Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneTim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/10/2026This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever 41119573108
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneLibrarianship.ca @librarianshipca.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Library and Archives Canada adds “Ontario, Lake (N.Y. and Ont.)” to Canadian Subject Headings librarianship.ca/news/lac-lak... LAC last week announced the addition of a new Canadian Subject Heading (CSH) for Lake Ontario to replace the Library of Congress’ updated subject heading for the lake.librarianship.caLibrary and Archives Canada adds “Ontario, Lake (N.Y. and Ont.)” to Canadian Subject Headings - newsHome 096
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026FWIW Canadian librarians have been pushing back against Springer Nature on this issue for many months now. I always appreciate faculty support for libraries. It'd be great if they would also call in their own colleagues -- in this case, the researchers agreeing to stamp their names on slop "books." 067
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneTom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. many more here: www.newscientist.com/author/tom-gauld/ 332878739
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneDr SpookyGoth @ghostingdani.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Using generative AI means that you can't answer the most basic element of research, which is "where did you get this information?" 48933
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneLembas Eater @waybread.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The problem with education is that it's a solved problem. Students need small classes, individual attention, lots of writing, lots of feedback, access to a well-stocked library, time to think, and time to talk with their peers. We just don't like the answer, so we keep trying to do other stuff. 10409139
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghornee.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 17/09/2026"but as the map recursively improves, eventually it becomes..." *clicks to final slide in the pitch deck* "...the territory!" 620446
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMatthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026If you genuinely believe that libraries negatively impact book sales, I don't even know what to say to you. 39811129
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Until recently, I'd been imagining (hoping) that librarians had left CRAAP behind for good. This paper is very interesting. For me, the conceptual inadequacy of CRAAP is a deal-breaker, end of. But Caitlin argues that more than anything, it's the one-shot format that fails us. 040
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneBen Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 28/08/2026From journal editing experience, LLMs appear to be *undoing* the good research of non-English speaking scholars. You can see signs of a solid study in a manuscript that chat or claude et al - used for "editing only" - have otherwise *wrecked*. I keep suggesting they try again without AI "editing." 319061
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneRobert Stribley @stribs.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Remember when Aaron Swartz was facing 13 federal felony counts and up to 35 years in prison for downloading journal articles and consequently took his own life? 215270
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 03/09/2026They’ll keep telling us it’s inevitable but NYC and other large school systems are starting to say no to AI, recognizing it’s not a legitimate tool for k-12 learning. Even some universities are putting their foot down, like U Chicago (and some law schools) www.nyc.gov/mayors-offic...nyc.govMayor Mamdani and Chancellor Samuels Put Students First with Nation’s Broadest Generative AI Moratorium in Schools 261168310
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghornePile Of Garbage @pileofgarbage.net · 01/09/2026I love how Werner Herzog is ALWAYS like this: 10869471793
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 31/08/2026I published a weeding explainer a couple of years ago, with @lisagiven.bsky.social. Remember, "weeding a book is not censoring a book." Feel free to share if it helps. theconversation.com/librarians-h...theconversation.comLibrarians have good reasons to ‘weed’ books from their shelves. Why is book removal so controversial?Yes, books are at the heart of libraries. However, books are not the only things that matter in libraries. 052
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneRoopika Risam @roopikarisam.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Of all the academic freedom challenges available to choose from in the year of our lord 2026, imagine being the 100s of people who say, right, let’s go with debunked 19th c. race science as retold by a philosopher. 39731
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Librarian here to add that policing the definition of reading is verrrry passé. 1275
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMartin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 18/08/2026(But first: please do work out a sustainability model and a transition of power/governance system, learn about digital preservation and ensure you have policies in place, and get advice from others who have gone before. 33218
