Library Juice 1:46 - December 23, 1998
Contents: 1. CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS IN AN EARTH-FRIENDLY WAY 2. Iraq Info sources 3. Mark Rosenzweig's letter on Iraq sent to Clinton with 90 signatures 4. A-INFOS News Service 5. Five Holiday Sites 6. NAACP urges support for libraries 7. Free Speech Groups Say "No" to Library Filters (IFEA) 8. Law Library Resource Xchange - legal Webzine for legal researchers 9. Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project 10. Letter urging action to encourage UCB SIMS to seek ALA accreditation 11. Melissa Riley's eloquent statement in favor of the above 12. SALON magazine article on the E-rate -excerpts 13. Exploring Chocolate [RealPlayer] 14. Toys Through Time - http://toys.eb.com/ 15. HOLIDAY SCIENCE WEBSITES 16. Ann Symons' letter to Council about The Guadalajara Book Fair 17. Merry Christmas from IFLA Quote for the week: "Let me say this as clearly as I can: No matter how sharp a grievance or how deep a hurt, there is no justification for killing innocents." -Bill Clinton in his speech to Palestinians in Gaza City, December 14 ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS IN AN EARTH-FRIENDLY WAY EDF DISPATCH: From Environmental Defense Fund Tuesday, December 22, 1998 Make Your Holidays Joyous and Green For this Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa, EDF offers some practical tips for reducing holiday waste without reducing holiday cheer. http://www.edf.org/pubs/NewsReleases/1998/Dec/b_holiday.html ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Iraq Info sources You can read press releases from groups opposed to war and email an anti-war letter to U.S. officials through the Iraq Action Coalition. http://leb.net/IAC/ See also mainstream media "Target Iraq Links" suggested by MSNBC: http://www.wfla.com/iraq.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For a time-line of U.S. statements about the sanctions on Iraq, see: http://www.accuracy.org/iraq - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Link contributed by Chuck0: photos, sound, and video from Dec. 16 protest in Washington DC: http://www.sinkers.org/iraq_demo-dec98 ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. Mark Rosenzweig's letter on Iraq sent to Clinton with 90 signatures Read the signed letter of protest already sent to Clinton and the names and affiliations of the approximately 90 signatories, at: http://www.libr.org/PLG/iraq12-16-98.html ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. A-INFOS News Service In the struggle for a free society, we distribute news and articles in several languages, covering a wide range of areas. These include workplace, environmental and anti-imperialist struggles as well as the fight against racism, sexism and homophobia. URL: http://www.ainfos.ca/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Five Holiday Sites Christmas Recipe.com http://www.christmasrecipe.com/ NORAD Tracks Santa Web Site [Quicktime] http://www.noradsanta.org/ Jewish Communication Network Hanukkah Page http://www.jcn18.com/default.asp?content=article703 Online Kwanzaa Resource Guide [RealPlayer] http://www.itskwanzaatime.com/ Guide to a Hassle-Free Holiday -- _Consumer Reports_ http://www.consumerreports.org/news/holiday/ The winter holidays are fast upon us, and these sites will help users celebrate, learn, and survive. The first site is yet another offering from All Recipes.com (see the November 20, 1998 Scout Report ). Like its sister sites, Christmas Recipe.com offers a large number of holiday recipes, browseable by category or alphabetically or searchable by keyword. The site also features a Glossary, Top Ten Recipes, Hints, Recipe Exchange, and a Recipe Roulette. Users anxious to chart Santa's progress from the North Pole to their chimney can visit NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), which has redirected its formidable radar arrays on Christmas Eve for the past 42 years. The site will offer up-to-the-minute location briefs on Christmas Eve. In the meantime, users can read up on NORAD's analysis of Santa's secrets, including the Milk and Cookie Theory, as well view technical data on Santa's sleigh, "a versatile, all weather, multipurpose, vertical short-take-off and landing vehicle." There are a few days of Hanukkah left, and users can visit the Jewish Communication Network Hanukkah Page to learn Hanukkah history and How-To, pick up some recipes, and spin the Virtual Dreidle. The site also provides a number of related links. The Online Kwanzaa Resource Guide addresses some of the deeper issues behind the holiday and its rituals. The site offers text and RealPlayer clips from scholars