Library Juice 2:39 - Library Juice is now a book and a blog

Library Juice 2:39 - October 6, 1999 Contents: 1. MSNBC Program on Library Filtering Wednesday Night 2. Intellectual Freedom page at UCSB 3. Fall 1999 MSRRT Newsletter 4. Ariadne Issue 21 now available 5. IFLA FAIFE Press Release on Cuba 6. BLACK-IP: The Black Information Professionals' Network 7. IMS Meta-data Specification 8. Legal and Policy Issues Facing Public Libraries in the High-Tech Era 9. Language Materials Project (UCLA) 10. The scoop on rogue sites, from RTMark 11. America's Return to Slavery 12. Articles on Prison Labor in America 13. The Celling of America (book) 14. Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting 15. Institute for Public Accuracy 16. International Forum for Independent Media 17. Project Censored 18. Library Principles for Students, from the Old Testament Quote for the week: "No fair historical examination of librarianship in America could fail to note ... that its annals are replete with examples of partisanship, albeit not necessarily (as one would like to believe) of free thought or the rights of minorities, but too often of the causes of the powers-that-be and the forces of order, sometimes taking the form of a passive defense of the status quo, sometimes taking shape as an active campaign for a new cause." Mark Rosenzweig, "Editorial: Politics and Anti-Politics in Librarianship." Progressive Librarian No. 3, Summer 1991 Homepage of the week: Celia White http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6647/ __________________________________________________________________________top 1. MSNBC Program on Library Filtering Wednesday Night Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 10:42:08 -0700 (PDT) From: David Burt -- Filtering Facts <dburt[at]afo.net> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: MSNBC Program on Library Filtering Wednesday Night I will be joining Prof. Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law and Judith Krug of the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom on a panel discussing library filtering. The show, "Internight", will air 7pm EST Wednesday on the MSNBC Cable channel. David Burt, President Filtering Facts http://www.filteringfacts.org dburt[at]afo.net Phone/fax 503 635-7048 __________________________________________________________________________top 2. Intellectual Freedom page at UCSB http://www.library.ucsb.edu/subj/freedom.html Providing links to resources relating to intellectual freedom and censorship, this site is good starting place when researching these pertinent issues. Links to organizations and resources regarding censorship and journalism, privacy, and legal issues are included. The University of California, Santa Barbara Library, provides this Web page. - ls Subjects: censorship Librarians' Index to the Internet http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ __________________________________________________________________________top 3. Fall 1999 MSRRT Newsletter Chris Dodge has finished the Fall 1999 issue of the MSRRT Newsletter (Minnesota Library Association Social Responsibilities Round Table) and it's another great issue. If you don't know this publication you should check it out. URL: http://www.cs.unca.edu/~davidson/msrrt/1999/fall99.html Chris and his partner Jan DeSirey were going to stop publishing this but apparently have decided to keep going. The Newletter is more enjoyable in the print version, so consider subscribing. __________________________________________________________________________top 4. Ariadne Issue 21 now available http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue21/ **Debbie Campbell looks at how the original criteria proposed for an IMesh map against Australian initiatives in her substantial article: 'An Overview of Subject Gateway activities in Australia'. **Paul Miller looks at the Z39.50 standard, and successfully manages to extract some meaning from the mass of associated literature in: 'Z39.50 for All'. He also contributes: Developing the 'Bath Profile', a report on a Z39.50 specification for Library Applications and Resource Discovery. **Michael Day looks at the future of the scholarly interchange of information and its principle medium, the peer-reviewed journal in: 'The scholarly journal in transition and the PubMed Central proposal'. **Philip Hunter contributes an interview with Stuart Lee, manager of the 'Virtual Seminars in Teaching' project based at the Humanities Computing Unit in Oxford, on the prizewinning Wilfrid Owen Multimedia Digital Archive and the JTAP Virtual Seminars on WW1. **Pedro Isaias, chiming rather presciently with current UK governmental exhortations, looks at e-Commerce technology in his follow up article on: 'Electronic Copyright Management Systems' **The Web Editor column for this issue, 'Abzu and Beyond', is by the Archivist of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Research Archives, Charles Jones. **Phil Bradley looks at FAST, which has