Library Juice 1:47 - December 30, 1998
Contents: 1. Online Library of Literature - http://www.literature.org/ 2. PDR's for Cuba 3. I.F. Stone's birthday was December 24th 4. Library Services for Immigrants - FINFO 2000 5. Telability Media Directory Available 6. 1999 Legislative Hotline Directory 7. Austin Public Library With Cyber Patrol Blocks Academic Article 8. Web projects from INFO2000 and IST'98 European conferences 9. Some Alternative Magazines and Newspapers 10. Political discussion on ALA Council - a listserv debate 11. Sheep (USDA) 12. Here's to the Information Age: A Toast (empty glasses - NETFUTURE #81) Quote for the week: "The extreme stereotype of the dowdy librarian with hair in a bun, glasses, a companion cat, and a penchant for the quiet refuge of scholarship, will soon give way to the new extreme of a hot, young infoseeker with an ethnic background who fixes and finds digital things, creates and advises on electronic experiences, mediates at high vortexes, and crusades for the endangered planet and a spiritual life." -Elizabeth Martinez, "The Education of Librarians: What is ALA's Role?" January, 1997 _American Libraries_. Also part of her graduation address for May, 1998 SJSU SLIS graduates. _______________________________________________________________________________ 1. Online Library of Literature - http://www.literature.org/ A collection of literary classics available in full-text HTML, including the works of L. Frank Baum, Honore de Balzac, the Bronte sisters, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lewis Carroll, Charles Darwin, Rene Descartes, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Milton, Jack London, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, and Voltaire. More authors and works added regularly. - dl Subjects: literature | full-text Librarians' Index to the Internet http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ _______________________________________________________________________________ 2. PDR's for Cuba Anyone wishing to find a good home for retired PDRs (Physicians Desk Reference) of recent vintage can send them to me and I will make sure that they get to Cuba, where they are very much needed. Thanks, Ann Sparanese Englewood Public LIbrary 31 Engle St. Englewood, NJ 07631 _______________________________________________________________________________ 3. I.F. Stone's birthday was December 24th 1907 - Activist journalist I.F. "Izzy" Stone, US journalist, told it like it was, lives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Washington editor of "The Nation" magazine & founder of the legendary "I.F. Stone's Weekly", he specialized in publishing information ignored by the corporate media (which he often found in The Congressional Record & other public documents overlooked & too hard to find by the big-circulation dailies). Self-described "Jeffersonian Marxist," Stone combined progressive politics, investigative zeal & a compulsion to tell the truth with a commitment to human rights & the exposure of injustice. Not unlike George Seldes before him & Noam Chomsky's work today, doing the job corporate media refuses to do. http://www.fair.org/index/ http://www.igc.apc.org/an/book/alternetfuture7.html http://www.salonmagazine.com/letters/1998/01/12letters.html http://www.thenation.com/static/about/institut/stone.htm _______________________________________________________________________________ 4. Library Services for Immigrants - FINFO 2000 FINFO 2000, the english edition. The most important link is "Out in the world", with pages in english and other languages. http://www.aakb.bib.dk/finfo/engelsk/home.htm The best illustration would be the FINFO-illustration You will find some articles on this adress http://www.lib.hel.fi/mcl/articles/aarhus.htm from our IFLA-meeting in ‰rhus last year. I have to thank Agot Berger, Aarhus, for this information. All the best to you for 1999 Raimund Dehmlow _______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Telability Media Directory Available The 1998-99 edition of America's Telability Media, published by the National Telability Media Center in Columbia, Missouri, contains more than 1,200 listings of disability newsletter, television and radio programs. Each listing includes contact information, postal, Web site and e-mail addresses, telephone numbers. Listings also provide circulation information. The new directory is availabe free for downloading at the Freedom Forum's website - http://www.freedomforum.org/newsstand/reports/telability/printdir.asp The Freedom Forum is managed by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. For people without internet access, the directory in print is $30 (mailing labels also can be purchased on disk for $1225, for unlimited use) from: Charlie Winston Telability Media P.O. Box 1488 Columbia, MO 65205-1488 phone (573)445-766 (voice) Make checks payable to Telability Media copyright 1998 The Disability News Service Clipped from Jan/Feb 1999 _Ragged Edge_ "Electric Edge": http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com _______________________________________________________________________________ 6. 