Elizabeth Stregger

Generative AI Licensing Agreement Tracker - Ithaka S+R In recent months, several publishers have announced that they are licensing their scholarly content for use as training data for LLMs. These deals

ITHAKA S&R has started a Generative AI Licensing Agreement Tracker sr.ithaka.org/our-work/gen...

Anyone have examples of research-creation or practice-led research projects by librarians or as part of information science generally? These could be called other things, including arts-based research, artistic research, and even design inquiry.

Yep. Pre-clearance (and the option to change my mind) is what comforts me into booking any travel to see family in the US.

Digital Literacy Games – deepfakestracker.org Digital Literacy Games – A curated list of educational games to test your ability to identify deepfakes and develop digital literacy skills.  Creating Disinformation Games Cat Park Players are challen...

If you are an educator, here's our curated list of educational games to help improve your students' ability to identify deepfakes and develop digital literacy skills. deepfakestracker.org/digital-lite... More games will be added later this fall.

Ceramic vase with slug by Cricket Sound Studio with a single stem of fancy lavender.

Neurodivergent joy.

Tantramar council turns down call to oppose proposed natural gas power plant | CBC News NB Power announced in July that its Renewables Integration and Grid Stability project would be built near Centre Village. Since then, many residents and environmental groups have been vocal in their o...

The lack of transparency on this project is unending. Butler reports that the province HAS NOT made a decision on comprehensive review, despite what our mayor was told. Time to contact all our representatives. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

AI Generated 'Boring History' Videos Are Flooding YouTube and Drowning Out Real History "These AI videos are just repeating things that are on the internet, so you end up with a very simplified version of the past."

AI "boring history" slop has taken over YouTube and is particularly insidious because it flattens history and drowns out the tireless work of creators who have been integral to legitimizing YouTube as a place for high-quality history videos

www.404media.co/ai-generated...

CFP Special Issue “Celebrating 60 Years of ELIZA? Critical Pasts and Futures of AI” ojs.weizenbaum-institut.de/index.php/wj...

Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

INTRODUCTION

Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines?

Jevin West (@jevinwest.bsky.social) and I have spent the last eight months developing the course on large language models (LLMs) that we think every college freshman needs to take.

thebullshitmachines.com

Causing immense stress for Canadian small businesses, not just because of the costs, but because the systems and mechanisms for implementing this don’t even exist yet. Canada Post says they’re on-boarding a third-party tech provider, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Grey textured background. In the bottom right corner, there is a red circle with a line through it. Inside there is blue text that reads AI. Black text reads: ASAN Says No Generative AI in Plain Language! Full plain language statement on our website. The ASAN logo is at the bottom.

Dark grey textured background. There’s a lighter grey box with text that reads: Artificial intelligence is when a computer program does things that normally need to be done by humans. We call artificial intelligence “AI” for short. There are lots of different kinds of AI. The way AI works is by using data from people. Data is information a computer can read. AI programs read data made by people to understand what to do. Generative AI is a specific kind of AI. Generative AI can use data to make new things. Generative AI can create many kinds of new things, like: text images music/movies and more People have already started using generative AI to write plain language.

Grey textured background. Text reads: In our statement, we explain the reasons why people should not use generative AI to write in plain language. Plain language is an important part of making things accessible for people with disabilities. Using generative AI makes “plain language” that is not actually accessible. We hope anyone who writes in plain language will not use generative AI. Here are the reasons we talk about in our statement: Generative AI changes what things mean Plain language is an idea that is too new for generative AI to understand Generative AI focuses on words, not ideas Generative AI has discrimination built-in Plain language is by and for disabled people Read our full statement to learn more about each of these reasons.

Dark grey textured background. There is a blue “AI” with a red circle and line over it. The ASAN logo is at the bottom. There’s a light grey box with the following text: ASAN does not use generative AI for plain language. We hope people writing in plain language understand why you shouldn’t use generative AI for plain language. People writing in plain language should always talk to disabled people first. People with disabilities can give feedback to make stronger plain language papers. We do not need AI to do this work when we already know disabled people can. Nothing about us without us!

Generative AI changes what things mean because it focuses on words, not the meaning. It adds words, changes meaning, and makes "plain language" that is not accessible. We know, because we tested it. Generative AI has no place in plain language. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/07/asan...

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...

Hundreds of medieval medical manuscripts now accessible Over the course of the last three years, the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project has been enhancing the discoverability of medieval medical recipes in historic library collections across the ...

Over 7000 pages of medieval medical recipes are now freely accessible online at the end of the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project.
👉 Discover more about this ambitious project and its achievements: loom.ly/XFJt-Tg

“We Couldn’t Generate an Answer for your Question” - ACRLog Editor’s note: We welcome a guest blog post from Jay Singley, Document Delivery and Circulation Desk Manager at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. In March 2025, Ex Libris unveiled thei...