recently been launched as the most comprehensive of the search engines, and this article compares the FAST results with those of AltaVista and Northern Light. **A number of JISC projects are featured in this issue: Planet SOSIG has its usual column, and also EEVL. The DISinHE Centre contributes an article on 'Web Content accessibility' by Paul Booth; and in Biz/Ed Bulletin Libby Miller looks at recent project changes, and describes some Internet Resources for academic economists and researchers. The Public Libraries column looks at: 'VITAL - the Value and Impact of End-User IT Services in public libraries' (Juliet Eve). **On the technical front, in Windows NT Explorer, Brett Burridge writes on Internet Information Server (IIS 4.0). Ian explores the use of mod_perl, a technology for supercharging the Apache Server. Ruth Jenkins explores some cache related issues for Library and Information Services. Brian Kelly reports on the latest "Institutional Web Management Workshop" in his regular 'Web Focus' column; and also contributes Web Watch for this issue. Christine Dugdale supplies a conference report for ALISS (Academic Librarians in the Social Sciences). Enjoy the issue. correspondence, proposals and submissions to: ariadne[at]ukoln.ac.uk Philip Hunter Information Officer, Editor of Ariadne and co-Editor of Exploit Interactive Tel: +44 (0) 1225 826354 Fax: +44 (0) 1225 826838 Email: p.j.hunter[at]ukoln.ac.uk URL: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/ Ariadne: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/ __________________________________________________________________________top 5. IFLA FAIFE Press Release on Cuba Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 15:45:37 +0100 From: Carsten Frederiksen <cfrederi[at]IPOST.KK.DK> Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Intimidation of independent libraries in Cuba To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA In a 29 September 1999 letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz, FAIFE protests a series of incidents indicating a pattern of State supported and instigated harassment of independent libraries in Cuba, including threats, intimidation, eviction, short-term arrests, and the confiscation of their incoming book donations or existing book collections. The letter is based on a FAIFE Report on Cuba / September 1999: "Independent Libraries in Cuba". Cuban citizens have formed 18 libraries, named 'Bibliotecas Independientes', throughout Cuba to 'grant access to books, magazines, documents and other publications to which there is no access in state institutions' and thus challenge the Cuban Government in regard to intellectual freedom. Both the letter for President Fidel Castro and the FAIFE Report are available at the FAIFE web site: http://www.faife.dk FAIFE urges other concerned parties to send appeals on this matter to the President of Cuba at the following address: His Excellency Fidel Castro Ruz President of Cuba c/o United Nations Mission New York, NY 10016, United States Fax: +1 212 779 1697 FAIFE (Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) is the instrument of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to promote intellectual freedom and the vital mission of libraries as gateways to knowledge and ideas. FAIFE advocates intellectual freedom in all aspects related to libraries and librarianship. FAIFE was launched in 1997 and consists of a Committee and an Office. The Committee has 27 members nominated by national library associations from almost all parts of the world. IFLA / FAIFE Office c/o Copenhagen Department of Culture Islands Brygge 37 DK 2300 Copenhagen S. Denmark Phone +45-33 66 46 37 or +45-33 66 46 27 Fax +45-33 66 70 64 E-mail: faife[at]ifla.org Web site: http://www.faife.dk .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . --- Library Juice is extremely disappointed with this result. For background please see the Library Juice 2:36 Cuba Supplement at: http://libr.org/Juice/issues/vol2/LJ_2.36.sup.html __________________________________________________________________________top 6. BLACK-IP: The Black Information Professionals' Network Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 11:46:18 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) From: Stephen Labash <slabash[at]UBmail.ubalt.edu> Subject: BLACK-IP: The Black Information Professionals' Network <fwd> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> F.y.I. Steve LaBash Description: The Black Information Professionals' Network (BLACK-IP is dedicated to the concerns and interests of Black information professionals -- librarians, archivists, info brokers, etc. -- and othersthroughout the African Diaspora with an interest in the library/information field. Visit the list archive at Temple University: <http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/black-ip.html> or the Topica.com mirror for more information. Subscription instructions: To subscribe to BLACK-IP, send the following command to