Emily Zerrenner
@ezerrenner.bsky.social
Academic librarian, ACRLog blogger, MI➡MD transplant, 2021 Junior Fellow at the Library of Congress, Aquarius, crafter. Views are my own.
Helping a student with government research increasingly feels like finding landmines.
November 21, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Helping a student with government research increasingly feels like finding landmines.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
People need to reckon with the hypocrisies of governments prepared to suport products that algorithmically fabricate history while stripping funding from the archives and repositories that hold actual historical artifacts. This is far more expansive than the cyberattack on the British Library.
November 18, 2025 at 2:36 PM
People need to reckon with the hypocrisies of governments prepared to suport products that algorithmically fabricate history while stripping funding from the archives and repositories that hold actual historical artifacts. This is far more expansive than the cyberattack on the British Library.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
*whispers* also make cool friends who are librarians because I fucking love answering people's weird-ass questions
my number one most serious writing tip is to make cool friends. in the last year I've needed to know about blacksmithing, neo-medievalism in the american empire, and mid-century lesbian pulp publishing and each time I've been able to just. call a guy.
November 17, 2025 at 10:54 PM
*whispers* also make cool friends who are librarians because I fucking love answering people's weird-ass questions
This was hard to read, but in a good way. It encapsulates many of my feelings about AI.
. @audreywatters.bsky.social on AI+grief: 'In response to a radical outpouring of love, loss, life, grief—expressed together, embodied, on the streets—we were forced to use a tech that severs us from creative expression, dignity, truth. There is no choice, we're told. "Get over it." "Move on."'
AI Grief Observed
These remarks were delivered this evening at the Creatively Critical Tech Speaker Series at Illinois State University.
"There is no good way to say this."
These are the opening words of Yiyun Li’s l...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:21 PM
This was hard to read, but in a good way. It encapsulates many of my feelings about AI.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
To search the database of stolen work and file a claim, see:
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
Homepage | Bartz v Anthropic Settlement Site
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:14 AM
To search the database of stolen work and file a claim, see:
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
ChatGPT is infinitely more dangerous than caffeine
But people stepped in to limit Panera, while OpenAI is being allowed to run rampant, not only without any precautions, but with lucrative educational contracts to put it in front of the most vulnerable among us
futurism.com/artificial-i...
But people stepped in to limit Panera, while OpenAI is being allowed to run rampant, not only without any precautions, but with lucrative educational contracts to put it in front of the most vulnerable among us
futurism.com/artificial-i...
ChatGPT Now Linked to Way More Deaths Than the Caffeinated Lemonade That Panera Pulled Off the Market in Disgrace
ChatGPT has been publicly linked to at least eight deaths. OpenAI has announced no plans to take it off the market.
futurism.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:57 PM
ChatGPT is infinitely more dangerous than caffeine
But people stepped in to limit Panera, while OpenAI is being allowed to run rampant, not only without any precautions, but with lucrative educational contracts to put it in front of the most vulnerable among us
futurism.com/artificial-i...
But people stepped in to limit Panera, while OpenAI is being allowed to run rampant, not only without any precautions, but with lucrative educational contracts to put it in front of the most vulnerable among us
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Today I get to present again with Sarah Appedu and Andrea Baer on GenAI, this time for @loex.bsky.social Fall Focus! We present at 4pm EST on challenging inevitability narratives around AI and centering agency for students and teachers.
LOEX Fall Focus 2025: Challenging AI Inevitability Narratives...
View more about this event at LOEX Fall Focus 2025
loexfallfocus2025.sched.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Today I get to present again with Sarah Appedu and Andrea Baer on GenAI, this time for @loex.bsky.social Fall Focus! We present at 4pm EST on challenging inevitability narratives around AI and centering agency for students and teachers.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
I also think GenAI summaries of conversations and personal emails are fucking wack and disrespectful
Either you have time to genuinely engage with what someone said or you don’t
Either you have time to genuinely engage with what someone said or you don’t
November 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I also think GenAI summaries of conversations and personal emails are fucking wack and disrespectful
Either you have time to genuinely engage with what someone said or you don’t
Either you have time to genuinely engage with what someone said or you don’t
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
1. Going to the Library in Smyrna or Murfreesboro, TN?
You might be greeted by an EMERGENCY CLOSURE sign.
