Exercising Agency with AI; American Libraries, June 29, 2026

 Terra Dankowski  , American Libraries; Exercising Agency with AI

Tips for navigating products and policies, whether or not you choose to adopt the technology

"Michael Hanegan, founder of the Center for the Future of Learning and Work, described a scenario that might be frustratingly familiar to information professionals: His mom often falls for deep fakes. She came of age in a time when people were told to believe their eyes and video was considered an unimpeachable medium, and she’s unaware of what generative artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of.

Knowing that some librarians are thinking about ignoring AI completely, Hanegan had a thought: “What institution is going to help [my mom] and all of her friends navigate this?”

“Disengagement from AI guarantees your vulnerability,” he said. “The people that you serve will be harmed without your trusted guidance.”

Hanegan was one of four panelists who spoke at “Ethical AI in Libraries: A Critical Look at the Potential and Promise” at the American Library Association’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago on June 28. The panel, moderated by Micah May, director of business development at Lyrasis, offered suggestions for how libraries can navigate the ethical implications of generative AI, even if they choose not to use it in their workflow.

“Regardless of whether you adopt AI or not, [you should] have guidelines,” said Brandy McNeil, deputy director of branch programming and services for New York Public Library (NYPL) and Public Library Association president.

McNeil said libraries should carefully weigh whether AI tools are inclusive, accountable, human-centered, transparent, and protect privacy.

“When [vendors say they use] industry standard practices, which standards? When they say they anonymize data, how? Which fields are removed?” McNeil asked. “Those are some of the things you want to be concerned about.”

The spread of AI is “inevitable,” said Marshall Breeding, editor of Library Technology Guides, as vendors are increasingly integrating AI technology into their products. But, he said, “we have to push back and make sure [AI] continues to be optional.”"

Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum; The New York Times, July 24, 2026

 Robin Pogrebin and Zachary Small, The New York Times ; Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum

President Trump said the signage at the National Museum of American History would correct what a disputed White House report described as “extreme political activism.”

"President Trump on Friday ordered warning signs and exhibits installed outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert the public that the museum does not, in his view, accurately reflect American history.

The unusual directive, made through an executive order, was a considerable escalation of the president’s dispute with the Smithsonian and its history museum, which was the subject of a recent 162-page report. The report accused the museum’s director, Anthea M. Hartig, of “radical activist ideology” and the museum of undermining “faith in American institutions.”

The order went so far as to suggest that the signage inform potential museum visitors of locations where American history is better presented. The administration did not explain where the public would be redirected.

The Smithsonian declined to comment.

Mr. Trump’s order came just days after Ms. Hartig was grilled by Republican legislators in two congressional hearings, where she was accused of teaching “national self-loathing.”"

ACM FAccT ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency; June 23-26, 2025, Athens, Greece

  

ACM FAccT

ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency

A computer science conference with a cross-disciplinary focus that brings together researchers and practitioners interested in fairness, accountability, and transparency in socio-technical systems.

"Algorithmic systems are being adopted in a growing number of contexts, fueled by big data. These systems filter, sort, score, recommend, personalize, and otherwise shape human experience, increasingly making or informing decisions with major impact on access to, e.g., credit, insurance, healthcare, parole, social security, and immigration. Although these systems may bring myriad benefits, they also contain inherent risks, such as codifying and entrenching biases; reducing accountability, and hindering due process; they also increase the information asymmetry between individuals whose data feed into these systems and big players capable of inferring potentially relevant information.

ACM FAccT is an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to bringing together a diverse community of scholars from computer science, law, social sciences, and humanities to investigate and tackle issues in this emerging area. Research challenges are not limited to technological solutions regarding potential bias, but include the question of whether decisions should be outsourced to data- and code-driven computing systems. We particularly seek to evaluate technical solutions with respect to existing problems, reflecting upon their benefits and risks; to address pivotal questions about economic incentive structures, perverse implications, distribution of power, and redistribution of welfare; and to ground research on fairness, accountability, and transparency in existing legal requirements."

