Day archives: August 19th, 2025

Blaugust: Four Tools for Easier Date-Based Searching

Tara Calishain – “Do your Internet research tasks include a lot of date-based searching? I find that date-based searching helps a lot when searching historical (and man do I feel weird saying that about stuff that happened just a couple decades ago) events, companies, people and information. The results you’ll find when searching for something …

Subjects: Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

I Wanted to Find Out What Google Knows About Me and Finally Found a Way

MakeUseOf: “I’ve always known Google had a lot of information on me, but “a lot” is vague. I wanted to see the receipts. That’s when I stumbled upon a tool hidden in plain sight: Google Takeout. It gave me a way to download my data directly from Google’s servers, neatly packaged for my inspection. Google …

Subjects: E-Mail, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Search Engines

Amid Deregulatory Blitz, Trump Quietly Deletes Key Public Comment Tool

Common Dreams: “It’s clear that Trump doesn’t want the public weighing in on these dangerous deregulatory initiatives,” said Katie Tracy of Public Citizen. On Friday, the General Services Administration—an independent agency that supports the functioning of the government bureaucracy—quietly eliminated a tool known as the POST Application Programming Interface (API) from the Regulations.gov website. Last …

Subjects: Censorship, E-Records, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

What the Smithsonian actually is

Dean Blundell – “The Smithsonian is not one museum, and it isn’t a partisan project. It’s the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex: 21 museums, the National Zoo, and a network of research centers. Created by Congress in 1846, it receives federal support but is governed independently, with a public mission to collect, conserve, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Education, Knowledge Management

Most Americans worry AI will permanently displace workers, poll finds

Quartz – Poll respondents said they were concerned that “too many people will lose their jobs” because of artificial intelligence. “In fact, 71% are afraid that artificial intelligence will cause permanent job loss, according to a new poll by Reuters and Ipsos. The poll surveyed 4,446 U.S. adults nationwide between August 13 and 18. Respondents …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Financial System, Libraries

MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing

Fortune: “Companies are betting on AI—yet nearly all enterprise pilots are stuck at the starting line. The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, a new report published by MIT’s NANDA initiative, reveals that while generative AI holds promise for enterprises, most initiatives to drive rapid revenue growth are falling flat. Despite the rush …

Subjects: AI, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research