Library frenz with the current birbsite drama there's a need for a list of library-related #fediverse instances.
So digipres.club, code4lib.social, ausglam.space, social.coop, scholar.social - what else comes to mind?
Righto, here’s my fedi-tips:
- it’s slower here, less addictive than corp social media. This is a good thing, try and enjoy it.
- you see what you follow. No ads, no obscure reshuffling, no manipulating your emotions. Enjoy that too.
- please consider using CWs. Could it hurt, shock, upset, harm?
- please describe your pictures if you can
- give benefit of the doubt: text easily misleads
- shared something negative? Maybe follow with positive action.
- fash, queerphobes, bigots: fuck off 💚
I may be looking for part-time #employment leads the next few months.
If you're part of a FOSS project / org that is in need of some writing (documentation or otherwise) that's the clearest fit.
The complicating factor is I'm a full-time UK PhD student at present, which has conditions (biggest being a hard limit on hours allowed), which is why it's hard to wrangle. So that's why I'm putting out feelers well in advance.
But get in touch! Even if "now" proves tricky, there's also The Future!
Currently editing recently published web pages to use headings instead of <b> + font size crud.
I've sent another "please use headings and bulleted lists; here's why" email in the hopes that maybe the teachable moment will stick this time...
Accessibility is another noble but Sisyphean responsibility.
Reason #182838 I hate proprietary software
I should say, there *is* an API. It just suffers from terribly broken documentation.
https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/electronic/ is a reasonable start, but it quickly devolves.
Click the page icon beside *Update collection* to view the docs, and that looks promising too.
Now click *See Doc* beside *Body Parameters* and it leads to broken town.
Click the *Swagger -> Download* link to view the JSON and suss out the real doc link: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis/docs/xsd/rest_electronic_collection.xsd?tags=POST
And so it goes.
Reason #182838 I hate proprietary software
I've activated 33 out of roughly 160 electronic collections in Ex Libris Alma.
Activating a collection requires 13 mouse clicks. You can navigate by keyboard, but it requires hammering the tab key like a woodpecker.
Neither the UI nor the API offer a way to activate collections in bulk, and I have no access to the underlying database.
Bulk actions reduce my chances of making a random mistake and suffering RSI.
Watched Get Back last month. Last week I remembered that we have "The Beatles: Rock Band" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles:_Rock_Band) for our XBox 360 (which has been mothballed for about a decade).
Dug it out and both the XBox and game fired up nicely. The opening sequence looks gorgeous on a modern high-def screen! Still can't quite nail Paul's vocals on the bridge for "I've Got a Feeling" (sorry family)
No way in hell am I going to connect the XBox 360 to the Internet, though. That can only bring pain.
Google Workplace for custom domains ending free edition
Oh, and after some digging, it will go from being free-as-in-beer to $7.80 CAD / user / month.
🤯
With 5 accounts, that adds up quickly.
Quick checks suggest this pricing is roughly in line with Protonmail & Fastmail. Not sure Disroot can handle multiple accounts with a custom domain (they require a one-time donation for custom domain support).
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
Google Workplace for custom domains ending free edition
Surprise, surprise... after 16 years of providing free email, drive, etc for custom domains, Google is pulling the plug on the free edition and transitioning everyone over to a paid subscription plan as of July 1, 2022.
I'm guessing there will be a marked increase in self-hosting now, and then again in June.
I'll admit to having abandoned my self-hosted Dovecot and Squirrel mail approach 10 years back. Time to correct that mistake.
Went looking for this quote in response to a family member asking if cryptocurrencies were going to "level the playing field"... that's a pipe dream: money makes money and power keeps power. The system is rigged by those who own it.
</rant>
Systems librarian at Laurentian University (Canada).
Free software, open access, open data are (some of) my jam.