Raina Bloom
@mmelibrarian.bsky.social
MLIS. Reference Services Coordinator. Let’s overthink this.
I did my undergraduate degree from ‘97 - ‘01. I lived in the dorms and had a T3 connection and Napster. I was one of the people who ruined it for all of you, but you should SEE the Jeff Buckley bootlegs I own!
Early 00s was peak illegal download era. If you were into music at all, you'd hear something on radio or a TV show, find the artist, and get their entire catalog.
I remember hearing "You Dropped a Bomb On Me" in a commercial and downloading every Gap Band song I could find. Been a fan ever since.
I remember hearing "You Dropped a Bomb On Me" in a commercial and downloading every Gap Band song I could find. Been a fan ever since.
November 15, 2025 at 12:24 AM
I did my undergraduate degree from ‘97 - ‘01. I lived in the dorms and had a T3 connection and Napster. I was one of the people who ruined it for all of you, but you should SEE the Jeff Buckley bootlegs I own!
Jenny is a former student of mine. I’m so impressed by this project!
Here's our interview with the creators of Save Our Signs, a project to archive signs and placards from national parks as the Trump administration attempts to rewrite history by having many removed.
YouTube here, subscribe for an interview like this every week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCE...
YouTube here, subscribe for an interview like this every week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCE...
Volunteers Archived 10,000 Signs from National Parks (with Jenny McBurney and Lynda Kellam)
YouTube video by 404 Media
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Jenny is a former student of mine. I’m so impressed by this project!
Reposted by Raina Bloom
A thing about AI in higher ed right now is that half of us are scrambling to deal with the implosion of our information environment that broke reading/writing/source verification, while the other half is trying to achieve a massive institutional buy-in of the very thing that's causing the implosion
November 7, 2025 at 1:30 AM
A thing about AI in higher ed right now is that half of us are scrambling to deal with the implosion of our information environment that broke reading/writing/source verification, while the other half is trying to achieve a massive institutional buy-in of the very thing that's causing the implosion
Hi. Here’s a picture of my cat looking exactly like a whoopie pie. Thought it might help.
November 5, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Hi. Here’s a picture of my cat looking exactly like a whoopie pie. Thought it might help.
Reposted by Raina Bloom
I’m from Milwaukee, home of the Sewer Socialists, and our comrade from Iowa is correct
Just to pre-empt the pundits, I absolutely believe you could run a Mamdani in middle America and win
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 AM
I’m from Milwaukee, home of the Sewer Socialists, and our comrade from Iowa is correct
Reposted by Raina Bloom
There are more of us than there are of them.
November 5, 2025 at 2:31 AM
There are more of us than there are of them.
I’m going to need some “gleeful New Yorkers in the streets” videos, please and thank you!
November 5, 2025 at 2:11 AM
I’m going to need some “gleeful New Yorkers in the streets” videos, please and thank you!
If you're looking naively at tasks that you don't know much about, yeah, it looks like that.
If you're concerned about broader human impacts, about degradation of work and information, then yeah, it sucks.
If you're concerned about broader human impacts, about degradation of work and information, then yeah, it sucks.
October 17, 2025 at 1:19 PM
I’m so bored with people who are grossed out by unscoped, rapacious generative AI; freaking out about mis/disinformation; and worried about book challenges without ever once mentioning librarians. Not libraries. Librarians.
October 17, 2025 at 1:08 AM
I’m so bored with people who are grossed out by unscoped, rapacious generative AI; freaking out about mis/disinformation; and worried about book challenges without ever once mentioning librarians. Not libraries. Librarians.
“Think about all of the cool stuff we could do if we weren’t constantly deprogramming people who have been lied to by techbros their entire lives,” the exhausted librarian wrote in Teams on a Friday morning
October 3, 2025 at 4:44 PM
“Think about all of the cool stuff we could do if we weren’t constantly deprogramming people who have been lied to by techbros their entire lives,” the exhausted librarian wrote in Teams on a Friday morning
Reposted by Raina Bloom
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
One year ago this weekend, we brought him home. Clearly, everything has been awful since.
