Library Juice 2:34 - Library Juice is now a book and a blog

Library Juice 2:34 - September 1, 1999 Contents: 1. Website on Latinos and Medicine, blocked by CyberPatrol 2. Hotmail Accounts Exposed to All 3. Google Government Search 4. Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information 5. Weddings in the library 6. Dewey system gems, anyone? 7. Patron notification by email 8. Looking Back on Turn-off-TV Week sponsorship 9. GODORT response to proposed closing of NTIS 10. _Information Liberation_ - review 11. Hobart College commencement address, 1900 Quote for the week: "Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul." -Mark Twain Howard Besser's Home Page: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~howard/ __________________________________________________________________________ 1. Website on Latinos and Medicine, blocked by CyberPatrol http://pangloss.ucsf.edu/~terrazas/latino.html __________________________________________________________________________top 2. Hotmail Accounts Exposed to All Announcement sent around by Don Wood of ALA: http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21490.html Hotmail Accounts Exposed to All by Declan McCullagh 8:05 a.m. 30.Aug.99.PDT A catastrophic security flaw in Microsoft's Hotmail service lets anyone read the private correspondence of about 50 million subscribers. The bug appears to affect all customers of what Microsoft says is "the world's largest provider of free Web-based email." ... The exploit, verified by Wired News, works this way: A Web page with nine lines of HTML code can connect to a Hotmail server without requiring a user to enter a password. [...] __________________________________________________________________________top 3. Google Government Search From ResPool - http://members.tripod.com/~rtiess/respool.htm This appeared on Net-Happenings. I am forwarding the message intact. ------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 09:41:01 -0500 From: Gleason Sackman <gleason[at]rrnet.com> Subject: RESOUR> Google's Government Search From: Computer-assisted Reporting & Research [mailto:CARR-L[at]LISTSERV.LOUISVILLE.EDU] On Behalf Of Nora Paul Sent: Monday, August 30, 1999 9:08 AM To: CARR-L[at]LISTSERV.LOUISVILLE.EDU Subject: Google's Government Search Google, by far the best web search site to use if you are just looking for the most highly recommended sites for the topic you are interested in, has a government search engine, too. <http://www.google.com/unclesam> I just discovered it by clicking on the "More Google" link and scrolling to the bottom where they list a few "special searches". It's great, just searches .gov and .mil pages. Check it out. Nora Paul Poynter Institute npaul[at]poynter.org ------------------------- I entered the word 'population' to test the site, and found that the quality of the yield was excellent. Margaret Margaret Gross, MLS Bibliothécaire & Conseillère en information Librarian and Information Officer EMS Technologies Canada, Ltd. __________________________________________________________________________top 4. Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information The August 1st, 1999 edition of the "Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information" is available at: http://library.usask.ca/~dworacze/SUB_INT.HTM The page-specific "Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information" and the accompanying "Electronic Sources of Information: A Bibliography" (listing all indexed items) deal with all aspects of electronic publishing and include print and non-print materials, periodical articles, monographs and individual chapters in collected works. Over 1,000 titles were identified and indexed in great detail for this project. Thousands of URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) were added to various entries. Both the Index and the Bibliography are continuously updated. This message has been crossposted to several mailing lists. Please excuse any duplication. ************************************************* *Marian Dworaczek * *Head, Acquisitions Department * *and Head, Technical Services Division * *University of Saskatchewan Libraries * *E-mail: dworaczek[at]sklib.usask.ca * *Phone: (306) 966-6016 * *Fax: (306) 966-5919 * *Home Page: http://library.usask.ca/~dworacze * ************************************************* __________________________________________________________________________top 5. Weddings in the library Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 06:30:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Jill Patterson <jpatterson[at]ci.glendora.ca.us> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: library weddings Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.10.9908220630010.17962-100000[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Weddings in the library? Why not? One of our staff members met her husband at the library they both worked in and were married in their conference room. Another library--Montclair, a branch library of the San Bernardino County System--dispenses marriage licenses. Our director went there to get hers. AND the library performs marriage ceremonies--they have been duly authorized and deputized by the county system. This small branch has a lovely, enclosed patio that is just right for intimate, inexpensive weddings. Don't libraries just reek with romance?? The Calif. Library Assoc. annual conference includes a program this year on these types of non-library activities, e.g. passports, weddings, etc. Jill Patterson jpatterson[at]ci.glendora.ca.us Glendora Public Library 140 S. Glendora Ave. Glendora, CA 