Library Juice 2:6 - February 10, 1999
Contents: 1. MSRRT Newsletter (web version) - new URL 2. Library Research Services - http://www.lrs.org/ 3. Very short notice: Hearing on Copyright and Distance Ed. 4. Call for action on Barnes & Noble/Ingram merger 5. American Libraries Online February 8 news stories (ad) 6. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports [.pdf] 7. CIA World Factbook 1998 8. Students in Iceland stage a sit-in for longer library hours, succeed 9. Closing of International Lyrics Server: news & comments 10. Fast MP3 Search (CD-Quality, small file-size, copyright nightmare) 11. SLA's 1999 Steven I. Goldspiel Research Grant 12. LAMA writing competition for LIS students 13. SLA News Division's Vormelker-Thomas Student Award 14. Sandy Berman's bibliography on Mumia Abu-Jamal, with additions 15. SLA forum: THE INTERNET AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THREE COMMUNITIES 16. John Philbrook's false accusation at SFPL, unfortunate aftermath 17. Revised Boy Scouts Resolution Passes at ALA Midwinter 18. Remembering Marvin Scilken, Unabashed Librarian Quote for the week: "Critics examine the most recurrent words in a book and count them! Look instead for the words the author avoided, those he was close to or unmistakably far from, alien to, or fastidious about, whereas others are not." Henri Michaux, _Porteaux d'Angle_ (1981, Editions Gallimard). In translation: _Tent Posts_, translated by Lynn Hogard (1997, Green Integer Books, Copenhagen) _____________________________________________________________________________ 1. MSRRT Newsletter (web version) - new URL Chris Dodge has informed me that the MSRRT Newsletter (web verion) has a new URL: http://www.cs.unca.edu/~edmiston/msrrt For those who don't know about it already, The MSRRT Newsletter is ostensibly the newsletter of the Minnesota Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table. The title is deceptive, however. It's not a report of the organizations activities, but a zine full of reviews of materials that belong in libraries but are not usually easy to find. It also contains numerous articles about library issues from a progressive standpoint. I've received it in print form since before starting library school, and regard it as a staple. So, change your links or make a new one! -ed. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Library Research Services - http://www.lrs.org/ Statistics and information on all types of libraries of interest to librarians and library managers are available here. Fast Facts offers one to three page overview statistical reports, several of a national nature, covering public, academic, and school libraries (PDF format). They maintain a page of links to the statistics departments of state library agencies for public libraries and another for academic library statistics. In addition their Other Sites section has annotated links covering research on libraries, literacy, users, and technology. LRS is a collaboration between the Colorado State Library the Library and Information Sciences Department of the University of Denver. - ew From: Librarians' Index to the Internet http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. Very short notice: Hearing on Copyright and Distance Ed. The US Copyright Office is holding a hearing in about 10 days on the impact of the new copyright act on distance education (http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/disted/). They gave very little notice about this and are hardly allowing any testimony. This has tremendous implications about access to information, fair use, etc. I've prepared testimony that I plan to present to them on Feb 10, which I've posted at http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/impact/Distance/disted-testimony.html The PLG members at an ALA dinner in Philadelphia endorsed my prepared statement. Let me know if you've got any more feedback. [PLG stands for Progressive Librarians Guild. For more information about this group, see http://www.libr.org/PLG -ed.] ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. Howard Besser Associate Professor UCLA Department of Information Studies address thru August 1999: School of Information Management & Systems 102 South Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-4600 tel: (510)643-7365 office: (510)642-1464 fax: (510)642-5814 howard[at]sims.berkeley.edu http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~howard/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 4. Call for action on Barnes & Noble/Ingram merger Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 09:25:30 -0800 (PST) From: Kate Bradley <kbradley[at]ctc.ctc.edu> To: plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu Subject: Barnes & Noble/Ingram merger MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: kbradley[at]ctc.ctc.edu Sender: owner-PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu Status: U