Library Juice 2:31 - Library Juice is now a book and a blog

Library Juice 2:31 - August 11, 1999 Contents: 1. Banned Books Week 1999: Free People Read Freely 2. AIP's Almost Banned Book Awards 3. Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries 4. New Filter report from Censorware Project 5. Mark Rosenzweig's August 4 letter to American Libraries 6. About ALA Council and SRRT - from the ALA Council listserv 7. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALA COUNCIL LIST 8. Re: American Libraries' coverage of Council, Membership, Demonstration 9. SRRT Resolution on the Militarization of ALA and General Powell's Speech 10. SRRT Resolution in Support of EPA Libraries 11. Here Come The Perseids! 12. Total Solar Eclipse, August 11, 1999 13. Letter from a High School Student in Singapore 14. Humor and Culture in Libraries Quotes for the week: "A library that's open 24 hours a day - that's my idea of the American Dream." - Sita Block Homepage of the week: Steven R. Harris - http://aztec.lib.utk.edu/~harris/ ____________________________________________________________________________ 1. Banned Books Week 1999: Free People Read Freely Banned Books Week 1999: Free People Read Freely (September 25 through October 2) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one*s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met. As the Intellectual Freedom Manual (ALA, 5th edition) states: Freedom to express oneself through a chosen mode of communication becomes virtually meaningless if access to that information is not protected. Additional information on how to celebrate BBW 1999, including how to order BBW kits and posters, can be obtained by calling the Office for Intellectual Freedom at 800-545-2433, ext. 4220 or 4223, or by writing to rdarden[at]ala.org or oif[at]ala.org. This information also is available on the OIF Web site at http://www.ala.org/oif.html http://www.ala.org/bbooks/index.html http://www.ala.org/bbooks/challeng.html http://www.ala.org/bbooks/resource.html "Enjoy the Wonderful World of Banned Books," an editorial written in 1998 by Charles Levendosky, can be found at http://w3.trib.com/FACT/1st.lev.bannedbooksweek.html American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression has information onf BBW 1999 at http://www.bookweb.org/orgs/related/abffe/491.html The best sites for kids and teens in celebration of Banned Books Week 1998, rated and reviewed by San Diego Union-Tribune columnist, Barbara J. Feldman. can be found at http://www.surfnetkids.com/banned.htm The ACLU created the following site for the 1998 BBW http://www.aclu.org/issues/freespeech/bbwind.html ________________________ Don Wood American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom 50 East Huron Street Chicago, IL 60611 800-545-2433, ext. 4225 Fax: 312-280-4227 dwood[at]ala.org http://www.ala.org/oif.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 2. AIP's Almost Banned Book Awards The Alternatives In Print Task Force of SRRT announced the winners of the first annual "Almost Banned Book Awards" at a program at this summer's conference, and now have put the results on the web, at http://libr.org/AIP/awards.html The awards were given to the books that our panel of judges decided were the most significant books held by the fewest libraries. Volume two of the review journal _Counterpoise_ served as a pre-selection list from which the judges picked the winning books, first limiting the field to those books held by fewer than 100 OCLC libraries. The theme of these awards is passive censorship by the structure of the marketplace, which tends to filter out important alternative publications, more so now than in the past. It is our view that this constitutes a kind of censorship, that is to say, "censorship" with a adjectival modifier, e.g. "inside censorship," "censorship via the marketplace," "passive censorship." It may not be fully conscious, but it is the result of a mindset at work that ultimately hinders intellectual freedom. We hope you will look at this web page and read the reviews of these books. Internally, AIP debated the title of these awards. There was some disagreeement over the use of the word "banned," since technically, it could be argued, failure to recognize valuable books and select them is not "banning" those books. We decided to go with the title as a tie-in to Banned Books Week, so that we could try to focus our attention onto what we feel is a more serious threat to intellectual freedom than outright book-banning at the present time. Political and financial pressures which don't originate in any individual agents that we can pin down and accuse of book-banning are responsible something with a similar effect - important points of view that NEED to reach the public often do not reach them through our libraries. This "almost banning" is the result of a type of political pressure, but it is less visible than what we generally identify as censorship. That is because this political and financial pressure comes from the same structures that define the terms of most public discourse - the ever growing, ever fewer media conglomerates, whose influence is capable of tying together book publishing, marketing, distribution, and the official review stream in a way that requires us to make an extra effort to find the materials that will balance our collections. For more information about AIP and our projects, please go to http://libr.org/AIP Thank you. Rory Litwin ALA/SRRT/Alternatives In Print Task Force ** For more information on the Almost Banned Book Awards, see the ** article by Earl Lee in Library Juice 1:32, at ** http://libr.org/Juice/issues/vol1/LJ_32.