Hannah James

For all people. Younger or older (like my husband, recently made redundant).

Wollaton? Near Nottingham? I loved that museum as a child living nearby.

Tranexamic acid is a godsend, it really is. The difference it makes in so short a while is just short of miraculous.

Cambridge kebab shop beloved by students shuts after 76 years - BBC News A takeaway, loved by Stephen Fry and Michael Portillo, closes for good, says the college landlord.

Say it isn’t so! Gardies (properly The Gardenia, a kebab shop) has closed after 76 years.

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

Snapfish.

It varies enormously. Local authority salaries are low but corporate and higher education archives tend to pay more. Entry-level salaries are usually quite dire but improve over time and can be generous at manager level. Generally they probably are lower than other sectors.

I just hope I can shake the cold and despondency before next weekend when we celebrate my birthday jointly with a close friend, whose birthday it is during the week. Fingers crossed.

Thanks! Can’t abide brandy so gin and then red wine. Both medicinal, of course.

It’s been a very quiet birthday this year. Stress over husband’s lack of job in a horribly tough job market combined with a disgusting cold means I’m opting for an official birthday at some other time. Lego building and Kung Fu Panda films for the win.

We’re rewatching Fake or Fortune and have just encountered the episode about a scene in Venice. We had to stop in fits of giggles when the Christie’s archivist revealed the seller to be Major Gubbins. Not just Mr Gubbins but Major Gubbins. 😂

I am so confused. I usually wfh Tuesdays and Wednesdays (and some Thursdays). This week has been turned inside out due to onsite meetings and duty rota-ing so I’m wfh tomorrow. I’ve confused myself (today is *not* Friday) and most of my colleagues, too.

Hey Duggee came before the Scouting section, funnily enough. Same concept, same name, different badges.

Hey Duggee gives Squirrels (Scouting for 4-6yo) leaders so many issues! No, you don’t get a badge every session you come to, sorry.

A great opportunity for a future archivist!

Summer holidays… tired son snuggled up for a snooze while the rain chucks down outside. Husband upstairs up-skilling and applying for new jobs (redundancy confirmed yesterday). Not exactly the sunny, happy holidays we had all imagined.

Reddit post on r/technology about young people and AI: "I recently heard about a teacher who instead of trying to circumvent students using AI, which is impossible, she made assignments by going "ask ChatGPT to write a report on this subject, and then research how and why it's wrong". Not only did the students discover that ChatGPT is extremely wrong a lot of the time, it also lead them to realise that they should not use it as a primary source".

This is one of the best ideas I've heard in ages.

Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI Given the rapid adoption of generative AI and its potential to impact a wide range of tasks, understanding the effects of AI on the economy is one of society's most important questions. In this work, ...

An interesting but, I think, partially misguided paper looking at occupations’ vulnerability to AI.

It has ‘archivist’ in its top 40 most vulnerable.

But this is because it has determined that archivists primarily ‘gather information’.

1/2

He has 30 (!!) open applications and another five to complete. He’s started the interview process with three so far. Purely a numbers game and a far cry from his last experience of the job market, which was as recently as late 2022.

What used to take us hours can be done in minutes. Yes, we rewrite it and fact-check it but that is much easier than writing from scratch. Also so many companies now go on CV alone and you can be sure they’re using AI to filter using keywords. Very daunting.

With husband soon to be made redundant, he has been applying for new jobs with my help. Thankfully there are lots for him but jeez, the job market it tough at the moment! I’ve been learning how to engage with AI to assist with cover letters and tweaking his CV - absolutely fascinating (and scary).

It’s nearly the end of term! We’re staggering towards tomorrow 3.10pm. Last Squirrels session of the year is now done. Everyone is rather demob happy (no, not demon happy, autocorrect!), including parents and teachers.

Same. I tried reading the website, too, but didn’t find what everyone is talking about.

Home again after an alumni display, home to an empty house (the boys are at school camp). I have red wine and pizza (with fresh basil when it comes out of the oven).

Which ninnies thought that a district Squirrel campfire would be a good idea in late June?! Sure, it didn’t rain on us but we were far too hot, too! Let’s try that again… in the dark and cold next year.

One of those days, I guess 😢. Fabulous day for me at work (a fabulous intro day for 10 people potentially interested in a career in archives), a great day for LO (school outing to Woburn Safari park), and a pants day for my husband (placed at risk of redundancy).

One of my first archive-sector jobs was there. The wonderful Elizabeth (who I’ve known since about 2007) runs it.

All of today’s readers have gone but I’m not yet leaving the invigilation desk…and the air con! One of the many blessings of being an archivist.

@chuarchives.bsky.social may be able to help. Our digital archivist is working on our old media formats.

Welcome to the archives.

Not that we live there but friends do!