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Ed Sperr

@edsperr.bsky.social
358 followers 585 following 1.1K posts

Librarian/Developer Currently serving as a Systems and Discovery Librarian searchworkbench.info esperr.github.io/visualizingpubmed esperr.github.io/collection-view

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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 11/10/2026
Boston, Cleveland and New York City are combining housing complexes with public library branches in a bid to add affordable units and boost community services.
bloom.bg
A New Space for Affordable Homes: Above the Library
Several cities are looking combine apartment complexes with public library branches in a bid to add new housing units and boost community services.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Micah @rincewind.run · 10/10/2026
if your agents are going to commit crimes, you are legally responsible if you cannot figure out how to prevent your agents from doing crimes, you’re going to have to choose between releasing them and protecting yourself from criminal liability imo this would do more for “ai safety” than a sex cult
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Did they use a generated Matthew to initiate conversations with faculty to tell them how awesome their products are? I mean, that would be kinda flattering, no?
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Huge news for anyone involved with and #IP law... www.courthousenews.com/ai-training-...
courthousenews.com
AI training of copyrighted material not fair use: Third Circuit
Using someone else's "creative spark" to start a competing business runs afoul of copyright law, the panel found.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Kate Saylor @ksaylor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
How does a screen reader handle something like this? franktisellano.github.io/datatype/ #datalibs
franktisellano.github.io
Datatype — variable font that turns text into charts
An OpenType variable font that turns simple text expressions into inline charts. No JavaScript, no images — just type.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Princeton University Library seeks an accomplished, visionary, and collaborative leader to serve as the John T. Maltsberger III ’55 Associate University Librarian for Special Collections.”
jobs.diglib.org
John T. Maltsberger III '55 Associate University Librarian for Special Collections - CLIR+DLF Job Board
Princeton University Library (PUL) seeks an accomplished, visionary, and collaborative leader to serve as the John T. Maltsberger III ’55 Associate University Librarian for Special Collections (AUL SC...
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Incredible. First Secretary Mullin claimed that DHS had identified 15,903 noncitizens on Nevada’s voter roll. Then DHS officials told a skeptical Nevada, no no no, that’s just people we flagged. Here are the names of 185 people we KNOW aren’t citizens. All 185 were citizens. DHS got 100% wrong.
When the Department of Homeland Security sent Nevada a list of 185 names last month that it claimed identified noncitizens who had been improperly allowed to register to vote, state election officials got to work.
On Tuesday, the state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen.
"As for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens," Greg D. Ott, a deputy attorney general in Nevada, wrote, according to a copy of a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security officials obtained through open records requests.
"You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise."Following the meeting, Ms. Vogt sent a clarifying email to Nevada officials. "I also wanted to be sure I clarified that we did not reduce the 15,903 to 185," she wrote. "We've manually reviewed some of the 15,903 and confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens."
Now, Nevada officials are saying even that 185 number is wrong. They also took issue with a letter D.H.S. sent them in early September, in which the agency reiterated its initial claims about nearly 16,000 noncitizens on the rolls and pressured state officials to review each case in a letter to Nevada officials in early September.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Carrie Price @carrieprice.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Has any #medlibs used PubMed's new Linked Discoveries tool? www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbul... It looks promising! #pubmed
nlm.nih.gov
Introducing Linked Discoveries™!. NLM Technical Bulletin. 2026 Sep–Oct
Linked Discoveries is an experimental pilot resource developed by NLM that helps users explore how articles with PubMed abstracts connect to the surrounding literature.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 24/09/2026
Just when I think I can’t hate OpenAI and Sam Altman any more, new details come out about how ChatGPT helped a shooter plan one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history in Tumbler Ridge, BC. OpenAI made an explicit decision not to report the user to authorities.
motherjones.com
ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals
OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
All good points raised below. I would *also* be concerned about access going forward -- how 'free' are some of these resources going to be once the market consolidation process is done?
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Kate Saylor @ksaylor.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
#medlibs U-M Taubman Health Sciences Library's Systematic Reviews Workshop will be in Ann Arbor on 4/14-4/15/27. Complete the registration lottery form by 9/20/26 at 11:59pm (eastern). We will randomly select participants via lottery. umich.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
umich.qualtrics.com
Survey SR Workshop
Qualtrics sophisticated online survey software solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite and get a free account today.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If we could figure out a way to make tokens require benefits, this would be a lot easier for employers to actually do the math...
