Paula Clarke Bain

Promotional graphic with black-and-white speaker headshot photo on a purple background image of Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. I'm speaking at CILIP MDG CONFERENCE 2026 Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation Paula Clarke Bain Chair and Fellow, Society of Indexers #METAFUTURES | 11-13 MARCH 2026 | ENGINEERS' HOUSE, BRISTOL MDG Metadata & Discovery Group logo

Glad to be speaking at the CILIP MDG #MetaFutures conference in Bristol next week on ‘Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation’ and links between @cilipmdg.bsky.social @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social. Keen to tackle the evening pub quiz too. 🤓 #IndexSky

I still get to do it quite regularly and I love it every time. I spy the hills. I’m nearing the hills. I’m inside them!

The human art of indexing Book indexes might seem the perfect candidate for AI automation. They're not.

For World Book Day, enjoy our President @carosanderson.bsky.social's celebration of the human art of indexing. Every non-fiction book needs an expert, professionally produced index. buff.ly/bfZfDw4

Last few days to book! Last few places remaining!

Don't miss out on the @cilipmdg.bsky.social #Conference #MetaFutures & #RDAday in Bristol 11-13 March 2026!
Registration closes on 06/03/26

www.cilip.org.uk/members/grou...

#metadata #cataloguing #libraries #archives #repositories #GLAM 📚

Anne still wins Best Brontë for me. See also below. 😁
bsky.app/profile/oddt...

View from a train window of green waterlogged fields and the southern end of the Malvern Hills including the British Camp hill fort on Herefordshire Beacon. A copy of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is on the train table.

Great Malvern railway station platform with working Victorian gas lamp in the foreground and colourful decorative cast iron pillars in the background.

Just did one of my favourite train journeys again, beside and through the Malvern Hills from Hereford to Great Malvern. Anne Brontë kept me good company.

Screenshot of event page with photo of about 30 members of Manchester Recorder Orchestra sitting with their instruments and music stands, and one of their conductors standing, all dressed in black concert wear. Manchester Recorder Orchestra created an event. Today at 19:30 MRO in Marple 28 Feb Marple United Reformed Church

Manchester Recorder Orchestra concert tonight (Sat 28 Feb, 7.30pm) at Marple United Reformed Church, Stockport: Bach, Borodin, Prokofiev, Verdi, modern works including Shannon’s ‘Craft Brew’, me on my rosewood tenor, and much more. Come see us if you fancy something completely different. 🎶

National Indexing Day 2026 The Society of Indexers is celebrating National Indexing Day for the tenth successive year on Tuesday 31 March 2026. This year we will be celebrating with a hal

Meet the speakers for our #IndexDay workshop on 31 March
@publishersassoc.bsky.social
: @baindex.org on the value of human indexing, Rachel Gee on how indexes make information accessible, and
@tanyaizzard.bsky.social
on technology and AI. Book your place at www.indexers.org.uk/posts/nation...

Glad to be part of @indexers.bsky.social National Indexing Day #IndexDay event team again with @tanyaizzard.bsky.social and Rachel Gee. Non-fiction publishing professionals, we’d love you to join us there to talk about how we can make book indexes and indexing processes better together.

A Laugh In Stockport Comedy Club – Thurs 26 February Join us for an evening of first-class comedy at Thread – Stockport Market Place’s gorgeous Belgian bar! Canadian comedian Allyson June Smith honed her craft headlining multiple high-profile festival ...

Thursday Night Comedy!
Danny Sutcliffe welcomes Allyson June Smith, Steph Bradshaw, Annabelle Devey & Delyth Smith

🎟️ Get tickets: stockportcomedy.short.gy/comedy-night...

#stockport #comedy #comedynight #comedyclub

This is obviously egregious engagement bait, but it seems to have struck a chord, and some of the replies are truly marvellous.

I did laugh. The owner gave the cushion money to a local homeless charity so it also did some good.

I believe it’s starting to. The owner said they’d had some visitors from London who asked if they could buy one of their scatter cushions (and then did)!