1999 Legislative Hotline Directory The 1999 edition of our "Legislative Hotline Directory" is now available. This little directory lists the telephone numbers to call for legislative bill status information in all fifty states. To obtain a FREE copy, send an e-mail to grs[at]cjnetworks.com with the word "Hotline" (without the quotations) on the subject line. The directory is excerpted from the fourteenth edition of our annual "State Legislative Sourcebook," which is a comprensive resource guide to legislative information in the fifty states. Lynn Hellebust Government Research Service 214 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Suite 301 Topeka, Kansas 66603-3719 U.S.A. Voice (785) 232-7720 Fax (785) 232-1615 E-mail grs[at]cjnetworks.com _______________________________________________________________________________ 7. Austin Public Library With Cyber Patrol Blocks Academic Article From: Stefan Wray <sjw210[at]is8.nyu.edu> Subject: Austin Public Library With Cyber Patrol Blocks Academic Article December 26, 1998 Austin, TX (December 26, 1998) - A New York University doctoral student visiting Austin during the break between semesters was prevented, by Cyber Patrol, from accessing an article on the Internet in the Austin Public Library. This, in the age of increasing cyber-censorship, may not seem so unusual. But the article in question was an academic piece written by the student himself and the web location of the article was on New York University's server. In November, Stefan Wray, a student in NYU's Department of Culture and Communication delivered a presentation called "Electronic Civil Disobedience and the World Wide Web of Hacktivism" at an academic conference in Des Moines, Iowa, called the World Wide Web and Contemporary Cultural Theory. Several weeks later, Wray completed a paper based on his presentation and posted the article on his NYU web site. At the same time he sent the text to a Net-based art theory journal called Switch, located at San Jose State University, which published the article in their latest on-line edition. Since publishing the academic piece on his NYU web site and at Switch, Wray has received a number of requests from people who want to use the text. One of the people associated with Switch said it was the "hottest" piece that they had published. Recently, a German book publisher wrote Wray and asked if he could re-write the article and turn it into a chapter for a book that is due out next year. On Saturday afternoon, the day after Christmas, Wray went to use the computers at the Austin Public Library. He wanted to print some pieces from his web site. Everything was fine until he clicked on to the article in question. A message appeared on the screen stating that Cyber Patrol had blocked access. He tried a number of other articles in his archive and they were not blocked. The reference librarian explained that the Austin Public Library has no control over what Cyber Patrol chooses to block, nor did he understand precisely the method by which Cyber Patrol makes editorial decisions. The librarian also explained that the intent of Cyber Patrol was to prevent minors from gaining access to material that may be harmful to them, such as material of an indecent or obscene nature. Wray told the reference librarian that Cyber Patrol was blocking an academic article that was published on New York University's server and that the article was of a political nature. Wray also told the librarian that he had recently been reading a number of First Amendment cases involving the Internet and that he believed that the First Amendment widely protects content on the Internet and that the article in question, by all accounts, should be considered protected speech. The librarian said the matter was not really in his hands and suggested that Wray complete an "Austin Public Library Internet Comments Form" which would be sent to the library director, Brenda Branch. Wray completed the form and to the question regarding what action the library should take, he asked that the library ask Cyber Patrol for an explanation as to why there is a block on his article and to ask Cyber Patrol to remove the block. In addition, he asked the library to take this action within a reasonable amount of time and that he be provided with copies of all written communication between the library and Cyber Patrol on this matter. While there seems to be First Amendment grounds for a law suit against the Austin Public Library, no decision has been made on this matter. Wray, however, hopes to interest the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Freedom Forum, and other groups concerned about protecting and guaranteeing First Amendment freedoms on the Internet. "Electronic Civil Disobedience and the World Wide Web of Hacktivism" can be read at http://www.nyu.edu/projects/wray/wwwhack.html _______________________________________________________________________________ 8. Web projects from INFO2000 and IST'98 European conferences Sender: International Federation of Library Associations mailing list <IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA> From: IAN JOHNSON <IMSIJ[at]MAIL.RGU.AC.UK> Organization: The Robert Gordon University Subject: (Fwd) Project Web sites