Global South voices ‘marginalised in AI Ethics’; Gates Cambridge, June 27, 2025

  Gates Cambridge; Global South voices ‘marginalised in AI Ethics’

"A Gates Cambridge Scholar is first author of a paper how AI Ethics is sidelining Global South voices, reinforcing marginalisation.

The study, Distributive Epistemic Injustice in AI Ethics: A Co-productionist Account of Global North-South Politics in Knowledge Production, was published by the Association for Computing Machinery and is based on a study of nearly 6,000 AI Ethics publications between 1960 and 2024. Its first author is Abdullah Hasan Safir [2024 – pictured above], who is doing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Design. Other co-authors include Gates Cambridge Scholars Ramit Debnath[2018] and Kerry McInerney [2017].

The findings were recently presented at the ACM’s FAccT conference, considered one of the top AI Ethics conferences in the world. They show that experts from the Global North currently legitimise their expertise in AI Ethics through dynamic citational and collaborative practices in knowledge production within the field, including co-citation and institutional of AI Ethics."

A new study seeks to establish ethical collecting practices for US museums; The Art Newspaper, October 29, 2024

  Annabel Keenan , The Art Newspaper; A new study seeks to establish ethical collecting practices for US museums

"As calls for the restitution of looted objects spread across the industry, the Penn Cultural Heritage Center (PennCHC) at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia is launching a study that will examine collecting policies and practices at US museums and encourage transparency and accountability in the sector. Launching today (29 October), the “Museums: Missions and Acquisitions Project” (dubbed M2A Project for short) will study over 450 museum collections to identify current standards and establish a framework for institutions to model their future practices...

The PennCHC has been supporting ethical collecting since its founding in 2008, including working closely with local communities in countries around the world to identify and preserve their cultural heritage. “US museums have historically acquired objects that were removed from these countries illegally or through pathways now considered inequitable,” says Richard M. Leventhal, the executive director of the PennCHC and co-principal investigator for the M2A Project. “The M2A Project is asking a very simple set of questions about these types of objects: Are US museums still acquiring them? And if so, why? Recent seizures of looted property and calls to decolonise collections force us to reconsider whether acquisitions best serve the missions of museums and the interests of their communities.”

The M2A Project evolved from the PennCHC’s Cultural Property Experts on Call Program that launched in 2020 in partnership with the US Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee to protect at-risk cultural property against theft, looting and trafficking. Through this programme, the PennCHC collaborated with more than 100 museums and universities to study and document the trade in illicit artefacts."

Social distancing isn’t a personal choice. It’s an ethical duty.; Vox, April 9, 2020

Sarah-Vaughan Brakman, Vox; Social distancing isn’t a personal choice. It’s an ethical duty.

Why we should foreground our commitment to the common good in the fight against coronavirus.

"Social distancing is inconvenient at best, truly burdensome at worst. What hasn’t helped matters is the confusing messaging of why we should social distance at all. We’ve been conditioned to think social distancing is only about us — lowering the risk to one’s self and one’s family. And yet we’ve also been told that this is something we need to do to protect others. 

While not necessarily incorrect, both ways of thinking about it are not equal to the task before us. What we need is an exhortation to act that is grounded firmly in an ethical foundation, one that not only gets at the deeper purpose of social distancing, but that also lays the groundwork for a more resilient society on the other side of this crisis. We as a global society need to see social distancing as nothing less than an act of solidarity, an intentional choice that binds us in a common cause."

It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.; The Washington Post, January 31, 2020

Joe Heim , The Washington Post; It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.

 

"The Library of Congress abandoned plans last year to showcase a mural-size photograph of demonstrators at the 2017 Women’s March in Washington because of concerns it would be perceived as critical of President Trump, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post...