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 3. Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries "Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries" was adopted by ACRL Intellectual Freedom Committee: June 28, 1999, and approved by ACRL Board of Directors: June 29, 1999. The statement can be found at http://www.ala.org/acrl/principles.html It's preface states: A strong intellectual freedom perspective is critical to the development of academic library collections and services that dispassionately meet the education and research needs of a college or university community. The purpose of this statement is to provide an interpretation of general intellectual freedom principles in an academic library setting and, in the process, raise consciousness of the intellectual freedom context within which academic librarians work. These principles should be reflected in all relevant library policy documents. ____________________________________________________________________________top 4. New Filter report from Censorware Project Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> From: "Karen G. Schneider" <kgs[at]bluehighways.com> Subject: New Filter report from Censorware Project Councilors might keep this new report handy for talking to people about why filters don't work: http://censorware.net/reports/bess/ ________________________________________________ Karen G. Schneider kgs[at]bluehighways.com http://www.bluehighways.com Enjoying three weeks of irresponsibility between jobs Author: A Practical Guide to Internet Filters, Neal Schuman, 1997 ____________________________________________________________________________top 5. Mark Rosenzweig's August 4 letter to American Libraries From: Mark Rosenzweig <idsadmin[at]institutefordemocracy.org> To: americanlibraries[at]ala.org <americanlibraries[at]ala.org> Date: Wednesday, August 04, 1999 10:57 AM Subject: Powell's speech and free speech Dear Editor: You quote without comment, but apparently - from the context- approvingly, retired General Colin Powell's remarks at the Opening General Session of ALA's 1999 annual conference that "it was soldiers that got us the First Amendment in the first place." Nice sound bite, but I'm afraid it is not true. It is cooked American history meant to glorify the military at the expense of truth. The First Amendment was forged by elected representatives, by a democratic process, not by a professional military at the point of bayonets. The Constitution itself was crafted by civilian representatives. The American Revolution, by the way, was, also not brought to us by professional soldiers, but arose from the activities of free citizens who took up arms against tyranny--a far cry from the super-power military Colin Powell represents. As one of the protestors at the Colin Powell speech, I should point out that, with no regard to our First Amendment rights to protest militarism, the ALA conference leadership participated in an attempt to prevent protestors from displaying their placards outside the General Session and OK'd police attempts to move the demo outside the conference premises (into the rain). I was personally threatened by the police with arrest and told that if I didn't get my colleagues to leave the hall, we would all be arrested. The police vans were called on a cell phone and were on the way. Nice, at a librarians convention to have such a display of the limits of free speech in 1999. Mark Rosenzweig Institute for Democracy Studies, NYC ____________________________________________________________________________top 6. About ALA Council and SRRT - from the ALA Council listserv Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 17:48:06 -0500 (CDT) From: Kathleen Balcom <kbalcom[at]nslsilus.ORG> Subject: Re: Council Cop or Mirror? To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Jim (Casey) asked how Council should evaluate itself. Is it acceptable to be primarily reactive? Did Council not perform well if resolutions were frequently voted down? Having been very active in ALA division and committee work, I believe that much of what our members value is created in ALA's committees, divisions and roundtables. In most cases, Council endorses the standards, policy proposals and plans that come from these groups. Careful, collaborative work has been done and there is rarely need to tamper. In these cases, Council may appear reactive, but I believe that mode is appropriate. These finished and approved projects or plans rarely get highlighted in conference news featured in the library press, but they are the services our members use and value in their day to day work. In this scenario, I think Council's motto should be "do no harm!" The resolutions brought forward by "freelance advocates" are often more controversial and generally make waves in the library press. We often debate these issues longer, in part because they haven't been through a collaborative, institution-based process. This doesn't particularly bother me, except when I hear members say that Council spends all of its time on issues that don't matter to most members. Some of the issues that matter most are given a "consent" call from