LISTSERV[at]LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU in the BODY of e-mail: SUBSCRIBE LISTNAME yourfirstname yourlastname For example: SUBSCRIBE LISTNAME George Carver Owner/moderator address: black-ip-request[at]listserv.temple.edu __________________________________________________________________________top 7. IMS Meta-data Specification - Version 1 [.pdf] http://www.imsproject.org/metadata/ Instructional Management Systems (IMS) recently released Meta-data Specification - Version 1 to the public. A collaborative effort between members of the IMS community worldwide and various organizations, the Specification is comprised of three documents, each in HTML or .pdf format. The first, IMS Learning Resource Meta-data Information Model, "describes the names, definitions, organization, and constraints of the IMS meta-data elements." The second, IMS Learning Resource Meta-data XML Binding, discusses XML basics and special requirements for handling meta-data elements. The final document, IMS Learning Resource Meta-data Best Practices and Implementation Guide, offers an overview of the IEEE Meta-data system, a discussion on the IMS Core Meta-data Elements and Structure, and the IMS Implementation Guide. A link to IMS XML Bindings, DTDs, and examples is also provided. [MD] > From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ __________________________________________________________________________top 8. Legal and Policy Issues Facing Public Libraries in the High-Tech Era Subject: The Cyber-Library: Legal and Policy Issues Facing PublicLibraries in the High-Tech Era Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:08:24 -0500 From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org> To: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom List <alaoif[at]ala1.ala.org> The Cyber-Library: Legal and Policy Issues Facing Public Libraries in the High-Tech Era Researched and written by Elisabeth Werby for the National Coalition Against Censorship http://www.ncac.org/cyberlibrary.html ________________________ Don Wood http://www.ala.org/oif.html __________________________________________________________________________top 9. Language Materials Project (UCLA) http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/ Provides "learning resources for less commonly taught languages of the world" including textbooks, grammars, dictionaries, phrasebooks, and audio visual materials for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students. Each Language Profile includes "a map showing where the language is spoken, basic facts, and a wealth of sociolinguistic information." Institutions lists places in North America that teach these languages. There is also a searchable database of North American Institutions that teach languages covered by the LMP, a list of Publishers of foreign language instructional materials, and related language links. - dl Subjects: languages Librarians' Index to the Internet http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ __________________________________________________________________________top 10. The scoop on rogue sites, from RTMark October 1, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (contact mailto:copyright[at]rtmark.com) WHICH IS WHICH? ON THE INTERNET, YOU NEVER CAN TELL Every day, thousands of people looking for the Internet sites of the ultra- right party in Austria (http://www.fpo.at), a Liberal candidate in Australia (http://www.realjeff.com), the Mayor of New York (http://yesrudy.com), and a copyright lobbying group (http://www.grayday.org) end up very confused. Each of the sites listed above is a "rogue"--a nearly identical version of a "real" site (http://www.fpoe.at, http://www.jeff.com.au, http://www.rudyyes.com, and http://www.greyday.org, respectively), altered to make a political point. The trend may have begun with the http://yesrudy.com site, which resembles http://rudyes.com so closely that an aide with the opposing campaign admitted in the New York Times to being misled (see http://rtmark.com/pressyrd.html and http://rtmark.com/bush.html). WWW.FPO.AT or www.fpoe.at? (contact unknown / mailto:joerg.haider[at]fpoe.at) Earlier this week, Austria's third-largest party, which was formed from the leftovers of the Nazi party, was shocked and distressed to find itself extensively and subtly mocked. The official website of the Freiheitlichen Partei Oesterreichs, which is considered very likely to become part of Austria's government after this Sunday's closely-watched elections, is http://www.fpoe.at/. http://www.fpo.at takes advantage of the fact that in German, the letter "o" with an umlaut can be written either as "o" or "oe"; the "FPO" site looks identical to the official FPOe site, but links directly to more overtly Nazi sites, replaces words like "information" with "propaganda," and makes use of many other instructive replacements. Like George W. Bush with GWBush.com (see http://rtmark.com/bush.html), the FPOe is using every legal tactic to shut down the rogue site, including