 

Slayton said the decision to remove the photograph was made by leadership of the library’s Center for Exhibits and Interpretation. “No outside entities reviewed this exhibition’s content before it opened or opined on its content,” the spokeswoman wrote.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was informed of the decision soon after and supported it, Slayton said. Hayden, who is in the fourth year of her 10-year term, was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016 and confirmed by the Senate."

Accenture CEO: Diversity and Inclusion Start From Within; Fortune, January 8, 2019

Damanick Dantes, Fortune; Accenture CEO: Diversity and Inclusion Start From Within

"Good leaders succeed by not only treating employees well, but also by measuring the results of building an inclusive work environment. After all, “the real driver of culture [outside of good leadership] is about how it feels to come into work every day,” Sweet says."

Trump is a cancer on the presidency; Washington Post, August 18, 2017

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post; Trump is a cancer on the presidency

"Trump must be held accountable for his false moral equivalency and his willingness to exalt the treasonous Confederacy at the expense of our union. The “harsh penalty” that escaped him in 2011 must be visited upon him now. People of good conscience must speak up and stay vocal. More Republicans must stand up to him now and do so boldly. They have to put the country before party or some longed-for policy that pales in comparison to the preservation of our ideals. And if Trump succeeds in surviving this unbelievable affront to all we say we are, he will not be to blame. We will."

Chechnya’s Crackdown on Gays; New York Times, April 24, 2017

Editorial Board, New York Times; 

Chechnya’s Crackdown on Gays

[Kip Currier: I was recently thumbing through a file folder of comic strips and Op-Eds I've bookmarked over the years and came across this one by the brilliant political cartoonist Rob Rogers, featured frequently in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The cartoon is from 2007 but is eerily timely, and reminiscent of recent statements by Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his administration, denying the very existence of gays, while euphemistically threatening "such people" with death. Frank Bruni's Food, Sex and Silence trenchantly points out "how often oppression is an act of omission rather than commission". Chilling first-hand reports from Chechen gay men and human rights groups show how oppression is also waged through both strategies.] 

[The Guardian, April 21, 2017] "Previously, Kadyrov’s spokesman Alvi Karimov denied the reports of the purge, saying there were no gay people in Chechnya. “If there were such people in Chechnya, law enforcement agencies wouldn’t need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning,” he said."

[The New York Times Editorial Board, April 24, 2017] 

"The crimes in Chechnya have presented the Trump administration with its first major test on this issue on the international stage. Last Monday, Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, issued a strong statement calling for a prompt investigation and accountability for the culprits.

“We are against all forms of discrimination, including against people based on sexual orientation,” Ms. Haley said. “When left unchecked, discrimination and human rights abuses can lead to destabilization and conflict.”

It would be encouraging to see Ms. Haley take on this cause with as much passion and perseverance as her predecessor, Samantha Power. Without American leadership, forging a global consensus that gay rights are human rights will take longer. Time is not on the side of gay people living in terror in places like Chechnya."

LGBTQ Trump Voters: You Betrayed Our Community’s Most Vulnerable; Huffington Post, 11/14/16

JamesMichael Nichols, Huffington Post; LGBTQ Trump Voters: You Betrayed Our Community’s Most Vulnerable:

"At times like this, it’s important for us ― and these voters ― to zoom out and recognize that queer liberation is a battle that is still very much ongoing for the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community and all of us. Trans people, people of color, women, homeless queer youth, intersex people, people outside of the gender binary will all suffer tremendously under a Trump/Pence leadership structure.

Even those in the LGBTQ community who apparently feel safe may be in for a shock once the new administration begins unrolling plans and polices for the future trajectory of our country.

And this should be both mortifying and disconcerting for everyone. 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBTQ. The majority of states don’t have anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. Trans people literally can’t even use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity in many states ― and are terrified for what’s to come. Hate crimes against LGBTQ people ― and ALL minority groups ― are on the rise post-election. And the list goes on.

So, LGBTQ people that voted for Trump and Pence ― this is the outcome that you wanted, that you voted for. But this choice will likely have long-standing, possibly life-threatening, repercussions on the most vulnerable members of our community, and that is something that you need to both examine your role in and shoulder the responsibility for.