To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 15:49:39 +0000 Subject: Project Web sites From: rosalind.johnson[at]mail.bl.uk (Rosalind Johnson) To: lis-european-programmes[at]mailbase.ac.uk Send reply to: rosalind.johnson[at]mail.bl.uk (Rosalind Johnson) To: lis-european-programmes From the blizzard of paper at the INFO2000 and IST'98 conferences, various projects and assorted European initiatives and their Web sites, in no particular order. Austrian projects featured in the IST'98 exhibition: http://www.ist98.at CULTH: cultural heritage in the global village: http://www.culth.org MADMUD digital museums project, due to start November 1998. http://www.mak.at/madmud MEDICI Framework: Multimedia for EDucation and employment through Integrated Cultural Initiatives. Launched by DG XIII and DG X to promote the use of multimedia technology for access to and exploitation of the European cultural heritage: http://www.medici.polimi.it or http://www.medici.org ELECTRA education and training project: http://www.unimass.nl/~electra FACILE project integrating different knowledge bases within a single environment: http://www.quinary.it ONE-2 project: Open OPAC network for libraries in Europe. Extension of ONE project. http://www.jaonneum.ac.at PRESENCE supporting older people in local communities: http://www.presenceweb.org INCLUDE: INCLUsion of Disabled and Elderly People in Telematics: http://www.stakes.fi/include RADAR sewerage information project http://www.itconsult.tzi.de TELEFLOW supporting management decision making: http://www.item.unisig.ch/default.htm TELEREGIONS supports regional information, especially in rural areas: http://www.teleregions.org VICAR project demonstrates a system for the automated annotation adn retrieval of film and video sequences: http://www.joanneum.ac.at AQUARELLE the information network on cultural heritage: http://aqua.inria.fr/ Museums On Line/MENHIR: http://www.museums-online.com PROSOMA European Commission service designed to bridge the gap between research and the market place: http://www.prosoma.lu SCORE: VRML-based virtual museum tour: http://www.first.gmd.de/~ron/score LIBERATION - Distributed libraries provide new ways of accessing information: http://www.lib-online.com ETHOS project provides market observatory service to Telematics Applications Programme: http://www.ethoseurope.org LEADER - innovation in the service of Rural Society: http://www.rural-europee.aeidl.be MOSAIC - Museums Over States And Virtual Culture. Co-ordinator: Banca di Roma, Rome, Italy. http://www.mosaic.bancaroma.it Internet Fiesta. A display of Europe's best Information Society and Internet ideas on the Web; official Fiesta dates 19 to 21 March 1999. Supported by ISPO Information Society Project Office. http://www.internet-fiesta.org ************************************************************** Rosalind Johnson European Consultant Library and Information Commission 2 Sheraton Street London W1V 4BH tel: + 44 (0)171 411 0059 fax: + 44 (0)171 411 0057 rosalind.johnson[at]lic.bl.uk ************************************************************** *********************************************************************** * 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. Some Alternative Magazines and Newspapers From: "George(s) Lessard" <media[at]citenet.net> Organization: http://www.web.net/~media/ To: mediamentor[at]makelist.com, media-l[at]tao.ca, devmedia[at]listserv.uoguelph.ca Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 12:21:56 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Some Alternative Magazines and Newspapers Sender: owner-media-l[at]tao.ca Precedence: bulk Reply-To: media-l[at]tao.ca Alternative Magazines and Newspapers http://altmedia.miningco.com/msub1.htm will give you links to the following... Alternative Magazines and Newspapers Adbusters Magazine The hippest, smartest, most subversive magazine on the Net. By former Madison Avenue whiz kids who are now dismantling the very notion of Advertising itself. Wow! Don't miss: International Buy Nothing Day! about getting our runaway consumer culture back onto a sustainable path. AlterNet AlterNet Online features stories from alternative newsweeklies, magazines, and web publications from across the country, as well as invaluable resources and national employment listings. The Alternative News Service An international co-operation movement to mutually help anarchists with their individual movements. American Journalism Review A "respectable" magazine that takes mainstream journalism seriously enough to report on it and critique it seriously. This link takes you to their review of the connection between CIA and crack. Brill's Content A cure for popular cynicism about the media or more "Entertainment Tonight"-style reporting? Decide for yourself. Media criticism. The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch The theme of the 1996 conference of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) was "Telling the Truth: Building Credibility in an Incredible World." Telling the truth, for some, is an even more difficult balancing act than the feats of circus acrobats. The Noam Chomsky Archives An interview with Noam Chomsky on the media by David