iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I only realized just now that I never posted this video of me reading in the Loft Mentor Series @loftliterarycenter.bsky.social here on BlueSky. youtu.be/gyIf2QGhSXA I posted about the event when it was coming up, but that's all. Only five months late!

youtu.be

Loft Mentor Series: Tina Gross

YouTube video by aruwiri

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A lot of people are not well right now: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This is an excellent time to de-escalate conflicts and to lean into patience. This is true in our personal lives and also (maybe especially) online when it's overwhelmingly strangers crashing into each other.

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

New post at ACRLog about the breakneck speed at which the Library of Congress implemented the #LCSH changes to Lake Ontario—just 8 days from proposal to approval, with no comments allowed. 📚 The title is from a letter written by our friend Sandy Berman. acrlog.org/2026/09/12/l...

acrlog.org

Library of Congress: “POTUS pawns” - ACRLog

In March 2025, I wrote about anticipatory obedience at the Library of Congress, describing how LC fast tracked changes to the Library of Congress Subject Headings relating to the Gulf of Mexico and Mo...

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jessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful

An aircraft passenger oxygen mask: a drop down passenger mask with air bag and yellow plastic mouth and nose cover, oxygen tube has been cut; Demonstration model used by flight attendant crew for passenger instruction. Has text on the side indicating that it's non-functional.

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Come hear me read on April 24! loft.org/events/mento...

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

New from me on ACRLog, Supporting Library Workers Who Have Lost Their Jobs. If you don't know what to say or do when your coworker or colleague gets laid off or fired, here's a list of action items. 📚 acrlog.org/2026/03/21/s...

acrlog.org

Supporting Library Workers Who Have Lost Their Jobs - ACRLog

If you haven't had the experience of losing your job suddenly, of being laid off or fired, it might be difficult to imagine what it's like. The person who has lost their job is probably going through ...

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In the Library with the Lead Pipe @libraryleadpipe.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Seeking Approval, Confronting Objectivity: Neutrality in the Library of Congress Subject Headings Approval Process by Allison Bailund, Deborah Tomaras, Michelle Cronquist, and Tina Gross www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2026/seeking...

In Brief: This study examines the concept of neutrality in Library of Congress Subject Headings and the subject approval process by analyzing proposed headings that were rejected over a nearly 20-year period. It considers the place of neutrality in libraries more generally and argues that equity, rather than neutrality, is the appropriate lens for judging subject heading proposals. Finally, it recommends several reforms that could improve the subject heading process and make it more equitable.

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Emma Molls @emmamolls.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

University of Minnesota Provost with an after 5pm, during Spring Break, newsletter reminding us that our public research university has an arbitrary limit in scope. provost.umn.edu/about-evpp/c... My thoughts as a research librarian at UMN:

Institutional neutrality at the U of M
Institutional neutrality is the idea that higher education institutions should not take official stances on social or political issues that do not affect its core mission. Read about the history of institutional neutrality and why so many institutions are adopting it now.

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

sites.google.com/view/voiceso... archives.hclib.org/repositories...

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Still warming up since returning from the protest on Veterans Memorial Bridge between Fargo and Moorhead today. Organizer who came by counting people with a clicker told me I was number 584!

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

New issue of Critcatenate now available, featuring news about critical #cataloging. cataloginglab.org/2025/11/30/c... #critcat Metadata & cataloging librarians, please consider taking the surveys shared to help your colleagues! 📚

cataloginglab.org

Critcatenate: #critcat in November 2025 – Cataloging Lab

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Lady Froldmagen (she/her) @zinelib.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Here's Sandy Berman's whole self-interview lowereastsidelibrarian.info/interviews/s... He starts with "Q: Should ALA really be celebrating its 150th anniversary?" "A: No. Instead, it should be devoting its energy and resources to atoning for its checkered history" and continues in that vein.

lowereastsidelibrarian.info

ALA at 150: An Interview with (and by) Sanford Berman | Lower East Side Librarian

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

The American Library Association Core Subject Analysis Committee's Working Group on Local Headings seeks to survey libraries, archives, museums and associated institutions about their involvement in the work of revising subjects, genres, and other authority data in their local catalogs.

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Omar Fateh @omarfatehmn.com · 09/09/2025

When the right to organize is under attack at the federal level, it is more important than ever to fight for and to protect that right with every tool at our disposal. We all deserve dignity and respect in our workplace. I was proud to join @seiumn.bsky.social today. kstp.com/kstp-news/to...

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

I left some rambling comments on the Draft PCC Guiding Principles for Use of AI and Machine Learning Technologies in Cataloging and Metadata Work. (Find the link in the "what's new" section wiki.lyrasis.org/display/PFCC...) Encourage other #cataloging folks to give feedback; deadline: August 8th.

Four paragraphs of text (part 1 of 2).

This document is much better than other documents relating to the adoption of AI that I've read. I appreciate that ethical aspects are included, but most are relegated to the end, and not incorporated within the other principles. What I see lacking is consideration about when AI should be used, and when librarians should NOT use it. Ok, so AI should "improve access and discovery," yes, but how do we weigh that against pollution necessitated by AI-processing data centers? That's happening RIGHT NOW, in communities around the U.S. & the world, not in some theoretical place/time.

