Library Juice 1:28 - August 12, 1998
Contents: 1. News stories appearing in the August 10 American Libraries Online 2. Raimund Dehmlow's web pages on SRRT's recent international activities 3. SRRT webpages - constitution, job descriptions, and resolution procedures 4. 15 Most Endangered Wild Lands--TWS 5. ICQ Group for Librarians / Cybrarians / Information Scientists 6. Evaluating health information on the Internet 7. _Code of Federal Regulations_ Browse Enhancement--GPO 8. The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter 9. LIBRARIES: AN AMERICAN VALUE - The document and some responses to it. 10. Feast of St. Lawrence the Librarian 11. Towards Bottom-Up Information Warfare 12. How Email is Like a Penis Quote of the week: "To be literate is to possess the cow of plenty." -Motto of the Madras Library Association ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. News stories appearing in the August 10 American Libraries Online <http://www.ala.org/alonline/> * Kidnap Suspect Kills Himself at Salt Lake City PL * House Subcommitte Questions Legality of E-Rate Funding * Delray Beach Director Quits Over Control * School Librarian Wins Restraining Order in Censorship Controversy * Officials Deny Razing Rookery for Library * House Passes Digital Copyright Bill with Fair Use Provision * FCC to Hold Hearings on Access to Communications Technology * Basketball Diaries Back in Play in Gwinnett County * Mason to Leave Cleveland Public Library * Newspaper Pits ACLU Against Tacoma PL over Filters * Canadian Commission Considers Internet Regulations * Library Programs Receive $1.2 Million in Humanities Grants American Libraries' Web site also features the latest "Internet Librarian" columns by Karen Schneider; AL's "Career Leads" job ads; listings of conferences, continuing-education courses, exhibitions, and other events from AL's "Datebook"; and Tables of Contents for the current year. ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Raimund Dehmlow's web pages on SRRT's recent international activities Raimund, this is quite wonderful. Many thanks for your work. http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/100,115158/adresse.htm >Dear Al, >I just changed our directory page. Now you can find there two new links: >"What happened in Washington, D.C.", including your review about our >meeting, and "SRRT Resolutions & Open Letter ...", including all you/we >did over there. You can also find the new data you have given to me, >belonging to our calendar. Just let me know, if you agree with this. >Allt the best to you, >Raimund Al Kagan ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. SRRT webpages - constitution, job descriptions, and resolution procedures thanks to some useful email from Wendy (Thomas), we now have the complete text of the SRRT constitution., SRRT job descriptions and SRRT resolution procedure available on our web site. The address for the newly formed document archive with links to all these documents [and hopefully more soon] is http://www.jessamyn.com/srrt/docs If you have text versions of any SRRT documents that you think would be useful to have on the SRRT web site, please email me and we can discuss putting it on the web site. I would particularly like copies of the budget worksheets we got at Annual because I only have hard copies that I would have to scan. thanks. Jessamyn SRRT webmaster ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. 15 Most Endangered Wild Lands--TWS http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/15most/ This report, recently released by the Wilderness Society, describes the "15 most endangered wild lands" and the threats to each. The list includes Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Badger-Two Medicine, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Cascade Crest, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges, Mojave Desert, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Owyhee Canyonlands, Petroglyph National Monument, Routt National Forest, Utah Wilderness, and Western Maine Woods. [LXP] -Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ________________________________________________________________________________ 5. ICQ Group for Librarians / Cybrarians / Information Scientists (ICQ is a free software application for synchronous text communication, sort of like AOL's instant messenger but (so I have heard) better. Info and software is available at http://www.icq.com ) Now an ICQ Group for Librarians / Cyberarians / Information Scientists is available at : http://groups.icq.com/group.asp?no=329507 I appreciate if professionals with ICQs ( a Internet pager http://www.icq.com ) join this group. It will enable us to communicate online as well as offline. Please pass on this information to your collegues and friends so that maximum professionals could