Council. That quick response doesn't invalidate Council's contibution to the process. What I take from our recent discussions is a concern about how to take timely action. While some of the issues we face require timely response, often I question if it is Council that should be considered responsible to develop it. Sally Reed outlined several ways in which ALA responded quickly to time-sensitive issues and I support the approaches taken. For instance, Council would not have been a good place to strategize a response to Dr. Laura -- we might still be in New Orleans thrashing the issue out on the Council floor! ALA's organizational structure is to establish groups of specialists or interested parties to handle issues within specific parameters. When necessary, the work of those groups comes to Council for review. That structure places Council in an evaluative and reactive role. Would our "specialist groups" be pleased to see these issues handled on the Council floor without their input and involvement, so Council could have a more proactive image? If you, too, have been active in ALA units, remember your roots. I am not suggesting that Council can't create and initiate. We can -- though is it harder for 175 people to do it together! I want to underscore that we are also fulfilling our role to evaluate and act on the work forwarded by other groups in the organization so high quality services and support is delivered to our members. That role is valued and appreciated by those who elected us and by units we are serving within the organization. I, for one, believe much has been accomplished when we fulfill this "reactive" role well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Kathleen M. Balcom Phone (Direct): 847-506-2612 Executive Librarian Office Phone: 847-506-2610 Arlington Heights Memorial Library Switchboard: 847-392-0100 500 North Dunton Avenue Fax: 847-506-2650 Arlington Heights, IL 60004-5966 E-mail: kbalcom[at]nslsilus.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 09:17:58 -0500 To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu> Subject: Re: Council Cop or Mirror? I would like to endorse part of Kathleen Balcom's message. Council doesn't need to work on procedures but on policy issues. As SRRT Councillor, the problem I see is that Council is all too often not willing to take a stand on important issues. For example, there was a perfectly fine report on outsourcing from a representative and deliberative ALA committee. The Council could have, but refused to endorse most of its recommendations. By its nature, Council is a more conservative body than many other ALA bodies. Let's just admit this. Council members are long-time librarians and long-time ALA regulars. They are also often well connected in their state library and other related organizations. Many councillors are administrators rather than people on the frontlines serving their users. What all this amounts to whether we want to acknowledge it or not is that Councillors tend to be people who have a vested interest in the status quo, and therefore respond well to resolutions that reaffirm current conditions and established policies. Many Councillors may think that this is as it should be. It is no secret that SRRT is not happy about the status quo. I do want to voice my disagreement with one of Ms. Balcom's points. She states that: "The resolutions brought forward by "freelance advocates" are often more >controversial and generally make waves in the library press. We often >debate these issues longer, in part because they haven't been through a >collaborative, institution-based process." In fact, I suspect that many of these so-called "freelance advocates" are actually SRRT members who are taking SRRT issues, and in many cases SRRT-sponsored resolutions and/or policies, to the Council. I would like to remind the Council that SRRT is one of the largest ALA round tables. There is significant support for many of these resoultions. The outsourcing report is a very good example. I would bet that a membership referendum on the report would support it without much reservation. I would like to remind the Council that it was SRRT's Alternatives in Print Task Force that established a Hawaii Working Group that really brought this issue home to the Association. The very large SRRT program where the Hawaii librarians described their shocking fate was a huge success. Let me assure the Councillors that SRRT is very happy to now have an official seat in our governing body. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 15:17:13 -0500 (CDT) From: Kathleen Balcom <kbalcom[at]nslsilus.ORG> Subject: Re: [akagan[at]uiuc.edu: Re: Council Cop or Mirror?] To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> I appreciate Al Kagan reminding me - and perhaps others - that many of the resolutions I categorized as from "freelance advocates" may be from SRRT. Now that SRRT has a formal voice on Council, the relationship will be clearer to us. I wasn't thinking of SRRT issues exclusively in my comments, but it is good to remember that when we are "spending lots of time" on SRRT's issues, we are talking about the concerns of a large membership group. Thanks, Al. ____________________________________________________________________________top 7. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALA COUNCIL LIST The ALA Council has an electronic mail list that is used for informal communication among Councilors, as an adjunct to the ALA Home Page for making available Council documents, reports, minutes and other information, and as a means of encouraging discussion of issues of concern to Council. The Ad Hoc Task Force on Electronic Communication and the ALA Council have agreed that the Council list should: a. Be unmoderated in content; b. Be available for posting only by Council members, by chairs of Council committees, and by authorized ALA HQ staff. c. Be available for read-only access by any others who have access to the network; d. Include official notices and other ALA communication which will further the effective ALA functioning; e. Continue for this time to be an informal mechanism for ALA communication, supplementing existing formal mechanisms. ALA members are welcome to subscribe to the Council list. However, since the list is not self-subscribing, those members wishing to subscribe should send their request by e-mail to lgregory[at]ala.org. Members who want more information or who have questions should contact the list manager: Lois Ann Gregory-Wood, at ALA Headquarters, 50 E. Huron Street., Chicago, IL 60611; telephone: 800/545-2433, x3204; fax: 312/944-3897; e-mail: lgregory[at]ala.org. Cou list subscription 1/6/99 Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Council Secretariat American Library Association 50 E. Huron Street Chicago, IL 60611 1-800/545-2433, Ext. 3204 312/944-3897 (fax) lgregory[at]ala.org ____________________________________________________________________________top 8. Re: American Libraries' coverage of Council, Membership, Demonstration Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 11:42:29 -0500 To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu> Subject: Re: American Libraries' coverage of Council, Membership, demo I am sending this message to both the Council listserv and the SRRT listserv. Mark Rosenzweig has a good point in his message below. We should expect the official publication of our organizataion to represent the views of all of us fairly. Let me give another example from the same issue of American Libraries. This one silences SRRT for a positive contribution to the annual meeting. On page 83 of the Aug. issue, there is text with a photo on a panel titled "Daring to Save Our History: Gay and Lesbian Archives." The text refers to "ALA's gay task force." Well, just where did this task force come from? It is of course the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table. We need to ask the question why SRRT was not mentioned in the article? I have seen this kind of thing several times where a SRRT task force is mentioned without any acknowledgement that it is a SRRT body. At a time when the ALA Executive Board is investigating SRRT for its alleged improper use of the ALA name, it is noteworthy that ALA's official organ can't get this right. By the way, the Ex. Bd. has yet to produce any documentation of such offenses to my knowledge. We might ask if the editors of AL think that SRRT is a four-letter word? And by the way, the same issue of AL notes the approval of a new ALA round table, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Round Table (page 94). This time the article notes that GLBTF began as a SRRT task force. SRRT now has 3 offspirng, the Government Documents Round Table, the Ethnic Information Materials Round Table, and GLBTRT. We wish the new round table as much success as the first two within ALA constellationn of organizations! Yes, SRRT has historically played an important role within ALA and it continues to do so. The ALA Council and American Libraries should keep in mind that there is a significant SRRT constituency out there. Al Kagan SRRT Councillor > >I'm really angry at the way American Libraries covered Council,the >Membership chats and the anti-Powell demonstration. I believe, perhaps >naively, that American Libraries has a responsibility to present conference >matters in a fair and balanced way, and in this they proved themselves to >be ever more the "house organ " of the ALA bureaucracy. > >With regard to Council, American Libraries takes an unabashedly partisan >point of view. It presented the separate resolutions about Berman, the one >about changing the Library Bill of Rights, and the one about >re-establishing an Association committee to investigate the violation of >librarians' rights (especially free speech rights) on the job, as if they >were one issue (and a "personal" one at that, having to do with Sandy >Berman, per se and not with the issues involved, even the policy >implications in Sandy's own case) and as if there were no real debate. >Sandy is personally presented in a demeaning way, as if he were making an >inappropriate "special pleading" about a mere personal gripe. > >Our concerns about librarians' rights , and especially the concerns re: >Sandy, were reported as having been considered "trivial and inappropriate" >(a quote from Karen Schneider). The arguments over these three resolution >dealing with very different aspects of librarians' rights are completely >conflated and our arguments are not presented , even briefly. Councilor >Charles Brown (Sandy's boss), who did not deign to speak, however is >heroically characterized as having sat and "endured" this quietly. The >reporters and AL editors evidently had more sympathy for Charles Brown >having to endure the discussion of the Berman issue than of Sandy