There is an excellent article in the February 1 issue of the Christian Science Monitor (p.9) re the effect of the Barnes & Noble/Ingram merger upon Intellectual Freedom. The Authors Guild and the American Booksellers Association are both petitioning the FTC to stop the merger. Shouldn't the American Library Association also be active in this effort? Kate Bradley, Bellevue CC Library, WA ................................................................... For those interested in getting involved in this, the Alternatives in Print Task force of ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table is forming a committee. If you would like to contibute your ideas and energy, please contact Debra Gilchrist at dgilchri[at]pierce.edu. _____________________________________________________________________________ 5. American Libraries Online February 8 news stories (ad) Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 18:33:10 -0600 From: "Gordon Flagg" <gflagg[at]ala.org> To: member-forum[at]ala.org Subject: American Libraries Online February 8 news stories (ad) Reply-To: member-forum[at]ala.org Sender: owner-member-forum[at]ala.org Status: U News stories appearing in the February 8 American Libraries Online http://www.ala.org/alonline/ * Outsourcing Debate Dominates ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia * Sachar, Azarian take Newbery, Caldecott Prizes * Maverick Librarian Marvin Scilken Dies at ALA Midwinter * Educators Evince Confidence at ALISE Conference * Expressing Regret, Judge Bars Enforcement of Child Online Protection Act * Clinton Budget Proposes National Digital Library * Representatives Garner Support for Attack on E-Rate * Gates Foundation Expands to Include School Funding * Pennsylvania Governor Proposes Historic Increase for Public Libraries * San Diego Mayor Eyes Tobacco Funds for New Library * L.A. Libraries Test Internet Filtering in Children's Areas * Arkansas Legislator Switches Internet-Regulation Tactics * UNLV Library Building Needs More Support * St. Tammany Libraries Replay Restrictions on R, NC-17 Videos * Volusia County Council Rescinds Filtering Policy * Censorship-by-Petition Bill Defeated -- Sort Of * Rolling Stone Gathers Supporters in School-Library Challenge * Parent Challenges Gang-Life Book * Parliamentary Porn Provokes Pundit American Libraries' Web site also features the latest "Internet Librarian" columns by Karen Schneider; AL's "Career Leads" job ads; listings of conferences, continuing-education courses, exhibitions, and other events from AL's "Datebook"; and Tables of Contents for the current year. _____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports [.pdf] http://www.senate.gov/~dpc/crs/index.html In a move hailed by advocates of open government, Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) recently placed almost 300 Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports online (about 1/10th of the current CRS Reports in the library). Employing over 700 people at a cost of $62 million per year, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) "works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress." Users can browse the reports by name, number, or subject, or conduct a keyword search. Subject areas include: Environment/Natural Resources, Economic Policy, Education, Government and Law, Foreign and Defense Policy, Health, and Science and Technology. Reports may be viewed in plain text or .pdf format. [MD] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. CIA World Factbook 1998 http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html The US Central Intelligence Agency has recently released the 1998 version of its well-known annual country information reference book (last described in the April 3, 1998 Scout Report). Data is available for over 250 countries. For each country, map and flag, geographic, population, government, economic, communication, transportation, military, and transnational issue information is provided for the latest year available. There are also sixteen individual reference maps and eight appendices. Linked to from hundreds of sites, the World Factbook is widely recognized as one of the finest online resources for quick country information. [MD] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 8. Students in Iceland stage a sit-in for longer library hours, succeed (Sent to Library Juice by Martyn Lowe, martynlowe[at]usa.net) News from Iceland. Here's the bit on the extended library opening hours. Sit-ins can have a dramatic effect. In December, university students in Reykjavik, Iceland, decided to stage a sit-in one evening and remained working in the library until 10 pm, instead of leaving when the library closed at 7 pm. They had been unhappy with the opening hours that were in force at that time, and were demanding extended opening as well as access on Sundays. Next day the action was reported in the papers, along with a response