*Ahem*
#Librarians
www.library.illinois.edu/ala/2014/04/...

Again, it's not just that it is targeting MI, but Harmeet is targeting Wayne (Detroit and Dearborn) and not Oakland or Antrim, where there were criminal shenanigans by Trumpsters in 2020 or Washtenaw, where a non-citizen did unwittingly vote in 2024 (but got prosecuted after the fact).

Bessent quips about his reported threat to punch Pulte in the face: Treasury secretaries 'have a history of dueling' Bessent's remarks come after recent stories detailed a series of fiery confrontations between him and other Trump allies.

Ironically, he is perhaps the most pugilistic of the current cabinet: www.cnbc.com/2025/09/16/b...

I've genuinely contemplated using season 1 or 3 (on the Big Dig and the New England fishing industry, respectively) as the basis for a semester-long policy process class.

(no shade towards season 2, on the Massachusetts state lottery; everyone should listen to that one too!)

Power without accountability: The Palantir manifesto The problems with our tech philosopher kings

New, from me: Take the Palantir manifesto seriously, if not literally.
It reveals that our tech philosopher kings want public money, but without public accountability. This creates a dilemma for governments unaligned with its techno-fascist vision. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/palantir-w...

A graphic with a green background and a on which is written 'London Open Science & Scholarship Festival, 20-24 April 2026' At the bottom of the image are 13 logos of various libraries, institutions and university presses in London.

#LDNOpenFest26 begins today!💡

Share insights and follow along using the hashtag above.

Registrations for today's sessions have closed, but you can still register for the brilliant array planned for the rest of the week lnkd.in/eeXSqw6d

Friends, this week is #nationallibraryweek and the ALA is doing a massive matching campaign. I have an ALA fundraising print on banned books, & if you're in a position to support, I will make sure to relay the donation *this* week to maximize your generosity: hotbrownpress.etsy.com/listing/4380...

Yeah, leaving a 30 minutes (or more) buffer is the only way to keep your sanity when you're leaving ATL. [As an aside, I don't get how sanguine some folks seem to be about missing a flight? Outside of the busiest routes, that often means delaying your trip by at least a day...]

It is *also* why the Court has been historically cautious about throwing out precedents from previous courts (especially recent ones). If the most recent Court doesn't have to defer to Court decisions, why should anyone else?

If the Court is in *fact* acting as a superlegislative body, then it needs on some level to be subject to democratic control. New Presidents should get new courts (and maybe new Congresses should as well?)

For the Monday crowd: please circulate this widely.

It may be hard to find the perfect candidate (an experienced data engineer/architect generalist with an interest in cultural heritage willing to take a state salary), but it's a great group/mission/city and we know the right person is out there.

AI Toolkit for Archives - TrustArchives.org Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how audiovisual materials are created, reused, and interpreted. For archives, libraries, and cultural heritage organizations, these changes rais...

Trust in Archives Initiative has just released the initial version of its much-anticipated Toolkit. It helps archives navigate the evolving landscape of #GenAI and the urgent questions it raises for the heritage sector. #GLAMS

There's always a powerful thirst for new training data for #GenAI models! [*ducks*]

JFC. Do not let AI anywhere near your school library! You do not need AI to set up a school library. Just fucking hire a librarian. We won't sell off your child's private data to the highest bidder.

maybe if you hadn't tried to balance the server humors by bleeding them, in the first place...

The other point is that we have these systems that present results in the form of sorted lists. This is *great* for finding know items, but it pretty...random when it comes to exploratory searching..

I think that this point by @aarontay.bsky.social is an important one that gets at a number of different issues. First, testing search effectiveness is a *really* difficult task, and the some methods that one might turn to because they are easy to do might not be ultimately useful.

Connie Ballmer Gives $80 Million to NPR Amid Trump Funding Cuts A pair of donors is giving National Public Radio $113 million to invest in its long-term infrastructure as the media network grapples with funding cuts from the Trump administration.

Connie Ballmer, a one-time NPR foundation trustee and the wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, is donating $80 million in a record gift from a living donor, the news organization said Thursday in a statement

You Know We're Living in the Computer Age? Computer History According to Law & Order Rhizome champions born-digital art and culture through commissions, exhibitions, scholarship, and digital preservation.

rhizome.org/editorial/20...

BtB Retreat 2026 - Santa Marta, Colombia Spend five days in the lush and bird-filled jungle of Santa Marta, Colombia with Jer Thorp and a small group of curious bird + data + art enthusiasts. We'll wander the forest with local guides, learn ...

Last year I convened a group of people at a jungle lodge in Colombia to immerse ourselves in nature, to slow down, and to think about the ways data and story might be grounded in place.

It was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done... so I'm doing it again!

#MedLibs

Unsure whether I should learn the Welsh, Scottish or Irish methods of thatching...

#MedLibs

I honestly have no idea if this is a Dream Gig or Nightmare Fuel. Gonna need some #Archives or #DigiPres folks to weigh in...

As Athens fixture David Lowery noted at the #OtherPlace, there is a long and storied history of using the power of publicity in the music market...

Have they they tried asking Grok how to respond most effectively?

Curious about how books are actually made? Learn more about what happens after an author submits a manuscript for publication on our website:

www.ugapress.org/current-authors/from-man...

If I were a man of faith I might wonder if God was trying to tell me something.

On an unrelated note, kudos to the @financialtimes.com for including the link to the actual study as published in Jama Open! This happens a lot less often than you would think when studies get reported on in the generalist press...

An interesting study, not least because there is ample reason to believe that at least some version of the vignettes from the "January 2025 update of the MSD Manual (professional version, Merck Sharp & Dohme) web-based educational modules" were already in the training sets for these models...