Jo Simons (she/her)

Watched Orwell: 2+2=5 at the #NZIFF last week here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Absolutely engrossing, if unsurprisingly a bit depressing. Great documentary.

The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched

[Blogged] The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search - From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched
aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow... - milking this again

"PhD-level experts in your back pocket" is a completely nonsensical description of AI but a pretty good description of social media if you follow the right people

Hoar frost on a spider's web, 1912

Photo: NZ Graphic; kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/coll...

In your face, eighth most beautiful library in the world!

Our new piece is out in @nature.com big mihi to all my co-authors it was a pleasure to work with you on this @lanipai.bsky.social @niiyokamigaabaw.bsky.social @napaaqtuk.bsky.social @sereananaepi.bsky.social @1nativesoilnerd.bsky.social Bradley Moggridge and Brittany Kamai
tinyurl.com/yc4y9kfk

Little known local government fact - the amazing @richardhills.bsky.social does all his social media himself, organises his own election campaign, and is out there today putting his signs up himself today with his husband. Give them a friendly toot if you see them around the Shore. He’s a legend.

What leaving academia taught me about the real value of funding basic research I was meaning to write this post after cuts to the Marsden Fund last December, but I missed the moment. Sadly, the further cuts announced this week have given me another chance to say a few things….

Scientists and the government want to boost the economic contribution of science. The founder of a promising science startup explains how the government is doing it 100% the wrong way round.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-l...

Did Samuel Johnson anticipate ChatGPT? 🤔 "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure"

I'm very fucking tired of Aotearoa NZ forgetting that it was happily living life as normal (excepting border restrictions), covid-free, whilst folk like my mum were isolated in their homes in the UK, hearing about 1000s of deaths, and growing cancers because they couldn't get to see a doctor.

Fascists hate art because it allows people to experience the power of a fantasy: that things are not what they seem, that other people experience things the way you do, that a better world is possible. Imagination is a dangerous weapon when your main tactic is "because I said so"

A four panel comic titled Bird Sounds. In panel 1, labeled thrush, a wood thrush sings its beautiful eeohlay song against a forest background. In panel 2, labeled wren, a winter wren delicately sings tweedly tweedly tweedly. In panel 3, labeled warbler, a yellow warbler delicately sings sweet sweet. In panel 4, labeled heron in a death metal font, a heron screams KRAAGH against a background of fire.

Bird sounds.

illustration of a cat riding on a mini boat strapped to the back of a swimming crocodile. They are swimming under some arches and columns that were built over a now flooded ground.

swimmy

its crazy how dominant germany was in science (especially chemistry) in the 19th century, it was basically the international language for scientists, people came from all over the world to train at heidelberg etc, and then....

A Librarian’s Guide to AI in Academic Search Tools As Katina covers the integration of AI into academic search tools and other library products, this guide offers useful background information on the technology.

A Librarian’s Guide to AI in Academic Search Tools katinamagazine.org/content/arti... - I was asked to write this rather than bloat out a review article I was doing for Katina. I struggled a lot with this, trying to keep it concise, vs technically accurate while handicaped by my limited knowledge

Suppose it were a woman MP who was caught on camera, maggoted and ranting at an event.

She'd be gearing up for a fortnight-long news cycle in which she'd be forced to admit having an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, encouraged to divulge personal information, and made to apologise repeatedly.

Roses are redde
Noble are the manatees
Yf we wante a bettir future
Teach artes & humanityes

This is the sort of thing I trained for (used to work with neural networks!).

An illustration of a man riding a horse while blowing a horn, with a yellow sun above. The illustration is laid over faded text on a blue backdrop.

You can now access a beta version of the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC).

A bibliography of about 500,000 records, the ESTC aims to record every distinct letterpress item produced before 1801 in the English-speaking world.

Explore the catalogue: datb.cerl.org/estc/

Oh hey, it’s just a video of me, making lampshades for a customer from fabric that I also designed myself.

This customer liked the kākāriki design so much they ordered 3 of them!

Would you like me to make you one (or more)? Here’s where you can order online! www.thesewphist.com/product-cate...

Doodle of an orange cat munching on a potted plant.

Mmmm forbidden snack

YouTube video by PyCon US Keynote Speaker - Cory Doctorow

Excellent #keynote from @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy from @pycon.us last week - "we must build the new good internet". Cory Doctorow advocates for real regulatory settings that dissuade the funnelling of technological benefits from consumers to shareholders.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydVm...

Considering pay inequity is such a big contributor to the fact that women have less money to retire on makes the drop in govt KiwiSaver contribution a double kick in the teeth for women

Every time the PM says his Govt is going to make pay equity “more affordable” he is just saying they want to keep underpaying the people whose work has been undervalued due to gender discrimination.

#nzpol

Lost for words when having to describe a pillock Sir Ian Taylor discusses rushed legislation, forgotten women and the triumphant return of the word "pillock". I recently finished reading a book...

Lol, Sir Ian Taylor goes for that Pillock pushing hateful ideology & policy on the rest of NZ.

www.odt.co.nz/opinion/lost...

Redefining the university library for 2025 and beyond Through the advent of the internet, digitisation and artificial intelligence, libraries’ purpose in supporting their users’ success remains unchanged. So, how can academic libraries transform their se...

"From caretakers of physical collections and archives to digital curators."

Redefining the university library for 2025 and beyond
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/redef...

#AcademicLibraries #ResearchSupport #StudentSuccess

Rules is rules.

Very nice. More details compared to the last time I looked at it. It focuses more on general web search Google, Perplexity, ChatGPT than what I focus on ‐ academic search + specialised index but still a fair and accessible representation of the issues.

A great little read about the huge benefits of moderate speeds… www.bikeauckland.org.nz/the-speed-ru...

Paying women less won't help the economy, stupid From Auckland University - Opinion: National positions itself as a party committed to strengthening our economy. Is compensating women less than men for the same and/or comparable work a way to do tha...

#nzpol

Paying women less won't help the economy, stupid newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/10/p...