91741 Tel: 626/852-4896 FAX: 626/852-4899 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:26:25 -0700 (PDT) From: "Jill Blake" <jeblake[at]mailcity.com> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: Re: weddings in the library >From: Jill Patterson <jpatterson[at]ci.glendora.ca.us> >Weddings in the library? Why not? Indeed! My partner and I held our wedding ceremony at a branch of the San Antonio Public Library -- and we certainly weren't the first. The Landa Branch used to be a house and it's got a beautiful patio (just right for the reception) a couple of balconies (for the throwing of the bouquets and garters) and a gorgeous staircase (for great pictures). It's even got a new playground and beautiful grounds -- perfect to keep attending kids occupied and, in our case, for the ceremony. Another real advantage is that it was much less expensive than other traditional wedding and reception sites and the staff was fantastic!! We couldn't have picked a better place. Jill Jill Blake Fort Worth Public Library (formerly with San Antonio Public Library -- so there was some sentiment in the choice as well) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:30:34 -0700 (PDT) From: Judy Duer <jduer[at]ci.temple.tx.us> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: Library Weddings When we began working on our meeting room policy after moving into our newly renovated library a few years ago I was advised by the convention center director not to try to book weddings, or reunions. He told me these are the most labor intensive of all the functions they hold. (Lots of confetti, and apparently the participants are pretty emotional about having everything "just so".) Since we don't have set-up or clean-up crews, I gratefully accepted his advice, and haven't regretted it. We don't book any kind of social event, just informational programs open to the public. I have since been approached to book wedding receptions, family reunions, and even the prom for an outlying town, so I was glad to have this in the policy already. Judy Duer Temple (TX) Public Library Jduer[at]ci.temple.tx.us <mailto:Jduer[at]ci.temple.tx.us> .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 14:55:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Jennifer Chilcoat <chilcoat[at]fones.cals.lib.ar.us> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: Weddings in the library We allow weddings and wedding receptions at our library. We've also had a memorial service, one prom, family reunions, class reunions, and a host of other functions. We've had no more and no fewer problems with these types of meetings than with more customary library gatherings. I might suggest that you start cultivating a list of accepted caterers, because some of them are more responsible than others. We have a beautiful facility and are eager to share it. I say "Go for it." ************ "It never hurts to ask. But it usually doesn't help, either." Jennifer E. Chilcoat (chilcoat[at]cals.lib.ar.us) Head of the Main Library phone: 501/918-3031 Central Arkansas Library System __________________________________________________________________________top 6. Dewey system gems, anyone? >>> Donna Mandel <dmandel[at]igc.apc.org> 08/26 12:01 AM >>> I am forwarding a message from my colleague at San Francisco Public Library, Kate Connell. Kate does a monthly column for our local New Mission News called "The Library Lady" where she answers obscure reference questions. I thought someone on this list would have an answer for her. Please respond either to me or to her and cc: me, because I want to know the answer too. Thanks, Donna Mandel SFPL, Mission Branch >Return-Path: <KCONNELL[at]nora.sfpl.lib.ca.us> >Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 16:38:03 -0700 >From: KCONNELL[at]sfpl.lib.ca.us >To: DMANDEL[at]igc.org >Subject: dewey system gems Donna, I'm writing my monthly LIbrary Lady column and need wacky dewey decimal system examples, I thought that I remembered a 70's article by SAndford Berman pointing out that "cannibalism" was located in something like family life or something "domestic." Unfortunately I can't put my hands on any of this material now and wondered if you had any ideas? I'm looking in general for bon mots on dewey or the dewey decimal system or the LC system, little gems that might interest the general public.....Thanks in advance! Kate .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 11:45:21 -0400 From: "Carol Reid" <creid[at]MAIL.NYSED.GOV> To: dmandel[at]igc.apc.org, PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu Subject: Re: Librarian needs assistance Speaking of cannibalism, I always thought it was sort of funny that "body shape, eating habits, magic, symbols; [and] sociology of witch crazes" are all lumped together in 306.4 "Cannibalism," by the way, is sandwiched between "Dueling and suicide" and "Etiquette (Manners)." Your more polite cannibals undoubtedly only eat those freshly skewered or dead at their own hands. As for Sandy Berman's perspective, I am unaware of his statements regarding DDC treatment, but he does discuss "cannibalism" as a subject heading in his books "Prejudices and Antipathies" and "Worth Noting." Carol Reid New York State Library __________________________________________________________________________top 7. Patron notification by email Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 11:41:31 -0700 To: CALIX[at]SJSUVM1.SJSU.EDU From: "(GBALC) Greater Bay Area Library Council" <info[at]gbalc.org> Subject: TALLY of replies - PR FORUM: reporter on the line I got alot of 'requests' for a tally of the postings for the topic. Here goes.....starting with the question. Thanks for responding! Stephanie Stokes, GBALC PR FORUM I just received a call from a reporter who is doing a story about a unique way to notify library users about overdue fines - - via email. The county library in his area is using email to send out overdue fine notices. If that does not work, the library will call or use traditional snail mail. The library tells him that this is a pioneering effort. Do you agree? Have any of your libraries or libraries you know of tried this? If so, what was the result? We are on a very tight deadline. If you have any info for me, I would appreciate a response within the hour! Thanks for your help. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: Cheryl Grantano <grantano[at]pls.lib.ca.us> > We have been using email notiification for about a year for staff only; > and on more limited basis, testing with patrons. I believe our member > library, Menlo Park has been doing most of the patron testing. Biggest > problem seems to be bad addresses. Cheryl Grantano, South San Francisco =============================================== From: "SIMINITUS, JACQUELYN E (PB)" <JESIMIN[at]msg.pacbell.com> It would be a pioneering effort. Over time, many more library patrons will be online. If my memory serves me well, Colorado libraries or Colorado Springs library has been doing this for a long time. This may be most effective for public library business, High School, and college age patrons at this time. It is likely the schools and universities that give out or require student e-mail accounts would turn to this method sooner than other libraries. ============================================= From: Anne Turner <TURNERA[at]santacruzpl.org> The Santa Cruz City County Library System offers patrons three options for getting overdue notices when they register for borrower cards: voice mail via a computerized voice which everyone hates but is very effective, email (the patron has to give us his/her email address, and since we just started this six months ago there is a long backup of people whose email address we don't know), and finally regular mail. The last is the least attractive option to the library because it is the most expensive. I think the more patrons who know about the email option, the more we will have electing this option. We update borrower cards every four years, so by 2003 we should have covered out who retrospective borrower base. Our automation system vendor is DRA. ============================================ From: "Arbaugh, Linda" <linda.arbaugh[at]ci.mtnview.ca.us> We here at the Mountain View Public Library, Mountain View, CA, have been using e-mail to notify patrons of overdues since the fall of 1998. We also use this method to notify them when materials that have placed on hold are available to pick up. The system works very well. We also have the ability to contact them by TNS, telephone notification system. We indicate their preference on their library record. Our software vendor is Innovative Interfaces, Inc., and this service is possible because of the flexibility of the software. When we started this service, only a very few patrons were contacted with this method. Over the past 10 months, however, the number of patrons who have chosen to be notified in this manner has grown considerably. The last time we sent out notices, 25% of them went by e-mail and an additional 70% were notified by TNS. Only 5% had to be mailed through the postal system. This has meant a tremendous savings for our library in postage. I recently calculated that we save our city about $500 a month in postage. This figure includes holds notification as well as overdue notices. Linda E. Arbaugh Supervising Librarian Mountain View Public Library ============================================ From: smorano[at]ix.netcom.com At the Corona (Calif.) Public Library, we have discussed in the past trying e-mail to notify patrons of overdue materials. So far, we haven't tried it yet, but I believe it's still on the agenda. Right now we just use regular mail, and if we don't get a response, we send the patron's name to a collection agency. We're already fielding reference questions using e-mail. Sal Morano Literacy Assistant and Reference Librarian (one of several) ============================================= From: "perron, nancy" <nperron[at]hclib.org> Hennepin County Library (Minnesota) offers the patron an option of being notified by eMail, snail mail, or telephone re: a number of things. EMail option includes notices that material is overdue; that requested material is being held at a specific library; and that requested material is no longer available so the patron's "hold" is cancelled. Although Hennepin County Library does not send separate notices about fines for overdue materials, if there is a record of outstanding overdue material and subsequent fines attached to the patron's account, that information is summarized at the end of the eMail notices listed above. ============================================== From: Mary Kelly <mkelly[at]sno-isle.org> I believe the King County Library System uses e-mail to notify patrons of holds, and I think of overdues. Might try calling 206/684-6606 to double check. ============================================== Reply-To: <janis.test[at]alc.org> Abilene Public Library don't yet do this for the public, but we do it internally for our staff. It is handy. We also alert staff members via e-mail about requested books that have come in and are being held for them. We have just started this. Janis Test Abilene Public Library Abilene, TX 79601 