An organization called \’Focus on the Family\’ is saying that the ALA\’s celebration of banned books is all a big lie.
\”The ALA has irresponsibly perpetrated the ‘banned’ books lie for too long,” said Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy for Focus on the Family. “Nothing is ‘banned,’ but every year this organization attempts to intimidate and silence any parent, teacher or librarian who expresses concern about the age-appropriateness of sexually explicit or violent material for schoolchildren.\” Read More.
September 2002
If you care, act!
Three recent incidents in my life as a librarian have given me a certain insight into the need for direct, personal action on the part of librarians if we are interested in making changes in our way of life. I wanted to share them with you and urge you to get involved, and see what happens. Even the smallest action can make a difference.
Three recent incidents in my life as a librarian have given me a certain insight into the need for direct, personal action on the part of librarians if we are interested in making changes in our way of life. I wanted to share them with you and urge you to get involved, and see what happens. Even the smallest action can make a difference.There has been considerable press in the online library media over the last few weeks about a campaign commercial run by New Jersey Senate candidate Douglas Forrester. In the commercial, he refers to the jobs he had while in school, saying he \”flipped burgers\” was a \”librarian\” and \”painted house numbers on curbs\”. Like many others, I was upset by this, and I sent an e-mail to his campaign registering my concerns. I don\’t have any direct evidence of my impact, but many other librarians responded, both individually and as organizations, and I have heard that the ads have been pulled.
A couple of weeks ago, Library Stuff alerted me to a story from the San Francisco Chronicle featuring columnist Verne Kopytoff\’s review of several fee-based online search services. I read the article and sent a nicely worded e-mail to Mr. Kopytoff reminding him that the free search services at his library were at least as convenient, and more reliable. He responded, letting me know that he had heard from more than one librarian, and saying, \”[I]\’ll try to make up for my lapse by printing a few of the suggestions among our letters to the editor.\”
Finally, one of my personal non-librarian heroes is John C. Dvorak, an irascible columnist and industry gadfly from PC Magazine. He recently included a nod to librarians in one of his columns. I posted a comment on the PC Magazine online forum, but I also took a few minutes extra to find John\’s e-mail address and send him a personal note. He replied with a single word, \”thanks\”.
Will these actions make significant changes in the way that librarians are valued and treated in this country? Probably not. What they may do is make a few people a little more aware of what librarians are, what we do, and how we make their lives better. If enough people respond to what they see and make their feelings known; calmly, respectfully, and directly; the lives of librarians as a whole will get better.
One more thing. In the great scheme of things, the treatment and perception of librarians in America probably doesn\’t mean much, but I\’m looking on all this as a chance to practice before speaking out on the big issues, like the coming war. Please, if you care about something, talk about it. Every little bit helps.
Internet replacing the college library
Here\’s An Interesting One that takes the Pew Internet and American Life
Project study, \”The Internet Goes to College\”, and adds some interesting conclusions for a snappy headline.
\”One of the things that jumped out was the degree to which college students have integrated the Internet into their everyday life. They are used to high- speed, instant access. They treat it like they would any utility — water, telephones, television,\”
Why the Search Engine Isn’t Always Right
NoOne writes \”Here\’s An Interesting Story.
Google, when given a query for the term \”go to hell\” kicks back the home page of Microsoft. The official home pages for AOL Time Warner Inc.\’s America Online division and for Walt Disney Co. also come in among the top five results under the \”go to hell\” query.
Although Google offered no explanation on the \”go to hell\” matter, Google\’s site is famous for its \”link analysis\” method of producing search results. When users enter a word or term, they get back not just those Web sites containing that term but other sites as well, that are linked to those that contain the word or phrase, in question.
Microsoft\’s home page, in other words, may not contain the phrase \”go to hell\” anywhere, but there are apparently a lot of other sites out there that mention Microsoft (or AOL, or Disney) and going to hell in the same context.
\”
I got quite different results just now when I did it.
Intellectual Freedom in the Heartland !-) Ranked Google-icious.
The Quad Cities\’ Dispatch
newspaper hit #1 in a Google News Search for: Intellectual
Freedom on Sunday with journalist Stephanie Massick\’s article:
\”Q-C
educators report few attempts to ban books.\”
Across the U.S., though, \”from 1990 to 2000, 6,364 challenges to books
were reported to the ALA\’s Office for Intellectual Freedom…. the most
challenged material for 2001 was the Harry Potter series, for its focus
on wizardry and magic,\” she reports. Several area librarians were
interviewed.
\”“As librarians, we consider the audience for our books and
choose books carefully based on recommendations from trusted sources,\’\’
Geneseo High School librarian Kathy Griffith said.\”
Iowa\’s Ames
Tribune is currently #1 in a Google News Search for National
Banned Books Week. with journalist Rebecca A. Petersen\’s article:
\”Banned
Books Week fights for free flow of ideas.\”
This brief article takes a national perspective of how, \”as federal guidelines
regarding the investigation of terrorists provide greater access to private
information, like library circulation records, library advocates worry.\”
\”\”The books you take out are being watched,\” said [Iowa State
University journalism professor, Barbara] Mack, a member of the national
group Lawyers for Libraries.\”
The Quad Cities\’ Dispatch
newspaper hit #1 in a Google News Search for: Intellectual
Freedom on Sunday with journalist Stephanie Massick\’s article:
\”Q-C
educators report few attempts to ban books.\”
Across the U.S., though, \”from 1990 to 2000, 6,364 challenges to books
were reported to the ALA\’s Office for Intellectual Freedom…. the most
challenged material for 2001 was the Harry Potter series, for its focus
on wizardry and magic,\” she reports. Several area librarians were
interviewed.
