Marlene Manoff
@mmanoff.bsky.social
Independent researcher and writer focused on digital culture, archives and libraries, former librarian @MIT, builder of collages
How new AI library "tools" serve "the political project to devalue" or erase the work of librarians, teachers, and scientists: www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 7, 2025 at 12:14 AM
How new AI library "tools" serve "the political project to devalue" or erase the work of librarians, teachers, and scientists: www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
History Has Left The Building
www.meidasplus.com/p/history-ha...
www.meidasplus.com/p/history-ha...
History Has Left The Building
Trump isn’t preserving America; he’s rebranding it, one gold-plated illusion at a time. History erased, monuments renamed, and a nation rebuilt in the image of its showman-in-chief.
www.meidasplus.com
October 22, 2025 at 12:14 AM
History Has Left The Building
www.meidasplus.com/p/history-ha...
www.meidasplus.com/p/history-ha...
As if....
Wrote more about Benjamin Bratton's paranoid imagination of a media studies cabal holding back AI progress in Europe. mail.cyberneticforests.com/is-the-media...
Is the Media Studies Cabal in the Room With Us Right Now?
I read The Stack in 2020 as a grad student in ANU's Applied Cybernetics program. I give it credit for directing my attention to the interaction between layers of digital and physical infrastructures. ...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
As if....
Reposted by Marlene Manoff
very interesting what is not allowed these days. in this case, basic archiving of real videos
www.404media.co/apple-banned...
www.404media.co/apple-banned...
Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses
Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.
www.404media.co
October 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
very interesting what is not allowed these days. in this case, basic archiving of real videos
www.404media.co/apple-banned...
www.404media.co/apple-banned...
More on the failures/erasures that ai chatbots introduce into library search tools aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...
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
September 24, 2025 at 5:17 PM
More on the failures/erasures that ai chatbots introduce into library search tools aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...
When a president gets to decide what counts as American history
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American History Museum
A temporary placard, on display since 2021, described the president's historic impeachments. Officials said the exhibit was restored to an earlier version following a review of legacy content.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 31, 2025 at 10:58 PM
When a president gets to decide what counts as American history
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Librarians are finding that their AI assisted commercially produced search tools are providing no search results for topics like Tulsa race riot, Covid, January 6, Gaza War, lynching and history of genocides acrlog.org/2025/07/21/w...
“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...
acrlog.org
July 24, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Librarians are finding that their AI assisted commercially produced search tools are providing no search results for topics like Tulsa race riot, Covid, January 6, Gaza War, lynching and history of genocides acrlog.org/2025/07/21/w...
"Determined not to let this stage of American history become “lost culture”, the publishers believe that old-fashioned print is still the best way to preserve for the future" www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6952...
The book publisher prepping for Trump censorship
Indie publisher Melville House is racing to preserve history, before the US government buries the evidence
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
March 16, 2025 at 8:28 PM
"Determined not to let this stage of American history become “lost culture”, the publishers believe that old-fashioned print is still the best way to preserve for the future" www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6952...
Reposted by Marlene Manoff
It’s so devastating to watch Depp v. Heard happen over and over again, pushing more women into conservatism and damaging the cultural narratives around sexual harassment, violence, and abuse each time
open.substack.com/pub/taylorlo...
open.substack.com/pub/taylorlo...
Right wing creators are dominating Lively-Baldoni coverage
Conservative commentators are leveraging the case to dismantle support for #MeToo and amass unprecedented audience growth.
open.substack.com
March 7, 2025 at 6:58 PM
It’s so devastating to watch Depp v. Heard happen over and over again, pushing more women into conservatism and damaging the cultural narratives around sexual harassment, violence, and abuse each time
open.substack.com/pub/taylorlo...
open.substack.com/pub/taylorlo...
Historical context? In 2003 the editor of a chapter I contributed to a volume on bibliography in literature informed me that I could not use the phrase “feminist literary bibliography” in the title as such a thing did not exist.
Five years ago, I published "Rationale for Feminist Bibliography." Today, I counted how many times it uses words currently "banned" by Elon's administration: more than 250 occurrences. So I edited my document accordingly; feel free to only cite this in the future. I stand by it 🤙
March 5, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Historical context? In 2003 the editor of a chapter I contributed to a volume on bibliography in literature informed me that I could not use the phrase “feminist literary bibliography” in the title as such a thing did not exist.