from the university about the expense of extending the opening hours. However, the university rector was sympathetic, and as a result, from February 1 the library is now open till 10 pm Monday to Thursday (7 pm on Fridays), and from 9 am - 5 pm and 11 am - 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays respectively. The extended opening hours not only affect students, as the library in question operates as both an academic and national library and is open to anyone to use, which means it is also now more accessible to working people. Lowana Veal _____________________________________________________________________________ 9. Closing of International Lyrics Server: news & comments > For complete information view their site for the news article in > the New York Times on the Web Cybertimes. It can also be viewed at > > http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/19lyrics.html Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 00:25:47 -0500 (EST) From: Frederick W Stoss <fstoss[at]acsu.buffalo.edu> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> Subject: International Lyrics Server closed (fwd) MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: srrtac-l[at]ala.org Sender: owner-srrtac-l[at]ala.org FYI. Fred Stoss Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 10:10:25 -0500 From: Rick McRae <mcrae[at]ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU> Interesting (and chilling) article in yesterday's (Jan.19) New York Times. Here's 1st paragraph: Lyrics Site in Copyright Dispute Is Closed By MATTHEW MIRAPAUL "The International Lyrics Server, a popular Web site containing the words to more than 100,000 songs, was closed last week after music publishers accused the site's Switzerland-based operators of copyright violations and police officers seized their computers, the site's founder said." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anyway, the gist is that the Swiss police arrested the server owner's assistant while he was in the shower, on criminal chargees based on a complaint by the Harry Fox Agency, representing 8 music-publishing industry giants (including Warner/Chappell Music and Polygram). The owners of the non-for-profit site will most certainly face heavy fines and jail sentences. So, it is best to remove the www.lyrics.ch link from any personal and/or library pages which may include it. .... Rick McRae Music Library ................................................................... Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 13:47:08 -0800 From: "Dr. Jack Kennedy" <jack[at]jack.org> To: snopes <snopes[at]snopes.com> Cc: stumpers-l[at]crf.cuis.edu Subj: Re: lyrics.ch seized in copyright dispute Snopes wrote: > Nobody did anything remotely equivalent to seizing the notebook of > someone who had written down a few song lyrics. They shut down a > web site that was offering thousands of copyrighted song lyrics without > permission and without royalty payment. Yes, they did do something remotely equivalent. What's the difference between the two scenarios? The medium? Is storing words on a computer so different than writing them in a notebook? Was it the number of people who had access? So if you wrote down some words off the radio, that's ok, as long as you don't show your buddies, or as long as you have only have a few buddies to show? Was it the amount of money that was being made? (Which, by the way, was zilch.) Copyright laws are made for the convenience of the companies and individuals selling words, bits, notes, or other forms of art. They act as a kind of gag order on the rest of us: certain phrases are claimed--you can't say them anymore. The alternative to these seemingly unacceptable laws would be for the companies to protect their work with license agreements that trickle all the way to the end user. That'd be very inconvenient for all of us, and would surely raise the cost of the products, so we go along. But it's very hard to define what a copyright violation is, and right now the law leans way too far in favor of the copyright holder, in my opinion. For example, restaurants can't sing Happy Birthday without paying royalties. Why restaurants? Why is it ok for you to sing Happy Birthday at your kid's party? You see what I mean. We accept the vagueness in these laws out of convenience, and we trust that companies will use the weapon that we've consented to give them in a responsible manner. In the case of Pascal de Vries and lyrics.ch, I think the bounds have been overstepped. He was hosting a repository for song lyrics. He wasn't selling anything, and it's hard for me to imagine how he was doing anything but promoting record sales. Now, he's facing possible jail time. To me, that is absurd. Now that I've had the last word, I extend my offer to take this off-line. If this was a saloon, we'd have to "take it outside." Peace, Jack P.S. The stumpers archive is offering several of my