Apparently they have detected the presence of "transgender books" and are quarantining them as if they were a dangerous plague.
The latest from S. Baum.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
You might be greeted by an EMERGENCY CLOSURE sign.
Apparently they have detected the presence of "transgender books" and are quarantining them as if they were a dangerous plague.
The latest from S. Baum.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Some Tennessee Libraries Shut Down For “Emergency Closure” Over Transgender Books
It is unclear how many other libraries have or may need to temporarily shut their doors in order to cull their children’s sections for gender-subversive content.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:57 AM
1. Going to the Library in Smyrna or Murfreesboro, TN?
You might be greeted by an EMERGENCY CLOSURE sign.
Apparently they have detected the presence of "transgender books" and are quarantining them as if they were a dangerous plague.
The latest from S. Baum.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
You might be greeted by an EMERGENCY CLOSURE sign.
Apparently they have detected the presence of "transgender books" and are quarantining them as if they were a dangerous plague.
The latest from S. Baum.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
I find myself just endlessly frustrated that my librarian career has been completely overshadowed by GenAI. There are so many more other things I'd rather think, learn, and talk about.
November 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
I find myself just endlessly frustrated that my librarian career has been completely overshadowed by GenAI. There are so many more other things I'd rather think, learn, and talk about.
The Pride crosswalks in Salisbury, Maryland (the first in the state!) are being paved over with no plan for replacement. They were created and maintained by the Shore Pride Alliance at no cost to the city.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/11/10/a...
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/11/10/a...
Plan to remove Salisbury rainbow crosswalk sparks backlash, confusion
Advocate KT Tuminello began a hunger strike in downtown Salisbury to protest the city’s plan to replace Maryland’s first Pride crosswalk.
www.baltimoresun.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:18 PM
The Pride crosswalks in Salisbury, Maryland (the first in the state!) are being paved over with no plan for replacement. They were created and maintained by the Shore Pride Alliance at no cost to the city.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/11/10/a...
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/11/10/a...
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
Hear me out, maybe libraries ... don't need AI for anything? This is a solution in search of a problem.
Aside from my "was this really written in 2025, not two years ago" snarky response, I couldn't help thinking throughout this entire blog post that a huge part of why so many libraries are STUCK on dealing with AI is because we literally don't have the staff time or funding to deal with it.
Do Academic Libraries Have a Strategy for AI? 📚
"...while two-thirds of libraries are exploring AI features in vendor products, only about half are offering guidance to their communities on how to use AI responsibly in academic work."
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/10/30/g...
"...while two-thirds of libraries are exploring AI features in vendor products, only about half are offering guidance to their communities on how to use AI responsibly in academic work."
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/10/30/g...
November 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Hear me out, maybe libraries ... don't need AI for anything? This is a solution in search of a problem.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
me when the AI bubble bursts
November 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
me when the AI bubble bursts
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
Leftists really have to prioritize public libraries in budget fights.
November 8, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Leftists really have to prioritize public libraries in budget fights.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
“And then you have librarians who are experiencing a real existential crisis because they are getting asked by their jobs to promote [AI] tools that produce more misinformation. It's the most, like, emperor-has-no-clothes-type situation that I have ever witnessed.” - Alison Macrina
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 7, 2025 at 7:15 AM
“And then you have librarians who are experiencing a real existential crisis because they are getting asked by their jobs to promote [AI] tools that produce more misinformation. It's the most, like, emperor-has-no-clothes-type situation that I have ever witnessed.” - Alison Macrina
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
To sum up:
Gender affirming care: bad
Character.AI driving kids into suicide for profit: good
Got it.
Gender affirming care: bad
Character.AI driving kids into suicide for profit: good
Got it.
Holy shit. Noam Shazeer, one of the original authors on the "Attention is All You Need" paper and Character.AI founder, came out as major transphobe. Like Trumpian levels of "this is child mutilation" of transphobia.