addressing the meaning and observance of the holiday (including Dr. Maulana Karenga, who created Kwanzaa in 1966), an overview of debates over the commercialization of Kwanzaa, RealPlayer music samples, and a listing of Kwanzaa events in the Chicago area. Finally, _Consumer Reports_ Online provides a special holiday section with tips on gift delivery, shopping, and avoiding overspending; reviews of educational toys, kitchen knives, and greeting card software; information on charitable giving; and a report on buying online. [MD] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 6. NAACP urges support for libraries >From AFAS-L, by way of EQUILIBR: NAACP urges support for libraries By Mary Landers Savannah Morning News ABSTRACT: The grass-roots organization challenges the library board's assertion that the branches are underused. Its survey of community groups around each threatened branch showed they brought a total of 600 children a week to the small libraries, even though these libraries have limited hours. The Savannah branch of the NAACP opposes the closing of six branch libraries that have lost their funding in the library board's proposed budget. "We contacted the Chatham County Commission to put funding in the budget so that libraries aren't shut down in inner city communities, many in public housing projects," said Curtis Cooper, president of the Savannah branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He made his remarks to about 40 people gathered at a Sunday mass meeting of the NAACP at First Bryan Baptist Church. The affected library branches are: Ola Wyeth, Hitch, W.W. Law, Ogeechee,Kayton and Port Wentworth. Organizers of the Concerned Citizens for Library Preservation also spoke at the meeting. They said talks with the library board have been frustrating. For example, the board was unable to provide detailed information about how much the six branches cost to run, though it eventually estimated the combined cost at $216,000. The outreach program designed to replace the branch services would cost more than $300,000. "We maintain that the library board is dealing with the public in bad faith," said Timothy Mackey of Concerned Citizens for Library Preservation. "Our only recourse is to go to the Chatham County Commission in huge numbers and get them to understand this is a community problem." Brenda Johnson has little hope of seeing her neighborhood library open again, but she came to the NAACP meeting to show her support for residents near the threatened branches. The Yamacraw Village resident said the branch library her four sons frequented was closed for remodeling earlier this decade and never reopened. "That's why I think it's important to help other branches that are closing," she said. Reporter Mary Landers can be reached at 652-0337. ________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Free Speech Groups Say "No" to Library Filters (IFEA) >From _The EPIC Alert_ Vol 5.20 http://www.epic.org Members of the Internet Free Expression Alliance (IFEA) submitted a joint statement to the National Commission on Library and Information Science (NCLIS) on December 14, urging the Library Commission to oppose the use of Internet filters in public libraries when it issues its forthcoming report on "Kids and the Internet." EPIC joined with nine other organizations in recommending a "user education" approach to the issue of objectionable online content, rather than relying on clumsy and often ineffective filtering systems. The joint statement cites the recent federal court decision in the Loudoun County case, which found that placing filters on all library computers violated the First Amendment rights of adult patrons (see EPIC Alert 5.18). The judge in that case (a former librarian) held that a government body like a library "cannot avoid its constitutional obligation by contracting out its decisionmaking to a private entity" such as a software vendor." The decision was issued two weeks after NCLIS held a public hearing to discuss the use of Internet filtering systems in libraries. The Library Commission has said the purpose of its November hearing was "to hear firsthand from experts on the problems and complex issues arising from what NCLIS Vice Chair Martha Gould described as the 'dark side of the Internet.'" The NCLIS report on "Kids and the Internet: The Promise and the Perils" is expected to be released as early as the first week of January. The full text of the IFEA members' statement is available at: http://www.ifea.net/joint_nclis_statement.html More information on IFEA is available from: http://www.ifea.net/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 8. Law Library