words to millions of people, and I've yet to receive my first royalty check, dammit! ................................................................... a) It doesn't matter that he wasn't selling anything; he was depriving others of their just sales profits and royalties. Go to Amazon.com and do a search on the word "lyrics" -- you'll find plenty of books that are nothing more than collections of (copyrighted) song lyrics. The lyrics server was, in effect, distributing the text of copyrighted books. That the books contained song lyrics rather than short stories or travel information or anything else makes absolutely no difference. b) It's not for you (or anyone else) to decide that giving away someone else's intellectual property for free is "promoting their product." That's for the rightsholders to decide. There seems to be this misperception that song lyrics are a commodity with no value outside of specific recordings of the music they accompany, thus anyone is free to do with them what they will. As sheet music and lyric book sales will attest, they have a very definite value of their own. - snopes +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Urban Legends Reference Pages --> http://www.snopes.com | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ _____________________________________________________________________________ 10. Fast MP3 Search (CD-Quality, small file-size, copyright nightmare) http://mp3.lycos.com/ MP3, a file format that offers near-CD quality sound in very small file sizes, is one of the most popular computerized audio technologies ever. However, the widespread bootlegging of copyrighted music has also made it rather controversial, especially where the recording industry is concerned. After discovering that MP3 was one of the most requested terms on its search engines, Lycos decided to create a search engine just for MP3. Fast MP3 Search currently contains over 500,000 files, searchable by artist or song name. To assist users, an MP3 Server Reliability Guide ranks the more than 1000 FTP servers accessed on a five star system, five being the most reliable. Additional resources at the site include ranked links to MP3 players and encoders and a guide to getting started. Search returns do not distinguish between pirated and legally provided songs, but Lycos has agreed to work with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to combat copyright infringement. [MD] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 11. SLA's 1999 Steven I. Goldspiel Research Grant Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 15:50:48 -0500 From: "Ruth Arnold" <Ruth[at]sla.org> To: newlib-l[at]usc.edu Subject: Funds for Research: SLA Goldspiel Grant Deadline Mime-Version: 1.0 *****APOLOGIES FOR POSTINGS TO MULTIPLE LISTS***** ****Final Announcement**** Dear Library and Information Science Practitioners and Researchers: The Special Libraries Association is soliciting proposals for the 1999 Steven I. Goldspiel Research Grant. This grant is available annually for a research project in the area of special librarianship or information management. The amount of the 1999 grant will be approximately $20,000. Proposals should be postmarked by February 28, 1999 and the recipient will be announced in June of 1999. The Grant is announced internationally. Grant proposals should address one of the areas specified in the SLA Research Agenda: -Futures: how developments in society and technology will impact the special library; -User Issues: information seeking and use, expert systems, human-computer interfaces, information behavior models; -Measures of Productivity and Value: measuring value of information, use of measures by special librarians; -Client/User Satisfaction Measures: adapting satisfaction measures to special library/corporate settings; marketing techniques for assessing value of new services; -Staffing: assessing staffing requirements. Proposals will be evaluated by SLA's Research Committee according to the research topic, methodology, qualifications of researchers, proposal presentation, budget and timetable. Application materials are now available on the SLA website at www.sla.org/research/index.html, or via fax from SLA's toll-free fax-on-demand system at 1-888-411-2856 (items #1401-1406) or contact Ruth M. Arnold, Ph.D. at 1-516-679-3746. Sincerely, Ruth M. Arnold, Ph.D. Director of Research Special Libraries Association 1700 18th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 1-516-679-3746 E-mail: Ruth[at]sla.org _____________________________________________________________________________ 12. LAMA writing competition for LIS students (Sent to SJSU's discussion list by the school's director, Dr. Woolls) LAMA, a division of ALA is announcing a new award competition for students enrolled in accredited library and information studies graduate programs. The LAMA/YBP (Yankee Book Publisher) Student Writing and Development Award will