# Key Points from IRC Discussions

• Users discussed paperbot, a tool for automatically retrieving academic papers from publishers' websites, with ongoing development to fix bugs for specific publisher sites like pubs.acs.org, alongside debates about the legality of such tools in light of Aaron Swartz's prosecution.

• Several file-sharing resources for academic literature were shared, including libgen.net, a Science Magazine scraper, SpringerLink and ScienceDirect ebook downloaders, and a list of ezproxy URLs for accessing paywalled content.

• The group discussed technical approaches to removing watermarks from PDFs and proposed developing automated tools to detect and remove publisher-specific tracking information from academic papers.

• Participants explored the concept of a Twitter bot that would automatically respond to paper requests by downloading and sharing papers publicly, expanding the functionality of the existing paperbot.

• A discussion about open-source spectrometer projects revealed that a basic Raman spectroscopy setup would cost approximately $800-1200 USD, with debates about appropriate sensors and wavelengths for detecting substances like ethanol.

• Users shared information about recombinant DNA regulations, noting that Maryland and New York have adopted NIH guidelines as state law since 1982, with references to specific legal codes.

• The group critically discussed OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) and WorldCat as problematic centralized controllers of library systems, referencing Aaron Swartz's critique of how they control interlibrary loans and the Dewey Decimal system.