The Distant Librarian

Ethics Case Studies of Artificial Intelligence for Library and Information Professionals

This is an easy-to-read chapter: Ethics Case Studies of Artificial Intelligence for Library and Information Professionals that reiterates many of the things we need to remember when working with and teaching about Generative AI tools.

I didn’t learn anything new, per se, but liked that this is focussed specifically on our profession. What’s most useful though, IMHO, is the introduction to these 8 fleshed-out scenarios: Ethics Scenarios Of Artificial Intelligence For Information and Knowledge Management And Library Professionals.

A few of them are a little too obvious for my liking, but I did particularly like scenario 8, which describes an information professional representing their organization as part of a commercially sponsored team on an AI-project.

What’s neat about these scenarios is that they’re CC-Licensed, so if I complain about one of them being too basic, I can spend some time fleshing it out myself. 🤔

In case you don’t get what you want for Xmas and need something else to read, the book the chapter comes from is available OA at New Horizons in Artificial Intelligence in Libraries.

Fire Weather - links

I just finished reading Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast by John Vaillant, and wanted a place to keep the links mentioned in the epilogue.

This is not a review, but this really is a book you should put on your to-read list, especially if you live in Alberta. It tells the story of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, which is currently the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. Lots of history of the area, of the science behind our current reality, and of the petroleum industry that wags the Canadian dog.

The links:

• Koch Docs: Hard to find documents about Charles Koch and his agenda all in one place.
• Canadian Energy Centre - oh, it's actually still alive and online?!
• The Climate Investigations Center
• DeSmog
• Smoke & Fumes
• The Discovery of Global Warming
• Inside Climate News
• Climate Files
• Some terrifying video from YouTube, in case you've forgotten all about that wildfire

Library Futures Funtime Book Talk w/Chokepoint Capitalism and Data Cartels

On November 17, I was able to attend most of an amazing book talk sponsored by Library Futures. It was with the authors of two timely books, Chokepoint Capitalism (Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow), and Data Cartels (Sarah Lamdan). You can, and should, watch the entire recording!

In Chokepoint Capitalism, "by analyzing book publishing and news, livemusic and music streaming, screenwriting, radio and more, Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct “anti-competitive flywheels” designed to lock in users and suppliers, make their markets hostile to new entrants, and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices." (Can everyone say, Taylor Swift?) 

From the introductory chapter of Data Cartels, "Data analytics companies are a relatively new type of information firm, the result of mass consolidation across information markets and a proliferation of data analysis technologies. We think of companies like RELX (Reed Elsevier LexisNexis) and Thomson Reuters as publishers, but they've made a transition away from being traditional content providers. Instead, they're crunching their warehouses of digital content through AI software, machine-learning technology, complex algorithms, and other types of data analytics systems to form new information products to sell."

I grabbed the following links from the chat box during the time I was able to spend watching the first part of the talk. They're in no particular order, but may help contextualize some of the stuff being talked about.

Monopoly - a situation where there is a single seller in the market.
Monopsony - a market with a single buyer.

Progressive Librarians Guild Calls for Elsevier to End Corrupt Publishing Practices and for Library Associations to Take Advocacy Role on Behalf of Scientific Integrity.

WNYC On The Media: Infinite Scroll (audio)

Publishing Giants Are Fighting Libraries on E-Books

Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox

Markets and the Future of the Circular Economy

Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

Inoculating Law Schools Against Bad Metrics

 

 

Climate change books for kids

I'm nearly done listening to an episode of What On Earth, from the CBC, which talks about a couple of books on climate change that have been written for kids. I know my teenage daughter is anxious about the future of our planet, and can only imagine it's even more acute for younger kids. You can hear the authors reading from the books, which should give you an idea if they're something you and your kids would like/understand. Unfortunately, I don't see a listing of the actual titles, so here they are:

• The Lorax (of course!)
• Coco's Fire: Changing Climate Anxiety into Climate Action
• The Tantrum That Saved The World

Mentioned in passing, 20 Canadian books for kids to read for Earth Day 2022.

Hey @cbcwhatonearth would you consider upping your game on show notes, please?

Free (until April 15) Ukraine Digital Book Collection from Exact Editions

I received an email touting:

Exact Editions is providing access to a digital collection of non-fiction books related to the history and culture of Ukraine in support of the Ukrainian people during these difficult times.