a U.S. copyright suit (the "FPO"'s service provider is American) and appeals to the Austrian Minister of the Interior. But like Bush with the original GWBush.com site, the FPOe has so far been unable to stop this attack on its ideas and intentions. German-language press about the "FPO" site, from earlier this week, is at http://derstandard.at/arc/19990930/84.htm, http://futurezone.orf.at/futurezone.orf?read=detail&id=4737&tmp=61046 , and http://www.politik-digital.de/europa/laender/oesterreich/innenpolitik/fake.shtml. WWW.REALJEFF.COM or www.jeff.com.au? contact mailto:realjeff99[at]yahoo.com / http://www.liberal.org.au/cgi-bin/mail.cgi Australian Liberal candidate Jeff Kennett joins the FPOe and Presidential hopeful George W. Bush in attempting to shut down Internet opposition--in Kennett's case, http://www.realjeff.com , which mocks Kennett's http://www.jeff.com.au. But Kennett's tactics are quieter than those of the FPOe and Bush. Addr.com (mailto:info[at]addr.com), until three weeks ago the Internet provider of http://www.realjeff.com, suddenly suspended its hosting without explanation, and has ignored repeated inquiries regarding the matter. Also, Kennett's http://www.jeff.com.au now merely defaults to the Liberal Party website, as if to avoid comparison. WWW.GRAYDAY.ORG or www.greyday.org? (contact mailto:press[at]grayday.org / mailto:press[at]greyday.org ) Today, many Internet visitors will visit http://www.grayday.org hoping to learn more about "GreyDay," an annual call for stricter copyright laws for the Web. Last year, the October 1 event was written about in the New York Times, Wired News and the Village Voice. But whereas http://www.greyday.org calls for more copyright protection, http://www.grayday.org urges visitors to keep the Internet "free from phony copyright laws." Its authors, a team of Silicon Valley software programmers and graphic designers who call themselves Tell-all Computer Programmers & Internet Professionals (TCP/IP), claim to represent "the millions of people who have benefited and will continue to benefit from the free exchange of ideas, the hallmark of the Internet." There are many other subtle differences between the two sites. Whereas GreyDay.org urges Internet users to imagine "what if" copyright infringement leads to a lack of creativity on the Web, the spoof site implores visitors to imagine "what if there was no WWW... no Internet." According to TCP/IP spokesperson Cecil Park, "The call for more copyright laws on the Web is especially absurd considering the Web itself was made possible by the copyright-free distribution of the first Web browser [Mosaic] and the most popular Web server software [Apache]." (The name TCP/IP is a pointed insiders' joke. It stands not only for "Tell-all Computer Programmers & Internet Professionals," but for "Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol," the software at the heart of the Internet that was given away without copyright in 1981 by programmers at the U.S. Government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.) - RTMark (http://rtmark.com) uses its limited liability as a corporation to sponsor the sabotage of mass-produced products, and to discuss corporate abuses of the political process. One of RTMark's ultimate aims is to eliminate the principle of limited liability. __________________________________________________________________________top 11. America's Return to Slavery By Ann Beaudet Lockheed Martin in Texas puts welfare recipients as trainees to work on assembly lines in exchange for their welare checks. Lockheed gets free labor. If you book a flight on TWA, you'll likely be talking to a prisoner at a California correctional facility that the airline uses for its reservations service. Victornia's Secret uses prison labor (at .23 an hour) to make lingerie. Chevron uses prison labor to do data entry. Microsoft has used Washington state prisoners to pack and ship Windows software. AT&T has used prisoners for telemarketing; Honda for manufacturing parts; Toys 'R Us for cleaning and stocking shelves. A Eugene, Oregon hospital ditched a private linen service to go to a prison laundry. A South Georgia recycling plant laid off 50 workers and replaced them with inmates from a women's prison. Other well known U.S. companies useing prison labor include K-Mart, J.C. Penney and Eddie Bauer. This is not all and the trend is growing. So is the prison population. America has the highest and fastest growing incarceration (read free labor force) rate on earth and its prison industry is one of the two fastest growing industries in the nation. Between 1971 and 1992, public spending on prisons alone jumped from $2.3 billion (already high) to $31.2 billion. In 1995, prison building expenditures jumped by $926 million while university construction dropped by $954 million. Over the past ten years, California has build 21 prisons, but only one university. And this cancerous growth rate is not slowing down. Further it is almost exclusively directed at