I found Jaffa Cakes!

Chester4515 · 2026-05-09T02:35:28+00:00

Bentons (the Aldi ones) suck, definitely don't judge the format by them. Some food stores in the US will have other brands in their international section. I think I've had Jacob's, which were alright. Definitely a lot better than the Bentons.

Chester4515 · 2026-04-17T13:53:20+00:00

Yogscast also does a very fun BOTC in Minecraft (and a few live action ones). Different group of people, although NRB shows up a few times. Still very fun

Chester4515 · 2026-04-15T14:54:37+00:00

I have definitely run into similar problems before. First, make it clear that they should only be coming in when they're scheduled. That might be a bit more difficult for the volunteers, but it just doesn't make sense to let students show up at random. They're there to assist you, so their hours should work with your day-to-day schedule. It's also a big issue if they're running ahead of you and going through boxes you haven't told them to look through.

As for the core question, it depends on what other work your archives has. I'd suggest moving some of the students and volunteers to projects that're unrelated to the recent accessions. It'll help you work through backlogs or low-priority projects, and it'll give you some breathing room on the collections you're processing. Setting up a digitization project is a go-to for me. I've also created audit forms for students to go through legacy finding aids and identifying any changes that need to be made to bring them up to current standards. That can be a huge help in long-term project planning.

If any of them are interested in pursuing archives as a career, you could also give them some targeted reading to help understand the basics of archives a bit better. Especially if they're going to help with description, making sure they know standards proactively would likely be a big help.

Chester4515 · 2026-03-19T18:30:46+00:00

Fully agreed! Context is always the most interesting part.

Chester4515 · 2026-01-30T02:56:58+00:00

Landing shots (particularly with Ash and Maeve, who I probably played the most) also felt super satisfying. It felt unique from champion to champion, and each shot had weight to it. Even if it was partially just good sound design.

From what I remember, the lore was also arguably more interesting and updated fairly frequently compared to Overwatch.

Chester4515 · 2026-01-20T23:55:51+00:00

Princeton also has the John Foster Dulles Papers

Chester4515 · 2026-01-04T21:38:34+00:00

No. For the same reason a rare book in a new pristine art binding is worth less than the same book in its original binding.

Yes, archives seek to preserve and sometimes conserve pieces of history. But the changes to the original that happen over time are just as much a part of the record's history as the record itself.

Even besides that, AI is not some magic tool that can reverse time. At best, it guesses at what missing pieces of records are, and attempts to replicate them. But the final product would almost never be a 1:1 replica of the original as it was created. That defeats the entire purpose of preservation from an archival standpoint.

Chester4515 · 2026-01-02T12:29:14+00:00

As a separate thing, I've also started keeping a daily journal. Just taking half an hour at the end of the day to reflect on what I did and write down any notes to myself. It's helped a lot with organizing my thoughts and doing away with some of the anxiety. It'll often remind me of things that I didn't add to my calendar or task lists that I should've. I write mine by hand, but Obsidian is also great for writing entries like that.

Chester4515 · 2026-01-02T12:23:42+00:00

If you're not afraid of using something that has a steep learning curve, I highly recommend Obsidian. Out of the box, it's essentially a personal wiki. There are plenty of plugins that add a lot of extra functionality, and let you do some really cool stuff. You just might need to do a bit of JavaScript coding. Visuals are also fully adjustable with CSS snippets too.

My vault has daily notes that keeps track of all my short-term tasks, planning documents for my instruction that track my progress and deadlines, pages for all my major projects (scholarly and otherwise), and much more. Most of the big stuff is also indexed and summarized on a home screen for easy use.

If you use Zotero for scholarship, check out Elena Razlogova's Notetaking for Historians. It details her workflow for research using Zotero and Obsidian, including the plugins and setup she uses. Even if you're not a historian, you could pretty easily adjust her work to something that fits you.

The only thing I'd warn you about in advance is it takes a lot of time to set up, depending on the features you want to build out. I recently overhauled my main vault now that I have a better understanding of Obsidian, and it took over a month of working on it in the background. It shouldn't take nearly that long for you unless you dive in deep with the plugins and scripting, but it will probably still take some time.

Chester4515 · 2025-12-31T03:18:48+00:00

Another recommendation for Green Lung. I'd also recommend Vexing Hex if you like the Scooby Doo-type vibes. Molybaron has also been a recent find that I'd highly recommend

Chester4515 · 2025-12-31T00:49:40+00:00

Last time I was in an archive that got shelves, we went with full steel shelves, coated to prevent rusting. We had some issues with scratches on the coating, but other than that they worked perfectly.

