Laura A. Sheets
@librarian-laura.bsky.social
She/her. Librarian. Assistant Professor. Romance Reader. 〽️ichigan Fan living in Ohio. Connoisseur of 80's/90's mystery TV. I hold LOTS of privilege.
Today in "DUH".
New research shows that AI chatbots often fail to admit when they couldn't answer a question accurately, instead providing incorrect or speculative responses. Premium chatbots were even more prone to confidently giving wrong answers compared to their free versions.
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
AI Search Has A Citation Problem
We Compared Eight AI Search Engines. They’re All Bad at Citing News.
www.cjr.org
March 14, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Today in "DUH".
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
I don’t process acronyms well. I’m a pretty literal person, so that’s part of it. Also, a lot of meaning gets lost when things are abbreviated.
Prime example:
DEI. Instead of saying “DEI”, we should say the entire phrase, Divisity, Equity and Inclusion. Doing that…clarifies things.
Prime example:
DEI. Instead of saying “DEI”, we should say the entire phrase, Divisity, Equity and Inclusion. Doing that…clarifies things.
February 23, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I don’t process acronyms well. I’m a pretty literal person, so that’s part of it. Also, a lot of meaning gets lost when things are abbreviated.
Prime example:
DEI. Instead of saying “DEI”, we should say the entire phrase, Divisity, Equity and Inclusion. Doing that…clarifies things.
Prime example:
DEI. Instead of saying “DEI”, we should say the entire phrase, Divisity, Equity and Inclusion. Doing that…clarifies things.
You've been murdered. Who do you want on the case?
February 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
You've been murdered. Who do you want on the case?
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
What makes it worse is that our tech overlords are now coming for the last vestiges of the good internet. The Internet Archive has been gutted. They are trying to dismantle Wikipedia. What was once a repository of knowledge has become a conduit of disinformation and distraction.
February 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
What makes it worse is that our tech overlords are now coming for the last vestiges of the good internet. The Internet Archive has been gutted. They are trying to dismantle Wikipedia. What was once a repository of knowledge has become a conduit of disinformation and distraction.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
I can’t stress enough how much AI is ruining the internet. Pinterest is un-usable, Google image searches are overrun with misleading slop. It’s estimated that there are now more bots on the web than there are people. We have seen a wonderful thing destroyed in our lifetimes.
February 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I can’t stress enough how much AI is ruining the internet. Pinterest is un-usable, Google image searches are overrun with misleading slop. It’s estimated that there are now more bots on the web than there are people. We have seen a wonderful thing destroyed in our lifetimes.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Times of crisis and change bring many challenges, and each of us has an opportunity to decide how our priorities, skills, and bandwidth guide us in acting. There are many activities out there, and this starter pack can connect you with them.
February 14, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Times of crisis and change bring many challenges, and each of us has an opportunity to decide how our priorities, skills, and bandwidth guide us in acting. There are many activities out there, and this starter pack can connect you with them.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Trump’s latest executive order (that was no doubt written by psychopath RFK Jr.) goes after antidepressants.
As someone whose life was saved by them, you will pry my prozac from my cold dead hands.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
As someone whose life was saved by them, you will pry my prozac from my cold dead hands.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
February 14, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Trump’s latest executive order (that was no doubt written by psychopath RFK Jr.) goes after antidepressants.
As someone whose life was saved by them, you will pry my prozac from my cold dead hands.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
As someone whose life was saved by them, you will pry my prozac from my cold dead hands.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
BREAKING - Democrats CRUSHING special elections
Iowa state Senate - Democrat FLIPPED a Trump+21 seat by 4%
Minnesota state Senate - Democrat outperformed by +20 points
Westchester County NY Executive - Dem outperform +2
The anti-Trump anti-Musk backlash is RISING UP
Iowa state Senate - Democrat FLIPPED a Trump+21 seat by 4%
Minnesota state Senate - Democrat outperformed by +20 points
Westchester County NY Executive - Dem outperform +2
The anti-Trump anti-Musk backlash is RISING UP
February 12, 2025 at 11:20 PM
BREAKING - Democrats CRUSHING special elections
Iowa state Senate - Democrat FLIPPED a Trump+21 seat by 4%
Minnesota state Senate - Democrat outperformed by +20 points
Westchester County NY Executive - Dem outperform +2
The anti-Trump anti-Musk backlash is RISING UP
Iowa state Senate - Democrat FLIPPED a Trump+21 seat by 4%
Minnesota state Senate - Democrat outperformed by +20 points
Westchester County NY Executive - Dem outperform +2
The anti-Trump anti-Musk backlash is RISING UP
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Part of the problem is that libraries are often understaffed and Collections don't often have time to sort through each individual title, relying on vendor lists or quick surface-level checks instead.