be presented to the author of the best article on technology's impact on leadership. Deadline: March 31, 1999 The winning article will be published in Fall, 1999 in the LAMA Magazine. The award recipient will receive a travel grant up to $1,000 to attend the ALA Conference in New Orleans in June, 1999. You must be a current student member of ALA and LAMA. What a great opportunity to earn your way to ALA -- And, we have an alumna reception there to help you network. And, I will help you meet as many important people as I can. Some of the papers written for our classes would be great foundations for a finished paper. Did you do a major paper on the impact of technology on something that can be changed into "leadership." We have the largest MLIS accredited program in the U.S. We need you to help us show everyone what good students we really have. Blanche _____________________________________________________________________________ 13. SLA News Division's Vormelker-Thomas Student Award The Vormelker-Thomas Student Award, co-sponsored by the News Division of the Special Libraries Association and UMI, offers a $1,500 stipend enabling a graduate student interested in news librarianship to attend the 1999 SLA annual conference in Minneapolis, Minn. Selection Criteria: 1. Applicants must be members of SLA at time of application. 2. Applicants must be attending their first SLA conference. 3. Applicants must be graduate students interested in a career in news librarianship. 4. Applications will be judged on the basis of a typewritten essay (500-1,000 words) which addresses an issue in news librarianship. 5. Applications should include a letter of reference from a news librarian, a news editor or a faculty member. 6. Applications should be accompanied by a resume, a list of course work undertaken, a statement of professional goals and a statement of what he or she expects to gain from attending the conference. 7. Applications must be submitted no later than February 26, 1999. Mail, fax or e-mail applications to: Christopher Hardesty San Jose Mercury News Library 750 Ridder Park Drive San Jose, CA 95190 phone: 408-920-5345 fax: 408-271-3799 email: chardesty[at]sjmercury.com The winner will receive a check prior to the conference in June. The Division reserves the right not to award the stipend if there are no suitable applicants. Xan Barrett 208.433.0802 Boise, Idaho 83706-7136 New Librarian Graduated August 1998 from University of Arizona's School of Information and Related Library Sciences _____________________________________________________________________________ 14. Sandy Berman's bibliography on Mumia Abu-Jamal, with additions Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 16:53:49 -0600 (CST) From: Katia Roberto <roberto[at]alexia.lis.uiuc.edu> To: CMUNSON <CMUNSON[at]aaas.org> cc: librarians[at]tao.ca Subject: Re: Re[2]: Report from ALA Midwinter 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-librarians[at]tao.ca Precedence: bulk Status: U On Fri, 5 Feb 1999, CMUNSON wrote: > I'd like to get a copy of Sandy's bibliography so I can put it on my > website. I live to serve, so here you go. Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Live from Death Row. New York: Bard, 1996. Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Death Blossoms: Reflections from a Prisoner of Conscience. Farmington, PA: Plough Publishing, 1997. Anderson, S.E., editor. In Defense of Mumia. New York: Writers and Readers, 1996. Bedau, Hugo Adam, editor. The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Burton-Rose, Daniel, editor. The Celling of America: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison Industry. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1998. Kennedy, Randall. Race, Crime, and the Law. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997. Lethal Selection: Americans Speak Out on the Death Penalty. Farmington, PA: Plough Publishing, 1997. Mello, Michael. Dead Wrong: A Death Row Lawyer Speaks Out Against Capital Punishment. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997. Palmer, John W. Constitutional Rights of Prisoners, 5th ed. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson, 1997. Wicker, Tom. A Time to Die. New York: Quadrangle/New York Times, 1975. Williams, Tennessee. Not About Nightingales. New York: New Directions, 1998. katia. "i like saying things i mean" - harriet the spy http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~roberto ................................................................... Thanks, Katia. Two more titles of note, both available from AK Distribition (http://www.akpress.org): Abu-Jamal, Mumia. All things censored, Volume 1 (Compact disc). Alternative Tentacles/AK Press 1-902593-07-3. Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Spoken word (Compact disc). Alternative Tentacles 1-902593-07-3. I don't know why they're both listed with the same ISBN (they are definitely different CDs). -cd- Street Librarian http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/7423 "Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!" --Walt Whitman ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Dodge cdodge[at]sun.hennepin.lib.mn.us Hennepin County Library phone: 612-694-8572 12601 Ridgedale Drive fax: 612-541-8600 Minnetonka, MN 55305 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ................................................................... i've got a cd-rom version of this book called "first person : mumia abu-jamal" which contains - the entire text from the book - video interview - almost 50 audio commentaries - other writings by mumia (indexed by year and title) - statements - introduction to mumia's life Voyager - New York, isbn 1-55940-691-7, 1995 Erik ____________________________________________________________________________ __________ e-mail : Erik.Buelinckx[at]uia.ac.be / erikb[at]agoranet.be ___________ ______________ privÈ tel. : 02/241.28.81 - fax : 02/215.47.33 ______________ ____ student Informatie-, documentatie-, & bibliotheekwetenschappen UIA ____ ____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 15. SLA forum: THE INTERNET AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THREE COMMUNITIES The Special Libraries Association, New York Chapter, Social Sciences Group is proud to announce an upcoming forum, THE INTERNET AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THREE COMMUNITIES: Visually Impaired; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered; and Urban, Low-Income * How do different communities use the Internet and how has it changed these communities? * Has the Internet lived up to its promise as a tool to educate, empower and overcome isolation? * What is virtual community? How does it relate to traditional communities? Join us for a provocative forum that will consider the Internet in its most real and powerful form--as a means of transformation for individuals and their respective communities. Speakers: Gregory Rosmaita, American Foundation for the Blind; World Wide Web Consortium Tim Roberts, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center (New York's only health care center primarily serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community) Liz Cahill, BrookLynX (online community information network and Internet/Web publishing training programs serving low-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn) date & time: Wednesday, February 24, 5:30-7:30 p.m. (social hour from 5:30 to 6:30) place: Rockefeller Foundation, 420 Fifth Ave., 23rd Fl., betw. 37-38 St. entrance For more information, contact Monica Berger, Libraries for the Future, mberger[at]lff.org, (212) 352-2330. ******************************************************************************* Please r.s.v.p. by email, fax or mail by February 17 to: Michele LaBella, Catalyst Information Center, 120 Wall Street, 5th Fl., New York, NY 10005. Phone: (212) 514-7600, x312, Fax: (212) 514-8470, email: mlabella[at]catalystwomen.org Name:__________________________________________________________________________ Affiliation:___________________________________________________________________ Phone:_________________ Fax:_________________ Email:________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 16. John Philbrook's false accusation at SFPL, unfortunate aftermath Forwarded to SRRTAC-L by Sandy Berman .......... Andrea Grimes wrote: Dear Salon Editor: Here's a nightmare of a story set in San Francisco. The truly horrible thing about this story is that it is true. I wonder if there might be a Salon journalist interested in reporting on it? Many of us working at the SFPL have been afraid to speak out or identify ourselves, until very recently, because of our real fear of retribution. In April 1996, shortly after the opening of the New Main Library, my colleague, John Philbrook, an openly gay man and a children's librarian at the Main Library's Children's Center, was accused of sexual molestation. His accuser was a disturbed teenager with a long history of lies and false accusations against many other people. Instead of conducting an unbiased and independent investigation, David Price, formerly special assistant to Ken Dowlin (who himself served as City Librarian until his forced resignation in January 1997) and Kathy Page, then Chief of the Main Library, denied John Philbrook his right to due process. Based wholly on suspicion, innuendo, and displeasure at John's outspoken stand on the shortcomings of the New Main Library, they fired him from the position he held for eleven years. Throughout John's distinguished career at the SFPL, his dedication in bringing quality library service to the children of San Francisco, was marked by respect and admiration by most of his colleagues, and numerous awards, including the Mayor of San Francisco's Award for Outstanding Performance in Public