\”“As librarians, we consider the audience for our books and
choose books carefully based on recommendations from trusted sources,\’\’
Geneseo High School librarian Kathy Griffith said.\”
Iowa\’s Ames
Tribune is currently #1 in a Google News Search for National
Banned Books Week. with journalist Rebecca A. Petersen\’s article:
\”Banned
Books Week fights for free flow of ideas.\”
This brief article takes a national perspective of how, \”as federal guidelines
regarding the investigation of terrorists provide greater access to private
information, like library circulation records, library advocates worry.\”
\”\”The books you take out are being watched,\” said [Iowa State
University journalism professor, Barbara] Mack, a member of the national
group Lawyers for Libraries.\”
Google
Search: Homeland Freedoms
Search: Intellectual Freedom
[News] Search: Intellectual Freedom
Search: National Banned Books Week
[News] Search: National Banned Books Week
Search: Banned Books
Google [News]
Search: Banned Books
Search: \”Lawyers for Libraries\”
Search: National Banned Book Week
[News] Search: National Banned Book Week
The Eleven Commandments For Controlling Your E-mail
HBS Working Knowledge has The Eleven Commandments For Controlling Your E-mail. It was Reprinted with permission from “Don’t Push That Send Button!,” Harvard Management Communication Letter, Vol. 5, No. 8, August 2002.
They include…
“1. Use e-mail only when it’s the most efficient channel for your need.”
“9. Never substitute e-mail for a necessary face-to-face meeting.”
“5. Never forward chain e-mail.”
The Internet-only Research Approach: Does the Web Have It All
An Interesting Article over at From Now On takes a look at exclusively relying on the Internet to research. The author,Ken Vesey , says he is not a Luddite and fully embraces technology, but he says it is our responsibility as educators to model sound research behavior, and not cheat students of the opportunity of finding the best information by only leading them to a portion of the resources available.
Tensions at South Fulton library boiled over into tragedy
Bob Cox sent over This Follow Up on the July 29th library shooting in GA.
They say he was a “problem employee”, but nobody thought he would turn into a killer.
“We were aware that he had a hard time at work, but not to the extent,” said Eggleston’s younger sister, Shamika, from New York City. “We had no idea that something like this was going to happen.”
Document Misclassification Gives Terrorism Defendant Classified Intelligence…
While
it\’s not believed terrorism
defendant Zacarias Moussaoui read the intelligence
documents before they were removed from his jail cell, the WashingtonPost
declares that \”the incident represents another odd event in the chaotic
case and marks the latest gaffe involving document control at the FBI.\”
The FBI triple checked his cell to confirm that all of the \”50 classified
FBI reports\” that hadn\’t been properly classified were removed from his
possession. Post journalist Dan Eggen writes:
\”Many of the reports were generated by FBI agents who were
drafted into the Sept. 11 investigation and were not schooled in handling
classified information. They did not properly label the documents, one
FBI official said.\”
ABCNEWS
reported three weeks ago that \”the material — both on disk and as hard
copy documents — was sent to Moussaoui as part of discovery for his legal
defense, said several legal sources, including one at the Justice Department.\”
While
it\’s not believed terrorism
defendant Zacarias Moussaoui read the intelligence
documents before they were removed from his jail cell, the WashingtonPost
declares that \”the incident represents another odd event in the chaotic
case and marks the latest gaffe involving document control at the FBI.\”
The FBI triple checked his cell to confirm that all of the \”50 classified
FBI reports\” that hadn\’t been properly classified were removed from his
possession. Post journalist Dan Eggen writes:
\”Many of the reports were generated by FBI agents who were
drafted into the Sept. 11 investigation and were not schooled in handling
classified information. They did not properly label the documents, one
FBI official said.\”
ABCNEWS
reported three weeks ago that \”the material — both on disk and as hard
copy documents — was sent to Moussaoui as part of discovery for his legal
defense, said several legal sources, including one at the Justice Department.\”
911,
Government, Intelligence,
Law, Library,
Terrorism.
20020929
\”Document
Misclassification Gives Terrorism Defendant Classified Intelligence Secrets.\”
– from the Slow-Reader? dept. -By –Hermit
!-(
\”FBI
Failed to Classify Reports Before Moussaoui Had Them.\”
–By Dan Eggen –WashingtonPost
\”Top
Secret Gaffe: Terror Suspect Moussaoui Given
Sensitive Information.\” -By Jackie Judd
–ABCNEWS.com
The rising costs of scientific journals
I don’t think we’ve pointed to This display yet, but I’ve been wrong before. Designed by the Cornell University Engineering and Computer Science Library team, it shows how high costs are on some of our most expensive journals.
It was inspired by the “Show Me the Money” site, at the Health Sciences and Human Services library at the University of Maryland.
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