Natalia Estrada

they’re abducting our neighbors and putting them in concentration camps and they’ll empty a whole goddamn magazine into you while you’re lying on the ground if you don’t cheer them on while they’re fucking doing it.

This is part of my project looking into the transition from library staff to librarian and how people who did it felt about the whole thing. Spoiler: it sucks!

If that gets published next year (please let this happen; I just want this one thing!), maybe you'll get to see why and how much it sucks!

I got a new article published in the latest issue of EBLIP, where I ask, "visual timelines: are they good? Can they be useful in LIS research? Let's find out!"

Part of a special issue on the Empirical Studies in Library Studies.

doi.org/10.18438/ebl...

It also doesn't help that most instructors ask us to only do how-to OR the "tell my students not to cheat" sessions. We're going to keep getting stuck doing mediocre "AI lit" stuff if this keeps going and I hate it.

This is some of the stuff I try to cover when I get asked to do "AI Literacy sessions", instead of the how-to stuff. Problem, amongst many: it's kinda hard to do it well in a 50 mins one-shot (if you're even lucky enough to get that).

If you're an academic who is protective or defensive about your own area of expertise (understandable, in this day and age), but are offended when it's suggested that professional archivists & librarians have unique expertise outside your own experience, that's worth some self-examination

genuine plea for info here - is there an OCR model (open or not) which can recognize accented characters (i.e. ù û) and the characters <ŋ ɛ ə>? it genuinely seems there are no models for the International African Alphabet (link), or just the entire IPA, both of which would solve my problem 🐦🐦

They also didn't identify themselves. The number looks spoofed. I have guesses, but I can't figure out who exactly it was. I blocked the number.

I only know of one other person who had this happen. We are both pretty upset that this happened.

So has anyone else experienced this? What did you do?

I don't have my number listed on Linkedin (shame me about that some other time) or on anything professional. It's sure as hell not on my staff page. I don't give my number out to patrons. My office calls aren't forwarded to my cell.

I don't have a fucking clue how they got my number.

I got a call from a number I didn't recognize, so I used my call screener to check:

"Hi Natalia, I'm calling about your role in regards to scholarly writing and research tools. Perhaps you university is looking to implement writing asst. for faculty/students. Let me know"

😨😨😨

Has anyone in library world ever received a telemarketing/spam call to their *personal* phones that referenced your specific jobs?

Because I got such a call earlier today, and I am still a little freaked out about it.

Nonprofit Refuses $1.5M Science Grant Due To New Federal DEI Rules A coding nonprofit turned down a $1.5M NSF grant after new DEI restrictions, highlighting the clash between federal policy and scientific community values.

The Carpentries (@carpentries.carpentries.org‬), a nonprofit that has trained over 100,000 researchers in coding and data skills, turned down a $1.5 million NSF grant after being asked to strip diversity-related content from its programming. www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

Donate to Fobazi’s road to recovery: Kidney and liver transplant, organized by Ysabel Gerrard Hello all, my name is Ysabel and I’m fundraising for my friends … Ysabel Gerrard needs your support for Fobazi’s road to recovery: Kidney and liver transplant

Every library worker has benefitted in some way from @fobettarh.bsky.social's work, and if you can afford to, please pay it forward: www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo.... If you can't donate, please share.

I'm test driving a Contour RollerMouse (like this contourdesign.com/products/rol...) to help with nerve pain, and let me tell you it has been a ride so far!

"This rod moves the curser?? Wait, hold on, my thumbs don't know what to do! Should my keyboard shake like that?"

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...

All library workers, regardless of job title or status, deserve a good wage, academic freedom, and support for any research and publishing they would like to pursue. Library classism is damaging to individual people and to the field collectively.

ICE has been kidnapping people from the Buffalo immigration court, as they have been doing in many other cities. For the past few weeks, I have been doing court support there. I'm still processing everything I've seen, but I want to say a few things. 1/

Notably universities and most faculty will ignore the *entire group of people* already charged with teaching information literacy on their campuses. I bet you have at least one librarian who has a lesson plan ready to go.

protest sign with California Flag - "I Choose The Bear"

None of this is coherent but how can it be when ICE IS STALKING CAR WASHES and ICE TRIED TO TAKE KIDS IN FRONT OF THEIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL and WHY ARE THERE A SHIT TON OF MARINES DEPLOYED IN LA??

Telling Buffalo folks how stuff like ICE KIDNAPPED A GUY YESTERDAY OUTSIDE OF A CHURCH AND POINTED A RIFLE AT A PASTOR A MILE FROM WHERE MY FAMILY LIVES AND I'M AFAID IT'LL HAPPEN TO THEM TOO somehow isn't enough for them to understand how scared and mad people in LA feel, but maybe this will (?)

Kristi Noem took ICE and weapons to Huntington Park to terrorize a family this morning. But apparently a Latino sitting senator asking a question is too scary for her, so she needed some big guys to throw him to the ground and arrest him.

I hope people see how ridiculous that is and be angry.

Padilla: If this is how DHS responds to a senator with a question you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California.

Hold the line and stay safe, LA! Show them that we can't stop/ won't stop protecting people from kidnappings!

This Southeast LA County kid's hometown pride keeps growing and growing the more I see folks fighting for our families, friends, and neighbors.

JIBARITOS! If there's something I regret not having enough while living in Chicago, it's jibaritos.

It is very much in the self interest of academics to stand against professional services cuts because you really do not want to be doing our jobs in addition to your jobs

President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden Hayden, who became the first woman and the first African American to serve as the Librarian of Congress when she was appointed in 2016, was abruptly fired via email late Thursday.

Just because I am not surprised does not mean I'm not angry. Carla Hayden, like every other *actually qualified federal worker* that has been shamefully treated in this unconscionable manner deserves better. www.npr.org/2025/05/09/g...

Congrats to Michael and all the other students! I wish I could be there to see his presentation, but I bet his is great!

Me: Now when you use a steak sauce like A1, you have to think about what kind of steak you're making, your taste preferences, is A1 the best for your steak...
Them: I thought you were here to talk about AI literacy...
Me:...
Them:...
Me: Who wants to try Bone Suckin' Sauce?!

A U-shaped ceramic sculpture in green and brown with white and lilac flowers on it. it's sitting on a wooden table. Shelves and a gray wall are in the background

This is the only thing I got going for me today.

Turns out, spending 2+ hours sculpting petals by hand can keep me from laying down and giving up on everything.