Service, commendations from the Board of Supervisors for "vital contributions to the life of San Francisco," and the prestigious Daniel Koshland Award, presented by the San Francisco Foundation for outstanding service to the community. After John was fired, a highly biased investigation was conducted by Inspector Patrick White of the San Francisco Police Department and criminal charges were brought against John. For two and one-half years he vigorously fought these heinous allegations in court. Finally, on July 30, 1998, all charges against John were dropped by Judge William Cahill for complete lack of evidence. Despite this, the Library Administration has not reinstated John. During John's harrowing ordeal, an overwhelming number of his colleagues, friends, family, and library patrons came to his defense, and have continued to stand by him. Library staff petitioned the City Librarian in support of John, in spite of threats of administrative retaliation and efforts to silence us. We continue to support John's fight for justice. We have always believed in his integrity and in his innocence. On Monday, November 16, 1998, John's lawyer, Gary Hall, delivered a two-page press release outlining the history of his client's case, to the San Francisco Chronicle, for the purpose of publishing an update on the story they ran August 12, 1997, by reporter Henry Lee. To date, the Chronicle has chosen not to respond. Would you be interested in this story? I can send you a packet of pertinent documents detailing the case. Please let me know if you're interested and send me your mailing address. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. I may be reached at work (Book Arts & Special Collections, SFPL, Tuesday - Saturday, 415.557.4572); or, at home (415.922.5869, after 7:00 pm). Sincerely, Andrea V. Grimes 1755 O'Farrell Street #3A San Francisco, CA 94115 email at home: ravictory[at]earthlink.net _____________________________________________________________________________ 17. Revised Boy Scouts Resolution Passes at ALA Midwinter Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 18:00:13 -0500 To: plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu, librarians[at]tao.ca, srrtac-l[at]ala.org From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net> Subject: ALA passes resolution against Boy Scouts of America! Reply-To: iskra[at]earthlink.net Sender: owner-PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu Status: U A controversial resolution aimed at discriminatory policies of the Boy Scouts of America which target gays and atheists for exclusion, policies in defense of which the BSA has mounted several major legal proceedings, was finally passed by the Council of the American Library asssociation at its last session during the Mid-Winter Philadelphia conference, resulting in the ALA at last taking a clear stand against homophobia and religious bigotry in an organization with which it has had a long historic relationship. The resolution follows: RESOLUTION ON THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA (revised) ALA Council Doc 51.A WHEREAS the American Library Association (ALA) has had a long relationship with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA); and WHEREAS the BSA continues to exclude persons from membership and leadership on the basis of religious beliefs and/or sexual orientation: and WHEREAS ALA policies 54.17 and 60.2 declare the Association's support for gay rights and "actively commits [ALA's] prestige and resources" to opposing discrimination in several areas including sexual orientation and creed: and WHEREAS ALA policy 1.1 "recognizes [ALA's] broad social responsibilities in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society," among which are homophobia and religious intolerance; and WHEREAS ALA reaafirms the responsibility that librarians have to provide library services equitably to all children and young adults regardless of their affiliations: therefore be it RESOLVED that ALA Council urges the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider their policy of discrimination in the areas of sexual orientation and religious belief and demonstrate a commitment to human rights, inclusiveness and mutual respect. submitted by Mark C. Rosenzweig, Councilor-at-large, seconded by Ruth Gordon and Elaine Harger, Councilors -at-large It may seem somewhat tepid, but it was quite a struggle to get this passed and it does re-affirm ALA's right and duty to speak out against social injustice and to address it in practice. It also adds an important organizational voice to the chorus of condemnation of the BSA's promotion of homophobia and religious sectarianism. Yours in struggle, Mark Rosenzweig ALA Councilor, SRRT Action Council member co-editor "Progressive Librarian" _____________________________________________________________________________ 18. Remembering Marvin Scilken, Unabashed Librarian We were