New from 404 Media: Low quality books that appear to be AI generated are making their way into public libraries, forcing librarians to sort through a functionally infinite number of books to determine what is written by humans and what is generated by AI.
www.404media.co/ai-generated...
www.404media.co/ai-generated...
AI-Generated Slop Is Already In Your Public Library
Librarians say that taxpayers are already paying for low quality AI-generated ebooks in public libraries.
www.404media.co
February 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Part of the problem is that libraries are often understaffed and Collections don't often have time to sort through each individual title, relying on vendor lists or quick surface-level checks instead.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
There are a number of efforts from scientists, researchers, journalists, and advocacy groups to compile and save information that has been removed from federal websites (or is at risk).
lifehacker.com/tech/find-de...
lifehacker.com/tech/find-de...
Where to Find All Those Deleted Government Websites
In recent days—in response to directives from the Trump administration—thousands of federal agency web pages have been deleted or altered to remove research, reports, and references to everything from...
lifehacker.com
February 5, 2025 at 4:05 PM
There are a number of efforts from scientists, researchers, journalists, and advocacy groups to compile and save information that has been removed from federal websites (or is at risk).
lifehacker.com/tech/find-de...
lifehacker.com/tech/find-de...
It's not a miracle drug. It's the new Phen Phen.
Opinion | Pfizer Stopped Us From Getting Ozempic Decades Ago (Gift Article)
Researchers identified one key breakthrough for GLP-1 drugs in the 1980s, but Pfizer walked away.
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2025 at 5:31 PM
It's not a miracle drug. It's the new Phen Phen.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Academics: do not quote your students' work, or their conversations with you, online. It's a disastrous breach of trust, to sneer at them on social media in this way. Why do people in our job do this? Why the need to parade our power & virtue by publicly condemning those we're supposed to educate?
February 4, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Academics: do not quote your students' work, or their conversations with you, online. It's a disastrous breach of trust, to sneer at them on social media in this way. Why do people in our job do this? Why the need to parade our power & virtue by publicly condemning those we're supposed to educate?
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Word of the Day is ‘bayard’ (16th century): one who has the supreme self-confidence of ignorance.
February 5, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Word of the Day is ‘bayard’ (16th century): one who has the supreme self-confidence of ignorance.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Senate Democrats are considering voting NO or delaying every Trump nominee as retaliation for his overreach on ending USAID.
Smash the RT if you SUPPORT this plan. ZERO votes from Democrats!!
Smash the RT if you SUPPORT this plan. ZERO votes from Democrats!!
February 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Senate Democrats are considering voting NO or delaying every Trump nominee as retaliation for his overreach on ending USAID.
Smash the RT if you SUPPORT this plan. ZERO votes from Democrats!!
Smash the RT if you SUPPORT this plan. ZERO votes from Democrats!!
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Trump just called for a *permanent* displacement of Gazans from their homeland.
If you’re on the left and you didn’t vote for Harris, I don’t wanna hear a DAMN thing about how someone needs to do something.
If you’re on the left and you didn’t vote for Harris, I don’t wanna hear a DAMN thing about how someone needs to do something.
February 4, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Trump just called for a *permanent* displacement of Gazans from their homeland.
If you’re on the left and you didn’t vote for Harris, I don’t wanna hear a DAMN thing about how someone needs to do something.
If you’re on the left and you didn’t vote for Harris, I don’t wanna hear a DAMN thing about how someone needs to do something.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
If you're not ok with sending a Nigerian prince your personal and private information, why would you be ok with a South African oligarch barging into government offices and stealing it?
February 4, 2025 at 1:11 PM
If you're not ok with sending a Nigerian prince your personal and private information, why would you be ok with a South African oligarch barging into government offices and stealing it?
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
There are literally not enough journalists employed in the US to cover the bad shit that is happening right now. We are now going to experience the social consequences of a weakened news industry--which are the same as the benefits of a weakened news industry, to those who weakened it.
February 2, 2025 at 4:43 PM
There are literally not enough journalists employed in the US to cover the bad shit that is happening right now. We are now going to experience the social consequences of a weakened news industry--which are the same as the benefits of a weakened news industry, to those who weakened it.
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Thank you, Canada!
February 2, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Thank you, Canada!
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
Ronald Reagan: “Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies.
We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag.”
We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag.”
January 31, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Ronald Reagan: “Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies.
We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag.”
We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag.”
Reposted by Laura A. Sheets
I want to stay informed but also every time I try to read the news
January 30, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I want to stay informed but also every time I try to read the news