Library Juice 3:22

Library Juice 3:22 - June 7, 2000 Contents: 1. The Libraries FAQ 2. Four articles added to Progressive Librarian website 3. CFP - _Reference Librarian_ issue on the image of the librarian 4. Call for Papers - Popular Culture Association 2001 5. Shave librarian 6. xrefer 7. Stand For Children Day 8. Gay & Lesbian Pride Month 9. YWCA Year at a Glance 10. The value of the library within the community 11. UCITA 12. _In Formation_ 13. ALA PR Follies 14. Bruno's Laws 15. Rory editing "librarians" category on ODP 16. A dialog with Subjex 17. Fan mail for Dr. Laura 18. Dr. Laura ducks the tough questions 19. Censorware blocks Dr. Laura's hate speech, but her site is immune 20. Letter from LC Cataloging Policy and Support Office to S. Berman 21. Re: Weeding procedures (song) Quote for the week: "I read," I say. "I study and read. I bet I've read everything you've read. Don't think I haven't. I consume libraries. I wear out spines and ROM-drives. I do things like get in a taxi and say, 'The library, and step on it.'" -David Foster Wallace, author of _A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again_ Homepage of the week: Terry Ballard http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/libraries/tballard/ ____________________________________________________________________________top 1. The Libraries FAQ http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2161/faqidx.htm The Libraries FAQ just keeps getting better (and bigger). Currently it has sections on General Information About Libraries, Education & Training, Work, Citation & Classification, Organizations, Culture, and "The Cyberstacks." ____________________________________________________________________________top 2. Four articles added to Progressive Librarian website I've added a few articles to the Progressive Librarian web site. They are: Issue 16: Mana, Manna, Manner: Power & the Practice of Librarianship, by Jennifer Cram http://libr.org/PL/16_Cram.html Understanding Information Media in the Age of Neoliberalism: The Contribution of Herbert Schiller, by Mark Hudson http://libr.org/PL/16_Hudson.html Anarchists with a Tool: The Library http://libr.org/PL/16_Anarchists.html And from issue 14: Growing Our Communications Future - Access, Not Just Wires, by Karen Coyle http://libr.org/PL/14_Coyle.html Also see the new online contents page, listing the articles that are online from all issues of Progressive Librarian: http://libr.org/PL/contentsFT.html -Rory ____________________________________________________________________________top 3. CFP - _Reference Librarian_ issue on the image of the librarian Original Message From "Candace Benefiel" <CBENEFIE[at]lib-gw.tamu.edu> We are currently seeking papers for a guest-edited issue of the Reference Librarian from Haworth Press. This issue will examine the image of the librarian throughout history, stereotypes in popular culture and society, and the changing roles of the profession. Papers should be approximately 15 pages. References, citations, and general style of manuscripts for this Journal should follow the Chicago style (as outlined in the latest edition of the Manual of Style of the University of Chicago Press). Manuscripts will be reviewed for suitabilit y and scholarship. Abstracts should be submitted by July 1, 2000. Manuscripts to be submitted for review by October 1, 2000. Please send abstracts, manuscripts or inquiries to: Wendi Arant Kaspar or Candace R. Benefiel Asssistant Professor Associate Professor Humanities Reference Librarian Senior Humanities Reference Librarian Sterling C. Evans Library Sterling C. Evans Library Texas A&M University Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-5000 College Station, TX 77843-5000 warant[at]tamu.edu cbenefie[at]lib-gw.tamu.edu 979-862-6310 979-862-1044 ____________________________________________________________________________top 4. Call for Papers - Popular Culture Association 2001 Libraries and Popular Culture Area The Popular Culture Association will be holding its annual joint meeting with the American Culture Association in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 11-14 2001. Scholars from various disciplines will meet to share their Popular Culture interests and research. The Libraries and Popular Culture Area is soliciting papers dealing with any aspect of Popular Culture as it pertains to libraries, archives, museums, or research. In the past this has included descriptions of research collections, studies of popular images of libraries or librarians, or reports on developments in technical services for collecting popular culture materials. Prospective presenters should send a one-page abstract, by September 15 2000, to: Allen Ellis W. Frank Steely Library Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY 41099-6101 859-572-5527 FAX: 606-572-5390 E-Mail: ellisa[at]nku.edu This message is cross-posted to the following listservs: POPCULIB -- Discussion list of the ACRL Libraries and Popular Culture Discussion Group LIBREF-L -- Discussion of Library Reference Issues H-PCAACA -- Discussion list of the Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association ____________________________________________________________________________top 5. Shave librarian Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 22:43:01 -0400 To: rory[at]libr.org From: Shave Librarian <mail[at]shavelibrarian.com> Subject: Library Juice Submission Mime-Version: 1.0 Rory, I'm not sure our 'take' on shave and librarians will be of interest to you, but check this out... We are a Boston-based band called Shave Librarian. I define 'shave' as a surreal state of perfection. That is the sound we