Sarah Polkinghorne
@sarahpolk.bsky.social
Librarian, researcher. My account is a grab-bag -- libraries, info sci, qual research, science, film, art. Lift heavy/knit fast. 🇨🇦
https://www.sarahpolkinghorne.ca/
https://www.sarahpolkinghorne.ca/
Pinned
New Media & Society - Volume 27, Number 10
Table of contents for New Media & Society, 27, 10
journals.sagepub.com
New Media & Society's issue on artificial sociality is out! Super relevant in re: AI "girlfriends," etc. I'm looking forward to reading!
journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/27/10
Inside, our paper applies Hochschild's feeling rules to interactions w/ ChatGPT, Tessa, Replika.
doi.org/10.1177/1461...
journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/27/10
Inside, our paper applies Hochschild's feeling rules to interactions w/ ChatGPT, Tessa, Replika.
doi.org/10.1177/1461...
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
posting without comment bc no comment necessary
November 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
posting without comment bc no comment necessary
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Yesterday I was up on that pipeline route and a First Nation land guardian was explaining to me the riskiness of shipping oil on those waterways and I kept thinking: how f-ing broke is Canada that it’s thinking of doing this? This is ‘selling your kidney’ level of desperation.
Lets face it, this is a good day for oil companies, businesses, and those in the oil sector. Its a bad day for the environment and for reconciliation with Indigenous nations whose lands this thing will go over. As Blanchet stated, this is the official end of Canada's climate commitments.
Ottawa-Alberta agreement clears federal hurdles for west coast pipeline, suspends clean energy regulations
Federal government won’t implement its oil and gas emissions cap, and both sides will consult with B.C. on project, MOU says
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 28, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Yesterday I was up on that pipeline route and a First Nation land guardian was explaining to me the riskiness of shipping oil on those waterways and I kept thinking: how f-ing broke is Canada that it’s thinking of doing this? This is ‘selling your kidney’ level of desperation.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
📚 a large group of first-graders watched me demonstrate the library’s book mending machine today. I asked them if they had ever had a book in their home get really messed up. their hands shot up. I would estimate that 60% of their stories involved dogs
November 26, 2025 at 7:32 PM
📚 a large group of first-graders watched me demonstrate the library’s book mending machine today. I asked them if they had ever had a book in their home get really messed up. their hands shot up. I would estimate that 60% of their stories involved dogs
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
There is always some anxiety from my LIS students about finding a job.
This semester though... I've had more questions about the job market than ANY OTHER TOPIC...
What advice would you give new librarians, trying to find their first post-MLS job, in 2025/2026?
This semester though... I've had more questions about the job market than ANY OTHER TOPIC...
What advice would you give new librarians, trying to find their first post-MLS job, in 2025/2026?
November 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
There is always some anxiety from my LIS students about finding a job.
This semester though... I've had more questions about the job market than ANY OTHER TOPIC...
What advice would you give new librarians, trying to find their first post-MLS job, in 2025/2026?
This semester though... I've had more questions about the job market than ANY OTHER TOPIC...
What advice would you give new librarians, trying to find their first post-MLS job, in 2025/2026?
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Is Santa Real? Many users feel they're getting presents from him. Scientists say it's time to consider whether they're onto something.
November 26, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Is Santa Real? Many users feel they're getting presents from him. Scientists say it's time to consider whether they're onto something.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
You have to keep giving money to avoid collapse and if there’s collapse you have to give more money. It’s called the free market.
November 24, 2025 at 10:54 PM
You have to keep giving money to avoid collapse and if there’s collapse you have to give more money. It’s called the free market.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
There is an aggressive asymmetry between what information platforms and data centers have about us, and what information we're able to have about them
hive-mind, know of any research/academic work that has detailed the various ways social media/large platforms have made audits/critical investigation of these platforms practically impossible. exuberant API fees, access only to partial data even when you can pay fee, retaliation again auditors, etc
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
There is an aggressive asymmetry between what information platforms and data centers have about us, and what information we're able to have about them
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
authors you have the chance to do the funniest thing right now
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:35 AM
authors you have the chance to do the funniest thing right now
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Untitled by Harry Bertoia, 1937
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137567
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137567
November 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Untitled by Harry Bertoia, 1937
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137567
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137567
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
I was fortunate enough to bear witness to the signing of Victoria’s Treaty. This is what I saw and felt. www.thespencerstreetend.com.au/publish/post...
On the banks of Birrarung
History all at once, the signing of the Treaty.
www.thespencerstreetend.com.au
November 14, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I was fortunate enough to bear witness to the signing of Victoria’s Treaty. This is what I saw and felt. www.thespencerstreetend.com.au/publish/post...
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
READ THIS!
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
Op-Ed: Ottawa's costly pursuit of the poor
The government cites inefficiency as a reason to end taxes on vacant homes and yachts — yet keeps pouring money into futile litigation over pandemic-era benefits
www.canadianaffairs.news
November 13, 2025 at 6:16 PM
READ THIS!
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
who has the recipe for the perfect coffee quickbread or loaf cake? (coffee as ingredient not coffee as accompaniment)
November 14, 2025 at 11:49 PM
who has the recipe for the perfect coffee quickbread or loaf cake? (coffee as ingredient not coffee as accompaniment)
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Nov 25 is the UN's Int'l Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Dec 6th is Canada's National Day of Action and Remembrance on Violence against Women in commemoration of the Montreal Massacre.
Want to do something tangible to mark the dates? Let me teach you bystander intervention!
Dec 6th is Canada's National Day of Action and Remembrance on Violence against Women in commemoration of the Montreal Massacre.