Barsamian, from the book Secrets, Lies and Democracy. The Noam Chomsky Archives are brought to you by New World Media and Znet magazine. (See below.) Change-Links Progressive Newspaper An Internet newsletter providing intellectual "links" for progressive media. Read the debate on whether the progressive media should follow the trends of "personality driven" media and focus on "personal" stories. Essential Media An alternative source of many of the books, magazines, zines, and pamphlets referred to in many of our links. FAIR: Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting Media Watchdog Extraordinaire. Check out "Snow Job" which reveals the techniques of pre-eminent national newspapers as they bury the the CIA-cocaine connection. Other highlights include their on-line mag, Extra, the Media Beat, and the Women's Desk. >From Left Field This webzine contains humor, politics, and anything else that tickles their fancy. Edited by Bonnie Bucqueroux. GLAAD: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation An online resource for promoting fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Check out the media archive. Grassroots News Network A coalition of 31 community oriented groups and radio stations. An alternative to the corporate and government media which do not serve struggles for liberty, justice and peace, nor enable the free expression of creativity. InterNet underground The Internet magazine for the rest of us. Try it, you'll like it . . . Jay's Leftist and Progressive Internet Resource Directory Just what it says. A fantastic resource. Including a special emphasis on anti-Gulf war campaigns. Go there. The Left Business Observer (LBO) A newsletter on economics and politics, focusing on "accumulation and its discontents." Georges Lessard Homepage: Teacher, Video Artist and Community Media Activist Says George, "Come on inside... perhaps we can help each other learn a little more about the broadcast, digital and other community-access media we work in and create." Penny says, "Be sure and check out George's list of links to Alternative Media!" Media Beat by Norman Solomon Weekly column exploring the workings and the impact of the mass media: how it covers the "big stories" and which "big stories" it misses; how close it comes to the truth and how far off it often is; why it does what it does and what it does to us in the process. Media Beat: "Truth or Consequences for News Media" We'd like to think that journalists pay a heavy price if they tell lies or promote deception. But it ain't necessarily so -- just as often they get rewarded for such antics. Written by syndicated columnist Norman Solomon, who is also a fellow of the media watchdog group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Media Culture Review From The Institute for Alternative Journalism: The MCR provides commentary & analysis on media, technology & culture and is updated monthly. The More You Watch, The Less You Know Danny Schechter's important book about "News Wars, (sub)Merged Hopes, and Media Adventures" is available on-line. An excellent resource in your "disinformation detoxification" arsenal. Mother Jones Magazine Social and political commentary dished out from the left-of-center bullseye. This is where the downfall of Newt began . . . . Also, check out Hellraiser Centeral to see where you can put your activist energy, for instance in fighting Internet censorship. Portland Free Press From their mission statement: "If enough people learn of government crimes and cover-ups, they can organize to clean up the cesspool of terminal corruption that Washington and Wall Street have become." The Progressive Magazines's "Worst Stories of the Week" The worst stories of the week from the mainstream media brought to you by the Progressive. The Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative The Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC) is a multi-issue, multi-tactical activist organization committed to peace with social justice. Working to promote human rights, democracy, and self-determination for all people. The Real News Page Ever-vigilant activist, Jane Prettyman, is editor of this excellence resource. Check out "A Critique of Commerical Media and a Call to Media Reform." For information on the Cassini Project, check out Jane's letter to the LA Times. Seven Stories Press Printing the books on media analysis, criticism, and critique that you won't find anywhere else. The Spunk Archives An online archive of anarchist and alternative materials. The Utne Reader The Reader's Digest of the alternative press. A compliation of the best think pieces of the alterantive press. Check out Utne's Alternative Press Awards. Also check out the articles on media and technology and this gem on The Age of the Mega-Alternatives. Viking Legs' Guide to Alternative Media Keith McManus is the activist behind this comprehive guide -- which has been recently updated. Also, don't miss the incisive interview with Keith we did earlier this year. The Village Voice (NY, NY) The weekly alternative newspaper from New York City. What the Boston Phoenix wishes it were. Z Magazine An independent political magazine of critical thinking on