are presenting. We have three critically acclaimed releases with a new CD coming out in about one month. As the main songwriter/librarian, I feel that we are cataloging surreal experiences through our projects and music. Check us out at: http://www.shavelibrarian.com ____________________________________________________________________________top 6. xrefer http://www.xrefer.com/ Launched last week, this reference search engine meta-searches and cross-references sixteen texts from Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Oxford UP, and Penguin. These include encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, books of quotations, and a number of subject-specific titles. After a simple keyword search, initial returns consist of a brief description and the source. Full returns can vary significantly in length, some quite brief, with a useful collection of cross-references and adjacent entries displayed on the right-hand side of the browser window. With its clean interface and quick operation, xrefer deserves a prominent place in any user's bookmarks. [MD] > From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ____________________________________________________________________________top 7. Stand For Children Day Note that this initiative lasts through the 19th... (ed.) Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 09:57:10 -0500 From: Jeanette Larson <jlarson[at]tenet.edu> Subject: [YALSA-L:2281] Stand For Children Day/ June 1 June 1, 2000 is Stand For Children Day. Initiated by the Children's Defense Fund in 1996, the initiative is also moving to the net with a cyber-stand program. Go to http://www.stand.org/ for details. On and around June 1, people all across the country will host local Stand For Children Day events. The website includes suggestions for potential events, including violent toy trade-ins, health insurance sign-ups, etc. Libraries play a role in the education, health, and after school initiatives, as well as many other general concerns. Your library can also own a piece of original children's book art from Marian Wright Edelman's book, STAND FOR CHILDREN. The Texas Library Association's Disaster Relief Fund is holding an on-line auction of three quilts created by Adrienne Yorinks. Go to http://www.txla.org/wells/gallery.html to look at the quilts and place your bid. Proceeds will help Texas libraries rebuild collections after disaster strikes. -- Jeanette Larson Disaster Relief Fund ad hoc Committee Austin, TX jlarson[at]tenet.edu "Children cannot discover the delight of books on their own. They need an adult to bring books into their lives and help them discover that books and reading are fun." --First Steps to Literacy ____________________________________________________________________________top 8. Gay & Lesbian Pride Month by Teri Weesner, Youth Services Editor Do you have resources for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender teens in your library? After I created a Gay Pride display for my library's "Teen Territory" I decided to create something of more permanance: a resource folder. Thank you Ellen Bass and Kate Kaufman, (authors of *free your mind: the Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth and Thier Allies* Harper Trade 1996) for having a web site! <http://www.free-mind.com> As librarians, we are among the "their allies" mentioned in the subtitle! From the "free your mind" site's WWW Resources for Gay & Lesbian Youth, I linked to Queer Resources Directory's youth page. I put this page, along with a copy of a Yahoo search on "Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals", subheading, "Youth" into a binder. As I explored these links myself, I printed out annotated bibliographies of fiction and non-fiction to add to the binder. This is a work in progress for local information, online resources and literature for queer young adults. ____________________________________________________________________________top 9. YWCA Year at a Glance http://www.ywca.org/html/B3.asp Did you know that September was Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month? Or that November 16th was the International Day of Tolerance? These facts and more at the YWCA Year at a Glance. This page doubles as a handy calendar if you don't happen to have one at your desk (Clicking on a month gives you the full calendar for that month). ____________________________________________________________________________top 10. The value of the library within the community Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 19:30:22 -0700 (PDT) From: "Shaleen Culbert" <shaleenculbert[at]mail.ifls.lib.wi.us> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: Library Value Hello, Thank you to everyone who responded to my request for articles regarding the value of libraries within a community. I was impressed with the quality of the articles and the research involved. I'll continue looking for similar items (I think I'm becoming obsessed with this) and post the good stuff as I find it. What follows is a compilation of websites that were forwarded to me by fellow publibbers. Thanks again, Shaleen The document, "Dividends: The Value of Public Libraries" in Canada can be found at the following website: http://209.217.90.93/top/CAPL/caplcovr.htm The information, albeit Canadian, may be of interest and use. You may also find the following site interesting. It describes a manual (The Library's Contribution to your community: a resource manual for libraries to document their social and economic contribution to the local community) which is available for purchase at $ 300 Cdn (about 160 US, I think): http://www.library.on.ca/advert.pdf