Why make a list of what catalogers are useful for, when you could instead focus on the limited aspects that AI is useful for?

What about labor concerns? Where is the principle that says that increased efficiency is not an excuse for laying off workers?

It is absolutely impossible to ensure that "a record labelled as PCC does not vary in quality depending on whether AI was used." There will ALWAYS be a tradeoff in quality. We may judge that that tradeoff is worthwhile, based on limited resources and the capacity for machine learning to do more work in a shorter amount of time, but you CAN NOT ensure the same quality from AI that you can from an experienced cataloger. It's irresponsible to say that within these principles.

Another four paragraphs of text (2 of 2).

As a PCC member, I absolutely DO NOT believe that catalogers have a role in "testing, training, and providing feedback for AI features and tools." Vendors should be paying their employees to do that!! How is that our job to do that work for free?? Why have we accepted that our students and faculty are the guinea pigs to role out inferior products??

I take issue with the idea that AI "may be incorrect, biased, or incomplete." It, by design, is always limited! This stuff was trained on Reddit, folks. It WILL be incomplete, and it WILL have errors, and it WILL be biased.

I understand that this short document can't list all the harms, and that your deliverables are limited in scope to result in this rather anodyne document. But we have to take these harms seriously, and incorporate them into all parts of the document, not shunt them into an "oh, yeah, by the way, this stuff's 100% toxic for all living things, too bad!" end section.

I appreciate your efforts and look forward to a future draft. Thanks for your consideration.

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Keith Edwards @keithedwards.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

This is why it’s ok to compare you to nazis btw

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

New blog post on ACRLog, "AI Refusal in Libraries: A Starter Guide." Got a lot of comments during a recent presentation that people hadn't heard of the concept of AI refusal, so here's some places to start. 📚 acrlog.org/2025/06/11/a...

acrlog.org

AI Refusal in Libraries: A Starter Guide - ACRLog

This week I was on a panel at the Generative AI in Libraries (GAIL) virtual conference. Along with my fellow panelists Andrea Baer and Emily Zerrenner, I joined moderator Sarah Appedu to discuss the c...

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

I am quite psyched to have two poems in the new issue (#49) of Meridian. (I don't think they are on BlueSky or I'd tag them...) www.readmeridian.org/view/49/#pag....

text of poem "I am Not Famous Anymore" (go to link to read it!)

text of "At the Polarity Hotel" (go to link to read it!)

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 25/03/2025

Not to pile on, but every 'c' in 'Pacific Ocean' is pronounced differently.

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Reposting to bring this to the attention to various library friends who I think would appreciate it-- a great summary of the dilemma, and the list of "green flags" is awesome!

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I'm psyched to have three poems in the latest (No. 15, Winter 2024) issue of Exacting Clam (@exactingclam.bsky.social), including one I wrote about my niece (growing up and) learning to drive. **sniff**

Cover image of Winter 2024 of Exacting Clam

page 1 of poem (I can't put in the whole text here, but message me if you'd like to receive it by email)

page 2 of poem (I can't put in the whole text here, but message me if you'd like to receive it by email)

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

📣 New zine!! "A Librarian Against AI; or, I Think AI Should Leave" is a 40-page zine about why we should think twice about using & supporting generative AI. violetbfox.info/against-ai/ #noAI #zines

Cover of the zine "A Librarian Against AI; or, I Think AI Should Leave", featuring a design of bold color blocks inspired by the opening titles of the TV show "I Think You Should Leave"

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 30/12/2023

I'm thrilled that my poem "Ways to Gauge How Windy It Is" appears in the new issue (#26) of @JetFuelReview. Whee! www.jetfuelreview.com/tina-gross-f...

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 05/12/2023

I highly recommend this recent talk (hosted by @Librarians2Pal) with Sim Kern and Rashid Khalidi: youtube.com/live/Y9z6SdKDv… #GreatBookRobbery

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 05/12/2023

I actually had not realized before watching this film that Palestinian prisoners (like Mohammed Batrawi) were forced to do this "work." #GreatBookRobbery

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an appliance is making a weird noise that isn't on youtube @jesseltaylor.bsky.social · 30/11/2023

Before you say something mean about Henry Kissinger, take a breath and see if you can think of something meaner

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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

Please join @aboutness.bsky.social & me on Mon Dec 4th for a watchalong of The Great Book Robbery (2012), a documentary about the 70,000 Palestinian books that were looted during the Nakba in 1948. The 57-minute film is available free at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdtCrCsKlw0 #GreatBookRobbery

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Tina @aboutness.bsky.social · 22/09/2023

Delighted as heck to have three poems in the second issue of Lost Pilots @lostpilotslit !! Including a typographical #oulipo one, beloved nerds.

photo of poem "nowness moves on" (can't put the whole poem in alt text, but if you contact me I'll send it to you!)

photo of poems "Casual Causal" and "Birds Are So Real" (can't put the whole poems in alt text, but if you contact me I'll send them to you!)

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