join this group. Thanks -- http://i.am/sukhdev ---------------------------------------------------- ICQ# 14132743 sukhdev[at]i.am -------------------------------------------------------- >From NetInLib - http://www.targetinform.com/netinlib/ ________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Evaluating health information on the Internet From: Bruce Maxwell <bmaxwell[at]mindspring.com> Subject: Evaluating health information on the Internet I've posted at my Web site the Introduction to my new book, "How to Find Health Information on the Internet," which has been published by Congressional Quarterly. The Introduction discusses how to judge the quality of health information on the Internet, and also explains how health information I found on the Internet helped save my life. My Web site also has the book's Table of Contents, ordering information, and links to some of the best sites for starting a search for health information on the Internet. Bruce Maxwell bmaxwell[at]mindspring.com http://bmaxwell.home.mindspring.com >From NetInLib-Announce, see http://www.targetinform.com/netinlib/ ________________________________________________________________________________ 7. _Code of Federal Regulations_ Browse Enhancement--GPO http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html Beginning with 1998 revision dates, the US Government Printing Office's GPO Access site makes the US _Code of Federal Regulations_ (discussed in the October 18, 1996 Scout Report -- http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/scout-961018.html#9) available via browse as well as search mode. A seemingly simple enhancement, browseability adds tremendous utility to government publications that are, by their nature, large and/or complex. One can now browse such publications as the _Federal Register_ (discussed in the May 22, 1998 Scout Report -- http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/scout-980522.html#2) and the _CFR_. GPO Access is beginning to understand the importance of this enhancement, and librarians, researchers, and the general public will benefit greatly. Hopefully, GPO will extend browseability to more of its large government databases soon. [JS] -Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ________________________________________________________________________________ 8. The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter Copyright news for libraries, museums and archives - The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter: For Librarians & Information Specialists is now in its 2nd year of publication, with contributors from around the world -- and subscribers from 12 countries -- this is the newsletter to help you keep abreast of important copyright issues, news, and practical solutions to your everyday activities. Issue 1, Volume 2 (1998), deals with privacy policies for your Web site; copyright collectives and print and electronic copying; what's happening in the European copyright scene; reviews of print materials and Web sites on copyright for libraries, museums and archives. This is a print newsletter, with email alerts between issues of the print versions. Subscribers are also entitled to a free subscription to the electronic newsletter: Copyright & New Media Legal News. For information on this unique, international newsletter, visit http://copyrightlaws.com or email libraries[at]copyrightlaws.com or copylaw[at]interlog.com. What do our subscribers say: "Since so much information is disseminated on the Internet and by other electronic means, it is invigorating to know that someone is so clairvoyant as to issue a journal directed at answering the myriad of questions librarians and information specialists have regarding copyright and other legal issues. We welcome the addition of THE COPYRIGHT & NEW MEDIA LAW NEWSLETTER: FOR LIBRARIANS & INFORMATION SPECIALISTS to our collection because it deals directly with these questions and provides timely answers to us in the information field." Alpha G. Rose, Serials Librarian Ralph J. Bunche Library, U.S. Department of State "The Newsletter is an easy way for a generalist to try to keep up (on virtually a daily basis) with the current issues in copyright and the management of intellectual property, both nationally and internationally." Delphine Bishop Chief Registrar National Gallery of Canada *********************************************************************** * IFLA-L is provided by the International Federation of Library * * Associations and Institutions (IFLA). For further information about * * IFLA activities, including organization or personal affiliate * * information, contact: IFLA[at]ifla.org * * * * URL: www.ifla.org * *********************************************************************** ________________________________________________________________________________ 