The collection currently contains 18 books from Yale University Press, Edinburgh University Press, Reaktion, Hurst, Central European University Press, Cambridge Scholars Publishing and Open Book Publishers. The books are written by specialists in European history, Russian studies, political science, Islamic history, art and film.

You can access the collection at https://ocean.exacteditions.com/magazines?rc=c63e19f7-da07-46fb-a26b-16ca683f6659

Once there, you'll see obvious links to buy the books, but you can, in fact, click the cover, and then use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to scroll through each title. Downloading doesn't appear to be an option.

No idea on the quality of these titles, but still nice to have if you want to do some quick reading!

That cool picture from the cover of The Data Journalism Handbook

The Data Journalism Handbook has been updated from its original 2012 edition, and is available to purchase or for free download from the publisher. When I first tweeted about this a month ago, @Gersart wondered who was responsible for the artwork on the cover. Frustratingly, there was no information about it in the publication, and my email to the publisher went unanswered.

So I clipped the image and threw it into TinEye and was able to identify it as a photograph from a 2012 exhibition by Sarah Sze entitled Fixed Points Finding a Home.

See also, and this YouTube video.

Bounegru, L. and J. Gray (eds.), The Data Journalism Handbook: Towards a Critical Data Practice.
Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021

Continuing Algorithms of Oppression

For a meeting last week at MPOW we were asked to read Algorithms of Oppression, by Safiya Umoja Noble. As a cis, white male, I found it a good reminder of a lot of stuff I am vaguely aware of, but don't have to "deal with" in the same way as the majority of the world. She makes quite a few references to the library world, in addition to her main focus, which is Google.

Turns out it was an incredibly well-timed read, as that same week, on Dec. 2, Dr. Timnit Gebru was fired from Google for raising pretty much the same points. Well, it's more complicated than that, but that's what it boils down to.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, here are some links:

• Google ethics researcher’s departure renews worries the company is silencing whistleblowers
• Backlash against Google grows over firing of prominent Black A.I. researcher
• The mentioned emails: https://www.platformer.news/p/the-withering-email-that-got-an-ethical
• The Open Letter of Support: https://googlewalkout.medium.com/standing-with-dr-timnit-gebru-isupporttimnit-believeblackwomen-6dadc300d382 (which you, too, can sign, not that it seems it will do any good, but you gotta start somewhere!)

Available Reads is like Library Extension lite

I just added the Available Reads browser extension, and really like the feature to sort my Goodreads titles by availability on Overdrive. But for even more information on additional sites (like Amazon), Library Extension still takes the cake. Some screen shots featuring the two extensions: (click to embiggen for details)

Tammy and Paula's Most Wonderful, Best-Ever, Holiday Book List 2016

Over at the Apples with Many Seeds blog, which is attached to our Education Library, Tammy and Paula are putting together a great book list for this holiday season.

Want to impress the young folk in your life with an awesome book or two this holiday season?

Want to avoid the disappointed /horrified / mortified looks of these same young people with stunning gaffes with selections like Boy’s Body Book or Golden Girls Forever or A History of Interest Rates (4th ed.)?

Or perhaps you’re aiming bigger and want to turn them into life-long readers or at least temporarily redirect their attention to something other than social media, their phones or computer games?

Then this list may just get you on your way.

Check it out!

New Zealand comes to its senses

Last month I posted about how Into The River had been banned in New Zealand; it was "illegal to supply the book to anyone or to display the book in or within view of a public place."

As of October 14, this ban has been lifted, and the book is once again classified as "unrestricted". You can read the 21-page decision (pdf) if you like; I only skimmed it.  It seems that the President of the Film and Literature Review Board dissented, but majority ruled and the book can once again be read by humans of all ages. Take a look at this excellent site for a complete case study.

I received my copy just yesterday, and do still plan to read it :-)

Are you in NZ? Want a free book? NZ bans award-winning YA novel after complaints from conservative Christian group

I first heard about this on BoingBoing, and followed up with several other articles:

• Book case study - Into the River
• New Zealand bans award-winning teenage novel after outcry from Christian group
• Censorship is alive in New Zealand. I should know: my book was banned
• We read the novel New Zealand just banned for sex and drugs. Here’s what the fuss is about

As BoingBoing summarizes:

Ted Dawe's Into the River won the 2013 New Zealand Post Children's Book prize; businesses that sell, lend or gift it face fines of up to NZD10,000.