You can see some of the resulting case studies from the use of this manual at: http://www.library.on.ca/consulting/CaseStudies/casestud.htm One or two years ago, LJ had an issue which featured Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley as the "politician of the year" (or something like that) due to his strong support for Libraries. Daley had some excellent quotes which might go over with your local municipal funding officials. Daley is known as a hard, practical administrator who doesn't suffer fools gladly. He allocated an additional $50 million to the Chicago Public Library several years ago for building up of their branch facilities. James B. Casey --- Public Librarian, ALA Council Member until July 2000. http://istweb.syr.edu/~mcclure/pasectionlinks.html Take a look at the report "Public Library Use in Pennsylvania: Identifying Uses, Benefits, and Impacts" June 1998 by Drs. Charles McClure and John Bertot. Your state library may have- or try Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries, Bureau of Library Development, PO Box 1601, Harrisburg, PA 17105 http://douglas.lib.co.us/larue/lc2000 This site archives the articles of Jamie LaRue, Director of the Douglas County Library system in Douglas County, Colorado and includes articles on measuring library value and services. http://www.sarahlong.org/contents.htm This is ALA President Sarah Longís website and has articles on her theme "Libraries Build Community". -- ******************************** Shaleen Culbert-Kivlin, Director Hudson Public Library 911 4th Street Hudson, WI 54016 715-386-3106 715-381-0486(fax) shaleenculbert[at]ifls.lib.wi.us ********************************* -- ____________________________________________________________________________top 11. UCITA "Karen G. Schneider" wrote (to ALACOUN): On a related note--right now, booksellers and software manufacturers are trying very hard to make copyright law more stringent. UCITA is the proposed law, and it is being introduced state to state. UCITA, as I read it, will put libraries out of business by making content far too expensive to provide to the public. It would be nice if the legislative body for the largest professional organization of librarians had some intelligent discussion about this topic, but after nearly four years of content-free discussion on this list, I'm not holding my breath. Karen G. Schneider kgs[at]bluehighways.com Assistant Director of Technology Shenendehowa Public Library, Clifton Park, NY http://www.shenpublib.org ----- Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2000 16:21:50 -0400 From: Cathy Wojewodzki <cathyw[at]UDel.Edu> To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: [ALACOUN:4728] UCITA Karen, some of us are learning a lot about UCITA, both the peril for libraries and the needs of its proponents. As this is a battle with huge implications for libraries that is just beginning to play out in the states, I think it imperative that there be discussion of this issue and ALA's strategy and support for the state library organizations opposing this legislation. The librarians in Maryland and Virginia have already fought this battle, at least the first rounds. We are trying to amend UCITA legislation introduced in Delaware this spring, and I believe we will be dealing with this legislation again next spring. UCITA is a very complex topic and difficult to discuss with those who aren't interested and have not yet needed or wanted to know and understand the issues. Councilors may want to look at the web pages posted by the ALA Washington Office (http://www.ala.org/washoff/), ARL (http://www.arl.org), and EDUCAUSE (http://www.educause.edu/policy/) regarding UCITA. Each of these pages has links to other pages discussing both sides of the debate. I have prepared a "briefing" notebook and would be glad to share its table of contents with any of you. Cathy Wojewodzki Delaware Chapter Councilor Librarian University of Delaware Library ---------------------- Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 14:59:15 -0500 From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org> Subject: [IFACTION:866] Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act To: Intellectual Freedom Action News <ifaction[at]ala1.ala.org> FYI At the 2000 ALA Midwinter Meeting, the ALA Council adopted a resolution to encourage its members and its state chapters to ask their state legislators to oppose the passage of UCITA (Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act ) in their state legislatures. To that end, the ALA Washington Office has posted a sample letter that can be addressed to individual state legislatures. That letter can be found at http://www.ala.org/washoff/sampleletter.html _________________________ Don Wood American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom 50 East Huron Street Chicago, IL 60611 312-280-4225 800-545-2433, ext. 4225 Fax: 312-280-4227 http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 12. _In Formation_ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 05:20:19 -0500 From: <jok707s[at]mail.smsu.edu> To: ..... Subject: _In Formation_ Mime-Version: 1.0 No, that subject line is not a typo. _In Formation_ is the name of a magazine. Their motto is "Every day, computers are making people easier to use." If you haven't encountered this periodical yet, try your local Barnes & Noble, or hit the web site: http://www.informationmag.com Joel Kahn * * * "A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts." -- George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language," 1946 ____________________________________________________________________________top 13. ALA