Exterior of Covent Garden Cafe in Stockport looking downhill to a brewery and a church

Screenshot of BBC’s Small Prophets programme showing exterior of Pickles Diner

Interior of Covent Garden Cafe with an orange juice and a latte on the nearest table (breakfast barm already gone)

Screenshot of BBC’s Small Prophets programme showing actor Pearce Quigley sitting inside Pickles Diner

Switched the indexing office this morning to Covent Garden Cafe in Stockport, aka Pickles Diner from Mackenzie Crook’s magical Small Prophets on BBC2. #SmallProphets

I went to this event a couple of years ago and can strongly recommend it for anyone interested in indexes.

National Indexing Day 2026 The Society of Indexers is celebrating National Indexing Day for the tenth successive year on Tuesday 31 March 2026. This year we will be celebrating with a hal

Our annual celebration of indexes and indexing, National Indexing Day, takes place on Tues 31 March 2026. We’ll be celebrating online (follow #IndexDay) and running half-day workshops all about indexing for publishing professionals in London. Find out more and book your place at: buff.ly/y0rLvyT

Twitch Twitch is the world

The rain is back but so are the crosswords! Join us at 12 to help solve cryptics from the MyCrossword community by duncanjwitham and Chlorine @katstevens.bsky.social. Beginners and hecklers welcome, as ever! #CrypticSunday
twitch.tv/crypticsunday

Paula Clarke Bain @baindex.org is Chair of Society of Indexers @indexers.bsky.social - this session will explore the commonalities of the fields of book indexing & library & information science + the shared purpose of helping people to find information in books & other media
#MetaFutures #Conference

A clump of about 40 snowdrops with green stems and white bell-shaped flowers in a garden border.

Our garden snowdrops are back for their eighth year. Such a welcome sight every January. I can highly recommend planting a clump or two. 💚

SCTV - Lola's Love Spirit YouTube video by The Second City

Catherine O’Hara SCTV thread

youtu.be/990OaFr8EYw?...

The Stoller Organ above the medieval oak carved screen and quire in Manchester Cathedral.

Photo of The Old Wellington pub in Manchester, showing its black and white half-timbered exterior.

Exterior of Manchester Cathedral against a blue sky on a sunny winter day.

A beautiful day with @indexers.bsky.social North West local group, having a fine lunch in The Old Wellington pub and then a guided wander around Manchester Cathedral @mancathedral.bsky.social.

Yep, beautiful and all good today, rather than a washout.

View from a train window of blue sky on a sunny winter day, taken from Stockport Viaduct, looking over the River Mersey, the Stockport Pyramid and the M60 motorway.

Indexer on a train, January 2026. 🚂 Lovely day to meet the North West local group of @indexers.bsky.social for a lunch and cathedral tour in Manchester.

BILLY BRAGG - CITY OF HEROES YouTube video by Billy Bragg

I wrote this yesterday about the hero city of Minneapolis

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOW...

Fn nd fndsh!

Mini crossword No 211 · MyCrossword Solve Mini crossword No 211 on MyCrossword. 7x7 grid with 12 clues by Chameleon. Published Mon 26 Jan 2026. Features annotated solutions. Free to solve online.

A new Mini crossword from me in loose tribute to tonight's Only Connect final 🌾🦁🪢🐍🌊👁️

Featuring:
Crck fnl bts frm nthr nly Cnnct pzzl (3)
Mghn ntlly pst hr hsbnd, wthhldng Chrstms gft (5)
Fmnn ttl mprss ccsnlly sd (3)

mycrossword.co.uk/mini/211

That’s really nice to hear, thank you. Onward with our next ones then.

Enjoyed this puzzle and all the associated stream chat today, thanks!

Cryptic crossword No 3,065 · MyCrossword Solve Cryptic crossword No 3,065 on MyCrossword. 15x15 grid with 36 clues by Pixie. Published Sat 24 Jan 2026. Features annotated solutions and special instructions. Free to solve online.

Pixie’s new (and fifth) cryptic crossword puzzle is now out. 🧚🏻
With thanks:
– to my kind test solvers
– to @archelina.bsky.social, @wyrd.systems and #CrypticSunday crowd for the fun live-solve
– to Raider for the ace @mycrossword.co.uk.
Hope you enjoy. (I did.)
www.mycrossword.co.uk/cryptic/3065

Twitch Twitch is the world

It's #CrypticSunday! Join us at 12 noon to help solve crosswords by LeoNessie @joeleisen.bsky.social and Pixie @baindex.org 🎉
twitch.tv/crypticsunday