LISNews: Librarian News

As part of the Library of Congress\' Luminary Lectures series on librarianship, author/scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan will present The Anarchist in the Library: The Moral Panics over Copyright and Free Speech
on Friday May 9th from 10:30-12:00 EST:

Peer-to-peer networks have existed as long as gossip and word-of-mouth advertising--but with the rise of electronic communication, they are suddenly coming into their own. and they are drawing the outlines of a battle for information that will determine much of the culture and politics of our century, from file-sharing websites like Gnutella to private edits of Star Wars to the neo-Nazi concept of \'leaderless resistance.\' On one side, trying to maintain control of information--and profits--are legislators, judges, cabinet officers, entertainment conglomerates, and multinational corporations. On the other side, trying to liberate information, are educators, computer programmers, civil libertarians, artists, consumers, and dissidents under all sorts of regimes. Vaidhyanathan draws upon examples ranging from ancient religions to open-source software to show how this battle will be one of the defining fault lines of twenty-first-century civilization. His radical and original explanation of the future of information is a warning shot that will mobilize anarchists and controllers alike.

Bill Graves writes "Topica Offers Free Online Webinar: “Email Newsletter Publishing for Libraries”
Topica Inc., the leading provider of self-service email publishing solutions, today announced that it is offering a free, live online “webinar” entitled “Email Newsletter Publishing for Libraries.” The 45-minute webinar will be held May 15, at 11:00 am Pacific Daylight Time. It is intended for library professionals who are looking for new ways to communicate with their community. -- Read More

From the ALA Press Release:
"The American Library Association (ALA) today announced it has begun working with other members of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force – which includes the Library of Congress, the Institute for Museum and Library Services and various cultural organizations – to coordinate with efforts of the International Federation of Libraries and Institutions Association (IFLA) and UNESCO to respond to requests for assistance from colleagues in Iraq to help restore the National Library and Archive, Iraq’s principal Islamic library, and other important centers of learning in the cradle of civilization. -- Read More

Lisa Nguyen spotted this release.

"NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2003--The New York Times announced today the national expansion of the third annual New York Times Librarian Awards and issued an invitation to the public to nominate librarians at public libraries from anywhere in the U.S.

The awards honor librarians who provide outstanding community service on a consistent basis. -- Read More