It certainly didn't take long for AI's other shoe to drop, what with the emergent technology already being perverted to commit confidence scams and generate spam content. We can now add censorship to that list as the Globe Gazette reports the school board of Mason City, Iowa has begun leveraging AI technology to cultivate lists of potentially bannable books from the district's libraries ahead of the 2023/24 school year. In May, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed, and Governor Kim Reynolds subsequently signed, Senate File 496 (SF 496), which enacted sweeping changes to the state's education curriculum. Specifically it limits what books can be made available in school libraries and classrooms, requiring titles to be "age appropriate” and without “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act,” per Iowa Code 702.17.But ensuring that every book in the district's archives adhere to these new rules is quickly turning into a mammoth undertaking. "Our classroom and school libraries have vast collections, consisting of texts purchased, donated, and found," Bridgette Exman, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Mason City Community School District, said in a statement. "It is simply not feasible to read every book and filter for these new requirements." As such, the Mason City School District is bringing in AI to parse suspect texts for banned ideas and descriptions since there are simply too many titles for human reviewers to cover on their... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2023-08-14 20:25:41 UTC ]
Among the week's headlines: a new EveryLibrary report explores the threat to libraries posed by the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025; Maggie Tokuda-Hall weighs in on book bans for 'Book Riot'; and a mother and TikToker in Idaho details her experience with the state's new harmful to minors law. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Discussion about what books children should access has diminished on the national stage. But most rules pertaining to schools and libraries are made at the state and local level. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-07-29 09:01:03 UTC ]
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What's happening in the world of libraries this week? A roundup of news and stories you should know. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-07-19 16:25:00 UTC ]
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Libraries are fine places to study in college (I quickly learned the difference between the beautiful one that was good for napping and the more austere building that was conducive to getting things done). But if you’d rather work from the comfort of your own home — be that an apartment, dorm... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-07-17 12:01:27 UTC ]
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As the world’s largest independent seller of new and used books, ThriftBooks is known to customers as the place to purchase affordable books and locate hard-to-find titles. But the online retailer also plays another important role: helping libraries raise significant funds from unneeded books.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ten months ago, Mayor Eric Adams warned of the need for “painful” cuts to the city’s budget, affecting everything from early education to trash pickup. He spoke of a looming fiscal crisis spurred by the cost of caring for tens of thousands of migrants flooding the city from the Texas... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-07-02 19:33:04 UTC ]
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While many streamers have a global subscriber base, some have stuck to North America. Tubi, the Fox Corporation's free ad-supported streaming service, is no longer in that second camp with the streamer announcing it will launch in the United Kingdom. Tubi will arrive with over 20,000 TV... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-07-02 10:30:19 UTC ]
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Mayor Eric Adams announced a deal on a $112 billion budget with the City Council on Friday, reversing a small but notable fraction of his unpopular cuts as he looks toward a difficult re-election bid next year.The spending plan for Fiscal Year 2025 also makes some new investments at the urging... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-06-28 21:14:47 UTC ]
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As the saying goes, you know you’ve fucked up when the librarians start protesting—and while New York City makes a sport out of hating its mayors, current problematic mayor Eric Adams really stepped in it when he announced cuts to the city’s libraries in the mid-year budget last fall. As we... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-28 14:01:00 UTC ]
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Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has reached a deal with the City Council on a budget that undoes at least some of the cuts he had previously imposed and adds new funding for housing construction, according to City Hall and a person familiar with negotiations.The mayor’s office announced... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-06-27 23:09:36 UTC ]
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Months after Apple opened the App Store to game-streaming apps, the iPhone is about to get its first one. Retro gaming platform Antstream will arrive on iOS on June 27. Cult of Mac first reported on the news. Antstream Arcade offers over 1,300 retro games from old-school platforms like Atari... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-06-21 20:46:18 UTC ]
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New York City’s improving fiscal situation seemed to foretell an easier path to passing the coming year’s budget, but the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams still disagree on key issues with days left before the deadline to reach a deal.The council’s push to reverse cuts to cultural institutions,... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-06-21 17:26:40 UTC ]
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The decision comes after state officials oversaw the creation of new rules governing library content in schools last year and demanded that the Edmond Public School district remove two books from high school library shelves over sexual content. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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If you search for translated books all of them won’t come up in a library catalogue search. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2024-06-11 17:09:25 UTC ]
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Amid ongoing attacks on libraries and the freedom to read, a strong professional program and an excellent slate of speakers will showcase the power of libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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It's a book in a library that helps a young girl break free of the repressive and conservative world her parents raise her in. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-06-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Comics Plus and other digital lending platforms are a growing area for the discovery and circulation of graphic novels in libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Which of these easy ways to support our libraries are you knocking off the list first? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-06-05 11:30:00 UTC ]
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As Qualcomm-powered Windows on Arm PCs begin appearing here at Computex, ushering in a generation of AI-infused Copilot+ laptops, it seemed appropriate to interview a major player in the push. No, not Qualcomm. (We’ve already spoken to them.) Instead, I mean Arm, the semiconductor... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-06-03 18:35:42 UTC ]
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I spent a few days in DC over the long weekend for a wedding. Walking around leafy and well-appointed Capital Hill, I overheard a conversation between two older folks, as their dogs warily sniffed each other, about how people were taking and selling books from the little free libraries around... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-30 18:46:20 UTC ]
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