political, cultural, social, and economic life in the United States. Dedicated to improving contemporary circumstances by assisting activists attain a better future. Z Net Great resource. A self-proclaimed "leftist" web site. Sponsored by Z magazine. :-) :-) Message Ends; Signature File Begins (-: (-: George(s) Lessard, Community Media Arts, Management & Mentoring Information, subscriptions, public keyword searchable archives and CAUTIONS, Disclaimers, NOTES TO EDITORS and copyright information may be found [at] http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm CAUTION: some of the SEMI-RANDOM QUOTES reproduced below may not be suitable for certain insensitive readers: : : : : : : : begin quote : : : : : : : The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad; it is the way they are used that determines their value. That is the voice of the current somnambulism. (McLuhan) : : : : : : end of SEMI-RANDOM quote : : : : : : - 30 - _______________________________________________________________________________ 10. Political discussion on ALA Council - a listserv debate - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Elaine, I already sent my name in, but somehow it's not there so please have Mark add it to his list of those protesting the bombing of Iraq. As far as I'm concerned the attack on Iraq is much more of a ground for impeachment than this lying about a sexual peccadillo. But the religious right, of course, has its priorities. Killing and maiming with bombs and starving half-a-million children to death (a result of the U.S. initiated and enforced embargo) is overwhelmingly okay, but lying about fornicating is impeachment. Where are William Fulbright, Wayne Morse, & Alaska's Senator Gruening when we need them? Who told them they could die? And for the idolators of Senator Bernie Sanders, he voted with the majority that approved the bombing. Only five House members opposed it & my hat's off to them for their standing-up to the bullies. Oy! mitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:17:40 -0200 From: David <dsv1[at]lex.lccc.edu> Lets deal with library issues and concerns.!!!!!!!!! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:25:08 -0600 From: "James B. Casey" <jimcasey[at]lib.oak-lawn.il.us> MIME-Version: 1.0 To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> CC: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: Re: Letter Against the Bombing of Iraq. Reply-To: jimcasey[at]lib.oak-lawn.il.us Sender: owner-alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org David wrote: > Lets deal with library issues and concerns.!!!!!!!!! I agree with David Voros that the American LIBRARY Association should focus on issues directly relevant to libraries and librarianship. Have we in ALA been doing such a good job of saving our own profession and the concept of library service from oblivion that we can now expect World leaders to listen attentively to our counsel on issues of international power politics? I think not. Sadamm might take of aid and comfort from such a message, but I doubt that anyone else would be listening or caring. If the "Titanic" is sinking, should we be expending our precious time and energies lecturing the World on foreign affairs, or might we better send SOS messages so that our passengers and crew might reach the 21st Century and help to shape the future instead of disappearing into the night? James B. Casey -- Councilor-at-Large - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - On Mon, 21 Dec 1998, Nann Blaine Hilyard wrote: > Well-keyed, Jim. > > Nann > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 11:36:54 -0600 (CST) From: Sandy Berman <sberman[at]sun.hennepin.lib.mn.us> To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> cc: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: Re: Letter Against the Bombing of Iraq. MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: sberman[at]sun.hennepin.lib.mn.us Sender: owner-alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org Well, maybe not so well-keyed. No one asked Council as a body to take a position on the recent 4-day aerial massacre, Individual members were simply given the opportunity to sign a protest letter. I signed readily & without qualms because I think it right for like-minded colleagues within a given occupation to act in concert on matters of grave import. This was such a matter. And I am encouraged & sustained by those librarians who together "spoke truth to power" by declaring that we will not be willing parties to murder & maiming. Since we're a profession ostensibly committed to humane values & basic decency, it seems no particular "stretch" to oppose acts undertaken in our name that grossly violate those values & that decency. I salute all the cosigners with pride! sandy berman ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sanford Berman sberman[at]sun.hennepin.lib.mn.us Hennepin County Library phone: 612-694-8570 12601 Ridgedale Drive fax: 612-541-8600 Minnetonka, MN 55305 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- David Voros wrote: > > NO WE DON'T SUPPORT THIS... > > "We progressive librarians, library workers, and library school students > oppose completely