Resource Xchange - legal Webzine for legal researchers (Announcement from NewJour-L) Law Library Resource Xchange http://www.llrx.com/ LLRX is the free legal Webzine providing current, comprehensive resources for legal professionals and law librarians on research, marketing and information technology solutions. There is no subscription fee for our site, which is updated on the 1st and 15th of each month. Each digital issue features articles, departments and columns with up-to-date information written by expert law librarians, attorneys, information specialists and legal technology consultants. LLRX highlights a broad range of topics including Congressional activities, World Wide Web sites, training resources and the challenges posed to those in the legal community by the continually expanding electronic world. Contact: editors[at]llrx.com. ______________________________________________________________________________ 9. Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project http://thorpe.ou.edu/ A cooperative effort from the University of Oklahoma Law Center, the National Indian Law Library (NILL), and Native American tribes, this site offers access to the full texts of selected legal documents. Among these are Constitutions, Tribal Codes, Charters, Indian Land Titles, and summaries of recent US Supreme Court cases that have involved or affected Native Americans. At present, the Project provides only about 30 documents total, but scholars and users with an interest in Native American legal issues will want to monitor the site. [MD] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 10. Letter urging action to encourage UCB SIMS to seek ALA accreditation (For those who think UC Berkeley still has a library school. -ed.) PLEASE FORWARD (apologies for duplication) From: Corliss Lee <clee[at]LIBRARY.BERKELEY.EDU> The UC Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS), formerly the School of Library and Information Studies, has decided not to seek ALA accreditation. According to the Daily Calfornian, the campus newspaper, the decision was made by the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and SIMS Dean because the administration finds accreditation for professional programs to be time-consuming, expensive and to have little discernible value. I think ethnic librarians should protest this decision. Yet one more library school has bit the dust; yet one more school thinks that technology for corporations is more important than service to the public, let alone ethnic minorities. Please send your comments to the following addresses. Physical letters, whether mailed or faxed, carry more weight than e-mail messages, but please send whatever you can. The university is closed beween December 24 and January 3. I'm going to write as soon as possible, but in fact the campaign needs to take place both before and after the holidays; we can't let the issue die becauase of the holidays. Your message doesn't have to be long. Things you may want to include: * your current position and if it's relevant, what that includes (especially helpful if your position is technical but you still feel an ALA-accredited degree was essential) * affiliation to UCB or the school, if any * whether or not your current (and past) employers require a degree from an ALA-accredited program * if you are an employer or hiring authority, how lack of accreditation affects your ability to hire. * the impact on (society, California, the economy, k-12, higher education, the public good, etc.!) that libraries and librarians have and how NOT having an ALA-accredited school at UCB will negatively impact all those things * what librarians add to the information universe that computers alone cannot provide * and anything else you feel would make a succinct, rational case that would be comprehensible to university administrators. if you like, you can cc: the SIMS Alumni Association (though this message is my personal message,not from them): UCB SIMS Alumni Association 102 South Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-4600 Mail or fax copies to: Chancellor Robert Berdahl 200 California Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-1500 FAX: 510-643-5499 Vice Chancellor Carol Christ 200 California Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-1500 FAX: 510-643-5499 Dean Hal Varian School of Information Management and Systems 102 South Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-4600 FAX: 510-642-5814 Daily Californian PO Box 1949 Berkeley, CA 94701-0949 FAX: 510-849-2803 Chair of the Regents of the University of California John Davies Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory 501 West