Jessamyn West
Librarian, technology instructor and writer in rural Vermont; longtime community manager at MetaFilter and author of a book on the digital divide.
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 14 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Uses Subaru Forrester
I drive a Subaru Forrester which gets me and all my gear places.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Uses CourierWare
I use a messenger bag from CourierWare who makes them in my town, though I've had my eye on some Tom Bihn stuff lately.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Uses NatsuLion
I'm interface-picky so I use NatsuLion for Twitter on my iPhone and Syrinx for Twitter on my desktop.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Show 11 more
Uses Cyberduck
I move files around with Fugu and Cyberduck.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Liked Time Out
Quicksilver and Time Out keep me from getting RSI.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Liked Quicksilver
Quicksilver and Time Out keep me from getting RSI.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Loved Adium
Mixed on Chrome
I love how speedy Chrome is but the favicons on the bookmark bar give me the fidgets.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Uses Firefox
Firefox is my main browser but I sometimes teach classes in how to use Safari.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Uses WordPress
I run nearly all my websites in some version of WordPress.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Liked Koha
Liked Taco HTML edit
I'm using an old version of Taco HTML edit to write this because it's bog-simple and does exactly what I want.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Liked Brother HL-2170W
I still have to print and mail a ton of stuff, so my Brother HL-2170W has become the only printer I have not despised.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Loved Scrivener
I used Scrivener to write my book, it's the best thing there is.
usesthis.com 1 Jul 2011
Where they publish
Site jessamyn.com Her personal site and journal.
Link verified 5 Sept 2026.
Blog librarian.net Her library-and-technology blog, running since 1999.
Link verified 5 Sept 2026.
Mastodon @jessamyn@glammr.us Her Mastodon account on the galleries-libraries-archives-museums instance.
Recent
- It was more like graupel but I definitely saw snow outside this morning. #FirstSnow 17 Oct 2026
- Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. I've sorted out my car situation and now just have to do the endless twiddling of my car's settings so it's not doing things I don't want it to. I'm sure you can relate. One thing I don't want it to do is read email. Hope you have a good weekend adjusting things just the way you like them. Image credit: State Library of New South Wales, on Flickr Commons 16 Oct 2026 flickr.com
- If BIPM can get rid of leap seconds in UTC, then the US should be able to abolish Daylight Savings Time. https://www.bipm.org/en/cgpm-2026/resolution-5 #TimeTimeTime 16 Oct 2026
Show 17 more
- Blog post: New to me, about the new-to-me car I got and how it has an onboard computer or whatever it's called (my first) and I am determined to defeat it. 14 Oct 2026 jessamyn.com
- It's been three years but I'm finally back to sending out my occasional Today in Librarian Tabs newsletter because I found a tool that was decent to use (EmailOctopus). If you were already signed up, you will have gotten it. If you'd like to sign up, there's a little box on my website where you can add your email address or you can read it on Medium. This is just my little accountability nudge to me to keep up with it. Been nice to hear from long-ago subscribers. 13 Oct 2026 medium.com
- Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. I'm in the unenviable position of looking at getting a new-to-me car and all the options are imperfect. I love my fifteen minute "city" but sometimes I do need to leave it. Into the weekend like vroom vroom and I never check email when I'm not at home. Image credit: National Library of Scotland, on Flickr Commons 9 Oct 2026 flickr.com
- Hey I'm doing one of those quote-tweet things for a thing I think is dumb. But! It leads to an ancient internet comment that I think is entirely made for Mastodon, a story about the time my dad, in the waning age of mainframes, was working on a project to create an internet-connected bear, Poppet, which could tell your child stories pulled from a home server. In the 1990s. From MetaFilter, where a guy my dad used to work with, coincidentally decided to tell it. 9 Oct 2026 metatalk.metafilter.com