9. LIBRARIES: AN AMERICAN VALUE - The document and some responses to it. TO: ALA Council FROM: Ann K. Symons, ALA President June Pinnell-Stephens, Chair, 21st Century Intellectual Freedom Statement Committee DATE: Aug. 6, 1998 As you know, the initial draft version of LIBRARIES: AN AMERICAN VALUE has been circulating widely among the profession since March. We received between 150 and 175 comments, ranging from endorsement from several groups, such as the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Illinois State Library Advisory Committee, to total rewrites. The comments we received were predominantly positive, and we incorporated many of the suggestions, in spirit if not to the letter. We received a number of questions and comments about certain aspects of the draft and thought it would be helpful to address them in this letter accompanying the next version. 1. Purpose of the document This document is directed to the publics we serve. Several people asked if the document is intended to replace the Library Bill of Rights. We intend it to be a companion piece to both the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement, one directed to the public that describes what they can expect from their libraries in terms they can readily understand. 2. Constitutional rights Several people questioned our use of "constitutional rights" and pointed> out there is no express right to use libraries in the Constitution. In this case, "constitutional rights" includes the 5th Amendment right to due process, the 14th Amendment right to equal protection, and the corollary 1st Amendment right to receive speech, all long established in the law. In addition, there may be similar provisions in state constitutions that apply. We checked with counsel at Jenner & Block, and they support this general statement, since it will cover all of these rights. 3.Children's v. parents' rights The third and fourth bullets in the first draft provoked the number of comments. Many people felt the statements were contradictory, and about an equal number supported them strongly or wanted them removed. We decided to add "rights" to the statement about parental responsibility and to combine the third and first bullets, since they both addressed user rights. Again, our counsel affirms that children and young adults do possess 1st Amendment and other constitutional rights and that our statement in the first bullet would encompass them. 4. Definition of resources Several people questioned whether library resources as stated in the draft would include only those materials physically available in a given library or if the term is intended to include all resources available, on site or not. We intend that term to include all resources, particularly as libraries rely more and more on off-site electronic resources and the Internet. 5. Alternate viewpoints At the hearing held at conference, we learned of concerns from SRRT members who wanted the document to remind the profession of its obligation to provide the full spectrum of viewpoints and opinions, not just those readily available from the mainstream media. We tried to incorporate those concerns where possible. SRRT made a number of other suggestions that the committee did not adopt, primarily because they did not speak to the public but rather changed the focus of the document. Please take this opportunity to express your opinion and offer your suggestions about this draft (below and as an attachment). We intend to gather comments from Council for one more month before issuing a final version for general endorsement and would appreciate hearing from each of you. Council will then be asked to approve the document as ALA policy at Midwinter. Please send your comments to: junep[at]muskox.alaska.edu or symons[at]alaska.net June Pinnell-Stephens IF 21 1215 Cowles St. Fairbanks AK 99701 (907)459-1020 (907)459-1024 fax Ann K. Symons ALA President 8323 Counterpane Lane Juneau AK 99801 (907)463-1947 (907)463-1932 fax Comments may also be sent via: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/pe/statement_memo.html Thank you for your participation in this effort. LIBRARIES: AN AMERICAN VALUE AUGUST 1998 DRAFT Libraries in America are cornerstones of the communities they serve. Free access to the books, ideas, resources, and information in America's libraries is imperative for education, employment, enjoyment, and self-government. Libraries are a legacy to each generation, offering the heritage of the past and the promise of the future. To ensure that libraries flourish and have the freedom to promote and protect the public good in the 21st century, we believe certain principles must be guaranteed. To that end, we affirm this contract with the people we serve: * We defend the constitutional rights of all individuals, including children and