The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Who Is in DOGE? Tracking Its Staffers and Allies in the Federal Government
The Times identified 49 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies.
www.nytimes.com
February 28, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
My 2017 essay on the disappearance of government information (and attempts to save it) under the first Trump administration is creepily relevant: works.hcommons.org/records/aytt...
Archival Silence in the Age of Trump
The Trump presidency has fueled growing apprehension about a media landscape rife with lies, bogus news, and conspiracy theories. These concerns can be situated within a discourse of archival silence ...
works.hcommons.org
February 1, 2025 at 12:38 AM
My 2017 essay on the disappearance of government information (and attempts to save it) under the first Trump administration is creepily relevant: works.hcommons.org/records/aytt...
Like I was saying, we are losing control over the film, music, books, games, etc that we can now only rent
Quick search.
The following films are “not available to view on any streaming services.”
Eraserhead
Blue Velvet
Wild At Heart
Lost Highway
Mulholland Drive
If you’ve got them on DVD, great. Otherwise, digital streaming doesn’t curate, doesn’t care.
The following films are “not available to view on any streaming services.”
Eraserhead
Blue Velvet
Wild At Heart
Lost Highway
Mulholland Drive
If you’ve got them on DVD, great. Otherwise, digital streaming doesn’t curate, doesn’t care.
January 16, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Like I was saying, we are losing control over the film, music, books, games, etc that we can now only rent
"just as the arts are more than mere nutrients, the medium is more than a delivery system: it has an aesthetic and a psychology of its own"
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
What We Lose When Streaming Companies Choose What We Watch
Maybe don’t throw away all your DVDs just yet.
www.newyorker.com
January 3, 2025 at 9:57 PM
"just as the arts are more than mere nutrients, the medium is more than a delivery system: it has an aesthetic and a psychology of its own"
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Defying the Algorithm #25
January 2, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Defying the Algorithm #25
If ever there were an opportune moment to make the case for the value of higher education and for the Dept of Education this would seem to be it
December 28, 2024 at 9:52 PM
If ever there were an opportune moment to make the case for the value of higher education and for the Dept of Education this would seem to be it
When neither my room key nor my partner's could get us back into our hotel room it took a security guard then a maintenance guy & finally someone who could reprogram the lock to get us back in. Sometimes analog is just simpler
December 26, 2024 at 1:43 AM
When neither my room key nor my partner's could get us back into our hotel room it took a security guard then a maintenance guy & finally someone who could reprogram the lock to get us back in. Sometimes analog is just simpler
The relentless contraction of our ability to own and maintain control over the music, films, books, games and other media that we now merely rent
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024...
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024...
The optical disc onslaught continues, with LG quitting Blu-ray players
Streaming uncertainty has some people clinging to their discs.
arstechnica.com
December 15, 2024 at 9:26 PM
The relentless contraction of our ability to own and maintain control over the music, films, books, games and other media that we now merely rent
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024...
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024...
The importance of national archives:
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
Nat'l archives agency requests preservation of martial law documents
The state-run archives agency on Friday requested the presidential office and the defense ministry to preserve all documents related to this week's botched martial law declaration.
www.koreatimes.co.kr
December 10, 2024 at 10:26 PM
The importance of national archives:
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
Reposted by Marlene Manoff
THIS is why we wrote this. archive.is/2024.10.31-1...
December 8, 2024 at 4:19 PM
THIS is why we wrote this. archive.is/2024.10.31-1...
Fortunately (or perhaps sadly), recent preparations to protect scientific and other information from potential erasure or manipulation by the incoming Trump administration are benefitting from the experience and infrastructure created during his last administration.
www.forbes.com/sites/dougla...
www.forbes.com/sites/dougla...
Safeguarding Against a Trump Data Dump
Various organizations race to preserve invaluable scientific, educational, and economic data at potential risk during another Trump administration.
www.forbes.com
December 5, 2024 at 11:10 PM
Fortunately (or perhaps sadly), recent preparations to protect scientific and other information from potential erasure or manipulation by the incoming Trump administration are benefitting from the experience and infrastructure created during his last administration.
www.forbes.com/sites/dougla...
www.forbes.com/sites/dougla...