- Always a great time when you get to talk about Foucault in a library talk. Notes and slides for my keynote talk "Community Counters Contempt" from FACRL (Florida Chapter of ACRL). They let me talk about what I wanted, so I talked about theories of power, fascism fatigue, Emily Drabinski, the importance of snacks, and the IWW. 8 Oct 2026 librarian.net
- RE: https://glammr.us/@dbsmnk/117401165222520627 This little game "Tears on a Touchscreen, An Interactive Tale About Doing Emotional Tech Support Work" is the closest thing I've ever seen to representing the real sort of work I do at library drop-in time. 7 Oct 2026
- Banned Books Week this year is one of those "May you live in interesting times" curses. It used to be we'd talk about Tropic of Cancer or Catcher in the Rye other books from olden times and now we can talk about Gender Queer or Last Night at the Telegraph Club and other books banned by some states literally this year. Thanks, I hate it. 5 Oct 2026
- Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. I know I should be doing something with my garden probably, but what? We've got peak foliage and the rains which are going to wash it all away. I shall supervise, and leave my emails until stick season. Have a good weekend. Image credit: George Eastman Museum, on Flickr Commons 2 Oct 2026 flickr.com
- Librarian.net: When they came for my library What happened when our library budget didn’t pass. 27 Sept 2026 librarian.net
- There's a Skunkfest (Ska + Punk) in town and I got to table with "No to AI" handouts--made by librarian Matt Imrie (on Bluesky) because my original content was CC-licensed. People were unsurprisingly receptive to them. Also I gave out free very loud whistles (thanks @dansinker) sorry parents! Get your own details on how to turn off intrusive AI: 26 Sept 2026 notoai.org
- Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. We've got autumn coming in and it subtly gets just a little bit busier here as people hustle to get things done before the snows (and I guess and impending nor'easter this weekend). Get your emails in early, or schedule them for much later. Have a good weekend. Image credit: Library of Congress on Flickr Commons 25 Sept 2026 flickr.com
- "I want a word that means okay and not okay, more than that: a word that means devastated and stunned with joy. I want the word that says I feel it all all at once." A poem and a song and a bonus video to greet this autumnal equinox, from my friend Matthew. https://homemadejam.org/mix/fallequinox-2026.html #equinox 22 Sept 2026
- TIL about biocodicology "a non-destructive analytical method that makes it possible to document biological information preserved within books." 20 Sept 2026
- Was making polite chitchat with a local older friend (who used to be sec. of state, no slouch) at an event yesterday. He tried to send me a video of Bernie talking about AI, how we were all cooked etc. I said "Why would I want to watch that? I'm not going to watch that." and he took offense as if I were the one who was being rude. It's been weighing on me today, feeling weird about being honest and/or rude here. I try to be agreeable, not poop in the punch bowl. But doomerism at a nice party? 20 Sept 2026
- Friday afternoon reminder to not empty your inbox at the expense of someone else's. This is the weekend I get my wood in (i.e. have pellets delivered) so I'm thinking of chillier days even though it's 70° outside. Trust me, you'll feel better if you make some plans for what's ahead, however you interpret that. Have a good weekend. Image credit: Library of Congress, on Flickr Commons 18 Sept 2026 flickr.com
- I did a short talk about Flickr Commons today for local heritage organizations on the Isle of Wight. Do you know an organization which would be a good fit for Flickr Commons? Let me know or have them get in touch with me. 16 Sept 2026 docs.google.com
- Excellent free zine about overcoming voting barriers in the US "Plenty of people hit a wall when they try to vote. Their name is missing from the voter list. The mail ballot never showed up. The signature on the envelope doesn't match. Someone at the door tells them they can't. None of that happens by chance. This guide covers the barriers that come up most often, and what to do about each one. English and Spanish versions are the same zine" From @monteiro and friends 15 Sept 2026 howtovote.tips
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
GitHub @jessamynwest Library and web projects.
Recent
- jessamynwest — fancy new README 10 Jul 2023
- jekyllcarny — proof of concept for Jekyll implementation of necarnegies.com 2 Apr 2016
- bendypig 15 Feb 2016
Show 2 more
- vtmas — Vermont Mutual Aid Society 15 Feb 2016
- oddbook — Automatically exported from code.google.com/p/oddbook 16 Mar 2015
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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