saddened to learn that Marvin Scilken died during the night of February 2nd. He had been attending ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Marvin was the retired director of the Orange (NJ) Public Library, long time ALA Councilor, editor and publisher of the U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian, and a tireless advocate for the best in library service to the public. The ALA Councilors honored Marvin at their Wednesday meeting and adjourned the session in his memory. Peggy Barber Associate Executive Director American Library Association 50 E. Huron Street Chicago, IL 60611 phone: 312-280-3217 fax: 312-280-4392 e-mail: pbarber[at]ala.org ................................................................... I posted a tribute to Marvin Scilken to the PUBLIB list, where it is archived at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/PubLib/archive/9902/0055.html I expect other people will post tributes. These can be read without subscribing to the list. Go to the PUBLIB archive, at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/PubLib/archive.html or go directly to the archive for February 1999, at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/PubLib/archive/9902/ The tribute is long, but if there is interest among people who do not have web access, I will post it to the Council list. Again, it would be nice--and would enhance our work--to have a web-based archive for our Council discussions. However, it would cost money, time and labor. -- Karen G. Schneider | kgs[at]bluehighways.com http://www.bluehighways.com Author: A Practical Guide to Internet Filters, Neal Schuman, 1997 Director, Garfield Library of Brunswick, NY... Soon: Brunswick Community Library! Garfield on the Web: http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/garfield/ ................................................................... He was a genuine "unabashed librarian," who sensitized me long ago to matters like not accepting mindlessly every new Dewey revision (because of the impact on browsability and the integrity of DDC notations) and who in his own catalog "broke the code" of mystifying abbreviations & hieroglyphics so that users could UNDERSTAND what they found in catalog entries (e.g., being much less likely to confound pagination with call numbers). I, for one, miss his voice already. sandy berman ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sanford Berman sberman[at]sun.hennepin.lib.mn.us Hennepin County Library phone: 612-694-8570 12601 Ridgedale Drive fax: 612-541-8600 Minnetonka, MN 55305 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ................................................................... When Councilor Mitch Freedman eulogized Marvin Scilken at last Wednesday's Council meeting, he concluded by singing "Young At Heart." That describes Marvin's outlook on life, but the song that I think exemplifies what he meant to so many of us is Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings." For those not familiar with this song, some of the lines are: Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything that I'd like to be; I could fly higher than an eagle, You are the wind beneath my wings. Marvin Scilken was the wind beneath so many of our wings. I had lunch with him and Polly last Monday, and he left me with an assignment for the U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D L*I*B*R*A*R*I*A*N--to do a piece on the use of debit cards and installation of games on public-access workstations. He always urged me to write something for U*L, and reprinted several items I had written for local publications or posted to discussion groups. Someone brought up the question of what's going to happen to U*L. I think that the greatest thing we could do to memorialize Marvin is to keep that publication going. I'm sure Marvin read countless local library publications to spread ideas about "How I Run My Library Good." It is to be hoped that someone can take a small step to fill his shoes. -- Your friendly CyberGoddess and ALA Councilor, Sue Kamm Email: suekamm[at]class.org The goal of all employees is to anticipate all problems, develop solutions for them, and solve them before they occur. HOWEVER... When you are up to your ass in alligators, it is difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. --Anon. _____________________________________________________________________________ L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://www.libr.org/Juice/ | | Except where noted, items appearing in Library Juice | are copyright-free, so feel free to share them with | colleagues and friends. Library Juice is a free weekly | publication edited by Rory Litwin. Original senders | are credited wherever possible; opinions are theirs. | Your comments and suggestions are welcome. | mailto:Juice[at]libr.org
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Date: Tuesday, February 09, 1999 10:30 PM