The last year has brought incredible disruption, not only to the realm of libraries, but to the broader ecosystem of the web. Libraries face a harsh reality of budgetary cutbacks, especially to the wholesale loss of federal funding for libraries and major reductions in grant funding for higher education. Political challenges have meant that many libraries have to adjust access to their collections and limit targeted programs and policies. Although AI has the potential to benefit library services and operations, it has also wreaked havoc on the infrastructure of the Internet. Ruthless scraping of content resources for AI training has made operating websites more difficult and costly. The symbiotic relationship between content providers and search engines has been supplanted by swarms of parasitic bots with relentless hunger for data without regard for established norms nor for the wellbeing of the sites they attack. Breeding will provide background and perspective on these topics along with suggestions how libraries can find a more positive path forward.
Register for Connections 2025 to attend.