September 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
One year ago this weekend, we brought him home. Clearly, everything has been awful since.
Same. They look like AI-generated images to the trained eye. You can just see it.
I will say, every AI-hallucinated citation I've ever beem asked to verify has immediately struck me as odd. All the punctuation is correct but the context is uncanny valley.
September 26, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Same. They look like AI-generated images to the trained eye. You can just see it.
Reposted by Raina Bloom
on the one hand I should absolutely put my phone down but on the other hand what if the forces attacking democracy operate on weeping angels logic
August 23, 2025 at 2:10 AM
on the one hand I should absolutely put my phone down but on the other hand what if the forces attacking democracy operate on weeping angels logic
I post neither often nor cheerfully, so, for balance, here’s an excellent picture of my North American Tuxedoed Floor Lion asking @drumkitdave.bsky.social why the rabbit doesn’t fear him.
August 19, 2025 at 12:14 AM
I post neither often nor cheerfully, so, for balance, here’s an excellent picture of my North American Tuxedoed Floor Lion asking @drumkitdave.bsky.social why the rabbit doesn’t fear him.
It really is a shocking waste of time. Think about the alternate universe books, papers, meetings, conference sessions, trainings we would have if we didn’t have to run around after that lot in countless ways
I despise these AI bros for so many reasons — but among the top for me is that, bc of their egos + recklessness, and bc of a gullible grifter culture that expands their uptake + influence, we’re all now obligated to care abt their bullshit + minimize its harms. I’d rather be doing anything else.
August 12, 2025 at 10:43 PM
It really is a shocking waste of time. Think about the alternate universe books, papers, meetings, conference sessions, trainings we would have if we didn’t have to run around after that lot in countless ways
Reposted by Raina Bloom
Getting your devil worship instructions from ChatGPT:
- pathetic
- wastes water
- gives money to the worst people in the world
Getting your devil worship instructions from a local witch:
- cool
- edgy
- learn the names of all the local toads
- pathetic
- wastes water
- gives money to the worst people in the world
Getting your devil worship instructions from a local witch:
- cool
- edgy
- learn the names of all the local toads
mindless engagement chasing at impossible scale by opportunistic sociopaths + the complete obliteration of all federal consumer protection = bad outcomes
July 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Getting your devil worship instructions from ChatGPT:
- pathetic
- wastes water
- gives money to the worst people in the world
Getting your devil worship instructions from a local witch:
- cool
- edgy
- learn the names of all the local toads
- pathetic
- wastes water
- gives money to the worst people in the world
Getting your devil worship instructions from a local witch:
- cool
- edgy
- learn the names of all the local toads
Reposted by Raina Bloom
June 29, 2025 at 1:58 PM
A great lightning talk on generative AI from a librarian’s perspective
Here's my lightning talk about AI at #acrl2025 this morning. Thanks to @nicoloff.bsky.social for recording.
youtu.be/H2UdS1MqH8w?...
youtu.be/H2UdS1MqH8w?...
Take a Breath. Most Students Don't Need AI Skills
YouTube video by Molly June Roquet
youtu.be
April 6, 2025 at 1:37 AM
A great lightning talk on generative AI from a librarian’s perspective
In 2011, I carried a “LIBRARIANS FOR SHUSHING SCOTT” sign in Wisconsin’s Act 10 protests. I kept it and, in 2017, I peeled off some letters and changed the name for the Women’s March. I threw away the sign last spring when we cleaned the basement.
I cannot believe I had to remake the damn sign.
I cannot believe I had to remake the damn sign.
April 4, 2025 at 10:29 PM
In 2011, I carried a “LIBRARIANS FOR SHUSHING SCOTT” sign in Wisconsin’s Act 10 protests. I kept it and, in 2017, I peeled off some letters and changed the name for the Women’s March. I threw away the sign last spring when we cleaned the basement.
I cannot believe I had to remake the damn sign.
I cannot believe I had to remake the damn sign.