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghornemerr-itt came from outer space @merrittk.com · 17/08/2026more places should have artists-in-residence. like there should be a residency where you live on a particular train for a month. there should be an oil rig residency, an arctic research station residency. maybe a residency at a zoo 201514238
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneSonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Nothing says quality research like SEOmaxxing for the bots. 5548
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneJeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 05/08/2026Related reading re agnotology and cognitive surrender (different field, same base concept): papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....papers.ssrn.comAI Agnotology, Cognitive Surrender, and Policing AccountabilityThe use of AI tools tends to obfuscate rather than illuminate knowledge about the problems we task them to solve, encourages users to defer to the tool as a heu 0145
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026This is fantastic news. Congratulations all and looking forward to following your work! 021
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneDr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 18/07/2026"don't cite what you haven't read" remains the basic entry level academic responsibility; & if your discpline "doesn't have that as a norm" then sorry, your discipline needs reforming for this new world. Citations are structural parts of trust and knowledge building, not trinkets or optional extras 201578552
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneSamuel Moore @samuelmoore.org · 19/07/2026It's fine to be sceptical about the ability of AI but you have to admit it's really good at adding a ton of busywork to the already stretched academic publishing system. 083
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneBen Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 18/07/2026The anatomy of an AI-supported academic article is becoming more apparent. I desk reviewed ~70 manuscripts this week for our journal. Reckon 20ish had significant AI assistance. On top of hundreds of others recently I'm starting to see patterns. Are other editors are seeing the same or similar? 1/ 28932418
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneEmily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 17/07/2026This is the weirdest request for input that I've seen in a while. It's almost like the ACM is sitting at the table with the "change my mind" sign. So, let's do it. Short thread with the input I gave them: 8229112
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMarielle Hellraiser 💀 @mags.colvett.online · 16/07/2026Raffi you’re so right 3255841096
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 16/07/2026I'm so happy to share this paper, wonderful work by Jess Wilson (now in a PhD @deakinuniversity.bsky.social). Congrats Jess and @danachatter.bsky.social! 🎉 Jess's study is significant in how it complicates dominant assumptions in two literatures: tech and psychology. doi.org/10.1080/0144...doi.orgToo much of a good thing? Exploring experiences of obsession with self-monitoring technologySelf-monitoring technology (SMT) – smartphone apps and wearable devices used to monitor bodily functions and activities – are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. SMTs are promoted for encouraging hea... 011
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghornePestpruf @pestpruf.bsky.social · 16/07/2026“We don’t serve your country, don’t serve your king… We carry in our hearts the true country; and that cannot be stolen” (soundtrack for the midweek dance party; youtu.be/qkYLmuxXmE0) 064
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneAmalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 13/07/2026📢 Once more for the people in the back: - Most [more than 95%] of archives have not been digitized. - Most of humanity's knowledge and memory is *not* reachable by LLMs. - Believing that AI can provid you with comprehensive, definitive, "intelligent" results is folly. 5544291532
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneLeft Wexit @iosegun.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Academics so love you to read their stuff you could probably get them to pay you $35 instead 0194
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneOlivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 10/07/2026Please consider not saying that some AI models or some statistical models are good, useful, beneficial, whatever else positive, in science if it's not your research area. It's ok not to know things. It's ok not to both side things. It's ok to ask colleagues who are experts. 13399112
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneEmily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Oh no. No no no no. GenAI is absolutely NOT about access to information. It is about despoiling our information ecosystem. And the text extruded from chatbots is absolutely NOT expression, since no one is expressing themselves there. 11451140
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneShannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Ask how many more shifts they’d let a surgeon work after a week in which they severely harmed 12-15% of their patients 6539226
