Dr. Elizabeth Headrick (Bluestocking)

...and now we'll have students willingly handing over their credentials to an exploitable system. This is going to be bad on so many levels. I would like to assume that universities will find some way to block something like this but it's going to keep happening. There's no way to unring that bell.

They're going to be putting these credentials into a bot that you know is not secure in any way. We already have students (and faculty and staff 🙃) who can't seem to stop clicking email links and inadvertently getting spoofed...

The more I think about that AI bot that logs in to Canvas to do a students work for them, the more I worry about the consequences. I know that here at TWU, Canvas logins are tied directly to our Pioneer Portal ID, which controls literally everything about a student's university life.

The most annoying thing about shit like this (and trust me I have a long list) is the fact that it's forcing us academics back towards more invigilated exam-style assessments and that totally sucks for accessibility!

Anyone who tells me AI democratises things next is getting a real hard stare.

In the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, Marie Antoinette holds her decapitated head.

I tip my hat to all the Olympic ceremonies but the Paris 2024 opening ceremony is the only one that has stayed with me. Sometimes in my nightmares. #olympics

I know there’s a lot going on but are we ever circling back to the Epstein Files?

The president’s involvement with his best friend’s scheme of sex trafficking minors seems a little important

And, I mean, in my defense, a good chunk of the last year involved buying a house, moving, losing our 19-yr old cat, and taking in a pair of traumatized 2-yr old kitty brothers that spent 10 weeks hiding in our guest bed so I've been kind of busy. But I guess I'm out of valid excuses now. 🫠

It's been over a year since I completed and defended my dissertation and in that time I have done absolutely nothing as regards to academic writing, including the 2 epilogue episodes I was going to do about my defense. I should probably get on that, though it feels like maybe it's time has passed.

I mean, who among us? 🫠

The library during finals week is always an odd place. It's quiet and seems low-key but there's such a frantic energy coming from everyone. It's like a buzzy, whispery, rustling buildup to a very quiet implosion and then it's just cold and quiet, until January starts it all over again.

Our ILL service has been getting hit with a number of requests for sources that simply don't exist and y'all know it's only going to get worse 🫠

absolutely monday pilled. i’m toil-maxxing. going drudgery mode. stumblecore. hitting my slog goals.

Later: The reindeer were smuggling drugs so we shot them all down. No survivors. Be best.

A poster on 8.5 x 11 inch paper saga Fishtown fish facts: red lipped catfish or of ocephalus Darwini. Then a pic of that freaky fish with 4 limbs it rests on the ground and then the words “stg this fish real red-lipped batfish walk ocean floor with they flippers RLBF have RBF, not they fault RLBF have a bioluminescent lure that glows to attract dinner RLBF lipgloss is popping, RLBF lipgloss is cool, all the fish keep jockin, they chase RLBF after school RLBF got scales like armor and shine bright like a diamond Red-lipped batfish will teach you how to dougie, I can promise u that. @yaboyni Take a moment And and realize the moment You took has already passed Thank you See you next time

One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.

We had some fun on that site 😥

a baby girl is sitting on a couch with her eyes closed and making a funny face . ALT: a baby girl is sitting on a couch with her eyes closed and making a funny face .

And that wraps up today's edition of "SCREAMING INTO THE ACADEMIC VOID."

I feel like it should be obvious that most academic publishers don't give a shit about anything except profit but it's still disappointing. Some of them (Nature 🤔) have been around for a very long time. You'd think they would be more interested in the actual dissemination of knowledge but nope. Sigh

I also find it interesting that several academic publishers are straight up lying about the new NIH compliance. T&F is telling me that PMC only accepts open access articles, which is patently false. The truth is that T&F and other pubs want us to believe an exorbitant OA fee is the only option.

a young girl in a striped shirt is covering her face with her hand ALT: a young girl in a striped shirt is covering her face with her hand

I wish I could go back to when I still didn't know that because that is so infuriating BECAUSE SERIOUSLY NATURE IS CHARGING MORE TO DIGITALLY PUBLISH AN ARTICLE THAN I PAID AS A DOWNPAYMENT FOR MY HOUSE.

I've been working with academic publications and open access for almost 8 years now but until yesterday I was totally unaware that the journal Nature charges $12,690.00 to publish an article as open access. TWELVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND NINETY DOLLARS, Y'ALL.

... just won't unclench for the half a second it would take to actually look at the entire situation. It's almost as if someone should do an entire podcast dissertation about his very thing... or at least finally do the epilogue episodes she promised... 🤔 ok, rant complete. Back to work. (7/7)

... in compliance with their hard-won grants. It's just pure, unadulterated, naked capitalism and I am very aware that I am just screaming into the void with this because it won't change. Universities have gotten themselves so convinced that non-traditional journals are the devil and they ... (6/7)

... academic journals and the people who are actually doing all of the research and all of the work. The entire system needs to be gutted, torn down, and rebuilt because researchers shouldn't be forced by SpringerNature or Taylor & Francis to shell out thousands of dollars in order to stay ... (5/7)

But the fancy, big-top academic publishers also charge these fees (and arguably need them way less then small, purely open access journals) and now they're actively extorting NIH grant money from researchers. It's gross and punitive and exemplifies the vast gulf between subscription... (4/ 7)

... just straight up refusing to accept an NIH-funded article if the thousand of dollars in fees aren't paid. Which is all feeling wildly ironic in light of the fact that Beall and so many others punched down at open access journals for so long, and the fact that they were charging the fees. (3/7)

... and insisting that paying the fees is the only way to make the article NIH compliant. Which is bullshit, of course, because it would be really easy for them to just send the accepted manuscript as usual, sans embargo. But they want a cut of that grant money, so some publishers are... (2/7)

So, the NIH updated their policy and did away with the 12-mo embargo on Author Accepted Manuscripts in PubMed, which is great. I love that. What i don't love is that the big academic publishers are using this as a way to extort absolutely ludicrous open access fees... (1/7)

Dr. Bluestocking in a Ghostbusters jumpsuit in 2025

Dr. Bluestocking in a Ghostbusters jumpsuit in 2017

It’s been 8 years since I busted any library ghosts but this felt like a good time for a reboot. #halloween2025