Broadway, Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101 FAX: (619) 233-1158 (note: there are 26 regents and no single mailing or e-mail address for them. if you address mail to the Office of the Secretary of the Regents, 1111 Franklin St. in Oakland, they will not forward letters to the Regents; they might mention letters in their report of communications. For the addresses and other information about the regents, see http://www.ucop.edu/regents/ ) E-mail addresses: Chancellor Robert Berdahl (c/o Joyce deVries, his executive assistant) joycedev[at]uclink4.berkeley.edu Vice Chancellor Carol Christ cchrist[at]uclink4.berkeley.edu Dean Hal Varian hal[at]sims.berkeley.edu Daily Californian opinion[at]dailycal.org UCB SIMS Alumni Association (c/o co-president Chris Orr) chriso[at]sirius.com Thank you for your time! Library education is in a crisis--do your part now, before it's too late! ______________________________________________________________________________ 11. Melissa Riley's eloquent statement in favor of the above There are many issues to hash out regarding accreditation, but I think swift action is in order. We can all work together to understand what endangers our profession as it evolves, expands, deepens, and broadens. Should it be contained, delimited, abandoned? And how? But for now, know that the University of California has reneged on assurances. Our profession cannot look the other way. Accreditation assures that librarianship will not be utterly devalued. Please ask Chancellor Berdahl of UC Berkeley to live up to the promise made by the previous chancellor and to meet the continual--now abandoned--assurances of Dean Varian that the School of Information Management and Systems would make a serious effort to apply for and receive ALA accreditation. Putting off a decision to apply for five years is merely an attempt to stall and deflate while the program develops in another direction, disregarding our professional imperatives. Accreditation is a process and will require dialogue and negotiation which will be good for SIMS and our community. ALA assured the school when it was in the process of disestablishment and resurrection that accreditation would be appropriate for the new school and would not be a problem. The Alumni Association has worked in good faith for six years to foster a successor school which would continue to produce members of our profession. ALA accreditation requires (I am told) merely that a school live up to its own avowed mission. This may seem oddly lacking in external standards, but such self-fulfillment may be temporarily most appropriate in a profession which is burgeoning in various directions. If any assumed standard needs to be enforced, perhaps schools which want accreditation should demonstrate their success in instilling the service orientation which characterizes librarians however far from a library building they practice the competencies learned in their master's programs. Those who graduate from "Library School" must know how to serve the needs of human beings for assimilable knowledge and information and how to create and manage information systems and policies that will serve our collective and individual interests sustainably over time. I would like to be sure UC Berkeley does just that. "The Library", like "The Church", is an institution, not a building. Or, even further, "The Library" writ large may even be a body of people working with information entities and systems to insure the proper feedback of knowledge our cultures and our world require to survive healthily and to evolve over time. Librarians can serve their calling outside of traditional buildings or even digital institutions, just as The Reverend Mr. Rogers fulfills his ministry using television and puppets, teaching children to respect their own feelings, to love themselves and thus others. We can still be librarians while working for publishers, movie studios, software companies, news organizations, or the OMB; while working as chief information officers, corporate researchers, members of Congress, website managers, or professors of information studies. "Library" and "librarian" can grow metaphorically to encompass an evolving variety of settings and jobs--as long as the right relationship to people and to knowledge is maintained. Melissa Riley Librarian, San Francisco Public Library Member, Alumni Association, UC Berkeley SIMS 1721 Cedar Street Berkeley CA 94703 510 524-2155 Fax 524-5938 ______________________________________________________________________________ 12. SALON magazine article on the E-rate -excerpts The following article appeared in the 'e-zine', SALON Magazine on 12/16/98: (http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/feature/1998/12/16feature.html) Boon or boondoggle? THE E-RATE SUBSIDIZES NET ACCESS FOR SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES -- AND YOUR TELEPHONE COMPANY WANTS TO KILL IT. BY NICHOLAS CONFESSORE excerpts follow: According to conservatives, it's the biggest big-government boondoggle to come along in years: "A hidden tax," thunder Reps. Billy Tauzin, R-La., and Jerry Weller, R-Ill. A "new entitlement," trumpets the Cato Institute's Lawrence Gasman. "Sticking it to the taxpayer," rails Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. So just as the original Universal Service was implemented to provide all Americans with equal access to phone services, the E-Rate was intended to help erase the "digital divide," the gap between technology haves and have-nots. The E-Rate -- which Congress passed as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act -- had broad bipartisan support, partly because it wasn't supposed to cost consumers a dime. Rather, the telephone companies expected to rake in so much dough from the law's deregulation provisions that they gladly agreed to the E-Rate as an explicit quid pro quo. It was, says Jeffrey Chester of the Center for Media Education, "the only major public interest provision of the 1996 Telecom Act." Lately it's begun to dawn on some of the sharper telecommunications companies that the average wired family of the future would be accessing the Web and sending e-mail over local telephone lines. The current E-Rate only applies to schools and libraries, but the industry "views the program as a dangerous precedent," according to Harris. If the E-Rate is successful, affordable Internet access might become viewed as an essential good ý la basic phone service, threatening the vast profits telecommunications companies hope to earn from exponential growth in Internet usage. That's why they're working so hard to completely sever any connection between the E-Rate and the Universal Service concept. To avoid seeming anti-education, Republicans are pushing a Tauzin-Weller bill that would scrap the E-Rate program in favor of that perennial Republican panacea, block grants. Switching to block grants would yank the E-Rate out from under the protective rubric of Universal Service and throw it into the normal appropriations process, where it will be subject to the usual horse-trading. Enter the rhetoric of entitlement. By characterizing the E-Rate as a "hidden tax" and a "new entitlement," Republicans, conservative think tanks and industry lobbyists cast it as an ideological child of the welfare state -- just another "big government" program sucking money from the taxpayer. Because they are also proposing to cut the general phone excise tax, the GOP gets to be the party of both fiscal responsibility and educational largess. "What we're doing is cutting taxes for nearly everyone in America and saving the E-Rate program in the process," as Tauzin has put it. Meanwhile, companies like AT&T and BellAtlantic have begun to itemize the "cost" of Universal Service on phone bills, frequently adding a hefty surcharge to cover "administrative expenses." In combination, these strategies aim to convince consumers not only that they are being bilked, but that they are being bilked for the benefit of the poor -- the ThinkPad Queens, if you will. ------------------------------- Gerry Maginnity, Coordinator Mountain-Valley Library System 828 I St., Suite 524 Sacramento, CA 95814-2508 VOX: 916-264-2722 FAX: 916-441-3425 e-mail: mvls[at]ns.net http://www.mvls.lib.ca.us/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 13. Exploring Chocolate [RealPlayer] http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/index.html "More than a food but less than a drug." From the San Francisco-based site Exploratorium (described in the February 21, 1997 Scout Report) comes a yummy compendium exploring chocolate from bean to bar and beyond. Divided into topical sections, the site examines everything from the processing of the cacao beans into chocolate to the chemical makeup and possible health benefits from indulging. Video and audio clips highlight the text, including video shot in the Amazon showing the process of cutting open and tasting cacao fruit and audio interviews with a chocolate researcher. There is also a tour of a chocolate factory, a great bibliography, and a quick lesson in tempering chocolate to make candies. So if you're looking to improve your temper during the hectic holiday season, indulge yourself for a few minutes at this site. But be warned, by the end of your visit, you'll probably find yourself yearning for something more