the punishment meted out for non-compliance with > Clinton's will. "S.Michael Malinconico" wrote: Interesting, I wonder who WE is? Many of US do support this. On Tue, 22 Dec 1998, David Voros wrote: > The WE consists of librarians who were elected to office to represent their > association on library issues and issues that concern their respective >states. > The WE consists of librarians who were elected to office and have their >way paid > to ALA Conferences to represent their association. If ALA is going to >spend time > on political issues that are none of their business, lets just stay home and > save some bucks. > Sandy Berman wrote: Pardon me, but YOU ARE home & not spending any bucks on travel to debate Iraq at ALA. And I, too, was elected--by nearly 4,000 ALA members who knew damn well what they voted for! So let's drop the tortured logic & sanctimonious crap... sandy berman (Happy New Year, anyway!!) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This 'debate' about whether Council should get involved in an issue that concerns the larger society gets me to thinking -- did ALA take stands on issues in the olden days? "Olden" in this case is "before I was an adult." I remember ALA and the ERA business. What I'm thinking about are issues like women's suffrage. Did ALA have a Council back then? How the mind wanders on what surely will be the slowest day of the year in just about every public library in the country! Nann Nann Blaine Hilyard Lake Villa District Library Lake Villa, Illinois - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nann, I'm not sure about the "olden" days. However, when I think about this issue, I don't have to go too much further than our Constitution and Bylaws, Article II, Object: "The object of the American Library Association shall be to promote library service and librarianship." Judith K. Meyers, Director Phone 937-382-2417 Wilmington Public Library 268 North South Street Fax 937-382-1692 Wilmington, Ohio 45177 ALA Councilor-at-Large "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Judith,) Do libraries, librarians and librarianship exist and function in some larger social context or are they self-contained entities completely divorced from the rest of the world? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Of course, Libraries function within a larger context of humankind and cannot be "completely divorced from the rest of the world." The same could be said of any organization, government, country, business, and in fact, every human being. Yet should we set ourselves up as "Jacks of all Causes" and "Masters of None"? Practically every bar, coffee house and McDonalds will contain a cadre or two of regulars who profess to know just exactly how to "save the World". I would like to think that we in ALA Council could expend our precious time and resources more wisely on behalf of the cause of Libraries and Librarianship-- a cause which we should know best, which sustains our livelihoods, and on which we can speak with some authority. James B. Casey --- Councilor-at-Large - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Let me understand this, in order to husband our scarce intellectual energies, EVERYONE elected to Council should refrain from any activity other than effete, ceremonial pronouncements that libraries are good. I wonder where those colleagues who lament so vociferously the diversion of energies professional and otherwise find the time to cavil so with matters they could just as readily ignore. -- S.Michael Malinconico School of Library and Information Studies The University of Alabama Box 870252 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0252 Tel: +1(205)348-8824 Fax: +1(205)348-3746 "But to live outside the law you must be honest." R.Zimmerman - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reply-To: "Bill Kling" <kling[at]usa.net> From: "Bill Kling" <kling[at]usa.net> To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: Re: "Jacks of all Causes" Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 18:05:15 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Sender: owner-alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org ALA Council Lististas, Somewhere once upon a time, some Jack surely must have said, "Where there's a will, there's a rationale." Bill Kling Secretary Prince William County Library System Foundation Prince William, Virginia - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Men and women of good heart and the will to effect change for the good of all: What seems to me an obvious middle ground is that we acknowledge that there are important issues beyond the narrow confines of our libraries and our professional assosciation; that we may differ on relative significance of those issues or where the best solutions lie; and that we agree to limit the presence of those issues on THIS LIST to a minimum. I welcome my colleagues making me aware of opportunities for action and involvement, and am grateful for their reminders to open my eyes, engage my intellect, or offer my time or financial resources to resolve a problem. If we could agree to posting only brief notices of where to go for further information or discussion