A crowd of people networking in the Nexus building at University of Leeds' Knowledge Futures Symposium. The letters 'NEXUS' are in the background
It's great to see the next generation of librarians contributing to conversations started at the Knowledge Futures Symposium last month 👏
Ellie Weale, Librarianship student at @sheffielduni.bsky.social, shares her reflections in our latest blog post.
Read now: bit.ly/4kqHa16
#LKFS2025 #LibSky
Last Friday, we hosted the Knowledge Futures Symposium 📚
We heard from inspirational speakers who examined how knowledge is created, shared and exploited today, and were challenged to think and discuss our role in creating a more equitable and open knowledge future.
#LKFS2025 #Library #LibSky
Inner-city rabbit on the campus of Leeds University
Really fascinating day at #LKFS2025. Great range of informative and engaging presentations and useful break conversations.
I was escorted off campus by the Leeds security rabbit
@adamrutherford.bsky.social
utherford invites us to share this Data Checklist widely. A compelling close to today's Knowledge Futures Symposium @universityofleeds.bsky.social Thank you for the invitation to join the symposium @masudk.com #LKFS2025
Powerful final talk from @adamrutherford.bsky.social about how scientific misinformation about genetics has been normalised in the mainstream.
The academy has lost this battle. But why?
Share this data checklist widely 👇
#LKFS2025
Adam Rutherford at a podium in front of a screen saying: Data is never neutral. Science is always political.
Data checklist Who is acquiring the Data? How is it being acquired? Who owns and curates the Data? Who is using the Data and for what purposes? Whom does it represent and were they involved in its collection? Who vendors from its use?
@adamrutherford.bsky.social finishes our day with a flourish, with a history of people giving their most personal data, their genome, to private organisations, and how data is manipulated for racism & eugenics. "Data is never neutral. Science is always political. Race is social construct" #LKFS2025
“Data is never neutral” - here is @adamrutherford.bsky.social data checklist #LKFS2025 - a wonderful way to conclude today and the brilliant conversations we had today.
Apologies as we are running a bit behind schedule but @adamrutherford.bsky.social talk is so captivating. Hopefully colleagues are able to stay with us for a bit longer at #LKFS2025
Final session of the day by @adamrutherford.bsky.social on Data, Knowledge and Bias at #LKFS2025. I am biased but today has been a wonderful day of conversations and debates. Thank you to everyone in person and online 👏🏽
Hey #Skybrarians Masud is really doing a lovely job chronicling #LKFS2025 if you want to follow along!
12 official languages in South Africa, 32 regional languages in India. This has huge impact on collection strategy and AI models data. This is the perspective that makes me think how we can often think too simplistically about global knowledge system but in reality so much nuance is needed #LKFS2025
Lindiwe Soyizwapi from Pretoria University shares how to build a culture of learning so children learn to read to understand. Start with story telling; then publish the stories! The Library uses metadata in the repository to make it easy to retrieve research on the SDGs #LKFS2025
sdgs.un.org/goals
Over 5 million images are made available online by Chinese University of Hong Kong library - amazing fact shared by Patti Cheung #LKFS2025
Five presenters of a panel discussion sat in front of a screen
Our final session is on international perspectives on knowledge, with a brilliant panel: @jsendall.bsky.social, Jonathan Bengtson (Uni Victoria), Lindiwe Soyizwapi (Uni Pretoria), Dr Rangashri Kishore (formerly Uni Ashoka and Uni Krea) and Patti Cheung (CUHK).
#LKFS2025 has gone by so quickly!
Jonathan Bengston talking about the challenging terrain of reconciliation within the academic library on Indigenous land is reminding me powerfully of the seismic shift I felt in the two years I worked and lived in Canada. Hearing these conversations here in the UK is absolutely crucial. #LKFS2025
I'm really enjoying #LKFS2025. (Programme here: conferences.leeds.ac.uk/knowledgefut...)
I do worry that I only ever really interact with researchers who care about OA and decolonisation and scholarly publishing etc, but that they're not actually representative & I'm basically in an echo-chamber.
The final panel session on “International Perspectives on Knowledge” starts now. Chaired and beautifully started by @jsendall.bsky.social and with wonderful panel members including Jonathan Bengtson, Dr. Rangashri Kishore, Patti Cheung, and Lindiwe Soyizwapi. #LKFS2025
here's my presentation to the super #LKFS2025; super important conversations. Many thanks to @masudk.com and colleagues for showing the way to knowledge futures. and here's Allan Ginsberg on the library dancefloor!
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/k...
So pleased to be working together with Leeds Institute for Societal Futures (LISF) on supporting societal futures through our expertise in Knowledge. #LKFS2025
Three questions from this afternoon's session:
1 What defines us as uniquely human?
2 How do we create a truly diverse & inclusive model of open access & break free of the big 5 publishers?
3 What if we structure our universities around societal problems rather than subject disciplines?
#LKFS2025
Hearing from Sophie Bramley about the Leeds Institute for Societal Futures and its mission to “empower colleagues from all disciplines to work together on addressing major social issues, in order to transform society for the benefit of all” www.leeds.ac.uk/futures-inst...
#LKFS2025
Is it human to make a huge profit from knowledge? asks Hilde Van Wijngaarden from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in this afternoon's session on Knowledge as a Catalyst. #LKFS2025
Such a good selection of talks today at #LKFS2025: this Wikimedian is very interested in the idea of the unquiet 👀📚
Dr. Hilde van Winjgaarden on the importance of knowledge diversity
>50% articles published by (the big) 5 commercial publishers, all based in Western Europe and the US…hardly representative of global knowledge
#LKFS2025
@adamrutherford.bsky.social inspiring us all at the next #LKFS2025 panel session with Prof. Nick Plant, Dr. Hilde van Winjgaarden, and Sophie Bramley.
Hugely entertaining talk from @adamrutherford.bsky.social at #LKFS2025
“Information transfer is definitional human”
(unlike e.g. toolmaking, use of fire)