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Also interesting that he's comfortable calling *this* conflict a "War" even though it was just as non-sanctioned by Congress as the current war in Iran...
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
To be fair, there is a fair amount of Gender bs mixed in (which always helps spark discussion...)
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Digital Public Library of America @dpla.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
∙ Keeping Online Collections Online: Automated Traffic and Site Reliability, Oct. 1 We'll share insights from our own recent efforts keeping our catalog online under sustained bot pressure. ∙ Get to Know DPLA Hubs, Oct. 22 Ever wonder what other DPLA hubs are up to? We'll showcase several members.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Epoch Times? Though the other one sounds like more fun...
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Fifteen years ago I wrote about my work on the algorithm that helped to place the names on the 9/11 memorial. "In the days and months that I worked on the arrangement algorithm and the placement tool, I found myself frequently speaking these names out loud." blprnt.medium.com/all-the-name...
blprnt.medium.com
All The Names: Algorithmic Design and the 9/11 Memorial
This post was originally published on June 10, 2011 on my blog. Since that link is pretty hard to find, I’m re-publishing it here.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Amanda Wyatt! Visconti @literaturegeek.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Libraries, DH centers, other folks w/printer access 🖨️ who can make a stack of free-zine copies: there's a "take one!" poster you can print to go alongside them on our zine page! zinebakery.com//homemade-zi...
Zine cover for "DIY Web Archiving" poster with additional text allowing it to be posted over a stack of the zines encouraging taking some. "Things disappear* from the internet. (*sometimes, are deliberately disappeared)
Care about stuff on the web?
art zines fan fic
videos/tiktoks photo galleries social media hashtags departed loved ones' posts museum & archival materials
that we have always existed
what really happened
cultural memory
human rights
resistance
joy
*YOU* need to act to archive it.
Anyone can do it-this zine shows you how.
Free! Take a bunch! Take more & share with friends!
DIY Web Archiving Zine
Daedel, Kijas, Kreymer, Walsh, Visconti
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Craig Clunas @craigclunas.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Chair of Art History at Oxford advert is now live, and the important bit is this: "We welcome applications from candidates with expertise in any area of the History of Art". You've got till October 19 to apply or tell somebody else to. A wonderful job, go for it. my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com
Job Details
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The new CDC Director is indeed the one who ordered the count of measles deaths to be changed from 2 to 0. “The highly unusual decision departs from the agency’s practice of including such data from state health departments, which historically make the determinations”.
washingtonpost.com
New CDC director delays adding Pennsylvania deaths to measles data
The deaths have been at the heart of a bitter political dispute between RFK Jr. and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
We are usually doing well if we can convince them to scope their search narrowly enough.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
There are things that are crutches, but I don't think ATM is one of them. As much as we would like to *think* that the average doc or nurse might spend 3 minutes looking up the right MeSH term before they start a search, that just ain't happening (to say nothing about including synonyms)...
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
ATM is not always ideal for #MedLibs, but it is *absolutely* necessary for clinicians, other health care workers and folks off the street....
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Kate Saylor @ksaylor.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
NLM said that it is a known issue and they are working to fix it
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
(I mean, this should pop up on their radar automatically , but I remember when Best Match was busted for *several* days a few years back...)
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Hey @ksaylor.bsky.social (or any other #medlibs) -- is there an official place we can go to to verify that they are aware and working on this? I put in a message at the help desk, but not sure how often that gets checked...
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Kate Saylor @ksaylor.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
#medlibs is PubMed ATM not working?? Both of these should be mapping to "Smartphone"[Mesh] and "Aged"[Mesh]
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
It is *broken* broken right now...even "heart attack" does not get mapped to MeSH
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
UCLA Library @uclalibrary.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Remembering Dolly Parton (1946–2026) ❤️ While surveying A/V materials, Preservation & Conservation staff came across photos, recordings and promo materials from Parton’s work on "9 to 5" and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" in filmmaker Colin Higgins’ papers at UCLA Library Special Collections.
Dolly Parton and Colin Higgins on the set of "9 to 5."
Parton and Higgins on the set of "9 to 5."
Recording of “I Will Always Love You,” 1981, re-recorded for “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” 
 Invitation from Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds for the cast and crew of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” to attend a wrap party featuring live music.
