours, poetry, and film as well as a cash bar! 1156
Reposted by Faye McLeodBalliol College, University of Oxford @ballioloxford.bsky.social · 03/06/2025Balliol is delighted to announce that the Mastership of the College has been offered to Professor Seamus Perry, who has accepted and will assume the role in July 2026. www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/news/2025/ma... 153
Reposted by Faye McLeodColleen Curran @ccurran.bsky.social · 03/06/2025Behold, my favourite Latin word of the day: floccipendentes 😂😂😂 3659
Reposted by Faye McLeodThe Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 24/05/2025That should do the trick. 1555472
Reposted by Faye McLeodRachel Deering @racheldeering.bsky.social · 25/05/2025@marandina.bsky.social 418027
Reposted by Faye McLeodMatthew Holford @matthewholford.bsky.social · 25/05/2025and apologies to anyone getting a 502 on medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk as a result of the same scrapersmedieval.bodleian.ox.ac.ukMedieval Manuscripts in Oxford LibrariesA catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges 13412
Reposted by Faye McLeodPublic Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 22/05/2025New at PB, Richard Ovenden (@richove.bsky.social) reviews Elyse Graham's “Book and Dagger” (Ecco), a book about the librarians and archivists who were involved in secret and dangerous tasks during WWII.publicbooks.orgSecrets in the StacksA new book demonstrates that the skills taught and honed in the humanities are of vital importance to the defense of democracy. 0179
Reposted by Faye McLeodDark Asylum Radio @darkasylum.bsky.social · 22/05/2025🦇 “Children of the night, be happy.” Even Dracula’s cracking a smile (internally) — because it’s World Goth Day. He’s not brooding, he’s celebrating aggressively. Tag your favorite creature of the night. #WorldGothDay #BelaLugosiApproves #DarkAsylumMemes #SmileButMakeItGoth #FangsOutForFun 074
Reposted by Faye McLeodCatherine Clarke @cathamclarke.bsky.social · 20/05/2025If M.R. James wrote safety signage 19870274
Reposted by Faye McLeodThe Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 20/05/2025today is World Bee Day. not to be confused with World Bidet 28841147
Faye McLeod @saffiemcleod.bsky.social · 11/05/2025I completed my first 10k race, running as part of team #Balliol! The Oxford #TownAndGown10k. Huge fun, great atmosphere, and something I never thought I'd be able to do. Thanks to all those who supported. I've already decided to sign up for next year! 020
Reposted by Faye McLeodjessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 02/04/2025A University of Virginia professor enlisted students to document the messages—profane, hopeful, despairing—left on library carrels by previous generations and you can browse all 3000+ of them. daily.jstor.org/graffiti-lim... 321493
Reposted by Faye McLeodRichard Ovenden @richove.bsky.social · 28/03/2025What a surprise - the attack now is on the independence of the great Smithsonian Institution, which has strong connections to @ox.ac.uk. Asserting control over its curation is an attack on knowledge itself. Solidarity from Oxford’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...theguardian.comTrump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for ‘improper ideology’JD Vance to lead plan as Trump says there’s been ‘concerted’ effort to rewrite US history with ‘distorted narrative’ 417759
Faye McLeod @saffiemcleod.bsky.social · 25/03/2025It's spring at St Cross when the Holywell magnolia comes out 040
Reposted by Faye McLeodErika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 22/03/2025The power of on-screen representation 😻🐈⬛ 587265184144
Reposted by Faye McLeodDavid Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 21/03/2025You want to see an octopus riding a shark. 🎥: University of Auckland www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/s... 29279722076
Reposted by Faye McLeodwill pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 18/03/2025‘which came first, the pun, or the research project?’ *academics, head hung low, whispering* ‘the… the pun’ 23478101
Reposted by Faye McLeodProfessor Marion Gibson @witchesetc.bsky.social · 18/03/2025New academic article: full text edition of a Victorian play on the Pendle witches, written by Emma, Lady Ribblesdale, previously unpublished, with biography of Emma #Pendle #witches #womenwriters Access via: muse.jhu.edu/issue/54108 163
Reposted by Faye McLeodDr Eleanor Baker @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social · 12/03/2025Perhaps the best spam mail I've ever received. The subject line was 'Twilight of the trousers'. 022
Reposted by Faye McLeodJames Corcoran @jamescorcoran78.bsky.social · 12/03/2025Someone clever did this to a lamppost on Coverdale road and now I am disappointed that every lamppost doesn’t have one 383953918