young adults, to use the library's resources and services; * We value our nation's diversity and strive to reflect that diversity by providing a full spectrum of resources and services to the communities we serve; * We> affirm the responsibility and the right of all parents to guide their own children's use of the library and its resources and services; * We connect people and ideas by helping each person identify and effectively use the library's resources; * We protect each individual's privacy and confidentiality in the use of library resources and services; * We protect the rights of individuals to express their concerns about library resources and services; * We celebrate and preserve our democratic society by making available the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions and ideas, so that all individuals have the opportunity to become lifelong learners - literate, educated, culturally enriched, and informed. Change is constant; but these principles transcend change and endure in a dynamic technological, social, and political environment. By embracing these principles, libraries in the United States can contribute to a future that values and protects freedom of speech, in a world that celebrates both our similarities and our differences, respects individuals and their beliefs, and holds all persons truly equal and free. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: Al Kagan[SMTP:akagan[at]uiuc.edu] Reply To: srrtac-l[at]ala.org Sent: Friday, August 07, 1998 8:31 AM To: SRRT Action Council Subject: Re: intellectual Freedom (fwd) I am sorry to say that Symon's intellectual freedom document seems full of platitudes and of little practical use. I notice that SRRT's suggestions were dismissed because they would have "changed the focus of the document." Of course, that is what we were trying to do. The document reminds me of the Code of Ethics adopted a few years ago. Some of us spent time making suggetions and speaking at open forums. The final document is so general that it is useless. People can't disagree with it, but I don't know if anyone has ever tried to use it. I suspect that this whole process has more to do with Symon's image than intellectual freedom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jos.Anemaet[at]orst.edu said > > I agree with Al that the document is full of platitudes, but I disagree that it is of little practical value. Carol Barta made the point before, that a document such as the one below, is of value each time a library board, or conservative citizen group tries to challenge library materials. I think that the "apple pie, family values, and constitutional rights" folks would love these platitudes and find it impossible to deny or quibble with this document. And there is enough in it that we can argue that the library must also consider the rights of the minority. It seems like a nice enough "mission statement" and those HAVE to be broad pronouncements rather than specifics that could too easily exclude some group or idea we hadn't thought about. > My 2-cents worth. > Jos Anemaet, SRRT Oregon > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - hi, i don't know how pratical this document will be either, nor whether anyone outside of ala will read it. but i do agree that saying "free speech" over and over again can't hurt in our current climate. also, i don't know about you all, but more and more i like the statement about rights of individuals, because the "team playing" mentality of many current administrations discourage any expression of concern by library employees about library resources and services--i'm assuming that the statement's use of the word "individuals" also encompasses inidividuals who happen to be library employees. --ralph papakhian - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please forward to ALA Council this response to the new draft of the proposed intellectual freedom statement sent out yesterday by President Ann Symons and June Pinnell-Stephens, Chair of the 21st Century Intellectual Freedom Statement Committee. I have compared the Committee's new draft with its earlier one and also with the memo that Carol Reid, you and I submitted last month *as individuals* (the new draft wrongly refers to us as "SRRT"). Our memo (called the "Reid revisions") scored the following wins and losses in the Committee's new draft (text in CAPS): REID REVISIONS ACCEPTED: Bullet 1. ALL individuals Bullet 2. A FULL SPECTRUM of resources and services Bullet 7. BY MAKING AVAILABLE THE WIDEST POSSIBLE RANGE OF VIEWPOINTS, OPINIONS AND IDEAS Epilogue: a world that CELEBRATES both our similarities and our differences. REID REVISIONS REJECTED: Preamble: Libraries in America IDEALLY are cornerstones of their communities Bullet 1. WITHOUT REGARD TO AGE, SEX, RACE, CLASS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, OR