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VISIT THE "GUIDE TO LIBRARIES" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (GBALC) Greater Bay Area Library Council http://www.gbalc.org e-mail: info[at]gbalc.org phone 415-749-0130 fax 749-0735 Representing librarians and library systems within the fourteen Greater Bay Area counties, from Mendocino to Monterey and San Mateo to Contra Costa +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ __________________________________________________________________________top 8. Looking Back on Turn-off-TV Week sponsorship Note: this message to the ALA Council list from Elaine Harger follows a long discussion about ALA council's decision some time ago to abandon their participation in "tv turnoff week." It was suggested that ALA's lucrative relationship with the cable station A&E had something to do with the decision. -ed. From: "Elaine Harger" <eharger[at]tao.agoron.com> To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: One more note on the TV discussion Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 21:29:48 -0400 Dear Colleagues, Before the "turn off the TV" discussion vanishes from the radar screen, I want to say that I very much appreciate the comments of Ginny McKee, Peter Graham and Mark Rosenzweig. Their thoughts are grounded in a sympathetic understanding of the significant impact television has on human development, relationships and society. As a public school librarian, I felt betrayed by ALA Council when it voted to abandon support of Turn-off-TV Week. This is an event that gives those of us who work with children and parents the opportunity to explore and discuss and take action in regard to the huge role television plays in the lives of many. Turn-off-the-TV Week is supported by organizations such as the American Medical Association, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the YMCA, the National Institutes of Health, the Girl Scouts, the National Association for Sports and Physical Education, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more. Even the Surgeon General supports this event. The mission of the organization responsible for it, TV-Free America, is "to encourage Americans to drastically reduce the amount of time spent watching television to promote family interaction and community involvement...National TV-Turnoff Week [features] substitute activities to foster social, physical, academic and creative development." The average child in the US watches about 4 hours of television per day. 50% of _all_ children between the ages of 6 and 12 have TVs in their bedrooms. Medical studies have linked obesity in children to television viewing, and there are many concerns about the role television violence plays in children's development. I find it very troubling that any librarian would expound the specious argument that television is a "format" that must be protected from Turn-off-the-TV Week. Television is no more a "format" than is an author or the publishing or film industries. Individual television shows can be formatted onto videotape, just as Shakespeare's creative thoughts were formatted into a folio or a book or film. It is dead wrong to equate a format, a discreet entity, with a producer or an economic enterprise. Television is a _business_ that requires a captive audience, and some members of that audience suffer ill effects simply because they _are_ the audience - a passive, sometimes "addicted" audience that ought to be given the opportunity that smokers are given during Don't-Smoke Week. Well, looks like ALA Council decided that that the AMA, the NEA, the AFT, the YMCA, the Surgeon General, the Girl Scouts et al. are all a bunch of censors. At this point, I feel it's too bad that the anti-Turn-of-the-TV Week resolution _wasn't_ about money and the ALA/A&E partnership. The money motive, at least, would have been more-or-less reasonable. Elaine Harger Councilor-at-large Newark NJ 49 Osborne Terrace Newark NJ 07108 973/623-7642 home 212/569-0290 ext. 404 work eharger[at]tao.agoron.com __________________________________________________________________________top 9. GODORT response to proposed closing of NTIS Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 17:22:54 -0600 From: Larry Romans <Romans[at]LIBRARY.Vanderbilt.edu> Subject: Closing NTIS - GODORT Response To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Cc: romans[at]LIBRARY.Vanderbilt.edu Organization: Vanderbilt University Below is the summary of a report prepared by the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) for the ALA Washington Office about the proposed closing of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The URL for the complete report is listed below. THE PROPOSED CLOSING OF THE NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE (NTIS) A Response from the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) SUMMARY The Department of Commerce proposal to close the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) provides the opportunity for a reevaluation of how the federal government might best make these information resources readily available to researchers, businesses, and the general public. The American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) is concerned about the consequences of the proposed transfer of NTIS publications and bibliographic database to the Library of Congress and about the expectation that there will be adequate public access to these technical reports and business information if the only source for this information is agency web sites. * NTIS should not be closed, nor its services transferred, until there is a