the poor and marginalized, whereas the major source of social harm and crime is corporate. The major recipients of welfare are also corporate. Even Time magazine has printed that Fortune 500 companies have erased more jobs than they have created in the past decade, yet they are the biggest recipients of corporate welfare and have over 11,000 organizations and agencies representing them in Washinton DC to promote this system. As a result government now gives tax incentives and other benefits to private employers to hire welfare workers at minimum or less than minimum wage, without benefits. Where this is perhaps not technically "slave" labor (neither is technically .23 cents an hour), it's a close second. Particularly in the Bay Area with its astronomical housing costs and regressive taxes. The essence of the corporate agenda is to create a more "flexible," docile work force. The essence of the struggle for equal justice is to abolish all forms of slavery or near slavery. Corporate power is expanding at the expense of values Americans used to hold sacred. The very essence of democracy is being lost. Corporations govern. Like Frankenstein's monster, the creation is now master of the creator. __________________________________________________________________________top 12. Articles on Prison Labor in America "Doing time, 9 to 5: Prison labor is a hot ticket for businesses seeking cheap help, but is the payoff worth it?" by Steven Elbow http://www.well.com/user/tomorrow/prison.html "Prison Labor: Workin' For The Man" from CAQ Fall '95 http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~kastor/private/prison-labor.html "Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex" by Angela Davis. Black World Today 2-03-99 This article also appears in the Fall 1998 issue of ColorLines http://www.tbwt.com/views/feat/feat864.htm "Uncle Tom's Cell: Prison labor gives a market face to an old idea--slavery." - by Josh Levin. Perspective Magazine, Feb 1999 http://www.digitas.harvard.edu/~perspy/issues/1999/feb/uncletom.shtml Private Prisons and Prison Labor articles on the Prison Industrial Complex http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~kastor/private/privatize.html "MADE IN THE U.S.A.. . . BY CONVICTS" by Peter Gilmore http://www.igc.org/lpa/lpv24/lp3.htm "Occupational Training or Slave Labor?" - by David Martin http://www.zolatimes.com/V2.13/FPI.html Has background on the Justice Department's UNICOR (The trade name for Federal Prison Industries), a 1/2 billion dollar business, which comprises only a part of the prison labor industry. Individual states make money from prison labor and so do private prisons. The Progressive Review Democracy Archives Civil liberties, justice, and freedom 1999 JUNE PRISON SLAVERY http://prorev.com/civlib2.htm Multinational Monitor DECEMBER 1995 - VOLUME 16 - NUMBER 12 Captive Labor Force http://www.essential.org/monitor/hyper/mm1295.01.html "The American Gulag" - selected quotations on prison labor and the prison industrial complex: http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/privitazation.htm "The Labor of Doing Time," by Julie Browne. A look at prison labor and chain gangs in the US. http://www.prisonactivist.org/crisis/labor-of-doing-time.html The New Plantation, by political prisoner Bill Dunne. A look at prison labor in the US. http://www.prisonactivist.org/crisis/new-plantation.html Also available at http://www.prisonactivist.org/pubs/ are articles by Bettina Aptheker, Noam Chomsky, political prisoner Jalil Muntaquin and others on the social function of prisons, the drug war and sentencing, racism in imprisonment, and the FBI. The Prison Activist Resource Center is a grassroots collective project that was launched in 1994 out of Berkeley CA's LongHaul, an activist community center and political library. Also, some articles in print only: The Prison Industrial Complex. Atlantic Monthly, December 1998 America's Private Gulag. Countepunch, January 1997 Pay now, pay later: states impose prison peonage. (includes related article on prison factories)(Cover Story) Christian Parenti. The Progressive July 1996 v60 n7 p26(4) Inside jobs. (use of prison labor in the U.S.) Christian Parenti. New Statesman & Society Nov 3, 1995 v8 n377 p20(2) The chain gang show: humiliating prisoners, for political profit. Brent Staples. The New York Times Magazine Sept 17, 1995 p62 col 1 (15 col in) Working for the man. David Frum. The American Spectator August 1995 v28 n8 p48(2) The downside of private prisons. Craig Becker, Amy Dru Stanley. The Nation June 15, 1985 v240 p728(3) __________________________________________________________________________top 13. The Celling of America (book) http://www.commoncouragepress.com/celling.html The Celling of America An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison Industry Daniel Burton-Rose, Editor With the Editors of Prison Legal News, Dan Pens and Paul Wright 263 pages; Index PAPER $19.95 ISBN: 1-56751-141-4 Order Direct and Save 25% OUR PRICE ONLY $14.96 Voices from America's growing gulag. In The Celling of America, prison journalists will kick open the doors of America's prisons and take you on a hair-raising tour to teach you: How corporations like Microsoft are raking in big bucks from prison labor; How the privatization of prisons means prisoners building their own cages; That over 3,000 men and women live under a death sentence in America--forty percent of them are black. "The bookshelves are abundantly stocked with scholarly studies of the United States' criminal justice system, but there are few, if any, like the book you are about to read. It was mainly written by criminals. Their essays are sharply informative because they are grounded in reality, the clarifying experience of dwelling within the penal system. We should listen to them. We will learn from what they see and know. We may begin to think more clearly about all that must be changed." --William Greider, from the Introduction "A searing indictment of America's burgeoning civil war. Is this a democracy or is this slavery? A chilling and rare expose from inside America's prisons." --Noelle Hanrahan, Equal Justice USA "This important book provides a rare perspective: 'how it works' as viewed from the inside. The contributions are serious, informed, and thought-provoking, and merit very serious attention--and reaction." --Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor at MIT "The Prison-Industrial Complex feasts on a steady diet of racism and poverty--hatred and fear. This remarkably lucid book not only illuminates the nature of the imprisonment beast, but exposes the social, political and economic forces responsible for its care and feeding. --Rhonda Brownstein, Senior Staff Attorney, Southern Poverty Law Center "With gut-wrenching force, The Celling of America should alter forever the reader's consciousness about our geometrically increasing prison population. --Leonard W. Schroeter, Association of Trial Lawyers of America __________________________________________________________________________top 14. Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting [As information disseminators and legitimizers, librarians should be aware of the work of this group.] http://www.fair.org FAIR is the national media watch group that offers well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship. We seek to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press. We scrutinize media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. FAIR believes that independent, aggressive and critical media are essential to an informed democracy. But mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is compromised. FAIR was established in 1986 to shake up the establishment-dominated media. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose important news stories that are neglected and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. Ultimately, FAIR believes that structural reform is needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting, and promote strong, non-profit alternative sources of information. Extra! and Extra!Update FAIR publishes Extra!, the award-winning bimonthly magazine of media criticism, which looks at the major issues recently in the news, questioning the conventional wisdom that narrows the range of sources and perspectives. Articles examine biased reporting, censored news, media mergers, press/state cronyism, the power of corporate owners and advertisers, and right-wing influences in the media. Utne Reader declared Extra! to be one of the "ten new magazines that made a difference" in the past ten years. "Extra! is fearless and essential-and also utterly responsible, meticulous about accuracy both in detail and in content." -Jonathan Kozol Research & Monitoring Since most people base their political judgments on a few powerful media outlets, the performance of these institutions cries out for scrutiny. FAIR monitors a wide range of national news media--newspapers, magazines, television and radio--and publishes regular reports documenting pro-establishment, pro-corporate tilt in major news outlets. "FAIR gives us a better chance of getting the full story by calling attention to the facts and stories we are missing." -Studs Terkel Media Outreach In its ongoing efforts to challenge bias and censorship, FAIR maintains a regular dialogue with journalists at news media outlets across the country. We make recommendations to media professionals on how to expand, diversify and improve coverage of a wide range of issues. We openly applaud exceptional, hard-hitting journalism. FAIR spokespersons discuss and debate media issues on national and local TV and radio programs, and op-ed columns by FAIR writers appear regularly in leading dailies. Media Activism FAIR encourages media consumers to become media activists--to talk back to the media. Activist alerts are regularly put out in Extra!Update (our bi-monthly newsletter), on our e-mail list and on CounterSpin. FAIR works with a nationwide