ABILITY TO PAY FOR LIBRARY MATERIALS AND SERVICES Bullet 2. AND, BECAUSE THEY IMPEDE DIVERSITY AND ACCESS, WE OPPOSE CENTRALIZED SELECTION AND THE OUTSOURCING OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AND CATALOGING Former Bullet 3 (now merged with Bullet 1): AND WILL ACTIVELY RESIST ALL EFFORTS AT CENSORSHIP AND ATTEMPTS TO LIMIT FREE AND EQUAL ACCESS Bullet 3. AND OPPOSE RESTRICTED ACCESS BASED ON AGE Bullet 4. EMPLOYING SPECIALIZED BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND INDEXES TO BOTH MAINSTREAM AND ALTERNATIVE RESOURCES Bullet 5. protect privacy and confidentiality BY EDUCATING STAFF, THE PUBLIC, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ABOUT THESE LEGAL GUARANTEES AS THEY APPLY TO LIBRARY USERS Bullet 6. rights of individuals to express concerns BY PROVIDING AVENUES FOR COMPLAINTS, REQUESTS AND SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING LIBRARY MATERIALS Bullet 7. make available the widest possible range of ideas THROUGH THE ACQUISITION OF SMALL AND ALTERNATIVE PRESS MATERIALS, AND THROUGH THE AVOIDANCE OF PROFESSIONAL SELF-CENSORSHIP STEMMING EITHER FROM IDEOLOGICAL BIAS OR EASE OF ACQUISITION New paragraph: WE ENDORSE ARTICLE 19 OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, AND STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE EVERYWHERE IN SUPPORT OF THEIR RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION The new draft also deletes the following phrase from the epilogue of the earlier draft: A WORLD FREE OF FEAR AND WANT. ANALYSIS OF THE NEW DRAFT. The new draft differs from the earlier draft as follows: 1. The text is shorter and clearer. 2. The Reid revisions accepted (ALL individuals, FULL SPECTRUM, WIDEST POSSIBLE RANGE, CELEBRATES instead of the previous "tolerates") significantly strengthen the document. 3. The Reid revisions rejected in Bullets 5 and 6 are non-controversial procedural matters that probably do not need to be spelled out. 4. The Reid revisions in Bullets 1 and 3, although they could possibly be considered implicit in the strengthened language of the new draft, should be spelled out for clarity. 5. The following Reid revisions rejected in the preamble, former Bullet 3, and Bullets 2, 4 and 7 are vital to SRRT and to AIP, and are not at all implicit in the new draft: Libraries IDEALLY are cornerstones of their communities; AND WILL ACTIVELY RESIST ALL EFFORTS AT CENSORSHIP AND ATTEMPTS TO LIMIT FREE AND EQUAL ACCESS; WE OPPOSE CENTRALIZED SELECTION AND THE OUTSOURCING OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AND CATALOGING; EMPLOYING SPECIALIZED BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND INDEXES TO BOTH MAINSTREAM AND ALTERNATIVE RESOURCES; ACQUISITION OF SMALL AND ALTERNATIVE PRESS MATERIALS; AVOIDANCE OF PROFESSIONAL SELF-CENSORSHIP STEMMING EITHER FROM IDEOLOGICAL BIAS OR EASE OF ACQUISITION. 6. The proposal to ENDORSE ARTICLE 19 OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS has been rejected. 7. A phrase from the earlier draft, A WORLD FREE OF FEAR AND WANT, has been deleted. COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. A prefatory note in the new draft says the purpose of the new intellectual freedom statement is to inform the public. It gives the following explanation as to why certain Reid revisions (misattributed to "SRRT") were rejected: "SRRT made a number of other suggestions that the committee did not adopt, primarily because they did not speak to the public but rather changed the focus of the document." Changing the focus of the intellectual freedom document from smug self-congratulation to a conscientious striving for higher standards in American libraries and ALA is indeed the precise purpose of the Reid revisions. In order to continue that effort, I urge Council to reintroduce points #4, #5, #6, and #7 above. Note that the Committee's new draft avoids (read "censors") all mention whatsoever of the alternative press -- even its existence -- and omits (read "censors") all mention whatsoever of the specific internal issues concerning collection development, acquisition, cataloging, reference, equal access, and self-censorship cited in the Reid revision. The epilogue of the Committee's new draft claims airily that ". . . these principles transcend change and endure in a dynamic technological, social and political environment." But what about the nitty gritty? What about frightening, growing realities such as the privatization of public institutions; the commodification of culture; the erosion of civil rights and liberties; the gap between the obscenely rich and the starving poor; the amoral greed of capitalism; policy by the "invisible hand" of the market; governance by bribery; the criminal use of violence and threats by the national security state; the undermining of the UN