I've finally decided to experiment with Mastodon, so here's an #introduction #histodons

I'm a historian of science, technology, and neoliberalism. My first book (coming out Spring 2024) investigates the digitalisation and privatisation of Britain's telecom infrastructure, and I've recently started a new project on the history of futurology in British government.

I grew up and went to university in London, and now I work at Maastricht University, in the History department and STS research programme.

I had a Twitter account but was shocking at actually using it. Twitter always felt a bit too "broadcast" and exposing for me, which I think I reacted to by only posting declarations and announcements (when I posted at all). I'd like to be more active here and I hope there's more space for dialogue and interaction. Thanks for reading!

@jacobward
Welcome, Jacob. I’m trying to say hi to someone new to me regularly so here’s a hello to you today. Your future projects sound good.
@pc_bain Hi Paula, thanks and hello! Funnily enough, I just started indexing my book today, my naive optimism might have taken a bit of a knock...
@jacobward
Quite a time to say hello then! It can be tricky. Lots of good advice in the Chicago Manual of Style ‘Indexes’ chapter if you have that, and always keep your likely readers in mind. Some more info below which may be helpful. And feel free to ask questions. Good luck with it!
https://www.indexers.org.uk/about-indexing/authors-indexes/
Authors and indexes

Some authors feel that they are the best people to index their own books, as they are the experts on the subject matter and familiar with the books’ structure. However, unless an author is experienced in indexing, this is often unwise. It takes skill, experience and considerable time to produce a really professional index, whichRead More