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneAlgorithmWatch @algorithmwatch.org · 24/06/2026An exclusive survey of AI workers in Kenya reveals how automated management affects their livelihoods. Workers testify of a regime of entrapment, where firms promise tech jobs but the reality are zero-hour contracts, gruesome content and untenable work rhythms. algorithmwatch.org/en/scored-an...algorithmwatch.orgScored and Silenced: How Algorithmic Systems Govern Kenya’s Content Moderators - AlgorithmWatchAn exclusive survey of AI workers in Kenya reveals how automated management affects their livelihoods. Unions and advocacy groups are beginning to fight back. 066
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneSamuel Moore @samuelmoore.org · 23/06/2026Quick someone tell the philosophers about LOCKSS AND CLOCKSS 193
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMuscle Distribution @muscledistribution.bsky.social · 22/06/2026We’re restoring four underseen and largely unavailable films, including two that have been out of circulation for decades and never released on home video — and we’re looking for your support. Check out the @kickstarter.com campaign here: www.muscle-distribution.com/kickstarter 4454247
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMisterJayEm @misterjayem.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Thomas House of Dublin exhibiting the pro-human solidarity that all of us should demonstrate. 491543221
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneJon Bois @jonbois.bsky.social · 18/06/2026me watching dredd (2012) the first time: this is awesome me watching dredd (2012) the second time: this is awesome me watching dredd (2012) the third time: this is awesome 663516482
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Good round-up here by @lisagiven.bsky.social, re: the widely-predicted shortcomings of Australia's youth social media ban. "I don’t believe bans are the answer. Technology companies need to be held to account and required to block harmful content" theconversation.com/australia-ha...theconversation.comAustralia has already banned social media for under 16s – here’s what the UK can learn from the experienceSince its launch on 10 December 2025, Australian media has been filled with stories of children remaining on social media platforms. 011
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneTim R @elibtronic.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Before you get warm feelings about this story, keep in mind it was **labour and contract protections** that got these people back. Not some grand realization that Librarianship is necessary. Get unionized people. 1 / 2chronicle.comA Regional College Laid Off All Its Librarians in 2024. Now It Has to Hire Them Back.Western Illinois University claimed the library was not an academic program when it essentially was, an arbitrator has ruled, and therefore failed to follow the correct process for eliminating the job... 3623251
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneInternet Archive @archive.org · 14/06/2026🧶 Today is World Wide Knit in Public Day 🌍 a reminder that preservation is not passive, it's made a stitch at a time. Check out Mlle. Riego de la Branchardière’s THE KNITTING BOOK (1848), part of our Victorian Knitting Manuals collection 👉 archive.org/details/krl0... #WWKIPDay #Knitting 327273
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneMaria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 14/06/2026I edit a lot of different writers all of them highly skilled and no two wield the blade the same way. They're like lightsabers basically 19727
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneKrista Godfrey @weelibrarian.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Big news folks! We're hiring not 1 but 2 new positions! Strategic Communications & Outreach Librarian https:// partnershipjobs.ca/job/strategic-communications-and-outreach-librarian/ and Assistant Director for Kula partnershipjobs.ca/job/assistan...partnershipjobs.caStrategic Communications and Outreach Librarian | The Partnership Job BoardSituated at the University of Victoria Libraries and Art Collections, on the territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓... 011
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneDr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 12/06/2026llms don't and can't love, hate, feel, care, think, imagine, dream, hope, fear, believe, reflect, aspire, wonder, empathize,... fix your your anthropomorphising language 4327105
Reposted by Sarah PolkinghorneNicole Pagowsky, Ph.D. @nope4evr.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Materializations of the Value Gaze: A Poststructural Analysis of Academic Library Instruction Value Discourse in Policy & Practice (dissertation) is now available to read repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150... keywords: critical policy studies; discourse analysis; library instruction; library valuerepository.arizona.eduMaterializations of the Value Gaze: A Poststructural Analysis of Academic Library Instruction Value Discourse in Policy and Practice 2145
Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Great news! Via Book Clubs for Inmates: "Today the Commissioner of Correctional Service Canada (CSC) announced an official rejection of the proposed budget cut that would eliminate federal librarian positions." Congratulations and thanks to the many people who organized opposition to this cut. 062