#librariesact — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #librariesact, aggregated by home.social.
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⬆️ "The AI Con" borrowed from and in demand at #LibrariesACT.
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Libraries ACT opening hours will change from 27 August 2026. We understand that changes to opening hours may affect some routines, particularly for members who use libraries in the evenings or on Sundays.
Updated opening hours from 27 August 2026:
Town Centre branches
Belconnen
Woden
Dickson
Gungahlin
Tuggeranong
Open 9 am – 5 pm, Monday to SaturdayCommunity branches
Civic
Erindale
Kippax
Open 9 am – 5 pm, Monday to FridayNeighbourhood branch
Kingston
Open 9 am – 5 pm, Tuesday to Saturday -
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies:
The Case Against Superintelligent AI (2025)What if you have a degree in computer science, a career and still don't really get AI? Listen to those who do.
AI is not what we imagine. “The most fundamental fact about current AIs is that they are grown, not crafted.“
Borrowed April but so topical this week! From #LibrariesACT where it’s in demand.
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“The Future is Analog:
How to Create a More Human World” by David Sax, 2022Sax takes our minds back to the pandemic - our trial run of a digitally dominated future. It was good to be reminded of what it was like.
This is a thought provoking book. Most important are human needs, desires and experiences - best met in “analogue” life. The digital is to support it, not replace it. Chapters on work, school, commerce, the city, culture, conversation and soul.
Borrowed from #LibrariesACT
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"Coming up short : a memoir of my America" by Robert Reich
A great read. Personal memoir, political history and deep social and economic insight. Most memorable line: "Hillary, this is my friend Bill. Bill, meet my friend Hillary."
Borrowed from #LibrariesACT
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@RanaldClouston Thanks Ranald. There are 2 copies currently free at #LibrariesACT. I’ve bookmarked for a future borrow.
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“Frog. The Secret Diary of a Paramedic” by Sally Gould (2025)
Ambos. “Life as a paramedic … can be traumatic, gross, dull, hilarious and magical.” A great Australian read. Just finished (from #LibrariesACT)
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“A gripping first-hand account of the January 6th, 2021 insurrection from inside the halls of Congress, from origins to aftermath …”
Oath and honor : a memoir and a warning
Liz Cheney, 2023Great to have long form writing on this. Not dated by subsequent events. Borrowed from #LibrariesACT
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“If directionally motivated reasoning is like being a soldier fighting off threatening evidence, accuracy motivated reasoning reasoning is like being a scout forming a map of the strategic landscape.”
“The Scout Mindset:
Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t“
by Julia Galef
Lots of helpful concepts.
Borrowed from #LibrariesACT -
“On Freedom“ by Timothy Snyder
Although US centric, it is of broader interest. Written at the end of 2023 it is fully relevant in light of subsequent events in US. I don’t share his confidence in a fusion energy future.
Just finished reading. In demand but quick turnaround at #LibrariesACT
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It’ll be hard to park close to #Belconnen library for a couple of weeks. #LibrariesACT
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Reading "Ms & Mrs Gould" and finding similarities between John Gould and (the much younger) George French Angas in terms of ambition, Queen Adelaide patronage, commercial approach, format, and even appropriation of the works of others.
Angas intended to illustrate #SouthAustralia’s settlements, scenery, First People and any natural history not covered by Gould's "Birds".
Borrowed from #LibrariesACT where it is in high demand. #S_T_Gill #1840s #colonialArt
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#Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
Charles #Duhigg (2024)Duhigg was on #ABCRN some weeks back. I think this is helpful when people converse in good faith. Hard sometimes to discern bad faith. Have you read it?
Just finished reading and borrowed from #LibrariesACT.
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Mean streak : a moral vacuum & a multi-billion government shake down
In demand at #LibrariesACT but they have lots of copies to satisfy it.
#Canberra #RickMorton #robodebt -
I occasionally post about my reading. (I’m a slow reader.) It’s nearly all non-fiction from #LibrariesACT. I’ll try to thus tag all future posts. Feel free to filter out, follow or also post as you wish.
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Assad or we burn the country : how one family's lust for power destroyed Syria
Dagher, Sam (2019)A recommended read from #LibrariesACT etc
https://librariesact.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/ALLENQ/121859469/1281302,1
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Just finished reading a #biography of scientist Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859) by Maren Meinhardt (2018). #LibrariesACT
The final paragraph admits that despite knowing much of what happened, there remain important unanswered questions, and it’s still hard to know the person. This after all is the historical biographer’s quest.
And the biographer’s duty to tell of their journey …
“[Humboldt] winks at us across two centuries, always keeping a bit of himself in reserve, refusing to live up to what might be expected of him by his society - and perhaps even by those who come after him.” #historyOfScience
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“Double Nation: A History of Australian Art” (2023) by Ian McLean #LibrariesACT
This was a serendipitous find on display at my local library. I have an interest in #colonialArtAU and this book gave me a much broader insight. (Don’t let the academese of the Introduction put you off as the rest of the book is very accessible.)
It is a sequel to the author’s “Rattling Spears: A History of Indigenous Australian Art” (2016).