thorough assessment of the full range of NTIS services, alternatives for providing each service, and the requirement that the program be self-supporting. * If NTIS is closed, its functions should not be transferred to the Library of Congress without careful assessment of which agencies would do the best job of providing which NTIS functions. No single agency is likely to be best suited to perform all NTIS functions. * If NTIS is closed, NTIS functions should be transferred to agencies, such as the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives, that have the appropriate experience and expertise. Agencies taking on the functions should receive additional appropriations so they can adequately provide and improve these services. * The review and analysis of NTIS functions should not be limited to the transfer of its collections and databases. This review is an opportunity to develop permanent no-fee public access to NTIS information by including its collections and database in the Federal Depository Library Program. * The review is an opportunity to identify ways to reduce duplication of cataloging and sales functions for government-related technical reports and other publications. * The review must also address how the many other critical NTIS information dissemination functions would be performed if NTIS were closed. * Current access to the government-sponsored scientific and technical reports that are on the Internet selectively is not an adequate replacement for the comprehensive NTIS clearinghouse. Most of these reports are not available on the Internet, and many users continue to require hard copy, microfiche, and disc products to meet their needs. * Retrospective access to government-sponsored scientific and technical reports through decentralized Internet access is not an adequate replacement for the NTIS clearinghouse. Posting some of these reports on individual agency Internet sites will not ensure continuing and permanent access to the reports, because many Federal agencies remove their reports from their web-sites after a relatively short period of time. * A centrally coordinated clearinghouse for the collection, dissemination, bibliographic control, retrieval, and archiving of federal technical reports must be maintained to insure access by businesses, researchers, and the public. * There must be both permanent access to government information that continues to be needed by the public and permanent preservation of less needed information. NTIS material should be subject to an agreement, similar to one GPO has now, to transfer masters of older, low-use material to both the Library of Congress (for ongoing access) and the National Archives (for permanent preservation). * If NTIS is closed, regardless of which agency is chosen to maintain the NTIS database, additional partnerships should be established to provide cataloging and descriptive services to avoid redundancy, save money, and increase access. * Currently even the NTIS bibliographic database is a fee-based subscription service. Businesses, researchers, and the American public should have no-fee access to NTIS scientific and technical reports as well as to indexing and cataloging and a sophisticated and easy-to-use search engine to make them fully accessible. This summary is posted at http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/central/staff/ntissumm.htm. The full report is posted at http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/central/staff/ntisfull.htm Please send comments to GODORT Chair Larry Romans (romans[at]library.vanderbilt.edu) and to GODORT Legislation Committee Chair Kevin Reynolds (kreynold[at]sewanee.edu). Larry Romans, Political Science Bibliographer and Head, Government Information Services, Central Library, Vanderbilt University, 419 - 21st Ave. South Nashville TN 37240-0007 phone (615) 322-2838; FAX (615) 343-7451 E-mail (office): romans[at]LIBRARY.vanderbilt.edu E-mail (home): larry.romans[at]home.com __________________________________________________________________________top 10. _Information Liberation_ - review This review is from the forthcoming issue of Progressive Librarian. Brian Martin, Information Liberation. London: Freedom Press, 1998 ISBN 0-900384-93-X Reviewed by Rory Litwin Freedom Press, the anarchist publishing house founded in 1886, has published a book on the issues of the information society from a radical democratic perspective. "Information is power" and "power corrupts" are two truths that deserve the intelligent coupling that Brian Martin, the Australian writer active in the environmental and radical science movements, has given them in information Liberation. As Martin shows, the corruption of power is not merely a potential danger but a fact of life in the areas of mass media, intellectual property, surveillance, bureaucratic organizations, libel law, and the world of academic research. These are frequent topics of discussion on the left, but not often leading to the radical conclusions that Martin refreshingly draws, opening up new spaces for left-of-center thinking. The book is for a popular audience, and suitable for public as well as academic libraries. Chapter 1, "Power tends to corrupt," expresses this basic premise, illustrating it with historical and psychological insights. Chapter 2, "Beyond mass media," discusses modern mass media, which Martin finds undemocratic by nature, because of its control by a group of people that is small in comparison with its audience. He cites numerous publications that expose media bias and advocate grass-roots action to create fairness and accuracy, but perceptively