than a virtual indulgence. [REB] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 14. Toys Through Time - http://toys.eb.com/ This site from Encyclopaedia Britannica presents an extensive look at toys through history. Includes detailed information on many toys including the teddy bear, Daisy Air Rifle, G.I. Joe, dollhouses, toy soldiers, electric trains, Lincoln Logs, and much more! There is also a list of books for all levels of toy collectors and enthusiasts. The site is graphics-heavy and frame based, but a text version is available. - ht - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New from Librarians' Index to the Internet: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ ______________________________________________________________________________ 15. HOLIDAY SCIENCE WEBSITES (Posted to several listservs, please excuse duplication) This is a special holiday edition of the NSF Library Newsletter. The Staff of the NSF Library presents it as our holiday gift to you. We have dusted this off from last year, repaired the links, and added a few. Enjoy! There are lots of Holiday sites on the WWW, but you won't find just Santa and dreidels here! We have chosen sites for your enjoyment that are of special interest to NSF, but still, we hope, reflect some of the joys of the season! 1. E-MAIL A HOLIDAY POSTCARD There are lots of sites that allow you to send a traditional holiday postcard to your friends, but NASA provides a site that has lovely postcards with an astronomical theme--for example, a picture of the earth taken from space and presented as a Christmas tree ball! Add your own personal message and enjoy! Visit the Observatorium at: http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/fun/postcard/sendcard.html 2. NORTHERN LIGHTS ABLAZE ON YOUR COMPUTER For gorgeous photographs of this phenomenon, from both the earth and from space, and for a quick-time movie showing the shimmer, check this site from San Francisco's famous Exploratorium Museum: http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/ Or check out the contribution of Norway's Northern Lights Planetarium at: http://www.uit.no/npt/nordlyset/nordlyset.en.html 3. SOLO FROM THE POLE Will Steger has returned from his solo visit to the North Pole, and the National Geographic Society presents this site with photographs and journal entries: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/ice/index2.html Or check the discussions of the various exploration expeditions of the Arctic and introductions to the indigenous peoples of the Arctic around the world on the Arctic Circle page at: http://www.lib.uconn.edu/ArcticCircle/HistoryCulture/ Greenland is close enough to the North Pole to count as possible Santa-land in my book! You can get a fabulous free Yupik Mask Screensaver at: http://www.greenland-guide.gl/masks/default.htm 4. REINDEER AND THEIR COUSINS What would the holiday be without reindeer? Or at least their close cousins, the caribou. The 160,000 animals that make up the Porcupine Caribou Herd range throughout the Northern Yukon and neighbouring Alaska and Northwest Territories. What are the effects of global climate change on the Herd? How do they distribute themselves within their range? What is the influence of snow density, wind, and insect harrassment on them? Such knowledge is essential in building computer models to predict the impact of climate change in the caribou population. Enjoy the gorgeous SLIDE SHOW at: http://www.cciw.ca/eman-temp/reports/publications/nysoe/index/pch/pc_index.h tml Or the slide show (of real reindeer) at the University of Alaska Reindeer Research Program at: http://reindeer.salrm.alaska.edu/slideshow.htm For information on these lovely animals, go to the fact-filled Caribou FAQ at: http://www.r7.fws.gov/nwr/arctic/carcon.html 5. YULE CAT Of course there are other animals associated with the holiday season as well, bound by myths and folktales and cultural traditions. For instance, "from Iceland comes the legend of the sinister and gargantuan Yule Cat, who, it seems, is ready to eat lazy humans. Those who did not help with the work of their village to finish all work on the autumn wool by Yule time got a double whammy -- they missed out on the Yule reward of a new article of clothing, and they were threatened with becoming sacrifices for the dreaded Yule Cat." Read about this and other traditions of Yule, Solstice, and Saturnalia at: http://www.candlegrove.com/home.html 6. THE HOLLY AND THE IVY (AND THE MISTLETOE) What would the season be without wreaths and garlands? This site at Texas A&M has gorgeous botanical images, full plant, leaves, flowers, etc. Do a search on Ilex, Hedera, or