The Data Liberation Project

Jeremy Singer-Vine: ” The Data Liberation Project is a new initiative I’m launching today to identify, obtain, reformat, clean, document, publish, and disseminate government datasets of public interest. Vast troves of government data are inaccessible to the people and communities who need them most. These datasets are inaccessible. The Process: Identify: Through its own research, …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Turn anyone into a pokémon with this AI art model

The Verge: “A fun little AI art widget named Text-to-Pokémon lets you plug in any name or description you like and (you guessed it) generate a pokémon matching your prompt. The model’s output isn’t flawless, but it’s incredibly entertaining all the same. You can try punching in the names of celebrities or politicians (see “Boris …

Subjects: Internet

Using an Infographic to Encourage Deep Reading

Via LLRX – Using an Infographic to Encourage Deep Reading – Prof. Cindy Guyer, Senior Law Librarian and Adjunct Assistant Professor Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, has been experimenting with incorporating infographics in her teaching to present information and knowledge visually, using graphs, flowcharts, timelines, and diagrams, which are components of …

Subjects: Education, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

How Social Media Sites Have Amplified False Claims of U.S. Election Fraud

NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights: “As the 2022 midterms approach, falsehoods about election fraud continue to spread via social media. The Big Lie that Joseph Biden did not legitimately win the presidency in 2020 has mutated into a forward-looking belief among many Republicans that American democracy more generally no longer functions fairly. …

Subjects: Congress, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Massive LinkedIn Study Reveals Who Actually Helps You Get That Job

Scientific American: “If you want a new job, don’t just rely on friends or family. According to one of the most influential theories in social science, you’re more likely to nab a new position through your “weak ties,” loose acquaintances with whom you have few mutual connections. Sociologist Mark Granovetter first laid out this idea …

Subjects: Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 24, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 24, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly …

Subjects: Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Privacy

Paper – the last luxury

FT.com – Once touted as redundant, the most quotidian of materials is now a hot commodity again: “…Frith-Powell is using early-Victorian equipment to make paper in the same way it was made in the 1600s, but the Paper Foundation, based in a 19th-century country house in Cumbria’s Burneside, is not a historic enterprise. Launched five …

Subjects: Education, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Lawless Surveillance

Friedman, Barry, Lawless Surveillance (February 1, 2022). 97 N.Y.U. L. Rev. (2022), NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 22-28, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4111547 “Here in the United States, policing agencies are engaging in mass collection of personal data, building a vast architecture of surveillance. License plate readers collect our location information. Mobile …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy

January 6th on the Record: The Investigation into the Attack on the U.S. Capitol

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) “is pleased to announce the release of January 6th on the Record: The Investigation into the Attack on the U.S. Capitol, a free ebook compendium of materials related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol and the subsequent hearings held by the House Select Committee investigating the attack. At …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Education, Legal Research

Census.gov Design Refresh

“As part of our mission to serve as the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people, places and economy, the U.S. Census Bureau announced the launch of the refreshed census.gov website that is designed to present data in an even more user-friendly way. The Census Bureau conducted extensive customer research and usability testing to identify …

Subjects: E-Government, Education, Government Documents, Legal Research

Book bans are spiking in the US

Quartz – Here are the most targeted titles: “This week, ALA is holding its annual Banned Books Week, from September 18-24, to advocate for open access to information. While in the past bans usually targeted one book at a time, advocacy groups are now going after multiple titles at once, according to the association. So far …

Subjects: Censorship, Education, Free Speech, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

The Supreme Court’s new term could be even more consequential than its last one

Vox – The Republican justices who overruled Roe v. Wade are only getting started. “The headline of this piece is likely to turn a few heads. The Supreme Court’s last term, after all, was an orgy of conservative excess unlike any since the Court’s Great Depression-era attacks on the New Deal. And it culminated in …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Free Speech, Government Documents, Health Care, Legislation