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Sarah Polkinghorne

@sarahpolk.bsky.social
783 followers 346 following 401 posts

Libraries, info sci, qual research, science, film, art. Knit fast; lift heavy. www.sarahpolkinghorne.ca

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Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever
A tweet by SarahStarberry that says "oh god read the vertical axis" on top of a chart measuring AI models' release dates and model numbers rather than any real capabilities
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Librarianship.ca @librarianshipca.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Library 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.ca
Library and Archives Canada adds “Ontario, Lake (N.Y. and Ont.)” to Canadian Subject Headings - news
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
FWIW 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."
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. many more here: www.newscientist.com/author/tom-gauld/
Image: A graph with lots of red dots clustered together in a curve. The are all looking upwards at a single red dot wearing sunglasses. 

Caption: Mike was an outlier and would probably be excluded from the study, but all the other data points secretly thought he was really cool.
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Dr SpookyGoth @ghostingdani.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Using generative AI means that you can't answer the most basic element of research, which is "where did you get this information?"
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Lembas Eater @waybread.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The 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.
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e.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!"
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Matthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
If you genuinely believe that libraries negatively impact book sales, I don't even know what to say to you.
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Until 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.
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
From 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."
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Robert Stribley @stribs.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Remember 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?
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
They’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.gov
Mayor Mamdani and Chancellor Samuels Put Students First with Nation’s Broadest Generative AI Moratorium in Schools
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Pile Of Garbage @pileofgarbage.net · 01/09/2026
I love how Werner Herzog is ALWAYS like this:
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I 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.com
Librarians 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.
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Roopika Risam @roopikarisam.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Of 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.
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Librarian here to add that policing the definition of reading is verrrry passé.
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Martin 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.
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merr-itt came from outer space @merrittk.com · 17/08/2026
more 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
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Nothing says quality research like SEOmaxxing for the bots.
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Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 05/08/2026
Related reading re agnotology and cognitive surrender (different field, same base concept): papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
AI Agnotology, Cognitive Surrender, and Policing Accountability
The 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
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
This is fantastic news. Congratulations all and looking forward to following your work!
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Dr 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
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Samuel Moore @samuelmoore.org · 19/07/2026
It'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.
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
The 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/
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This 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:
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Marielle Hellraiser 💀 @mags.colvett.online · 16/07/2026
Raffi you’re so right
Threads post from raffi_music:
stay creative. after Baby Beluga, I didn't worry about how can I top that.. just kept growing as a person and musically. 14 years later, Bananaphone!
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I'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.org
Too much of a good thing? Exploring experiences of obsession with self-monitoring technology
Self-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...
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Pestpruf @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)
Image of a copy of the split vinyl 12” single featuring Coloured Stone’s This Land, Midnight Oil’s The Dead Heart, & Warumpi Band’s Blackfella/Whitefella, published in July 1986.
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Matthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
evergreen
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Amalia 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.
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Left Wexit @iosegun.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Academics so love you to read their stuff you could probably get them to pay you $35 instead
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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 10/07/2026
Please 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.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Oh 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.
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Ask how many more shifts they’d let a surgeon work after a week in which they severely harmed 12-15% of their patients
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AlgorithmWatch @algorithmwatch.org · 24/06/2026
An 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.org
Scored and Silenced: How Algorithmic Systems Govern Kenya’s Content Moderators - AlgorithmWatch
An exclusive survey of AI workers in Kenya reveals how automated management affects their livelihoods. Unions and advocacy groups are beginning to fight back.
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Samuel Moore @samuelmoore.org · 23/06/2026
Quick someone tell the philosophers about LOCKSS AND CLOCKSS
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Muscle Distribution @muscledistribution.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
We’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
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MisterJayEm @misterjayem.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Thomas House of Dublin exhibiting the pro-human solidarity that all of us should demonstrate.
SO FOR THE FUTURE (LITERALLY) WE'RE NOT ACCEPTING AI POSTERS OR FLYERS FOR THE PUB.

We're right next to Ireland's biggest Art College, lads. It's not a good look.

WE UNDERSTAND BANDS CAN BE SKINT BUT RELYING ON SOME EARTH KILLING APP FROM SOME PAEDO ISLAND BILLIONAIRE IS NOT THE WAY. WE GOT BY WITHOUT IT AND WE'LL GET BY AGAIN.

IF YOU'RE STUCK WE'LL HELP. (YES IT HAS BEEN USED HERE BEFORE BUT CONSIDER THIS THE START OF THE END OF IT.)

THANKS, HUMANS.
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Jon Bois @jonbois.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
me 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
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Good 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.com
Australia has already banned social media for under 16s – here’s what the UK can learn from the experience
Since its launch on 10 December 2025, Australian media has been filled with stories of children remaining on social media platforms.
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Tim R @elibtronic.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Before 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 / 2
chronicle.com
A 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...
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Internet 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
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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 14/06/2026
I 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
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Krista Godfrey @weelibrarian.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Big 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.ca
Strategic Communications and Outreach Librarian | The Partnership Job Board
Situated 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...
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 12/06/2026
llms don't and can't love, hate, feel, care, think, imagine, dream, hope, fear, believe, reflect, aspire, wonder, empathize,... fix your your anthropomorphising language
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Nicole Pagowsky, Ph.D. @nope4evr.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Materializations 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 value
repository.arizona.edu
Materializations of the Value Gaze: A Poststructural Analysis of Academic Library Instruction Value Discourse in Policy and Practice
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Sarah Polkinghorne @sarahpolk.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Great 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.
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