Loranthaceae. http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/gallery.htm For those with a special interest in folklore and legends, you might enjoy visiting a page with discussions of the various beliefs about mistletoe at: http://www.scenicity.com/mistletoexpress/lore.html Find other traditional beliefs about these botanical specimens at: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/YulePlants.html 7. THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM Many planetariums present shows on the Star of Bethlehem at this season, but no matter how hard you try to be careful and well-researched, errors can creep into the presentation. Find out what some of the common errors are in the article by John Mosely, program director at the Griffith Observatory, at: http://www.griffithobs.org/IPSChristmasErrors.html Griffith Observatory also offers a good list of Star of Bethlehem web resources at: http://www.griffithobs.org/StarofBethlehem.html You may not expect something as spectacular as the Star of Bethlehem this year, but to keep track of what you might see in the holiday night sky, check out the weekly report of the Star Gazer, whom you may have heard on various NPR stations, at: http://www.jackstargazer.com/scriptoftheweek.html 8. FOR THE SCROOGES AMONG US For a discussion of the scientific reasons Santa cannot possibly exist, try the "Science--Bah Humbug!" page by Bill Drennon at: http://www.cvc.org/christmas/science.htm 9. WILL THERE BE A WHITE CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR? The National Climatic Data Center brings you a region-by-region examination of the climatological chances for a white Christmas in the continental United States at: http://www.stormfax.com/whtexmas.htm (Only 13% chance for Washington, DC.) What does snow really look like, anyway? Check out the fascinating electron microscope images of snow crystals at: http://www.lpsi.barc.usda.gov/emusnow/ or join the fun by making your own snowflake images (if you have a microscope handy) using the instructions at: http://www.micscape.simplenet.com/mag/articles/snow.html More snow resources can be found at the links page at: http://www-nsidc.colorado.edu/NSIDC/EDUCATION/SNOW/web_resources.html 10. WHEN IS WINTER, ANYWAY? For the exact time of the winter solstice for any year between 1992 and 2000, check the chart provided by the University of Virginia at: http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~eww6n/astro/WinterSolstice.html 11. HOLIDAY FUN FOR LINGUISTS The Linguists among us will enjoy a discussion of the 15 ways Hannukkah can be transliterated into English at: http://www.comsynrye.org/xanuka.html Or marvel at the 32 words for snow in the Inupiat Eskimo Dictionary, listed at: http://www.peaknet.org/rec/snoword2.html or the 49 compiled from the West Greenlandic Dialect by Stuart P. Derby at: http://www.peaknet.org/rec/snowword.html Or learn to sign "Merry Christmas" at: http://www.cvc.org/christmas/sign_mc.htm 12. THE CHEMISTRY OF CHRISTMAS Ever wonder what the "smell of Christmas" might look like? Check out the "Swedish Christmas Chemistry site at: http://www.santesson.com/christ/chemhome.htm You will find chemical formulas for compounds and processes in spices, lutefisk (yummy!), Christmas trees, candlelight, sparklers, and glogg (spiced wine). If you want more information on these chemical structures, check them out in CS Chemfinder at: http://chemfinder.camsoft.com/advanced/ You can search by name or chemical structure (and more) to find detailed structure, melting points, boiling points, specific gravity, and more! MORE TRADITIONAL SITES: For fuller coverage of Internet sites on Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, and the other holidays we all enjoy, go to the Yahoo "Holidays" site at: http://www.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Holidays/ HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR, FROM YOUR NSF LIBRARY STAFF! THIS NEWSLETTER IS DISTRIBUTED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND DOES NOT REPRESENT ENDORSEMENT OF ANY PRODUCT OR ENTITY OR WEBSITE BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Compiled by Stephanie Bianchi, 12/97. Revised 11/98. ______________________________________________________________________________ 16. Ann Symons' letter to Council about The Guadalajara Book Fair To: ALA Council From: Ann Symons Sitting at my desk looking at the snow reminds me how beautiful the weather was in Guadalajara for the 12th Feria Internacional de Libros (FIL). Sarah Long and I both had the privilege of attending on behalf of ALA. Bill Gordon will fill in some of the details in his next report to Council. Being able to see first hand the diversity of ALA's activities, how we are helping our members - and ultimately the people who use our libraries, was quite special. Most of the members attending were not people I knew so I was pleased to be able to meet and talk with another part of the ALA community. Never have I had so many members come up to me spontaneously and thank me for the work ALA is doing. I often heard, "This is the best thing ALA has done." This program has obviously struck a chord with those able to attend. Last year was the first year of an ALA/FIL partnership to encourage librarians at attend the book fair. That partnership was renewed this year for three years. 