network of local activists and groups that focus on key issues in their communities and participate in national campaigns coordinated by FAIR's headquarters in New York. FAIR supporters confront news media over corporate censorship, the exclusion of public interest and minority viewpoints from national media debates, and the underrepresentation of women and people of color. Media Watch Desks FAIR operates specialized research and advocacy desks that work with activists and media professionals on specific issues. The Women's Desk analyzes the effects of sexism and homophobia in the media and works to get feminist perspectives included in the public debate. The Labor Desk scrutinizes and confronts class bias in news coverage that favors monied interests and slights workers and unions. The Racism Watch Desk monitors and combats the media's marginalization, misrepresentation and exclusion of people of color--both in the news and in the newsroom. "I promote FAIR wherever I go. It is one of the most important pro-democracy projects in the United States." -Barbara Ehrenreich CounterSpin FAIR on the air! CounterSpin, FAIR's radio program, is heard on more than 100 stations around the country. CounterSpin features the same hard-hitting media criticism as Extra! each and every week. Drawing on an international network of experts, analysts, activists and artists, CounterSpin exposes and highlights censored stories, biased and inaccurate news, and the creeping corporatization of public broadcasting, as well as showcasing independent journalism that cuts against the media grain. "You should tune in to CounterSpin, the program that sees things and says things about the media you'll see no place else." -Ben H. Bagdikian __________________________________________________________________________top 15. Institute for Public Accuracy [Librarians can also learn from the Institute for Public Accuracy] http://www.accuracy.org As a nationwide consortium of policy researchers, the Institute for Public Accuracy seeks to broaden public discourse by gaining media access for those whose perspectives are commonly drowned out by corporate-backed think tanks and other influential institutions. With systematic outreach to mass media, the Institute promotes the inclusion of outlooks that usually get short shrift. The Institute's news releases provide well-documented analysis that is pegged on fast-breaking events while focusing on fundamental issues. Serving as a consortium for an abundance of diverse expertise, the Institute makes frequent communication possible between hundreds of independent researchers and journalists across the United States. In the process, the Institute is helping to widen the bounds of media discussion. __________________________________________________________________________top 16. International Forum for Independent Media [The looming question is, why aren't their products in our libraries?] http://www.tao.ca/earth/ Working purpose statement: "The purpose of the International Forum for Independent Media is to communicate information of social (and economic) struggles of all peoples on Earth as a way of achieving all forms of liberation and a world based on "people over profit". We work together to break the global media monopoly, to link people and cultures of resistance using all forms of communications in order to overcome dominant power structures. We will consider events and developments from the point of view of the peoples, in particular the very most exploited and oppressed peoples of the world." The history of the statement is as follows: The statement proposed by the Purpose group to the IFIM assembly, Oct 19, 1997 in NYC was based on the purpose statement developed by the Information Sub-Mesa, Barcelona Division, of the Zapatista initiated Second Encuetro for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism, that met in Spain, July/ August 1997. The information Submesa literally spent days working on the statement, discussing and debating every word, its meaning, and connotation. The original statement read: "We conclude that the purpose of our international network of independent communications is to communicate information of social struggle of all peoples on Earth as a way of achieving all forms of liberation and a world based on people over profit. Each of our worlds has a different reality and each communicates in its own way and it its own rhythm. Communicating and connecting with one another is a basic human right which is violated by dominant power structures. Our purpose is to breach the global media monopoly, and to link people and cultures of resistance using ALL forms of communication in order to overcome this domination. Not a goal in itself, but a way to reach goals, the network spreads the voices of our many realities and enables us, despite great distances and the oppression of a market-based society, to reach one another and continue to meet again. This network is a revolution itself and exists to bring life to