Archivist pomodoro technique for hot weather - a burst of activity followed by 10 minutes in the stack

400 years ago today, a codfish was gutted at Cambridge Market. 🐟   Inside it was a tiny book containing Protestant texts from the early years of the English Reformation.   Was this a providential message from God, a piece of political propaganda or an elaborate hoax? Music by Julius H. from Pixabay

Not looking good

Post your warning sign

Thank you so much for the lovely review, David! We still have one more workshop this year on 3rd June 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/skills-tra...

“At a time when the rights and freedoms of women are under attack in many countries, the Women’s Library remains a symbol of struggle as well as strength.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

📢Job alert! We’re looking for 3 new full-time graduate trainee Archives & Special Collections Assistants to join our innovative, user-focused engagement team. See more details and apply: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/archives... 🗓️Closing date: 16 April 2026

Hot off the press! Two new case studies about how the Debenhams Archive was saved through collaborative action- and the hard work of @ricshire.bsky.social Westminster Archives, South West Heritage and others www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/debenha...

🚨 We're looking for a new Project Archivist 🚨The main objective of the project is to catalogue the papers of Harriet Harman. [Full time, 2 years fixed contract] The deadline for applications is 3 April 2026 with interviews planning to be on the 14 April 2026 buff.ly/mhMCz8E

As the yellow pages used to say… …see Civil Engineers

Applications are now open for #ArchivesRevealed cataloguing grants (of up to £50,000) and consortium grants (of up to £150,000) until Thursday 30 April! Find out more and apply here: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-rev... (1/2)

The UK annual Archive Sector Survey is now open! Take part by 29 May 2026 and help us gather evidence that will support archives to advocate for their social and economic value: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sec... (1/4)

The Suffragettes are far more well-known in Britain, despite the Suffragist movement having been much larger Suffragettes: 85% (68% positive) Suffragists: 31% (21% positive) yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

It's International Women's Day on Sun, but our poll of notable women's rights figures finds founder Clara Zetkin is barely known in the UK % with a view on... Florence Nightingale: 90% Emmeline Pankhurst: 69% Malala Yousafzai: 38% Millicent Fawcett: 13% Clara Zetkin: 5% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

For the start of #BritishScienceWeek we are highlighting Marietta Pallis, ecologist, artist and author studied the #NorfolkBroads. Fraxinus pallisae is named after her. norfolkrecordofficeblog.org/marietta-pal...

“Snow has fallen again, as it will sometimes do in February” What to Look for in Winter, 1959 Artist: CF Tunnicliffe Writer: EL Grant Watson

Lucky to hear Sir Ian give this after a talk in Cambridge last year. Very powerful stuff.

While Grok’s nudification habit has been dominating the headlines, it’s not the only troublesome AI tool in town. Full story and more A-EYE in the new Private Eye, out now.

Update:

Current status

Twas the night before Christmas, and throughout the land The sleeping arrangements were carefully planned Down in the kitchen, a picturesque scene A mattress, a pillow, a washing machine

Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...

This is the 15th year of #DuvetKnowItsChristmas, which is preposterous. Rules: if you find yourself dealing with unusual / claustrophobic / gaudy sleeping arrangements this Christmas Eve, share a picture with the world. Use the hashtag (with capitalisation) and cc me if you can be bothered.

Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?

Solstice raspberries 🤔

Cambridgeshire Archives has bought The Terrier of John Chettoe's Property in Chesterton from a private owner in South Africa. The document offers a snapshot of life in an 18th century village which is now a suburb of Cambridge. 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'Like first aid for manuscripts': Recovery work begins at Gaza's war-damaged heritage sites www.bbc.com/news/article...

Hi there! We’re the Archive Sector Leadership team at The National Archives UK. We support archives of all types and sizes across England. Lend us a follow and we’ll keep you updated with opportunities for free training, networking, grants, written guidance and more! (1/2)

My travelling ‘Ladybird artists’ exhibition is still going strong! Next year, Cambridge and Mansfield 2027 (tbc) Southampton and Motherwell 2028 Lichfield

The British Newspaper Archive now includes Jackie and I was delighted to note problem pages in prominent position blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2025/10/06/j...

Mood #allotment

Correlation vs Causation #tylenol #acetaminophen

For no particular reason whatsoever, I wrote a whole book about why society should stop trying to cure #ActuallyAutistic people and instead focus more on creating a better world and society for them. You can buy it here. www.harpercollins.com/products/wer...

Borrowed some knitting needles off my mum ‘with specially tapered points which will not injure the fingers’

"What we know is if children miss a day or two in the first couple of weeks of term, they're more likely to go on to be persistently absent." Please can someone ask Bridget Phillipson why she missed the class explaining that correlation does not imply causation? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Our conference is approaching soon! There is still time to book to explore & celebrate the challenges of uncovering the presence of women within archives, libraries, museums & personal collections. Info here: womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h... #WomensHistory #GenderHist #Archives #Museums

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Bit autumnal this morning

Between 1899 and her death, in 1962, the photographer Lora Webb Nichols created and collected some 24,000 negatives documenting life in her small Wyoming town, whose fortunes boomed and then busted along with the region’s copper mines.

Ok, who did a global find and replace?

The heavens are indicating something at the end of my allotment path 🤔

Today's theme was Nan Youngman - she was an artist who lived in the Paper Mills on Newmarket Road with her partner Betty Rea from 1945 through to 1965. Nan set up the Pictures for Schools scheme, selling original art to schools. You can find out more about her at emmawest.art.blog/2020/05/04/a...

Incredible to be at the installation today of Lela Harris’s breathtaking new portrait of Miss Lambe, from #Sanditon. Lela undertook the commission as Artist in Residence from our exhibition Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter at Harewood House. 1/

Just been writing about Elisabeth Scott, the first woman to win a major architectural commission in open competition in 1928. She designed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in #Stratford then Fawcett Hall @newnhamcollege.bsky.social and #Bournemouth pier theatre

For those who wish to read the @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social Decolonised Transformations review of race and history report in full. #Edinburgh www.ed.ac.uk/about/race-r...

Our new exhibition, '𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦!' investigates socialist anti-fascism and the anti-war movement from 1914-1939. Explore the history of the international socialist movement, from letters by Spanish Civil War martyr John Cornford to a first edition 𝘋𝘢𝘴 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 signed by Marx!

#History #SkyStorians @lselibrary.bsky.social are launching a Library Fellowships scheme to work with their archives and special collections, includes funding for travel/accommodation/subsistence up to £5k. 3 themed fellowships available. www.lse.ac.uk/library/what...

Found a buckle

Phew - what an extraordinarily busy couple of months, not to mention 3 weeks out with covid! Now catching up a bit. First - a reminder that we are holding a hybrid transcribathon later this month and you are all invited 👇 #EarlyModern 🗃️

A blast from the past, as it were. I have a very strong memory of encountering this as a child. fineart.cheffins.co.uk/auction/lot/...