PR Follies Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 03:08:37 -0400 To: alacoun[at]ala.org From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net> Subject: PR Follies I have just read the ALA Executive Board report in the current issue of American Libraries (p.112) with some interest. I note that a major PR firm, BSMG Worldwide, was employed "to determine the public's perception of libraries." I would very much like to see that report itself, in full, and, I would imagine, so would many other Councilors and members. Is that possible? Can it be posted on the ALA site. That might be useful and interesting. As for the recommendations...I wonder how much it cost to come up with three such banal "main messages" as reported by Ms Sosin of BSMG to the board, supposedly based on the results of this survey. The first, "Libraries offer one-stop shopping where users can find virtually anything" is meaningless hype. The term "one-stop shopping" is hardly appropriate to libraries and its overuse in marketing scarcely makes it a striking claim. "Libraries are part of the American dream"? "American dream? Give me a break.I thought that particular noisome term was put to sleep quite a while ago. What a tired cliche! And "Libraries are changing and dynamic places"? What does that mean? Changing from what to what? Dynamic how? To what effect? That's just puffery. And then the piece de resistance... the "branding" (which I knew was coming), using the "tagline" "[at]Your Library." Do you have any idea how many people are using the "[at]" sign this way? That would really make our campaign stand out. Really clever, isn't it? How much did this piece of work cost the Association? Why in the world is this tripe any better than what we could come up with ourselves? Why are we satisfied with this? I love libraries and I believe in ALA's mission. I think we deserve better than this. Sorry to have to be so blunt and negative, but I must register my astonishment that this is going to be the basis of a million dollar "public awareness campaign". There is much more to be said about this, but I would prefer to see the report first and examine the minutes of the Board's deliberations. Mark C. Rosenzweig Councilor at large .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 10:51:38 -0400 From: "Carol Reid" <creid[at]MAIL.NYSED.GOV> To: <alacoun[at]ala.org>, <srrtac-l[at]ala.org>, <PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu> Subject: Re: PR Follies Mark, Touche, yet again. The fight against corporate currying and dumbing down unto meaninglessness is a thankless one, for the most part, but I do want to thank you for constantly crying out against such sophomoric, soporific wasting of our all too limited resources. Intellectual nudity no longer attracts much attention, but you deserve credit for continually calling attention to the fact that the emperor has no clothes. Carol Reid New York State Library ____________________________________________________________________________top 14. Bruno's Laws Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 19:54:06 -0700 From: Elliot Kanter <ekanter[at]ucsd.edu> To: editor[at]libr.org Subject: Bruno's laws You asked about provenance and authorship of Bruno's laws. I found your site using every search engine I could think of looking for a digitized copy of those laws long taped to my wall, and so can help. (By the way, you've left out law number 12: "Be as concrete as possible when giving directions ("the second door on the white wall"). The laws are still part of our Reference Manual. Bruno was the alter ego/nomme du reference of Phillip A. Smith (Phil Smith), also known here as "Reference Librarian Extraordinaire". He taught a generation of us to do reference work at the University of California, San Diego. Before he came out here in the 1970s, he worked the big circular reference desk in the main hall of the Library of Congress. Phil died in Spring 1995, after completing but before seeing in print the section on Theater and Performing Arts in the 11th edition of ALA's Guide to Reference Books. I hope this helps -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Elliot Kanter INTERNET: ekanter[at]ucsd.edu Social Sciences & Humanities Library University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive VOICE: (619) 534-1263 La Jolla, CA 92093-0175 FAX: (619) 534-7548 ----------------------------------------------------------------- .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Here are Bruno's Laws, from a previous issue of Library Juice 1. Never Assume - Anything about anything or anyone. Typically, the user who says "I've looked in the catalog and you don't have the book" or the colleague who says "I've checked every conceivable source." Skepticism as process. 2. Get Off Your Duff - Pointing has its place, Emily Post to the contrary, but the skilled librarian never simply points the user to a complex or "iffy" source. If there is any doubt that the user might run into problems, MOVE. 3. Attempt to Answer the Original Question - During the reference interview, it often turns out that the question is reformulated. This is fine, but take care to respond to the question as asked. Example: Original question: "Where are the books on England?" Reformulated question: "Where can I find information on the Gunpowder Plot?" Somewhere, early into the interview if possible, indicate that if the user truly does wish to browse the stacks, many books on England can be found in the DA section on the fifth floor. In this way he/she perceives that the request for help has been fully heard. 