having >been gagged and driven out of Hennepin by Brown and company. > >They chalk them this up to the work of a "small group of councilors" who >proposed "micromanaging" libraries, not as affirming librarians' need to >have on-job rights necessary for them to defend rights for our patrons. > >The discussion of the Labash resolution calling for a cap on speakers' fees >at $20,000, no sooner presents the resolution than offers, with obvious >agreement, a string of favorably presented comments against any such >resolution: this time we were trying to "micromanage" the Association by >limiting their (our?) spending (how could Council dare to do so!:>). There >is no recognition that there was widespread discontent at the conference >with paying an advocate of "volunteerism --i.e. substituting individual >volunteer efforts for necessary trained jobs and financially supported >institutions -- a whopping $70,000 dollars for a bolier plate speech which >he, in his contract, even refused to allow to be covered by the media. > >The coverage of the debate over the suggested subject-headings changes in >keeping with the Poor People's Policy which ALA has adopted but not, in any >particular way, implemented, made it seem like Sandy was riding his hobby >horse and wasting Council's time with micro-issues of no concern to >Council. It was an opportunity for more Sandy bashing, but there was >adebate which is not reflected in the coverage. Only the triumph of the >status quo over Sandy's allegedly quixotic resolution. > >The coverage of the demonstration against Colin Powell is similarly skewed >in an extreme fashion. The demonstartors are not interviewed and their >reasons for demonstrating are not presented or examined: we are just "a >small group" with signs saying something about "militarism" and "$70,000". >That there were four Councilors on the picket, along with the editor of >Library Journal, is not, I believe, noted and every attempt is made to >ignore or minimize the significance of the picket. Despite the fact that we >"made news " by going to the brink of being carted off in police vans for >making our views known at our own conference, and in an association which >supposedly treasures the exercise of freedom of speech! > >The Membership meetings at whch was raised the acquiescence of ALA >leadership in setting loose the police on the anti-Powell picketers is >also looked at as part of a "gripe session" led by a small number of >councilors, despite the fact that there was much broader concern with the >whole Powell thing expressed by attendees. > >Finally, the resolution calling for lowering the quorum for membership >meetings from a whopping 500 something and growing to a fixed quorum of one >hundred was erroneously represented as a bid to RAISE the quoorum in the AL >coverage. Just sloppy journalism: but, so what--the only thing AL is really >interested in, aanyway, is the ritual aspects of the connference as an >affirmation of the greeatness of ALA and of the status quo. > >The overriding attitude of contempt for dissent, which increasingly >characterizes American Libraries coverage, is unseemly , to say the least >for a journal of a democratic membership organization of free speech >advocates. > >I just wanted to bring this to the list's attention. > >Mark Rosenzweig >ALA Councilor at large > Al Kagan Africana Unit, Room 328 University of Illinois Library 1408 W. Gregory Drive Urbana, IL 61801, USA tel. 217-333-6519 fax. 217-333-2214 e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu ____________________________________________________________________________top 9. SRRT Resolution on the Militarization of ALA and General Powell's Keynote Speech Whereas, General Colin Powell has been selected as the 1999 ALA Keynote Speaker; and Whereas, Powell, as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations at a base in Vietnam, had a key role in trying to cover up the My Lai Massacre; and Whereas, Powell, as President Reagan's National Security Advisor, was of key importance in supporting the Contra War against the people of Nicaragua; and Whereas, Powell, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, illegally invaded Panama and bombed thousands of civilians; and Whereas, Powell presided over the Persian Gulf War killing thousands of civilians as well as thousands of retreating soldiers on what was called "The Highway of Death"; and Whereas, the continuing bombing of the civilian infrastructure of Iraq and continuing sanctions have reduced a moderately affluent quality of like to poverty for most people in that country; and Whereas, the recent bombing of the civilian infrastructure of Yugoslavia parallels the Iraq experience; and Whereas, the United States has bombed four countries within the last year, including a crucial pharmaceutical factory in Sudan; Therefore be it resolved, that the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association deplores the decision to hire General Powell to give the 1999 Keynote Speech; and be it further Resolved, that the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association demands that future Keynote Speakers be associated with life-enhancing work; and be it further Resolved, that this resolution be distributed to the ALA President, ALA Executive Board, and the library press. Submitted by Al Kagan, Chair of SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force Seconded