and other independent international bodies; political prisoners; the gulag as growth industry; the gulag as slave labor source; the racism of the (in)justice system; the assault by the political Christian Right on women's rights, children's rights, and the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals; the official harrassment of Arabs, Muslims, immigrants and foreigners; the FBI/ATF McCarthyism of anti-terrorism; the secret police; the warrants that are always granted; the secret courts; the abandonment of the homeless, the poor, the children, the aged, and the physically or mentally ill; the betrayal of organized labor; the de-funding of public education; the scandal of illiteracy; the lack of health care for 40 million people; U.S. preeminence in murder and rape; the global destruction of the environment by mega-corporations in collusion with government; and the deliberate, constant buzz of misinformation about all this by the interlocking government, corporate and academic elites -- the mainstream press? Aren't such matters important -- indeed, overwhelmingly compelling -- factors in America's "dynamic" library environment? More generally, Council should clarify whether this intellectual freedom statement is just a public relations exercise in hypocrisy intended for outsiders, or whether it has real meaning and sets real standards for libraries and librarians in the 21st century. If SRRT and AIP issues are not addressed in the final text, most library administrators will continue to ignore social responsibilities and to practice self-censorship. And local communities will find that this alleged "contract with the people we serve" (when do "the people" get to approve the contract?) is not binding on the libraries they use and pay for. Such an outcome would reduce "intellectal freedom" in American libraries below the level of farce to the level of tragedy. Charles Willett Coordinator, Alternatives in Print Task Force (AIP), ALA/SRRT 1716 SW Williston Road Gainesville, FL 32608 352/335-2200 willett[at]afn.org ________________________________________________________________________________ 10. Feast of St. Lawrence the Librarian A little bit of library lore for your information.. Today, August 10, is the feast day of St. Lawrence the Librarian. Like other heavenly patrons of librarians, Lawrence was patient and noted for grace under pressure. Further information about St. Lawrence can be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica or the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen). Happy St. Lawrence's Day! Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo or Saint Laurence) A patron saint of libraries and librarians is Saint Lawrence the Librarian. He is a third century saint and martyr (died 258 AD) who had responsibility for the written archives and records of the early church. St Lawrence was one of seven famous deacons of the early church. The other six deacons along with Pope St. Sixtus II (Xystus II) were captured by the Emperor Valerian on August 6, 258, and martyred. They were buried together in the cemetery of Callistus. The oppression of the Christian church was very severe, and many Christians fled Rome or died. As librarian and archivist, Lawrence was thought to have a list of all the members of the early church, and the locations of all the mythical hidden hoards of gold belonging to the Vatican. Captured by the soldiers of the Emperor Valerian a few days later, on August 8, 258 AD, he was told to produce all the wealth of the church. He was given only two days to bring all the treasures to the imperial palace. Particularly desired were the names of all the Christians who were also Roman nobles, since they could be ransomed for gold by the emperor, or executed and their wealth confiscated by the emperor for the state. Lawrence gathered up the all the diseased, orphaned or crippled Christians on the appointed day, brought them to the palace, and told the startled emperor that "These are the treasures of the church!" According to tradition, for his presumed impudence, Lawrence was then slowly roasted on a grill on the site of the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Rome, in the hope that he would publicly renounce his religion and reveal the names of the wealthy Christians. He is often represented holding a gridiron to memorialize this grisly manner of martyrdom. Although St. Lawrence was most certainly beheaded and not roasted, the traditions of his being cooked are somewhat stronger than actual fact. As a result, St Lawrence is also considered a patron saint for cooks. There is also the popular story that he was so willing to embrace Christ in heaven, that he did not mind the pain from the fire of his martyrdom, and indeed, he found the strength to tell his executioners "Turn me over. I am done on this