Want to do something tangible to mark the dates? Let me teach you bystander intervention!
@julieslalonde | Linktree
Come learn bystander intervention with me - It's free!
linktr.ee
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Nov 25 is the UN's Int'l Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Dec 6th is Canada's National Day of Action and Remembrance on Violence against Women in commemoration of the Montreal Massacre.
Want to do something tangible to mark the dates? Let me teach you bystander intervention!
Dec 6th is Canada's National Day of Action and Remembrance on Violence against Women in commemoration of the Montreal Massacre.
Want to do something tangible to mark the dates? Let me teach you bystander intervention!
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
The truly maddening thing is that, unlike when I was a young man in science and the materials and engineering just weren’t there yet, the future is *right there.* The problem is *solved*. What’s holding us back is not just greed, but this bizarre nostalgia, an obsession with petro- masculinity.
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 2:08 PM
The truly maddening thing is that, unlike when I was a young man in science and the materials and engineering just weren’t there yet, the future is *right there.* The problem is *solved*. What’s holding us back is not just greed, but this bizarre nostalgia, an obsession with petro- masculinity.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Not sure what kind of plaudits Carney is expecting for bragging that asylum claims are down.
It's grotesque. Ghoulish. Trumpian.
It's grotesque. Ghoulish. Trumpian.
November 5, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Not sure what kind of plaudits Carney is expecting for bragging that asylum claims are down.
It's grotesque. Ghoulish. Trumpian.
It's grotesque. Ghoulish. Trumpian.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
OpenAI pirated large numbers of books and used them to train models.
OpenAI then deleted the dataset with the pirated books, and employees sent each other messages about doing so.
A lawsuit could now force the company to pay $150,000 per book, adding up to billions in damages.
OpenAI then deleted the dataset with the pirated books, and employees sent each other messages about doing so.
A lawsuit could now force the company to pay $150,000 per book, adding up to billions in damages.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
OpenAI pirated large numbers of books and used them to train models.
OpenAI then deleted the dataset with the pirated books, and employees sent each other messages about doing so.
A lawsuit could now force the company to pay $150,000 per book, adding up to billions in damages.
OpenAI then deleted the dataset with the pirated books, and employees sent each other messages about doing so.
A lawsuit could now force the company to pay $150,000 per book, adding up to billions in damages.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Maybe the thing that gives me a pulse-pounding throbbing headache is when I think of how techbros sold ChatGPT to universities as ‘revolutionizing’ higher education and our institutions just forked over money without even asking for actual evidence
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Maybe the thing that gives me a pulse-pounding throbbing headache is when I think of how techbros sold ChatGPT to universities as ‘revolutionizing’ higher education and our institutions just forked over money without even asking for actual evidence
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works and let me know if you have any questions! 🤗
October 29, 2025 at 9:16 PM
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works and let me know if you have any questions! 🤗
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
BREAKING: economist discovers “second shift,” a concept coined by sociologists almost 50 years ago; gives it new, stupider, and less explicitly labor-oriented name
October 26, 2025 at 1:58 PM
BREAKING: economist discovers “second shift,” a concept coined by sociologists almost 50 years ago; gives it new, stupider, and less explicitly labor-oriented name
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
The AI industry wants us to believe AI superintelligence is the real threat from generative AI.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
Generative AI is a societal disaster
Governments are deluding themselves into believing investment justifies allowing AI to upend society
disconnect.blog
October 24, 2025 at 10:12 AM
The AI industry wants us to believe AI superintelligence is the real threat from generative AI.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
✍️CFP!
We are inviting submissions to our special issue on Libraries, Humans, Machines: Old Relationships, New Entanglements.
Read more and submit by Dec. 18: cjal.ca/index.php/ca...
#AcademicSky #LibrarySky #OA
We are inviting submissions to our special issue on Libraries, Humans, Machines: Old Relationships, New Entanglements.
Read more and submit by Dec. 18: cjal.ca/index.php/ca...
#AcademicSky #LibrarySky #OA
Call for proposals: CJAL special issue on Libraries, Humans, Machines
| Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship
cjal.ca
October 15, 2025 at 12:05 PM
✍️CFP!
We are inviting submissions to our special issue on Libraries, Humans, Machines: Old Relationships, New Entanglements.
Read more and submit by Dec. 18: cjal.ca/index.php/ca...
#AcademicSky #LibrarySky #OA
We are inviting submissions to our special issue on Libraries, Humans, Machines: Old Relationships, New Entanglements.
Read more and submit by Dec. 18: cjal.ca/index.php/ca...
#AcademicSky #LibrarySky #OA
Hi, it's me, I'm the et al. I'm so happy this paper's finally out, and I hope it finds its readers.
New open access article by TASA member Alexandra Ridgway et al.
‘I think I misspoke earlier. My bad!’: Exploring how generative artificial intelligence tools exploit society’s feeling rules
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
‘I think I misspoke earlier. My bad!’: Exploring how generative artificial intelligence tools exploit society’s feeling rules
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Hi, it's me, I'm the et al. I'm so happy this paper's finally out, and I hope it finds its readers.
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
#DHMakes is anyone doing anything like this?
Okay new idea for a library service: leave a hobby take a hobby. When people get bored with a hobby they can come and leave their supplies and books and half-finished things, and exchange them for someone else’s supplies and books and half-finished things. Hobby swap.
October 19, 2025 at 10:43 AM
#DHMakes is anyone doing anything like this?
Reposted by Sarah Polkinghorne
Shoutout to whoever was like the news sucks, let’s spice it up by doing a jewel heist at the Louvre
October 19, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Shoutout to whoever was like the news sucks, let’s spice it up by doing a jewel heist at the Louvre