by Mark Rosenzweig Passed by SRRT Action Council, 6/28/99 ____________________________________________________________________________top 10. SRRT Resolution in Support of EPA Libraries Whereas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the importance of its mission to "move the Agency to the forefront of information management and providing the public with integrated and high quality information" (Memo; to Assistant Administrators, Carolyn M. Browner, EPA Administrator, October 14, 1998); and Whereas, the EPA Administrator has laid out an ambitious and welcomed plan to "create a structural frame work for EPA's new information office... consisting of three offices: Information Policy and Collection Information Technology and Services Information Analysis and Access" (Carol Browner, Inside EPA, December 11, 1998; Carol M Browner, letter to Peter Robertson, Acting Deputy Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, November 23, 1998); and Whereas, the U.S. House of Representatives is drafting a bill to "promote a "Second Generation" of Environmental Protection entitled, the Second-Generation of Environmental Improvement Act (May 17, 1999, Representatives Calvin Dooley and James Greenwood, Members of Congress)' and Whereas, Title I of this proposed bill, "Information Management" further recognizes EPA's role as steward of environmental data and information in the broadest sense of its responsibilities; and Whereas, Title I of this bill would require the EPA Administrator to, among other actions, designate a Chief Information Officer, publish an annual report of environmental indicators, review existing agency monitor and reporting activities and requirements, and establish a program to provide money for states and localities to assist them in improving environmental reporting, highlight environmental monitoring activities of all Federal agencies through budget reviews, establish a public recognition program; and Whereas, the EPA Library Network serves as and time-tested, reliable, and trusted gatekeeper for the identification, acquistion, management, dissemination, and archiving of critical environmental data and information through the development of its special collections, repositories, services, networking, and expertise; and Whereas, the EPA Library network has made tremendous strides to provide the American people a strong commitment to the skills and services of libraries and librarians to make environmental information as accessible; and Whereas, the EPA and the American Library Association are initiating the development of stronger ties to improve, enhance, and evolve existing programs, services, and resources to provide comprehensive, long-term and consistent data and information base of environmental information; and Whereas, the Task Force on the Environment is dismayed at the failure of any public comments about the EPA's environmental initiatives to recognize or mention the data and information management roles of its (or other) libraries or its (or other) librarians; and Whereas, the Task Force on the Environment deplores the recent and proposed massive cuts in budget allocations to support the EPA Libraries, EPA and EPA-contract librarians; EPA library collection; and Whereas, the Task Force on the Environment feels that these reductions will serious diminish the EPA Libraries to provide collections, services, and expertise not only for the public but to the scientific, policy, and administrative staffs of the agency; Be it resolved that the American Library Association continue to work with the EPA Libraries and centers for environmental information to construct stronger relations and resource sharing; and that the American Library Association work with the U.S. Congress to include a clear and meaningful recognition of the skills, resources, expertise, and collections of the EPA Libraries and Library Network; and that the American Library Association investigate the funding of the EPA Libraries and Library Network to assure that government resources are being used to adequately fund the collections, staffs, resources, services, and functions all of the EPA Libraries, EPA Librarians, and EPA-contract librarians. Respectfully submitted by: Frederick W. Stoss, M.S., M.L.S. Science and Engineering Library SUNY University at Buffalo Submitted on behalf of the Task Force on the Environment Social Responsibilities Round Table Passed by SRRT Action Council, 6/28/99 ******* Elaine Harger SRRT Secretary 49 Osborne Terrace Newark NJ 07108 973/623-7642 home 212/569-0290 ext. 404 work eharger[at]tao.agoron.com ____________________________________________________________________________top 11. Here Come The Perseids! Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 08:33:42 -0700 From: Mitch Battros <earthcng[at]earthlink.net> To: Breaking News <earthcng[at]earthlink.net> Subject: Earth Changes TV/Breaking News - Perseids Meteor Shower Here Come The Perseids!...08/09/99 (NASA) The attention of the world will be riveted on the heavens this week as the last total solar eclipse of the 20th century takes place on August 11. However, for most skywatchers outside the path of totality, the best sky show won't occur until a day and a half later, on Thursday, August 12, and Friday, August 13. That's when the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak with 50 to 150 shooting stars per hour. In recent years the spectacular Leonid meteors have attracted considerable attention, but historically the Perseids are the best known of all meteor showers. It rarely fails to provide a pleasing display and, because of its summertime appearance, it tends to attract many astronomy novices. This year should be a good one for viewing Perseids. The shower's maximum takes place on August 12, 1999, under dark skies just one day after the new moon. Although the Perseids officially begin in late July, the shower builds rather slowly in intensity until there is a series of sharp peaks in activity near mid-August. Mitch Battros Producer - Earth Changes TV http://www.earthchangesTV.com ____________________________________________________________________________top 12. Total Solar Eclipse, August 11, 1999 If you're not in the Americas you can probably see the eclipse. Here's Nasa's information on the total solar eclipse of 1999: http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/990811/text/toc.html You may be interested in seeing the live webcast of the eclipse. You can find out more about that and read some "stories from the path of totality" at the Exploratorium's solar eclipse website: http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse ____________________________________________________________________________top 13. Letter from a High School Student in Singapore To: rory[at]libr.org Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 20:44:37 -0700 From: "Brandon Seah" <pflanzen[at]mailcity.com> Dear all, Quite apalling the libr profession has become. What has occured to the days of friendly neighbourly service, when our patrons were 'friends' and people we knew? Granted, the idea of such is probably just nostalgic waxing on my part, but, hey, isn't it a bit too much for libraries to become just more corporate institutions? Libraries, apparently, are morphing more into the company-like status, most distressing. We have begun the process of commercialization, which doesn't belong in libraries. Look at the the National Library of Singapore (www.nlb.gov.sg), it has started to mimic a giant bookstore, in fact. Money should not be a question in public libraries. To charge patrons for services, when some cannot afford, is heresy. But some libraries, like the one listed above, and the BL for instance, all have fallen prey to the never-ending modern scourge of 'money'. The problem is everywhere, the language, the 'revamps', etc. etc. Sure, some may be for the better, but the tendency now of libraries to hero-worship 'trends' is most unsettling. Especially computers. They may be good, to a certain extent, _tools_ for our use, but we have allowed ourselves to be manipulated by our own creations, to blindly draw up 'IT strategy plans' and integrating them into the educational, commercial, etc. everything. (see www.moe.edu.sg and surf around. They seem to be infatuated with 'IT'. Remember L'Engle's A wrinkle in time, the baddy was called 'IT') Also, the programme of 'weeding' is much to disgusting. Ranganathan said that 'every book its reader', so the reader of a book will come in the future. Low use does not neccesitate destruction, as the Dunman High School library has done (www.moe.edu.sg/schools/dhs). They don't even pay good atention to the needs of library users (the school). How do i know? i'm a student there myself. Gone are the days when the good people of (...?) On the topic of the LC, let me say something. As libraries, we are independent institutions funded by the gov't or other sources that have the responsibility to disseminate information and educate the community. We should not exclude people based on anything, race, gender, handicap, social/economic status, etc. To do so is to go contrary to our ideals and bill of rights. But also remember, that the LCSH, no matter how revolutionary, is only a guiding principle, and from another library at that! We have the right and responsibility to create our own subject headings as we see fit, and make recommendations for change in the SH. Instead of the blind copying, we should be innovating, and not the crazy new-age computer-oriented innovating is what i'm talking about here. We should be individuals, and have the courage to stand and not be oppressed by anyone, our 'boss', the boors in LC, ALA, Dr. Laura, etc. We reserve the right to make decisions on library material, not by 'recommendations' from the gov' So this is rather local oriented, and more of an attack against my school, but i don't care. As long as someone knows of this brainless madness, and has a response to it, i'm happy. So listen up all autocrats and fools without guts. We librarians do need to have better allowances etc. So there. Yours truly, Brandon S. ____________________________________________________________________________top 14. Humor and Culture in Libraries http://www.mel.org/libraries/LIBS-humor.html For all the librarians and fans of librarians out there - a great annotated list of links to pages that'll lighten your day. From the Michigan Electronic Library (MEL). - cl Subjects: librarians >From Librarians Index to the Internet - http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex ____________________________________________________________________________top L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://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 This page was created by SimpleText2Html 1.0.3 on 10-Aug-99.