notes that these publications rarely find the root of this media bias in the basic structures of mass media control or advocate replacing these structures. Alternative mass media, though the imbalance of power between its audience and producers is moderated by its smaller scale, falls into this assessment of corruption by power, with powerful publications such as Mother Jones and The Progressive serving as examples of the impossibility of democratically run mass media. The idea of participatory media, with David Andrews' concept of "information routeing groups" given as an example, is offered as a replacement for mass media. The chapter also includes an outline of several strategies for achieving this replacement. Martin's radical position makes possible avenues of perception that are perhaps not open to reform-minded media critics, and asks questions seldom heard on the left that are critical of reformist and government-reliant strategies. Cynical readers like myself will begin to find that a leap of faith is required in order to follow Martin all the way to his conclusions, but this leap appears to have the character of a necessary courage against the backdrop of the status quo. A shift of mind is precisely what is required by a radical vision. Chapter 3, "Against intellectual property," is concerned with the concept of intellectual property and argues for the alternative, "that intellectual products not be owned, as in the case of everyday language." Strategies for challenging intellectual property are outlined, including "civil disobedience, promotion of non-owned information, and fostering of a more cooperative society." The arguments against intellectual property in this chapter center on the corrupting influence of the ownership of ideas and the harm it can do to democratic relationships. Edwin C. Hettinger's responses to the standard justifications of intellectual property are summarized. The alternative to intellectual property (non-ownership of ideas) is discussed with reference to the perceived needs for it: protection against plagiarism, protection of royalties, and stimulation of creativity. Each of these is shown to be either answerable in other ways or not actually protected by intellectual property laws. Ironically, a copyright on this book is held by Brian Martin and Freedom Press. This is discussed at the end of the chapter, with permission given to copy the work for non-exploitative uses. It is plain that Freedom Press copyrights their publications to compromise with a world that has itself not moved "beyond intellectual property." Chapter 4, "Antisurveillance," examines the issue of the growing use of surveillance technologies, including types of data collection not thought of as "spying," as an issue of power imbalance. Martin claims that the regulation of surveillance by professional ethics and by government only creates an illusion of protection. Grass-roots activist alternatives to reformist solutions are outlined, including various forms of surveillance disruption and a larger program of replacing the social institutions that have a need for surveillance stemming from their mode of organization. The suggested methods for surveillance disruption are particularly timely and exciting. Chapter 5, "Free speech and bureaucracy," is concerned with the bureaucratic control of information flow in organizations and with workers' rights to free and open communication. Martin takes the position that the bureaucratic mode of organization is prone to corruption by systems of power due to its hierarchical nature, and is interested in alternatives to it. His particular concern about bureaucratic systems is the way that they lead to secrecy and restrictions against free speech and create an environment that leaves the lone whistleblower isolated and disempowered. Martin finds it difficult to challenge a bureaucracy effectively, the only solution being collective action towards a clear alternative with a long-term vision. The role of information exchange in challenging bureaucracy is given special attention. Martin also invites action research into ways of challenging bureaucracy and alternative ways of organizing work. Chapter 6, "Defamation law and free speech," is concerned with the way defamation law, or slander and libel law, is used oppressively, and how to challenge these oppressive uses. Martin takes the position that defamation law is not used primarily to protect people from unfair attack but to hinder free speech and protect the powerful from scrutiny. Attention is paid to the practical issues of defending against a lawsuit under defamation law. Chapter 7, "The politics of research," is about the economics and organizational structures that support professional researchers, and determine what knowledge is created and how it will be used. Strategies for challenging existing patterns are given, including critical teaching and research and community participation in research for practical ends. Some of the potential problems here go unexamined, such as how to fund, disseminate, and lend legitimacy to community-generated and directed knowledge, and how the corrupting influence of power would be avoided if these practical goals were attained. These problems are of the type faced at any point along the front lines of radical democratic work, and could be addressed specifically by less general, more action-oriented works. The implicit answer to this type of question seems to be that if the structures that lead to power imbalances were replaced new conditions would apply. Chapters 8 and 9, "On the value of simple ideas" and "Celebrity