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Melanie Walsh

@mellymeldubs.bsky.social

4.0Kfollowers
847following
453posts

Asst Prof @ University of Washington Information School // PhD in English from WashU in St. Louis I’m interested in books, data, social media, and digital humanities. They call me "Eyre Jordan" on the bball court 🏀 https://melaniewalsh.org/

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Melanie Walsh·Apr 22

I wrote about Infinite Jest’s wild 30-year journey online—from feminist YouTube stunts to sexist 4chan posts to Luigi Mangione’s Goodreads. How far down the rabbit hole do DFW bros go? What do the memes reveal about our relationship to literature & the internet? lareviewofbooks.org/article/infi...

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Melanie Walsh·May 12

TIL MARC records—the metadata backbone of libraries— were created in the 1960s by Henriette Avram, a computer programmer who worked at the NSA before joining the Library of Congress. Carla Hayden called this her favorite image in _The Card Catalog_ 😢: www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture...

Black-and-white photo showing Henriette Avram (center) holding a document labeled “MARC” in a data processing room (likely 1960s). Source: The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures
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Melanie Walsh·Aug 7

A little good news re NEH grants, thanks to @oregonhumanities.org.

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Melanie Walsh·Jul 21

I'm sorry, but Microsoft should not be allowed to do anything with AI until you can open a UTF-8 csv file in Excel.

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Latest posts

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Melanie Walsh·1h

WIRED featured our study on a phenomenon happening alongside the mainstream AI publishing controversies: Some people are using AI to write their own stories. You may not like it, but it's happening, and it's interesting. Shout out to co-authors @neel2112.bsky.social & @mariaa.bsky.social.

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Melanie Walsh·3h

Useful run-down of where we're at with the publishing industry & AI, including with small and academic presses. tl;dr: it's messy www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Screenshot of Publisher's Weekly piece that reads: "Princeton University Press has also seen a rising number of allegations that its authors are using AI-generated text, according to CEO Christie Henry. “Trust with authors is foundational, so we rely on disclosures, contractual indemnities, and warranties, and we handle each allegation case by case.” But Henry is less concerned about authors secretly using AI to write than about the time spent policing the situation. “It pulls us away from having focused time to think,” she says. PUP is currently vetting companies that promise to be able to certify that a given book was written by a human, including Created by Humans, Human Authored, and Verify My Writing. Henry adds that the proliferation of plagiarized, copycat, and pirated books online, now supercharged by AI agents mass producing and reproducing content, is further draining resources, as it demands constant vigilance and takedown requests sent to Amazon, YouTube, and others. Riegert has a similar complaint."
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Melanie Walsh·1d

Live basketball game production, every 20 mins. director in booth: ”Traditional“ camera angles? Ha! That was my father’s game. No, let’s get the camera sky high, and ASKEW. The people want ART. Not a “clear view of the basket“ and a strong sense of “who scored what“

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Melanie Walsh·2d

I've had a hard time finding consistent women's basketball convos on Bluesky. But I added the "For You" feed and then liked a few Gabby Williams posts, and voila. bsky.app/profile/did:... Recommended for your French basketball-related and other special interests.

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Melanie Walsh·2d

Earth, Wind, & Fiber

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Melanie Walsh·2d

Make a band edible Arctic Munchies

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Melanie Walsh·2d

Make a band edible Death Cab for Cuties

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Melanie Walsh·3d

I'm calling this series, "I Don't Know Her: Identity Vertigo in the Age of AI." - A hallucinated citation (Matthew) - An autocorrect of my own name (Melissa) - An extremely long AI-generated email that details eight (8) algorithmic discoverability gaps for Melanie Walshes

A collage of screenshots showing a hallucinated citation that begins Walsh, Matthew; an email sign off that says "Thanks again, Melanie" with unhelpful autocorrect suggestion to correct with "Melissa" and several screenshots from an email that say things like "the first discoverability gap I see is the namesake collision" and "The eighth gap affecting both Melanie Walshes"
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Melanie Walsh·6d

Francesca Mancino talked to me for this piece, along with some very smart thinkers on the book, its history, and its digitization @mmvty.bsky.social @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social @leahprice.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy

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