185 librarians were able to attend FIL in November because the ALA/FIL partnership. FIL provides three nights of housing, three breakfasts, and registration for the fair. ALA provides $100.00 towards airfare and an orientation for the librarians. This year's librarians' orientation - a first by ALA - was packed - both with information and with people. Kudos to Sandra Rios Balderrama who put together and led the orientation with a star studded panel of librarians who have spent many years at the book fair: Elissa Miller from Arlington County Public Library, Adan Griego, Stanford University, Armando Ramirez, San Mateo County Library, Toni Bissessar, Brooklyn Public Library, Deanne Aldridge and Gina Payne, Hays consolidated Independent School District, TX. They helped all of us get the most out of the fair. And the fair - imagine an exhibit hall the size of ALA's Annual conference hall - and then imagine everything in Spanish. Big publishers, small presses, and a range of materials to meeting the recreational and educational reading/listening/viewing needs of our growing Spanish speaking population of children and adults. ALA was also an exhibitor. A major part of FIL is also its lecture, author, and featured country program. This year Puerto Rico (I know it isn't a country!) was featured. Willie Colon and his band played one evening outdoors! Sarah and I, along with Sandra, Michael Dowling, new in ALA's International Relations Office, and Annie Walter of same had breakfast with Margarita Sierra, one of the directors and founders of FIL. She gives high praise to ALA -- to Peggy Barber and to ALA Past President Margaret Chisholm for their help through the years particularly when FIL was small. Margarita took us on a tour of a part of FIL that would "knock your socks off" - FIL Ninos. Hundreds of local school children participating in planned activities designed to teach Mexican history, culture, self-esteem, care of the environment, etc. Art, poetry, music, storytelling, theatre also made up components of this program. Mexico has neither a tradition of bookstores nor public libraries. FIL, which lasts a week and is open 9-9, is open to the public except for three 9-5 professional days. They come in droves. All of Guadalajara is festooned with banners advertising/announcing FIL. David Unger, FIL's US representative and Olivia Macias of FIL will be attending Annual Conference in New Orleans. Watch ALA News or contact Michael Dowling for more information on next year's program. ______________________________________________________________________________ 17. Merry Christmas from IFLA: "X" "XXX" "XXXXX" "GOD JUL" "BUON ANNO" "FELIZ NATAL" "JOYEUX NOEL" "VESELE VANOCE" "MELE KALIKIMAKA" "NODLAG SONA DHUIT" "BLWYDDYN NEWYDD DDA" """""""BOAS FESTAS""""""" "FELIZ NAVIDAD" "MERRY CHRISTMAS" "KALA CHRISTOUGENA" "VROLIJK KERSTFEEST" "FROHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN" "BUON NATALE-GODT NYTAR" "HUAN YING SHENG TAN CHIEH" "WESOLYCH SWIAT-SRETAN BOZIC" "MOADIM LESIMHA-LINKSMU KALEDU" "HAUSKAA JOULUA-AID SAID MOUBARK" """""""'N PRETTIG KERSTMIS""""""" "ONNZLLISTA UUTTA VUOTTA" "Z ROZHDESTYOM KHRYSTOVYM" "NADOLIG LLAWEN-GOTT NYTTSAR" "FELIC NADAL-GOJAN KRISTNASKON" "S NOVYM GODOM-FELIZ ANO NUEVO" "GLEDILEG JOL-NOELINIZ KUTLU OLSUM" "EEN GELUKKIG NIEUWJAAR-SRETAN BOSIC" "KRIHSTLINDJA GEZUAR-KALA CHRISTOUGENA" "SELAMAT HARI NATAL - LAHNINGU NAJU METU" """""""SARBATORI FERICITE-BUON ANNO""""""" "ZORIONEKO GABON-HRISTOS SE RODI" "BOLDOG KARACSONNY-VESELE VIANOCE " "MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR" "ROOMSAID JOULU PUHI -KUNG HO SHENG TEN" "FELICES PASUAS - EIN GLUCKICHES NEUJAHR" "PRIECIGUS ZIEMAN SVETKUS SARBATORI VESLLE" "BONNE ANNEBLWYDDYN NEWYDD DDADRFELIZ NATAL" """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX ______________________________________________________________________________r
Web Page created by Text2Web v1.3.6 by Dev Virdi
http://www.virdi.demon.co.uk/
Date: Wednesday, December 23, 1998 04:29 PM