other revolutions." For more information about the confluence of Zapatismo with the IFIM, see the article "On the Growing Free Media Movement, Recent trends in Radical Media Organizing" the October 1997 issue of Z Magazine. __________________________________________________________________________top 17. Project Censored http://censored.sonoma.edu/ProjectCensored/ The primary objective of Project Censored is to explore and publicize the extent of censorship in our society by locating stories about significant issues of which the public should be aware, but is not, for one reason or another. The project hopes to stimulate responsible journalists to provide more mass media coverage of those issues and to encourage the general public to demand mass media coverage of those issues or to seek information from other sources. The essential issue raised by the project is the failure of the mass media to provide the people with all the information they need to make informed decisions concerning their own lives and in the voting booth. __________________________________________________________________________top 18. Library Principles for Students, from the Old Testament Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the Library. Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the Library. Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese, you may eat, but not in the Library. Of the cereal grains, of the corn and of the wheat and of the oats, and of all the cereals that are of bright color and unknown provenance you may eat, but not in the Library. Of the round pies of baked dough, topped variously and wondrously with goodness of the Earth, especially with extra garlic and double cheese, you may eat, but not in the Library, neither may you carry such therein. Of quiescently frozen dessert and of all frozen after-meal treats you may eat, but not in the Library. Of the juices and other beverages, you may drink, but not in the Library, unless it is that drink of two parts hydrogen and one of oxygen and only then should the mixture be held in a container of the prescribed shape and nature that miraculously do not spill even when uprighted. Indeed, when you reach the place where the Library carpet begins, of any food or beverage there you may not eat, neither may you drink. Laws When at Table, in Carrel, or in Wingback And if you are seated in your comfy chair, keep your legs and feet below you as they were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is an abomination to me. Yes, even though this might be something you would do in confines of your own domicile, your feet upon the table are an abomination, and worthy of rebuke. Draw not with your pens or pencils or other implements of writing upon the table or the books before you, even in pretend, for we do not do that; that is why. Yours shall not be the last eyes to gaze understandably upon the words so written, and they should be as fresh for your followers as for you and your antecedents. On Vocal Discourse Do not speak loudly with thy neighbor or studymate within the Library; for it is as if you scream all the time. If you find a troubling idea foisted upon your eyes between the bindings of a book, your voice rises up even to the ceiling, while you point to the offense with the finger of your right hand; but I say to you, scream not; only remonstrate gently with a knowing nod, that you may correct the fault of the author in your own essay. Likewise, if you find your mind wandering from the soulfulness of your studies, again I say, refrain from conversing with whoever be at hand so that others might not be so distracted. Play not the electronic gadgets fitted to your ears at such a volume as to cause others to march to your drum machine. Though the need will eventually arise that you must give in to your ignorance of a matter bibliographic and throw yourself prostrate to the all knowing ones behind the Great Oaken Desk in the Campbell Reference Center, wail not dispairingly nor gnash the teeth loudly, for the sound carries great and far in that part of the Library, and then many of your peers will know of your misfortune; behold, I whisper myself, yet do not die. Various Other Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances Attempt not to repair broken word carriers with your own tape, for these are matters better left to our specialists. Forget not that to steal is one of the original sins, and you will be punished woefully, if not now then in the fullness of time. Although the Library's computers are capable of seeing many wondrous sites in the World, look not upon the lascivious or unscholarly among them, nor print endless reams of things of which those who pay your bills would not approve. -- by Jim Farrington, music librarian at Wesleyan (source: posted on MLA-L by the author) based on "Lamentations of the Father" by Ian Frazier __________________________________________________________________________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 5-Oct-99.