David Stuart Platt, PhD, MLIS

The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI #CoryDoctorow
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...

Any archivists have tops for transferring archives of .WAV files from an old PC to a new (well, newer PC) without the dreaded “property loss”?

From the cybersecurity community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the cybersecurity community

“Employee pasted our customer database schema into ChatGPT. How do you prevent this?” via Reddit’s CyberSecurity group:
www.reddit.com/r/cybersecur...

Scholten Japanese Art | Ishiwata Koitsu Twilight at Imamiya Street, Choshi <? echo 'artwork by '.$firstName.' ' .$lastName.' at Scholten Japanese Art entitled '. $englishNameNoTag.''; ?>

One of my favourite prints: Twilight in Imamiya Street, Choshi (oban yoko-e), 1932: www.scholten-japanese-art.com/printsH/375

This Wednesday! Wish I could be in Saddleworth (so close to where I grew up!) to see this:

The News Literacy Project Get news literacy resources that help you teach media literacy education. Join the News Literacy Project to strengthen critical thinking and spot misinformation

These folks do good work—The News Literacy Project:
newslit.org

Teaching when to trust As fake news accelerates, we need to teach our children how to think critically. Finnish schools are leading the charge

Finland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it

Have you considered password protecting it? Even if just to archive it? (Yeah, I have no idea how effective this will be. I know that @retech.bsky.social & @cyberpunklibrarian.bsky.social will have some thoughts on stopping bots.)

Sing to me, o peeps, of the pros and cons of being an American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) member.
(DMs are A-OK. Any info and opinions appreciated.)

Screenshot from Timehop showing “4 years ago” across the top banner. The screenshot reads In today's episode of "what will the auto transcription software make of my accent" the Peloponnesian War is now the Pelican Asian War. Which begs the question: were they fighting over the pelicans, or were the pelicans fighting?

Never start a pelican war in Asia.

Someone has been recommending this pod for yonks. You have just saved me hours of my life. Thank you.

a skeleton of a horse with tinsel around its neck Alt: Mari Lwyd, a skeleton of a horse with a white sheet and tinsel around its neck; in a living room; illuminated by changing coloured disco lights, dancing.

How did we not have Mari Lwyd in Lampeter/ Llambed? (Were we really too far north?)

A rather eminent ancient historian (whom I will not name) once said of me, “You can take the man out of Lampeter but not Lampeter out of the man” and I think it was meant as a drag but I know it is true and it delights me to this day. #UWTSD, #PCYDDS, #SDUC, #CPDS

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States - Wikipedia

Another critical text for me (2/n 🧵)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Indi...

Empires and Indigenous Peoples - University of Oklahoma Press The Romans who established their rule on three continents and the Europeans who first established new homes in North America interacted with communities of I...

In shifting my research interests, I originally thought I’d focus on the American Revolutionary War & the Classical influences. But I find that I am increasingly drawn to learning more about “contact” & the colonial period in (pre-) US history.
www.oupress.com/978080619452... (1/n 🧵)

The process of transcribing documents and doing that sort of deep work is essential to the process of scholarship. (I get that when you’re working with big datasets some sort of AI is helpful ofc).

But a hill I’ll die on is that transcribing, checking and sorting is essential to understanding.

Phew.

Natural History Museum 10326 | LEGO® Icons | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US Enjoy a creative building project with the LEGO® Icons Natural History Museum set for adults – a great gift idea for fans of history and science

Hey! There’s always the police-free Natural History Museum. At “only” $300, it’s a steal. (Sorry.)
www.lego.com/en-us/produc...

Oh dear. Is that a supportive sigh or an exasperated “you are a dingbat” sigh?

And, no, I am not nor have I ever been an adult historian of the interwar years and the origins of the Second World War. But (to the best of my knowledge) neither are people bandying around the Chamberlain analogy.

Specifically, we were taught as SCHOOLCHILDREN that there was one interpretation of Neville Chamberlain’s “appeasement” that explained it as an attempt to buy time for rearmament. I do not believe this fits with any of the “current instances” to which Chamberlain’s actions are being compared.

Neville Chamberlain - Wikipedia

My fellow USAians: before you launch into your next Neville Chamberlain analogy, please do take a look at the Wikipedia section on his legacy & reputation. In my little corner of England, we were aware of the “revisionist school” in … <checks diaries> 1991.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville...

Recently discussed in an Evolution of Horror/ Carry On Up The Podcast crossover episode!!

If you're in the USA you'll be able to pick up the book without fear of tariffs from @ipr.bsky.social later this month when the stock comes in.

The listing for it will be live in the next few weeks or so, but you can already check out my publisher page:

www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Stout-...

Ooooh … Carved in Stone is out. I missed the Kickstarter and have been waiting for its release with bated breath. @itskellian.bsky.social, I think you mentioned this, yonks ago? #Games, #History, #Archaeology, and the Picts! bsky.app/profile/stou...

The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image there is an old photograph of Lampeter students wearing graduation robes.

The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image there is an old photograph of students wearing white robes and scarves around their faces. They are holding a sign that says “Druids.”.

The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image there is a scan of paper showing the Celebration of the Centenary of the College in 1927. There is a list showing the activities throughout the day.

The image is square with a teal background. In the bottom left corner there is the UWTSD logo and in the right there is the UWTSD library logo. In the centre of the image is a scan of an invitation for the Celebration of the Centenary of the College at St David’s College, Lampeter, in 1927.

The anniversary of the first 100 years of St David’s College started at 7am and finished with a well-deserved tea at 4.30. It included a series of student tableaux recording the history of Lampeter, from the Druids to Modern Lampeter.

#EYAAnniversaries #UWTSDlib

Alas, poor Golding! He’s not in her syllabus!!

Passed this on to my Partner in Crime who is teaching English novel this semester. She’s teaching quite a different list!

Look around. The case for more, not less, liberal arts education - actual, real education in reading, writing, thinking, arguing, analyzing, & synthesizing by doing the actual hard work for which there is no substitute - is stronger than it’s ever been at any point in human history.