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 25/08/2026
“The people have democratic principles on their lips, but can’t spare the effort to safeguard it! The collapse of a government is the sin of its rulers and leaders. The collapse of democratic rule is the sin of every citizen!”
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Carly Schanock @librarianscan-ock.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Has anyone else seen OpenEvidence is now free for verified medical librarians? #medlibs
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
USPS’s job is to deliver the mail even if some mailed ballots genuinely are fake, illegal, fraudulent, or otherwise invalid. It’s on election administrators to catch and reject those, and they do. USPS has no role in it and the very idea mucks up the systems we actually have for election integrity.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
You won't find them on many menus because they are a *terrible* fruit in commercial terms (short window of ripeness and ship poorly): www.npr.org/2024/10/04/n...
npr.org
Push to popularize pawpaw — the elusive fruit that grows on farms in 40 states
Pawpaw, a tropical-tasting fruit native to North America, has a sunny flavor and even its own song. Why don't more grocery stores sell it?
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
At my State Flagship campus we constantly have in groups of prospective students. These days, that also means a lot of parents as well (many of whom went to this same campus for their undergrad). It would be *fun* to organize the parents and take them Downtown for a club crawl while they're here...
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
merryn @merryn02.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Hi @mooregroup.bsky.social I've been chatting to Tomb of the Eagles/Bronze Age site Visitor Centre and I want to send them a link to your work but found that some links had photos but no words! The link in this article is an example, maybe it needs checking? mooregroup.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/t...
mooregroup.wordpress.com
Ale, brewing and fulacht fiadh: Archaeology Ireland
Please note that our blog has moved to our new website: This post and all subsequent comments can be viewed at:  Ale, brewing and fulacht fiadh Billy Quinn and Declan Moore of Moore Environmental a…
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Abigail Goben @hedgielib.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
📚 Great to see more support for research data accessibility! I've already asked @kbriney.bsky.social to make this guide available for copying on the Springshare back end so I can repurpose!
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Of course by the end where she talks about the metastasis of Trucks/Country/RushTok a tiny part of me wants to pull out the ol' "My 👏 CULTURE 👏 is 👏 not 👏 your 👏 COSTUME"
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Was just reminded of @amandamull.bsky.social's delightful piece www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
The United States Is Southern Now
From booming metros to culture-defining exports, the South has quietly become a demographic powerhouse and a battleground for the country’s identity.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Myth: The ghost in the Special Collections building will harvest your soul if you are in the building after 8pm. Fact: The ghost only harvests the souls of people who are rude to the Reference staff.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
One for the #medlibs: www.404media.co/company-offe...
404media.co
Company Offering ‘100% Human-Written, Never AI’ Medical Research Is Entirely AI
Research Gold's team of human methodologists are either AI generated or using the identity of real people without their permission
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Reposted by Ed Sperr
Matt @mattlibrarian.eurosky.social · 10/08/2026
Sharing my Dewey Decimal Classification Lego Card Game for any back to school Library folk who may need something new for library lessons this year teenlibrarian.co.uk/2014/09/09/d... 📚📜
Eight cards: four from the Dewey Deck featuring DDC numbers and four from the picture deck, featuring Lego minifigs
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Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Bernie Sanders once again meme asking AI experts to not moonlight as experts in pedagogy
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
For further listening: radiolab.org/podcast/baby...
radiolab.org
Baby Blue Blood Drive
Horseshoe crabs harbor a half-billion-year-old secret: a superpower that helped them outlive the dinosaurs. But it hasn’t just been saving their butts, it’s been saving ours too.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I think this search might be rage bait? The first phrase retrieves only one result! (that's a pretty good trick in itself). Also, it looks as if they're attempting a NOT NOT to exclude Animal only studies, but they made it a NOT AND instead, which in this context is meaningless...
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
When littles threaten to run away from home, you gotta let em try.
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Maybe nobody? I thought that many times these deals are inked at the pitch and excerpt stage...
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
And as noted by the original poster, the behavior of the agents here makes little sense: they are leaving huge amounts of money on the table, but they're taking the reputational hit anyway! They're publicly admitting that they can't recognize obvious slop when they see it...
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The idea that a *debut* *thriller* (that was somehow stretched into two books?) was getting a seven figure deal (after a 14 party bidding war?!?!) in the first place is the most confusing part of this story...
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Ed Sperr @edsperr.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
It's a little irritating that they're *charging* users of the service given the value of the real-world training data that these 'bots will be collecting...
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