Because, in the end ― as it has always been with our community ― we are all in this together."

Many men talk like Donald Trump in private. And only other men can stop them.; Washington Post, 10/8/16

Shaun R. Harper, Washington Post; Many men talk like Donald Trump in private. And only other men can stop them. :

"I am fairly certain that hearing the vulgar words Trump spoke over a decade ago will compel many more women to vote against him next month. Electing the first female president will not end sexism, though, any more than electing Barack Obama ended racism. To make progress, men need to do more than vote against Trump. We must stand up to him and call out others who say things similar to what we heard him say on the video. We have to stop excusing the disgusting degradation of girls and women as “locker room banter.” Feminists and courageous others have done much to contest exchanges like the one between Trump and Bush. But it takes men like me to hold our friends accountable for things they say and do to objectify women. We must challenge their values, language and actions.

I have known Trumps far too long — they are my friends, my fraternity brothers and so many other men with whom I routinely interact. I understand now, more than ever before, that letting them talk this way about women makes me just as sexist. By excusing their words and actions, I share some responsibility for rape, marital infidelity and other awful things that men do. I want other men to recognize this, too — not only because they have mothers, wives, sisters, aunts or daughters – but because sexism hurts all women and men in our society."

Professor's Response to Twitter Slur Goes Viral; Inside Higher Ed, 8/30/16

Inside Higher Ed; Professor's Response to Twitter Slur Goes Viral:

[Kip Currier: Reading this story about Prof. Eric Mendenhall conjured up for me the memorable "When they go low, we go high" maxim from First Lady Michelle Obama's 2016 DNC speech.]

"The fall semester has just started but Eric Mendenhall, an assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, already has schooled the Twitterverse on how to shut down slurs. Mendenhall said a student who had just followed him on Twitter posted that "My genetics teachers is a faggot." Believing the comment to be about him, the professor had this to say..."

This couple didn’t tip their Latina server. They left a hateful message instead.; Washington Post, 8/21/16

Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Washington Post; This couple didn’t tip their Latina server. They left a hateful message instead. :

"About that time, John Elledge walked into the restaurant. He’d heard that the people who wrote the nasty message to Sadie were back and marched to the restaurant to meet them face to face.

“We didn’t talk much,” Elledge told The Post.” She was mad that I posted it … the guy, he was being really belligerent.”

” … She was asking me why I posted it,” Elledge said. “I said obviously, it was an insult — your signature against my granddaughter — darn right I’m going to post it. And no apologies.”"

Two marines under investigation for alleged threat against gay bars; Guardian, 6/17/16

Sam Levin, Guardian; Two marines under investigation for alleged threat against gay bars:

"Two active-duty US marine corps members are under investigation for a social media post showing a man in uniform with a rifle and the caption “Coming to a gay bar near you!” – an apparent reference to the mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub that killed 49 people.

The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is investigating the man in the photo, which was shared on Snapchat, along with another active-duty marine, who reposted the image with the message “Too soon?”, according to spokeswoman Major Staci Reidinger...

The photo was reportedly posted on a private Facebook group, called Camp MENdleton resale, which describes itself as a “group for male Marines, Corpsman, and other active duty, reserve, retired, and veteran service members”...

“Orlando was long overdue,” read the message, which was posted on a San Diego Craigslist page, according to local station KGTV. “Those people were walking diseases, bug chasers, and thank god for AIDS and 9-11 and now Orlando. San Diego you are next.”

A pastor in northern California also faced intense backlash this week after he delivered a virulently anti-LGBT sermon, saying Orlando is “a little safer tonight” and “the tragedy is that more of them didn’t die”."

Blackhawks’ Andrew Shaw Is Suspended for Anti-Gay Slur; New York Times, 4/20/16

Victor Mather and Naila-Jean Meyers, New York Times; Blackhawks’ Andrew Shaw Is Suspended for Anti-Gay Slur:

"After the game, Shaw told The Chicago Tribune: “I mean, emotions are high; I really don’t know what’s said. I was obviously upset with the call being that late in the game.”