(via The Information)
(via The Information)
November 7, 2025 at 4:33 PM
To sum up:
Gender affirming care: bad
Character.AI driving kids into suicide for profit: good
Got it.
Gender affirming care: bad
Character.AI driving kids into suicide for profit: good
Got it.
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
They made... an AI tool... to make AI... which is already built on actual writing... seem less like slop...
JUST DO THE WRITING YOURSELF TO BEGIN WITH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
JUST DO THE WRITING YOURSELF TO BEGIN WITH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
November 4, 2025 at 2:24 AM
They made... an AI tool... to make AI... which is already built on actual writing... seem less like slop...
JUST DO THE WRITING YOURSELF TO BEGIN WITH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
JUST DO THE WRITING YOURSELF TO BEGIN WITH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
New on ACRLog... EBS-No; or, a rant
"Overall, this is indicative of a long-running problem in librarianship; we are at the mercy of the vendors whose products we rely on." - Emily Zerrenner
t.co/nGXriJJyoQ
"Overall, this is indicative of a long-running problem in librarianship; we are at the mercy of the vendors whose products we rely on." - Emily Zerrenner
t.co/nGXriJJyoQ
October 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
New on ACRLog... EBS-No; or, a rant
"Overall, this is indicative of a long-running problem in librarianship; we are at the mercy of the vendors whose products we rely on." - Emily Zerrenner
t.co/nGXriJJyoQ
"Overall, this is indicative of a long-running problem in librarianship; we are at the mercy of the vendors whose products we rely on." - Emily Zerrenner
t.co/nGXriJJyoQ
Seeing twenty one pilots for the 10th time tonight in Virginia Beach! 🩵
Also used the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel for the first time… Not A Fan 🫣
Also used the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel for the first time… Not A Fan 🫣
October 7, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Seeing twenty one pilots for the 10th time tonight in Virginia Beach! 🩵
Also used the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel for the first time… Not A Fan 🫣
Also used the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel for the first time… Not A Fan 🫣
In which: I crash out a bit about EBSCO's new interface acrlog.org/2025/10/03/e...
EBS-No; or, a rant - ACRLog
Please, permit me to rant about EBSCO’s new UI for a little while. Ours changed over in August, and up until this point, I've been quite busy with teaching and the general chaos of the beginning of fa...
acrlog.org
October 3, 2025 at 6:24 PM
In which: I crash out a bit about EBSCO's new interface acrlog.org/2025/10/03/e...
Still rolling with this project. We had a person donate an ENTIRE finished quilt this last week. <3
AN ENTIRE QUILT!!!! This is from Yara and it is absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait to find a home for it - thank you so much, Yara.
Everybody sound off a thank you below!!!
#transpridequilt #quiltproject #quilting #quiltsky
Everybody sound off a thank you below!!!
#transpridequilt #quiltproject #quilting #quiltsky
October 2, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Still rolling with this project. We had a person donate an ENTIRE finished quilt this last week. <3
Reposted by Emily Zerrenner
THE WAIT IS OVER – The first episode of We Reads: The Podcast is now available! 🎧
Tune in as hosts dive into their reading journeys, genre preferences, and what to expect from this coming season 🤭
www.wehere.space/we-reads-pod...
#WeReadsthePodcast
Tune in as hosts dive into their reading journeys, genre preferences, and what to expect from this coming season 🤭
www.wehere.space/we-reads-pod...
#WeReadsthePodcast
September 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
THE WAIT IS OVER – The first episode of We Reads: The Podcast is now available! 🎧
Tune in as hosts dive into their reading journeys, genre preferences, and what to expect from this coming season 🤭
www.wehere.space/we-reads-pod...
#WeReadsthePodcast
Tune in as hosts dive into their reading journeys, genre preferences, and what to expect from this coming season 🤭
www.wehere.space/we-reads-pod...
#WeReadsthePodcast
ebsco is like totally broken on our campus lol. love that. how are YALL doing?????
September 23, 2025 at 6:16 PM
ebsco is like totally broken on our campus lol. love that. how are YALL doing?????