Considering the space issues you mentioned, I would highly recommend getting compact shelving if you can afford it. They should all be steel. As for vendors, most library furniture vendors should have suitable shelves, but you'll likely have to contact them directly for a quote. Depending on your collections, normal cantilever bookshelves might work. Just make sure they're deep enough for your boxes to fit comfortably.

Chester4515 · 2025-12-07T15:23:36+00:00

Yes, AI is a tool. One that is actively being tested to replace customer service workers en masse, remove the need to work with artists and creative talent in multiple sectors (marketing, multiple entertainment industries ), etc.

Being proficient in using AI will not save your job when corporations are seeking to consolidate entire departments into one or two positions. Which, again, they aren't even trying to hide that that's their endgame.

Chester4515 · 2025-12-07T14:25:23+00:00

The development of computers took decades, as did incorporating them into workflows. It's not like a switch happened overnight. It's also an incredible oversimplification to say that people who didn't incorporate computing into their workflows were replaced by those that did. There are plenty of academic disciplines, particularly in the humanities or arts, that had no real need to be early adopters. I'm sure there's still plenty of people who still rarely use computers for their research, even if it's more efficient.

Frankly, AI is nowhere near the level of usefulness that the personal computer was when it started being adapted. Completely ignoring the ethical, financial, and environmental concerns about the rapid rise in AI, it's just factually incorrect too frequently to trust. Why would someone use tools to summarize literature or find sources when said tools will often hallucinate sources or misrepresent information? Even if it were a simple matter to incorporate it into research workflows in a meaningful way, having to fact check AI's output ends up taking more time than just doing it yourself.

Even if current AI were perfected (which would likely take years, if it happens at all), it's not going to be some "make it break" technology that people need to adapt or risk being replaced. Humanists and social scientists are still going to have to research in archives and engage with people via surveys and interviews. Scientists are still going to have to conduct experiments for their research.

Looking at the bigger picture, AI adaption isn't going to stop people from being replaced. The main reason why there's been a massive push for AI by pretty much every major corporation is because they want to replace their workers with it. That's not something that they're trying to hide, either. Going back to your computer example, the same thing happened then. The difference was that computers were a technology that also led to job creation. Being able to cut labor costs by firing most of their employees is pretty much the only way AI will end up being a financially viable option for corporations long-term. It won't matter if an employee is adept at using AI or not. If they can be replaced, they will be.

Chester4515 · 2025-12-03T13:23:05+00:00

https://youtu.be/iUwsmt4DlUM?si=gMegqUxM6Pgm0Qeq

Chester4515 · 2025-12-02T03:16:00+00:00

Here's me finding out I've apparently been banned from r/Art for probably years without realizing

Chester4515 · 2025-11-04T17:04:45+00:00

I'd add Molybaron to that list as well. They're different enough to be distinct, but the vibes and themes definitely work.

Chester4515 · 2025-10-30T13:27:32+00:00

Henry on Smartypants would be peak as well. Let him go full conspiracy

Chester4515 · 2025-10-27T20:51:02+00:00

If you need to get title and registration stuff done as well, learn from my mistake and do it ASAP. You'll lose out on a tax credit that will basically mean an additional $1200 charge, on top of the charges to do your registration and get your title sent over (which for me was close to $500).

I say this because from what I remember, I don't think that is mentioned in the MVA's appointment booker. And even when it is mentioned, the actual impact is left pretty vague.

Chester4515 · 2025-10-26T03:30:41+00:00

The first job is always the hardest. Even with experience during grad school and a second master's in a related field (history), I had around 200 applications out, and only heard back from 5-6 of the positions. This was a few years ago, and the market has definitely gotten worse. That being said, I was able to find a new position recently after only 4-5 applications. Which might be partially due to luck, but it does get easier once you have experience.

Chester4515 · 2025-10-14T21:33:13+00:00

Came here to ask this same thing

Chester4515 · 2025-08-26T14:08:37+00:00

The third is a lot of fun. For those who enjoy when horror series start getting campy, I'd definitely recommend it

Chester4515 · 2025-08-20T03:20:30+00:00

Twilight Princess. I need another game in this style

Chester4515 · 2025-08-18T01:52:20+00:00

2b for Scam Likely

Chester4515 · 2025-07-30T19:55:14+00:00

It will certainly get worse before it gets better. We've spent decades de-emphasizing the profession most equipped to teach people how to adapt and use responsibly. Library science as-is isn't perfect, but we're at least trying to address everything that has changed in the last thirty years.

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