side." The courage and dignity of St Lawrence and many of these other early Christians in facing their death did much to gain respect for their religion in Rome, and after the death of St Lawrence, there was widespread conversion to Christianity. His feast day is August 10th, and is usually celebrated by librarians and archivists (in honor of his traditional method of death) with cold cuts. The annual Perseid meteor shower, one of the best known of the annually occuring meteor showers, and which occurs near his feast day in August, is sometimes called "The Tears of St. Lawrence" in Italy. A reliquary with the head of Saint Lawrence is held in the Vatican Library. -------------- R. Lee Hadden (Standard disclaimers apply) US Geological Survey Library rhadden[at]usgs.gov - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - you can find a lot more about (St.) Lawrence, in German Laurentius at http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/100/115158/laurent.htm Greetings Raimund Dehmlow ________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Towards Bottom-Up Information Warfare Towards Bottom-Up Information Warfare Theory and Practice: Version 1.0 by Stefan Wray August 5, 1998 http://www.nyu.edu/projects/wray/BottomUp.html 1.0 Bottom-Up Information Warfare Bottom-up Information Warfare (BUIW) theory/praxis is needed because dominant IW conceptions are not based on our interests, but on the interests of the corporate-state and its military-intelligence community. Bottom-up IW theory/praxis should negate dominant corporate-state/military-intelligence IW theory/praxis and should affirm our digital resistant experience and related theory/praxis. Resistance to future war, totally dependent on information and communication technology (ICT), is a useful area for exploration and elaboration of bottom-up IW theory/praxis. Many of today’s conflicts verge on future war and current resistance to them provide sites for developing bottom-up IW ideas and practice. 2.0 Negation of Dominant Information Warfare Conceptions A negation of dominant corporate-state/military-intelligence IW theory should be based on a close examination of the sources of these dominant conceptions, the content and main conclusions, the underlying assumptions and myths, and the context from which IW theory was produced. Primary sources for dominant IW theory/praxis are U.S. academicians, scholars, and analysts from places like the RAND Corporation, the National Defense University, the U.S. Air Force, other branches of the military, public and private universities, and ‘independent’ think-tanks. Dominant IW theorists argue that, in today’s information society, nations and corporations are increasingly vulnerable to information-based attacks aimed at ICT infrastructure. With the end of the Cold War, the ideology of Information Warfare – often in conjunction with Drug War ideology – provides the state and the military with a new rationale for growth and expansion. 3.0 Affirmation of Resistant Information Warfare Conceptions An affirmation of bottom-up Information Warfare theory/praxis means learning who we are, consolidating our own theory/praxis, and recasting dominant myths and assumptions with ones more suited to our interests. So far, bottom-up Information Warfare actors are an international mix of computerized activists, politicized hackers, new media theorists, digital artists, and others at the juncture of computers, media, radical politics, and the arts. The theoretical basis for bottom-up Information Warfare is from a mix of related sources including work on nomadic warfare (Bey; Deleuze and Guattari), on electronic disturbance and civil disobedience (Critical Art Ensemble), on tactical media (Next Five Minutes), and others. Bottom-up IW praxis is not widespread, but one example of incipient work in this area are the Electronic Civil Disobedience actions against the Mexican government that use a device called FloodNet. 4.0 Resistance to Future War The Gulf War has been called the first Information War because of the heavy reliance on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for military and propagandistic purposes. Since the Gulf War such reliance on ICT – on InfoWar technology - has become commonplace for both military conflicts, such as in former Yugoslavia and in southern Mexico, as well as for law enforcement efforts, for example, to control drugs and immigration. For all intents and purposes, future war has arrived and people who resist war today are finding that new means of electronic, digital, or virtual resistance are becoming both possible and necessary. Cyberspacial resistance to future war enables polyspacial hybrid forms of resistance that combine the older rural-agrarian and urban-industrial models of warfare, with the newer cyberspacial-informational forms. 