The book is aimed at teen boys -- a relative rarity in YA literature -- and features sex scenes, a slang term for genitals, and drug use. The group Family First got the NZ Film and Literature Board of Review to ban the book. It is being pulled from stores, libraries, and schools across the country.

Sounds like a pretty good read to me, so I ordered a copy from Amazon. I'll read it, then see if my 13-year-old son is interested, after which I'd be pleased to donate it to a reader from New Zealand. If you want it, please let me know!

Related articles

Christians Pressure New Zealand to Ban Award-Winning YA Novel

"New Zealand Bans Award-Winning Teenage Novel After Outcry From Christian Group"

Stampede for banned book

Let parents guide kids' book choices

Humble "School's Out" Bundle

Totally reproducing a press release here, but there is no affiliate link included, it's just a friendly FYI if you've got kids interested in programming (or like to learn at a kids' level ;-)

Summer can be tough on kids, and cabin fever can be even worse for parents. But with the new ebook bundle from No Starch Press, boredom is banished. San Francisco-based No Starch Press has a history of publishing smart books for curious kids, and now, with its Humble "School's Out!" Bundle, readers can pay what they want for a selection of its best books for kids, valued at over $300.

"This bundle includes great books on Arduino, Linux, Scratch programming, science, and even LEGO robotics," says Bill Pollock, No Starch Press founder. "No matter where your interests lie, you'll find something cool that makes learning fun. For the price of a frappuccino, you can get a whole geeky summer camp in a box!"

And as with the previous Humble Bundle presented by No Starch Press, every sale benefits organizations that make a real difference. Pollock explains, "I was excited that our readers raised over $100,000 for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation in February, with our previous Humble ebook Bundle. We're happy to be doing it again—parents get great books for their kids (and themselves!) and support organizations that matter."

Customers who pay any amount receive:

• Super Scratch Programming Adventure!: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games
• The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 2: Spaceships, Pirates, Dragons & More!
• The Manga Guide to Databases
• Wonderful Life with the Elements
• The Art of LEGO Design

Customers who pay more than the average user also receive:

• JavaScript for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming
• The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide
• Learn to Program with Scratch
• Arduino Workshop: A Hands-On Introduction with 65 Projects
• The Linux Command Line

And customers who pay $17 or more receive all of the above, plus:

• The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots
• Teach Your Kids to Code: A Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming
• Automate the Boring Stuff with Python

Readers can choose how much of their payment goes to No Starch Press, Humble Bundle, and the nonprofits (the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation).

The Humble "School's Out!" Bundle runs for two weeks and ends July 1, 2015, at 2pm EST.

2014 (and 2013) - My year in reading

Way back in 2011 I thought it'd be fun to note the books I had read the previous year. I kept the info in a text file and created a couple of infographics to go along with the post. I did the same in 2012, but never got around to 2013. I have been logging all my reads in Goodreads though, so it's time for a quick update. I wish they provided some graphics to go along with, but c'est la vie.

Books read in 2014 (37)
Books read in 2013 (21)

I do almost all of my reading on my Kindle Paperwhite now, with most books coming from Overdrive at Calgary Public Library, loaded through Calibre. Any remainders would be in paper. It'd still be interesting (to me) to do the breakdown by month and genre, as I had done originally, so maybe I'll update this post over the holidays.

Amazon.ca now supported by Library Extension for Chrome

Following up on a post from earlier this summer, the developer of this excellent extension for Chrome has now updated it to include Amazon.ca. (And the University of Calgary) Remember to choose your library(ies) from the Options menu in Tools / Extensions:

Thinking the unthinkable - doing away with the library catalogue (UKSG)

Here's a thought-provoking talk given by Simone Kortekaas of Utrecht University Library in the Netherlands  at this year's UKSG conference. In it, she talks about how they decided to do away with their discovery tool and steer users to Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus. Utrecht appears to be a science-heavy institution. The title is a bit off, as they do still run their traditional catalogue for now, but still, their statistics showed their users were using tools other than those built by the library, so that's where they focused their efforts. Think you could get away with this at your school? Where are YOUR users actually starting their research?

Thanks for the link Heather!