But on Wednesday, he apologized in a statement. “I am sincerely sorry for the insensitive remarks that I made last night while in the penalty box,” he said. “When I got home and saw the video, it was evident that what I did was wrong, no matter the circumstances.”

Speaking to reporters later, Shaw said, “I’ll never use that word again, that’s for sure.”

“I get it,” he added. “It’s a hurtful word. It’s 2016 now. It’s time that everyone is treated equally.”

The Blackhawks said in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed in Andrew Shaw’s actions last night. His comments do not reflect what we stand for as an organization.”

Colin Campbell, the N.H.L. vice president for hockey operations, said that while Shaw was remorseful, he had to be held accountable.

“The emotion of the moment cannot and will not be a mitigating factor for the conduct that is expected of an N.H.L. player,” Campbell said."

On the Fight Against HIV and AIDS -- and on the People Who Really Started the Conversation; Huffington Post, 3/13/16

Hillary Clinton, Huffington Post; On the Fight Against HIV and AIDS -- and on the People Who Really Started the Conversation:

"This week, at Nancy Reagan's funeral, I said something inaccurate when speaking about the Reagans' record on HIV and AIDS. Since then, I've heard from countless people who were devastated by the loss of friends and loved ones, and hurt and disappointed by what I said. As someone who has also lost friends and loved ones to AIDS, I understand why. I made a mistake, plain and simple.

I want to use this opportunity to talk not only about where we've come from, but where we must go in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

To be clear, the Reagans did not start a national conversation about HIV and AIDS. That distinction belongs to generations of brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, along with straight allies, who started not just a conversation but a movement that continues to this day...

I believe there's even more we can -- and must -- do together. For starters, let's continue to increase HIV and AIDS research and invest in the promising innovations that research is producing. Medications like PrEP are proving effective in preventing HIV infection; we should expand access to that drug for everyone, including at-risk populations. We should call on Republican governors to put people's health and well-being ahead of politics and extend Medicaid, which would provide health care to those with HIV and AIDS.

We should call on states to reform outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws. We should increase global funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. And we should cap out-of-pocket expenses and drug costs -- and hold companies like Turing and Valeant accountable when they attempt to gouge patients by jacking up the price of lifesaving medications.

We're still surrounded by memories of loved ones lost and lives cut short. But we're also surrounded by survivors who are fighting harder than ever. We owe it to them and to future generations to continue that fight together. For the first time, an AIDS-free generation is in sight. As president, I promise you that I will not let up until we reach that goal. We will not leave anyone behind."

New NPR Chief, Jarl Mohn, Vows to Foster Diversity; New York Times, 6/29/14

Elizabeth Jensen, New York Times; New NPR Chief, Jarl Mohn, Vows to Foster Diversity:

"When Jarl Mohn takes the helm as NPR’s chief executive on Tuesday, he will call on lessons learned from public radio in Los Angeles to address what he says is one of NPR’s most pressing priorities: increasing its reach into communities of color.

Mr. Mohn, who was named to the NPR post on May 9, was chosen in part because of the strong record of diversity at Southern California Public Radio, parent of the Los Angeles station KPCC, where until recently he was the board chairman.

At the time of his appointment, NPR’s board adopted a strategic plan intended to “increase the diversity of the audience by age, ethnicity and geography,” as well as the sources it quotes and the “diversity of NPR talent;” NPR’s newsroom staff is 77 percent white, and its audience even more so, according to a report from NPR’s ombudsman.

Eleven days later, however, NPR announced that it would end “Tell Me More,” its daily show meant to attract African-Americans and other listeners of color...

If NPR is to change, however, accountability is needed, many in the public radio sphere say. “Without some kind of financial ramification, nothing happens,” said Farai Chideya, who hosted a daily show focused on issues affecting African-Americans, which was canceled in 2009."