Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves – In the Library with the Lead Pipe Vocational awe describes the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique. I argue that the concept of vocational awe directly correlates to problems within librarianship like burnout and low salary. This article aims to describe the phenomenon and its effects on library philosophies and practices so that they may be recognized and deconstructed.

In her honor, please read her original essay about the term she coined:"Vocational Awe". Take a moment today to reflect on your relationship to work, especially if you are in a so-called helping profession, regardless of field.

Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell Somewhat devastating news today from the CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they …

The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!

This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...

Update: In the past week we've learned ICE has secured property to build human warehouses in Merrimack, NH and Williamsport, MD *as well as* Surprise, AZ; Upper Bern, PA; and Tremont, PA.

Facts that bear repeating.

There's not even a capitalist rationale for stripping the wiring out of all our public goods. A cabal of freaks just decided to halt human progress after Nixon resigned

Canadian Company Cancels Sale of Virginia Warehouse to ICE

This is a fascinating story. ICE tried to buy a warehouse in VA from a Canadian company, to turn into a detention center. One of the company’s advertising partners basically told them that if they sold, they could kiss their ads goodbye.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...

The SAVE Act is far more dangerous than ICE trying to intimidate voters at the polls, and this might be a rare instance where I think "distraction" is exactly what they're going for: get a news cycle and a faux "retreat" while *legally* stripping millions of the right to vote.

i truly hate how much we are living in a bad script

MFA Boston Layoffs Thrust the Museum into a Credibility Crisis As names and positions of eliminated staff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston begin to roll in, here’s what we know so far.

SEVEN Curators?

www.bostonartreview.com/read/mfa-bos...

Now we can get official footage of every murder and kidnapping

How to Film ICE Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.

NEW: The @wired.com Security desk put together a comprehensive guide to filming ICE—with tips for reducing risk at the forefront. No paywall, but please consider subscribing to help find these kinds of resources. And stay safe out there. www.wired.com/story/how-to...

www.wired.com/v2/offers/wi...

Don Lemon is not the only reporter who was arrested by federal agents overnight — local independent journalist Georgia Fort just went live on FB to say federal agents were also at her door to take her into custody over her protest coverage in Minneapolis.

A digital illustration. Seen mostly in silhouette (with some hints of detail if you zoom in) we see Sisyphus in his classical Greek togs against a reddish orange background. He is working very hard to shove an extremely large, roughly spherical boulder up a very steep grade. Large letters carved into the side of the boulder facing us read ‘Maybe it will happen today’.

Because many people on here are talking about making demands, it might be worth thinking about the goal. Body cameras, unmasking, and making it easier to sue will not reduce the number of people arrested and condemned to jail to die, suffer and/or be deported.

Think about it like this. This ICE agent was on camera and unmasked — fulfilling one of three "demands" Democratic leader Chuck Schumer just issued in order to agree to save Republicans and give DHS even more money.

And he was still threatening to kill someone.

I don’t think we should make concessions to the Masked Murderers Guild of America. I don’t think we should compromise so the Masked Murderers Guild of America stops using kidnapped kids from schools as bait. I thought this was already illegal. The Masked Murderers Guild of America should not exist.

Tomorrow morning is today! Set aside five minutes to call/email/text/fax/yell at in person your reps to abolish ICE.

to the extent that there is a “carrot” to trumpism it is the same carrot that slaveholders offered to lower class white men: “you can be an overseer”

While I appreciate the marvel of municipal efficiency that is modern snow removal, sometimes I wonder … what if we just stayed inside for a little while. Made soup, watched the birds.

I think @sarahjeong.bsky.social said it's because they devalue women's labor and a LOT of this Scary Logistics stuff comes from people who don't understand that basically all of the civic life they enjoy is created with the help of free labor, largely by women.

shouting for the journalists in the back: IT’S NOT AN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN.

It’s a federal occupation of a city that didnt vote the right way. And the occupying force is there to enforce civil infractions, misdemeanors.

just punched me right in the heart

Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’

Everything old being new again all at once is not a coincidence

Is headache from:

a) Massive crushing weather system
b) Unending stress from current events
c) Equally terrible secret third thing

Minnesotans strike to protest ICE surge in state: ‘No work, no school, no shopping’ Organizers demand ICE leave state and agency be investigated for constitutional violations

Solidarity with the forces of resistance in Minneapolis as they stage a day of action in protest at the harrying of their city by Tяump's goon army

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

During the Bicentennial Celebration at Independence Hall on July 4, 1976, President Gerald Ford sat symbolically behind Marian Anderson as she read the text of the Declaration aloud. On this 250th anniversary, the President is ordering factual information about slavery to be removed from that site.

And to be perfectly clear, had these seven Dems voted no (and Massie stayed no), it would have gone down 213-214.

Any leftover bits of Wednesday can be scraped right on top of Thursday and warmed up. I've done it myself a thousand times.

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

BACK BY DEMAND 🌹 after 2 sell out print runs The House Archives Built & Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities by @dorothyjberry.bsky.social is back Feb 4, 12p ET!

don't miss your chance to grab this important piece of writing on libraries+archives+memory+black history www.weherepress.org

I feel bad for all of us who have to be good at our jobs when the answer is to be sufficiently white, rich and powerful and then you can just drool on yourself and the press will be like “audiences intrigued by his unusual communication style”