Your bird friend Coral, a library web developer and systems administrator, working remotely. Runs (despite their best efforts) on caffeine and rage.
#CovidIsntOver so mask up!
Watching folks bend over backwards on a professional listserv to get an AI "assistant" working in a way that isn't 100% contrary to library principles, and I'm. just. so. tired.
Why is it so hard for us to, just, not? Don't have the bandwidth? Don't do the thing. The thing is counter to our values? Don't do the thing.
A friend on Bluesky has pointed out, and I agree (hence my repeating it here): do not use cutesy names for death camps.
Do not diminish the pain and suffering that is planned.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but AI can’t “summarize,” because summarizing something first requires understanding it, a thing that fancy numerical models are incapable of doing.
I was up by 7am, and I guess I see why all you morning people are so smug
A couple of tips you're welcome to borrow if you're evaluating a potential library position, as an applicant (harder in the US now):
* Do DEI(A) goals show up in the strategic plan or is it just a toothless committee?
* (is there even an "A"?)
* (can you find their strategic plan at all?)
* does their front page pass a basic a11y check? WAVE, at least?
* Are they still linking to the Firstsearch version of WorldCat (yellow flag)
* from their front page? (red flag)
Not my best title, but accurate: "Eating food in the US in 2025 while immunocompromised" https://www.sheldon-hess.org/coral/2025/05/us-food-safety/
Hey, does anyone have a really good "course guide" template or example you'd be willing to share?
"Good," here, means it is accessible; has a limited number of pages; has no time-wasting "welcome to my guide" text; is somewhat focused/task-based; and could be used as a teaching tool (or at least a jumping-off point) in lieu of slides.
Boosts welcome. Guides that only meet part of the list also welcome. I will only have kind things to say, promise.
Phoebe and Hermann (blue budgie) both pluck the cage bars musically, but it’s hard to get video. Here’s Phoebe doing it once in the play cage.
We are trying to lure the budgies into their travel cage with millet (a high-value treat), plus their normal food and water. They keep taking turns going in there, smart little goblins
If Sandy Berman wrote me a letter like that I would resign in disgrace.
If you photograph birds, it's worth double checking to make sure you're doing it ethically. https://www.audubon.org/photography/awards/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography-and-videography
Hey, how many LibGuides do your librarians each have?
MPOW:
max: 240, but it's a weird special case that we're going to fix
actual max: 52 (plus they'll inherit some of those 240)
next highest: 43 (plus they'll inherit some of those 240)
min: 0
median: 12.25
q1: 1
q3: 13
OK, as pointed out by some helpful librarians, I was probably looking for Latanya Sweeney's "Simple Demographics Often Identify People Uniquely" https://dataprivacylab.org/projects/identifiability/paper1.pdf
With just zip code, birthdate, and gender, you can uniquely identify 87% of people in the US.
Give me your scariest data re-identification link.
I already know about the Netflix one. Can anyone top that?
(I'm writing for a library audience, if that helps at all.)