Category Archives: Weblogs (Blogs)

Weblogs (Blogs)

Current Affairs, Libraries, Memories & History, Politics, Science & Health, Times They Are A-Changing, Web & Technology, Weblogs (Blogs)

“Do We Need Librarians Now that We Have ChatGPT?”

Where ChatGPT and librarians collide.

Posted on May 15, 2023 in Blog Posts

From article…

When discussions about ChatGPT began some months ago, librarians immediately started the conversation about its implications for education. Now, several debacles and many dire warnings later, we’re already on the next version (ChatGPT-4) and dealing with multiple AI-powered chatbots.

Even experienced tech columnists are a little freaked out.

As usual, librarians will have to deal with this, if only because we live in the same reality as the rest of the world and have not been granted a pass on modernity so that we can sit by the library fireplace with our library cat and read all day. In case you haven’t heard, we’ve gone digital.

Posted courtesy of:

Library Link of the Day
http://www.tk421.net/librarylink/  (archive, rss, subscribe options)

Source: https://www.choice360.org/libtech-insight/do-we-need-librarians-now-that-we-have-chatgpt/

Arts & Humanities, Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Libraries, Memories & History, Music, Pleasures, Television, Weblogs (Blogs)

Film Night at the Pickford Theater: “The Maltese Falcon” (1941) | Now See Hear! | Library of Congress

By Library of Congress, 15 March, 2023, Posted by: Matthew Barton

Every month, films from the Library of Congress’s collection are shown at the Mary Pickford Theater in the Library’s James Madison Building in Washington, DC. They range from titles newly preserved by the National Audio Visual Conservation Center film lab to classics from the National Film Registry to lesser known titles worthy of discovery.

Source: Film Night at the Pickford Theater: “The Maltese Falcon” (1941) | Now See Hear!

See Also: https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687678/?loclr-blognsh

Podcasts, Politics, Science & Health, Web & Technology, Weblogs (Blogs)

Google’s New AI Tools for Gmail, Docs Can Write Drafts for You – CNET

The search giant is testing generative writing and other AI features for its Workspace apps.

By Nina Raemont, March 14, 2023 8:12 a.m. PT

James Martin/CNET

Google plans to bring new AI-powered tools to its suite of Workspace apps. In a blog post on Tuesday, the search giant said it’s starting by testing generative AI writing features in Gmail and Docs that can help people get started on the writing process.

“Simply type a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated for you,” reads Google’s post. “With your collaborative AI partner you can continue to refine and edit, getting more suggestions as needed.”

The tool, Google suggests, can be used to help create things like customized job descriptions or invitations for a kid’s birthday party. The company is also exploring ways to incorporate AI tools into Slides, Sheets, Meet and Chat.

Source: Google’s New AI Tools for Gmail, Docs Can Write Drafts for You – CNET

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Times They Are A-Changing, Web & Technology, Weblogs (Blogs)

Introducing the new EPUB reader for e-books at the Library of Congress | The Signal

Published February 2, 2023 by Carlyn Osborn

Today’s guest post is from Kristy Darby, a Digital Collections Specialist at the Library of Congress.

Bird Species: How They Arise, Modify and Vanish is now available to view in the new EPUB reader.

The Open Access Books Collection on loc.gov includes approximately 6,000 contemporary open access e-books covering a wide range of subjects, including history, music, poetry, technology, and works of fiction.

All books in this collection were published under open access licenses, meaning the e-books are available to use and reuse according to the terms of the licenses. Users can access the e-books in the Open Access Books Collection by reading directly online in a browser or downloading the book as a PDF or EPUB file.

Green book cover for Bird Species: How They Arise, Modify and Vanish, edited by Dieter TietzeBird Species: How They Arise, Modify and Vanish is now available to view in the new EPUB reader.

When we first made open access e-books available on loc.gov, titles were available for download in either PDF or EPUB format, but PDF was the only one available for reading directly on the website; loc.gov did not support viewing EPUBs in the browser, and they were only available for download. As many books were available in both formats or in PDF only, this ensured most titles were viewable directly on the website.

However, we recognized an increase in titles available in EPUB only so we are happy to share the news that an EPUB viewer was launched on loc.gov. The viewer makes EPUBs available for reading on loc.gov and provides a richer interface for users.

Source: Introducing the new EPUB reader for e-books at the Library of Congress | The Signal

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Libraries, Memories & History, Politics, Science & Health, Television, Web & Technology, Weblogs (Blogs)

2022 Empowering Libraries Year in Review – Internet Archive Blogs | Internet Archive

Posted on December 28, 2022 by chrisfreeland

from article…

The Internet Archive launched the Empowering Libraries campaign in 2020 to defend equal access to library services for all.

Since then, threats to libraries have only grown, so our fight continues. As 2022 draws to a close, here’s a look back through some of our library’s milestones and accomplishments over the year.

In the news

  • When the war in Ukraine started, volunteers began using the Wayback Machine and other online tools to preserve Ukrainian websites and digital collections. The effort, Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO), now has more than 1,500 volunteers working to preserve more than 5,000 web sites and 50TB of data.
    • Watch a compelling story about SUCHO from CBS News featuring Quinn Dombrowski, one of the project leaders from Stanford University, and Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine.
    • In May, we partnered with Better World Books on a book drive supporting Ukrainian scholars. BWB customers were able to donate $1 at checkout to acquire books cited in the Ukrainian-language Wikipedia for the Internet Archive to preserve, digitize, and link to citations in Wikipedia.

Source: 2022 Empowering Libraries Year in Review – Internet Archive Blogs