on issues not within our professional realm...and then NOT to discuss the appropriateness of these issues...we might satisfy those on both sides of the current discussion. And if you don't agree with the above, I may start posting articles about current threats to water quality here in Ann Arbor: very real threats which can have an impact on health and, indeed, life, for thousands of residents of this area. Hey, just kidding! To all of my Council colleagues, and all the others who read this list: my best wishes for a peaceful celebration of all the holidays we mark at this time of the year, and for a healthy, happy new year. Pam Sieving RUSA Councilor Director of Library Services W.K. Kellogg Eye Center University of Michigan 1000 Wall Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105 734 763-9468 voice 734 936-9050 fax pcsievin[at]umich.edu http://www.med.umich.edu/kec/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thank you, Pam, for outlining this "middle ground". I welcome it (and not just to avoid the articles about water quality in Ann Arbor, either!). It's worth noting, that the petition that sparked this particular conversation was initially handled in just the way you suggest .... it was not brought up as a topic for debate here. Instead, there was a "pointer" in the form of "the petition below is available for those of like mind to sign". I believe that this is a convention/mechanism with great promise. In this instance, both those who wish to alert Council to issues of broader concern, and those who wish not to have extended discussions of not-strictly-libraries issues on the Council list have had their wishes honored. janet janet swan hill councilor at large ______________________________________________________________________________ 11. Sheep (USDA) http://jan.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/livestock/pgg-bbs/ This full-text file presents the sheep and lamb inventory by class for selected states or regions and U.S. Data includes expected lamb crop, market sheep and lambs inventory by weight group, number returned to breeding herd. This report is a supplement to Sheep and goats. A product of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Contact: help[at]usda.mannlib.cornell.edu _______________________________________________________________________________ 12. Here's to the Information Age: A Toast (irony from NETFUTURE #81) NETFUTURE Technology and Human Responsibility ========================================================================== Issue #81 A Publication of The Nature Institute December 10, 1998 ========================================================================== Editor: Stephen L. Talbott (stevet[at]oreilly.com) On the Web: http://www.oreilly.com/~stevet/netfuture/ You may redistribute this newsletter for noncommercial purposes. Here's to the Information Age: A Toast -------------------------------------- Last June I began an address to over five hundred librarians in Washing- ton, D.C., by saying, "I defy anyone here to tell me what information is." Seeing no takers, I asked how many in the audience, given several minutes to think, imagined they could write down a serviceable definition of "information". Not a single hand went up. Subsequently I put the same question to over three hundred librarians in Calgary, Alberta, and again no one raised a hand. Surely this should pro- voke some reflection in us (as I think it did in many of those remarkably good-humored and sensible librarians). How can we so universally hail the profound significance of living in an Information Age when we don't have the foggiest notion what information is? An official respondent to one of my talks did later fire back, What's the problem? We all know what information is. It's the stuff our users need. Unfortunately, this doesn't quite do it. Coal miners, MacDonalds employ- ees, and dentists are also in the business of providing what their custo- mers need. Does this make them information workers? Actually, though, I think the respondent came as close as one can come to the substance of the prevailing usage: information is "stuff". Which makes him, I suppose, a stuff worker, and our age the Age of Stuff. The nice thing about Stuff is that, while conveniently and all-embracingly vague, it also carries a prestigious halo borrowed from the technical theory of information. (See "Does Information Exist?" in NF #58.) According to this theory, mind you, "information" is precisely defined, but effectively *means* nothing; the meaning or sense of a text is expli- citly excluded from the theory's purely statistical formulations. So it appears we have founded the modern age upon "anything and everything" and "nothing at all" -- stuff and nonsense, you might say. Raise your empty glasses with me. Here's to the Age of Stuff and Non- sense! May its nothingness last for-never! _______________________________________________________________________________ L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://www.libr.org/Juice/ | | Except where noted, 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
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Date: Friday, January 01, 1999 08:52 PM