This guest post by Jay Singley on ACRLog is a must-read.
"In the age of AI, our access to information is not spared from these attacks. We must uncover answers to the questions Safiya Noble, Joy Buolamwini, and others elicit: Who and what is safeguarded through AI tools in discovery searches?"

Mayor, MLA, environmental expert question plan for big Tantramar gas plant Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black says it’s “incredibly unacceptable” that the town was not informed or consulted before NB Power announced construction of a 400 megawatt, natural gas …

Tantramar friends: this has a short environmental consultation period. Sounds like they’re planning info sessions, not consultations… echoing national energy projects.
Read the letter from Atlantic Wildlife Institute linked in this story and join the Zoom on Jul. 21/22
warktimes.com/2025/07/19/m...

Investigating the “Feeling Rules” of Generative AI and Imagining Alternative Futures by Andrea Baer

"rather than rushing to adopt and promote new technologies whose ethical implications raise major questions, we might slow down and claim more time & space for considering .... implications of GenAI"

Education Consultant The individual or team will be responsible for creating marketing material to promote our education resources to educators, planning an event to highlight the importance of using primary sources in teaching history, and work to promote the education resources to secondary school educators and other potential audiences. $35/h, flex schedule, 200 hours Apply by 20 July 2025.

Hey, @arquives.ca is hiring a 2SLGBTQIA+ education consultant to promote the importance of using primary sources to teach history with secondary school educators and others.

Deadline: 20 July 2025
Pay: $35/h, flexible schedule, remote

More info: arquives.ca/job-posting-...

#AcademicSky 🌈🗃️ 🏳️‍⚧️🗃️

ADHD and Menopause: What We Know and What We're Learning A Look at How Hormone Changes Might Be Fueling Cognitive Struggles for Women with ADHD

Ever feel like your brain just stopped cooperating during perimenopause?
For many women, that’s not just brain fog—it might be undiagnosed ADHD colliding with hormonal shifts.
We're finally starting to connect the dots. It's about time. 🧠✨ vajenda.substack.com/p/adhd-and-m...

Mt A professor's voice ends up in a fake Armenian political video » CHMA Voice of the Marshes, Campus & Community Radio in Sackville, NB

“… a Mount Allison professor’s introduction to environmental science winds up as fodder for a fake video criticizing Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan. We talk with environmental scientist Josh Kurek and fake news expert Erin Steuter”
Segment starts at 2:15.

www.chmafm.com/welcome/mt-a...

Screenshot of The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, narrated by Katie Erich, in Libro.fm. I switched from Audible to Libro.fm to divest from Amazon. So far, finding it to be an excellent replacement!

Latest listen: The Book Eaters by @sunyidean.com - best take on vampires I’ve read in ages. Stubborn queer character written and narrated by neurodivergent people…. I know from the interview that it wasn’t written as neurodivergent representation specifically but it resonated.

Feet in yellow and green socks rest on a water rower (yeah, I’ll put shoes on to row). The pattern has slipped stitches that help make the softly variegated yarn pool and dapple.

My favourite way to knit yellow is in a rainbow, a gradient, or yellow-green. The feeling of light or shifting landscapes.

For #ShowMeYourKnits yellow week, here is a pair of Freddy Beach Socks by @knitsiphappy.bsky.social knit in a one-of-a-kind colour dyed by Lichen and Lace. 🧶

Ooh, wish I’d thought of that! My second pair are already blue. But I have some Marigold Ontario Sock coming from Alley Cat Yarns, so I can knit a yellow pair soon.

It’s a k1tbl, p1 ribbing. That means instead of knitting the stitch as usual, you knit the stitch through the back loop. It does make the rib look fancier! The knit columns are more defined.

Beautiful collection! I can see more orange socks in my future - they’re a good pop of colour with blue clothes.

Closeup of an orange sock with a lace panel down the top of the foot. I’m sitting casually in the dog’s yard, and scruffy grass and a chai link fence can be seen in the background.

Flourish by Curious Handmade was my May sock project. I knit them in @indigodragonfly.bsky.social Good Trouble Sock. I think these are my first orange socks! Gotta fill in the gaps in my sock rainbow. 🌈 🧶

An ageing mutt sunning her belly with her head pointed downslope.

Dear Fennel reminding me to enjoy a moment outside before getting back to curating a data deposit. How long till she accidentally rolls down the hill?

Announcing Withdrawal of NSF Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems Proposal In September 2024, The Carpentries submitted a proposal to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) Program. This project would position The Carpentr...

ICYMI: In September 2024, The Carpentries submitted a proposal for 1.5 million USD to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) Program, and were extremely pleased to learn that the proposal was recommended for funding.

However...

Was it the first sock this time? 😂 I’m determined to make a matched pair this month.

Super excited to be a new lesson maintainer for The Carpentries!