Dr. Melissa Ocepek
LightNews LightNews
melissa1776.bsky.social
Dr. Melissa Ocepek
@melissa1776.bsky.social
500 followers 930 following 76 posts
Academic LIS Scholar, Foodie, and Friend!
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
gerritd.bsky.social
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 25, 2025 at 11:46 PM
melissa1776.bsky.social
Going to start asking men who claim that “ai is the defining technology of our age” how do we know it’s not the Real Housewives.
November 19, 2025 at 12:35 PM
melissa1776.bsky.social
I LOVED Death by Lightning and it made me want more shows about long dead presidents and political figures I have never thought about.
November 13, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
stynnelahl.bsky.social
We (Wesleyan University) are hiring a Social Sciences Librarian, with an emphasis on economics, philosophy, religion, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, and the Center for Prison Education. More info here: wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/career... #LibJobs #LISJobs
Social Sciences Librarian
The Olin Library is an active partner in Wesleyan University’s liberal arts mission, an inclusive, idea-driven space where curiosity, scholarship, and creativity converge. Serving a community of facul...
wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
melissa1776.bsky.social
I’ve been rewatching The Leftovers and I think you all should join me for two reasons 1) this is some great art that AI could never and 2) watching beautifully drawn characters deal with a world that doesn’t make sense feels very cathartic right now
October 21, 2025 at 12:29 AM
melissa1776.bsky.social
What are conferences doing to weed out AI slop???
October 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
melissa1776.bsky.social
I can’t imagine why peer review is collapsing when every time I review for major conferences in my field the papers read like they were barely read by a human much less written by one.
October 20, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
alisabokulich.bsky.social
#HPS #STS 🗃️
September 30, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
petraboynton.bsky.social
Hidden within this propaganda is also the subtext that many people are picking AI for relationships because they really struggle to find, meet and safely connect with other people who aren't messed up and/or abusive.
lindaholmes.bsky.social Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · Sep 25
This is not a romance. Nobody is "in love" with apps. There are no A.I. boyfriends. You cannot "date" a chatbot. Accepting this framing and treating it as real is tech-industry propaganda. slate.com/technology/2...
She Broke Off Two Engagements. She Couldn’t Commit. Now She’s Dating Chatbots Instead.
As chatbot romance grows more common, women are redefining what they want from a partner—even if they are just ones and zeros.
slate.com
September 25, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
libraryfutures.bsky.social
Maybe you can't read Ray Carver at work, but you CAN talk about AI, and we've got the webinar series you've been waiting for. Join @hypervisible.blacksky.app, Christa Albrecht-Crane, and Library Futures this Thursday 9/25 for the first installment!

nyu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
What We Talk About When We Talk About AI Thursday, September 25, 1 pm ET/10 am PT Library Futures logo
September 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
abbierichards.bsky.social
THE HYPOCRISY IS THE POINT!!
September 18, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
miriamposner.com
Librarians are on the front lines of dealing with the harm these systems are inflicting. www.404media.co/librarians-a...
"Librarians are reporting this overall atmosphere of confusion and lack of trust they're experiencing from their patrons," Macrina told 404. "They're seeing patrons having seemingly diminished critical thinking and curiosity. They're definitely running into some of these psychosis and other mental health issues, and certainly seeing the people who are more widely adopting it also being those who have less digital literacy about it and a general sort of loss of retention."
September 18, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
inquiline.myatproto.social
The database was a mistake
jacobbogage.bsky.social Jacob Bogage @jacobbogage.bsky.social · Mar 22
🚨 NEW 🚨

The IRS is on the cusp of an agreement with ICE to assist with deportations.

The IRS would use confidential taxpayer information to verify addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants ICE is attempting to locate, @jeffstein.bsky.social & I can report.
IRS nears deal with ICE to share addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants
The move toward information-sharing comes as President Donald Trump pushes his administration to use every resource to conduct what he hopes will be the largest mass deportation of immigrants in U.S. ...
www.washingtonpost.com
March 23, 2025 at 4:11 AM
melissa1776.bsky.social
This is it!!!
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Sep 8
"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?"

A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons.

Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.
September 9, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
fromthemixedupdesk.bsky.social
Here are some YA Indigenous books recommendations! Please subscribe to my Bindery to support Indigenous publishing (it’s free) boozhoo.binderybooks.com
September 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Know your rights, Illinois.

Stay safe and stay informed.
Know & Exercise Your Rights Flyer provided by the Illinois Immigration Information Hub. 1. Remain Calm. 2. You have the right to deny entry without a valid warrant. 3. You have the right to remain silent. 4. You have the right to speak with an attorney. 5. You have the right to not sign anything. For more information, head to: https://www.illinoisimmigrationinfo.org/ Know & Exercise Your Rights Flyer provided by the Illinois Immigration Information Hub. For more information, head to: https://www.illinoisimmigrationinfo.org/
September 6, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
adzebill.bsky.social
Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
August 31, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
hellobrittparis.bsky.social
Rutgers LIS is hiring in information policy, ad here: jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/258...

Applications due 10/15.

Rutgers - in NJ - is a good place ot be, given the state of things. Strong union. Close to NYC and Philly.

Holler if you have questions.
August 26, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Illinois is launching a first-of-its-kind legal hotline for LGBTQ+ individuals — Illinois Pride Connect.

As the only state in the nation that will provide free legal advice to protect the LGBTQ+ community, we'll help fight ignorance with information and cruelty with compassion.
August 22, 2025 at 2:00 AM
melissa1776.bsky.social
This does a great job expressing how I’m feeling about AI right now. It doesn’t do the thing people think it does and at some point I’m starting to question my own understanding of this bullshit.
cwarzel.bsky.social Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · Aug 18
no, yeah, everything's fine...why do you ask? www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
August 19, 2025 at 4:40 PM
melissa1776.bsky.social
I’m one of them!!!
ischoolui.bsky.social iSchool at Illinois @ischoolui.bsky.social · Aug 18
Congratulations to nine of our incredible #iSchoolUI faculty on receiving promotions and new appointments at #ILLINOIS! 👏

More details here ▶️ bit.ly/472uM4C
Altgeld Hall and Alma Mater, the beloved bronze mother figure that has greeted generations of University of Illinois students, graces the entry way to the campus.
August 18, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
anuncivilphd.bsky.social
If you’ve ever read or discussed Fobazi’s work on vocational awe in librarianship, you know a small bit of what she’s contributed to the world. Help her and her wife make it through this tough time.
August 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
gamerstavernshow.com
If you want a weird but true fact to talk about:

Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, was instrumental in this. His doctorial thesis in molecular biology was sequencing mRNA in HIV. The paper was also heavily cited in creating the COVID-19 vaccine.
faineg.bsky.social Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · Aug 1
It feels like we should be making a bigger deal of “we actually did in fact find a cure for AIDS”
wired.com WIRED @wired.com · Aug 1
Evidence is growing that some HIV-infected infants, if given antiretroviral drugs early in life, are able to suppress their viral loads to undetectable levels and then come off the medicine. www.wired.com/story/the-fi...
August 1, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Dr. Melissa Ocepek
charleswlogan.bsky.social
Seems a good time to remind folks that next week is @civicsoftech.bsky.social's free, virtual conference. The theme is "Communal Resistance to Artificial Systems" and the keynotes are 🔥🔥🔥 because they are Audrey Watters and Chris Gilliard. More info at: www.civicsoftechnology.org/2025conference
July 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM