Raina Bloom
@mmelibrarian.bsky.social
MLIS. Reference Services Coordinator. Let’s overthink this.
I’ll add that it appears real until you use the database links to view the article. The whole thing falls apart and it’s clear that the article doesn’t exist. This happens because AI generated citations cite fake article in real journals, leading to the fleeting impression of credibility here
When viewing the fake article in Google scholar on my university network, there is a link to access the article via my uni's library. That link sends me to a library page that makes fake article appear real... Turns out library page is made programmatically from info on Google scholar 🤦
December 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I’ll add that it appears real until you use the database links to view the article. The whole thing falls apart and it’s clear that the article doesn’t exist. This happens because AI generated citations cite fake article in real journals, leading to the fleeting impression of credibility here
Reposted by Raina Bloom
People are saying that this is a problem for all library catalogues but that's not true: this is a problem for, in this case, Ex Libris Primo and more generally for outsourced proprietary library catalogues that libraries don't control. The answer, as always, is to build and control our own tech.
When viewing the fake article in Google scholar on my university network, there is a link to access the article via my uni's library. That link sends me to a library page that makes fake article appear real... Turns out library page is made programmatically from info on Google scholar 🤦
December 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
People are saying that this is a problem for all library catalogues but that's not true: this is a problem for, in this case, Ex Libris Primo and more generally for outsourced proprietary library catalogues that libraries don't control. The answer, as always, is to build and control our own tech.
If stuff like this bothers you (and it should!), please tell the librarians at your institution. We pay the bills for licensed resources and are in contact with the vendors. Give us a reason to tell them patrons are complaining!
The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.
December 17, 2025 at 12:13 AM
If stuff like this bothers you (and it should!), please tell the librarians at your institution. We pay the bills for licensed resources and are in contact with the vendors. Give us a reason to tell them patrons are complaining!
This article is pointing to a real phenomenon but it’s rude as hell. We’re not “dumbfounded” - we understand what’s happening and why. If writers outside of LIS keep minimizing our expertise like this, we’re never going to be able to build the coalition we need to confront this crisis
Librarians Dumbfounded as People Keep Asking for Materials That Don't Exist
The rising tide of AI slop has brought with it fake research and other sources that librarians are asked to track down.
futurism.com
December 13, 2025 at 6:38 PM
This article is pointing to a real phenomenon but it’s rude as hell. We’re not “dumbfounded” - we understand what’s happening and why. If writers outside of LIS keep minimizing our expertise like this, we’re never going to be able to build the coalition we need to confront this crisis
Reposted by Raina Bloom
Living in society and working in tech and knowledge fields in an era of sociotechnically mediated epistemic crisis be like
December 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Living in society and working in tech and knowledge fields in an era of sociotechnically mediated epistemic crisis be like
Sixth Law of Library Science: When a patron prefaces their inquiry with “This is a weird question, but,” it is not a weird question.
December 13, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Sixth Law of Library Science: When a patron prefaces their inquiry with “This is a weird question, but,” it is not a weird question.
Reposted by Raina Bloom
I saw someone point out that “giddy up, jingle horse, pick up your feet!” sounds like something a homophobic gym teacher would say
December 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I saw someone point out that “giddy up, jingle horse, pick up your feet!” sounds like something a homophobic gym teacher would say
My coworker found the ancient reference Rolodex. I’m going to have to clear my calendar for the day
December 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM
My coworker found the ancient reference Rolodex. I’m going to have to clear my calendar for the day
I also have this calendar. I’m from Wisconsin and very familiar with a good Penzey’s screed, but I still laughed about it for like 20 minutes this morning.
day 1 is "penzeys revolution blend" and i cant stop laughing at "we have to GET RID of this lying, cheating, CORRUPT SCUMBAG PRESIDENT!! RESIST! REVOLT! REVOLUTION NOW!! good on roast poultry and carrots"
December 2, 2025 at 3:21 AM
I also have this calendar. I’m from Wisconsin and very familiar with a good Penzey’s screed, but I still laughed about it for like 20 minutes this morning.
The recurring fiddle tune in The American Revolution is called “Hector the Hero” and it was composed in 1903. I know this because my child played in her fiddle group* last year and I had just gotten it out of my head
* - You heard me. Welcome to Madison!
* - You heard me. Welcome to Madison!
November 17, 2025 at 3:24 AM
The recurring fiddle tune in The American Revolution is called “Hector the Hero” and it was composed in 1903. I know this because my child played in her fiddle group* last year and I had just gotten it out of my head
* - You heard me. Welcome to Madison!
* - You heard me. Welcome to Madison!
Reposted by Raina Bloom
I always like it when PBS says that viewers like me.
November 17, 2025 at 1:02 AM
I always like it when PBS says that viewers like me.
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.