5.0 Global Zapatista Internet Resistance A current example of hybrid rural, urban, and cyberspacial resistance is the case of the global pro-Zapatista movement, which has demonstrated how the Internet allows non-state actors to build networks of solidarity and resistance across national borders. Immediately after January 1, 1994, the Zapatistas had a strong Internet presence. Through email listservs like Chiapas95, Cc: lists, and an array of interconnected web sites, a global pro-Zapatista movement formed. This year political communication moved toward political action as, for example, the Electronic Disturbance Theater started Electronic Civil Disobedience actions against the Mexican government. Also on several occasions this year, anti-government and pro-Zapatista messages have been placed on Mexican government web sites. 6.0 An Electronic Boston Tea Party As the Paris Salon is to political communication on the Internet, the Boston Tea Party is to political action; more so it is a metaphor for direct action. Although the bias of Internet politics favors the more passive discursive space of political communication (the salon), things like Electronic Civil Disobedience campaigns against the Mexican government (the tea party) are expanding the range of possibilities. While individuals and small groups have experimented with electronic resistance there is still room for more experimentation and development of techniques and devices. A particularly intriquing idea, that has not been tested, but that has been proposed to Ars Electronica is a proposal for a SWARM, an advanced, multiple source, ECD action happening on different levels and in different spaces, somthing like a simultaneous convergence of numerous electronic Boston Tea Parties. 7.0 Conclusions There is a need for an elaboration and an expansion of bottom-up Information Warfare theory/praxis. For this there needs to be a negation of dominant top-down conceptions of Information Warfare and an affirmation of resistant bottom-up conceptions. The sites of resistance to future war are good locations for further thinking and practice of bottom-up Information Warfare. The global pro-Zapatista movement is one site where such experimention with electronic resistance has taken place. Finally, there needs to be more experimentation and development of electronic techniques and software devices for more advanced electronic civil disobedience. 8.0 Other Work 8/1/98: Paris Salon or Boston Tea Party? Recasting Electronic Democracy A View From Amsterdam 7/7/98: Rhizomes, Nomads, and Resistant Internet Use 6/17/98: The Electronic Disturbance Theater and Electronic Civl Disobedience 5/14/98: SWARM: An ECD Proposal for Ars Electronica Festival 98 5/5/98: Die Umwandlung des Widerstands der Maschinenstürmer in Einen Virtuellen Widerstand 4/7/98: Transforming Luddite Resistance Into Virtual Luddite Resistance 3/20/98: On Electronic Civil Disobedience 3/20/98: Digital Zapatismo 5/31/97: The Drug War and Information Warfare in Mexico ________________________________________________________________________________ 12. How Email is Like a Penis Those who have it would be devastated if it was ever cut off. Those who have it think that those who don't are somehow inferior. Those who don't have it may agree that it's neat, but think it's not worth the fuss that those who have it make about it. It's more fun when it's up, but this makes it hard to get any real work done. In the distant past, its only purpose was to transmit information vital to the survival of the species. Some people still think that's the only thing it should be used for, but most folks today use it mostly for fun. If you don't take proper precautions, it can spread viruses. We attach an importance to it that is far greater than its actual size and influence warrant. If you're not careful what you do with it, it can get you into a lot of trouble. ______________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ | | | # # ##### ##### ## ##### # # | | # # # # # # # # # # # # | | # # ##### # # # # # # # | | # # # # ##### ###### ##### # | | # # # # # # # # # # # | | ###### # ##### # # # # # # # | | | | | | # # # # #### ###### | | # # # # # # # | | # # # # # ##### | | # # # # # # | | # # # # # # # # | | #### #### # #### ###### | | | | | | http://www.libr.org/juice/ | | | | Items appearing in Library Juice are copyright-free, | | so feel free to share them with colleagues and friends. | | Library Juice is a free weekly publication edited by | | Rory Litwin. Original senders are credited wherever | | possible; opinions are theirs. Your comments and | | suggestions are welcome. mailto:Juice[at]libr.org | |__________________________________________________________|
Web Page created by Text2Web v1.3.6 by Dev Virdi
http://www.virdi.demon.co.uk/
Date: Thursday, October 29, 1998 12:06 PM