intellectuals," are concerned with the practical question of how people think, and offer potentially helpful insights. Martin finds it important to begin with simple ideas that can be directly applied to empower people where they are, and to build a social theory only secondarily, if at all, on the basis of the simpler, functional ideas. The phrase "ivory tower" is not used, but the image is clear. Complex ideas are inaccessible and not as readily applicable as simple ideas. The implications of this chapter are not as clear as the implications of the rest of the book, as the point is somewhat abstract. I find myself wishing Martin had taken greater care here to discourage anti-intellectualism and irrationalism. Related to his point in Chapter 8 is the idea in Chapter 9 that people must think for themselves and in relation to their own needs rather than following the orthodoxy of celebrity intellectuals. Chapter 10, "Toward information liberation," is the concluding chapter, and treats general issues such as how to move towards an alternative to oppressive modes of information creation and use, working both inside and outside the system, and working with others. The spirit of this chapter is encouraging and practical. It is worth noting that in this work of radical democracy, with its cautions against the pitfalls of reformist thinking, the idea of revolution doesn't arise, the idea of gradually "living the alternative" thoroughly in its place. Martin's radical democratic position, like any political position, leads to its share of difficulties and contradictions (such as how exactly a free people, under the influence of the history that we are living today, could be restrained from exploiting one another). Martin deals with these to the limited extent that it is appropriate in a book written for a popular audience, going far enough to sketch the outlines of a radical alternative but not far enough to fill in the details or answer potential critics with the depth that one would find in a more narrowly focused or scholarly book. The annotated references to other works are plentiful and helpful in this light. Information Liberation is an excellent example of a book that libraries should own, but probably will not. By taking an admittedly extreme position relating to the information society, the book functions as a tent post, without which a library will be less capacious of mind and less able to fulfill its purpose. Aside from the need for a book like this to complete a balanced collection, Martin might be right, and we would be selling ourselves short to pursue a society where information is any less free than he envisions. The Freedom Press website is at http://www.tao.ca/~freedom __________________________________________________________________________top 11. Hobart College commencement address, 1900 From Dinah Sanders: Via Rageboy/Chris Locke (of rageboy.com & The Cluetrain Manifesto): John Jay Chapman Commencement address to the Graduating Class Hobart College, 1900 When I was asked to make this address I wondered what I had to say to you boys who are graduating. And I think I have one thing to say. If you wish to be useful, never take a course that will silence you. Refuse to learn anything that implies collusion, whether it be a clerkship or a curacy, a legal fee or a post in a university. Retain the power of speech no matter what other power you may lose. If you can take this course, and in so far as you take it, you will bless this country. In so far as you depart from this course you become dampers, mutes and hooded executioners. As a practical matter a mere failure to speak out upon occasions where no opinion is asked or expected of you, and when the utterance of an uncalled for suspicion is odious, will often hold you to a concurrence in palpable iniquity. Try to raise a voice that will be heard from here to Albany and watch what comes forward to shut off the sound. It is not a German sergeant, nor a Russian officer of the precinct. It is a note from a friend of your father's offering you a place in his office. This is your warning from the secret police. Why, if any of you young gentleman have a mind to make himself heard a mile off, you must make a bonfire of your reputations and a close enemy of most men who would wish you well. I have seen ten years of young men who rush out into the world with their messages, and when they find how deaf the world is, they think they must save their strength and wait. They believe that after a while they will be able to get up on some little eminence from which they can make themselves heard. "In a few years," reasons one of them, "I shall have gained a standing, and then I will use my powers for good." Next year comes and with it a strange discovery. The man has lost his horizon of thought. His ambition has evaporated; he has nothing to say. I give you this one rule of conduct. Do what you will, but speak out always. Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared, be in doubt, but don't be gagged. The time of trial is always. Now is the appointed time. __________________________________________________________________________top L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://libr.org/Juice/ | | Original material and added value in Library Juice | is copyright-free; beyond that the publisher makes | no guarantees. Library Juice is a free weekly | publication edited and published by Rory Litwin. | Original senders are credited wherever possible; | opinions are theirs. Your comments and suggestions | are welcome. Juice[at]libr.org This page was created by SimpleText2Html 1.0.3 on 31-Aug-99.