4. Never Take Anything Interesting to Read With You to the Desk - Not terribly interesting, anyway. If you're absorbed, with head lowered, you'll appear to be unapproachable. 5. Make it a Practice to Follow up on Unresolved Questions - This applies to questions you feel could have been answered better, even if the user has long since left the building. For several reasons: Sometimes the user returns. The question, or one like it, will probably come up again. It's a good device for testing new sources ("I wish I'd known about this last week.") A back burner, for odd moments on rainy Tuesdays, is a fine device. 6. Keep in Mind - You may have heard the question a thousand times, but it's the first time the user has ever asked it. 7. Dress Comfortably. 8. Avoid Library Jargon Like the Plague - If you tell someone to look under the main entry, the chances are good that he/she will find it -- and leave through it. 9. Be Prepared to Drop all Conversations with Colleagues the Instant a User Shows Up - No one will be offended by this standard practice. 10. Before Coming to the Desk, try to Take a Few Minutes for Mental Calisthenics - The desk shift should be approached for the fun and challenge that it is. 11. Always Pass Along any Useful Information You Encounter in a Search. And now restoring 12. Be as concrete as possible when giving directions ("the second door on the white wall"). ____________________________________________________________________________top 15. Rory editing "librarians" category on ODP I have re-joined the Open Directory Project as an editor, and this time I am actually making some edits. I'm editing the category "Reference/Libraries/Library and Information Science/Librarians" and so far I have doubled it in size to 20 entries. You can check it out at http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Librarians/ . The Open Directory Project is a directory of the web similar to the Yahoo directory, only it's created by volunteer editors rather than by a paid staff. This means that most of the editors don't have any training in classification or ontology, and consequently all new category creation has to be approved by higher-ups. There is a staff who wield absolute authority and are under no obligation to share their reasoning, so volunteer-based as it may be, it is not a democratic system. The volunteers are the ones who add the sites though, and they do know their subject areas on the web. Most editors have web sites of their own which they aim to promote, but there are some controls against this type of abuse. (Note that in the "librarians" category I do not plan to add my home page, but if I do compile a collection of Library Juice home pages of the week I'll definitely list that.) When I first toyed with joining ODP there were about 7,000 editors; now there are over 25,000. I am surprised at how well the directory has held up over this expansion period given its volunteer makeup. It hasn't devolved into disorganization at all; in fact it seems to have improved. There is a whole ODP editor's culture which seems to keep it in shape, with experienced veterans guiding the new editors. ODP has recently become more important as well. As you may know, numerous search engines have added a directory in order to compete with Yahoo. Most of them are in fact using the ODP directory, because it comes to them free-of-charge. They simply incorporate it into their own web sites, occassionally adding value (as in the case of Google and their relevance-ranking system). If you want to know more about the Open Directory Project, see http://www.dmoz.org/about.html . Why not sign up and be an editor? It's a great opportunity to have a hand in in the production of an important internet finding aid. ____________________________________________________________________________top 16. A dialog with Subjex http://www.subjex.com Welcome! My name is Subjex. I am a dialogue-based search engine in BETA. Please read my Current brain limitations, so that you understand what I am capable of. Please talk to me using full sentences, as you would a friend. How can I help you? Me: I'd like to find out about the Cuban Libraries Support Group. Subjex: Nov/Dec 99 - IFLA condemns Cuban repression of librarians from Altavista subSitu home .. to more announcements .. FROM: The Friends of Cuban Libraries After a 3-mo ... IFLA Committee Condemns Cuban Library Repression / Friends of Cuban Libraries from Altavista Cuba news from independent journalist on the Island and other news sources... Cuban Genealogy Center from Altavista Cuban genealogy resources... Take a look at these web pages. What else can you tell me about out about the cuban libraries support group? Me: Well, it was started by John Pateman. Subjex: Do you want more information about out about the cuban libraries support group? Me: I would like any information about the Cuban Libraries Support Group. Subjex: Nov/Dec 99 - IFLA condemns Cuban repression of librarians from Altavista subSitu home .. to more announcements .. FROM: The Friends of Cuban Libraries After a 3-mo ... IFLA Committee Condemns Cuban Library Repression / Friends of Cuban Libraries from Altavista Cuba news from independent journalist on the Island and other news sources... Friends of Cuban Libraries from Altavista Latest Censorship News. Publishers in the prison of literature. Friends of Cuban Libraries. CUB ... You might be interested in these web pages. What specific details about the cuban libraries support group do you want? Me: Any details at all. Subjex: Do you want more information about the cuban libraries support group? Me: You haven't given me any information about the Cuban Libraries Support Group, also known as CLSG. Subjex: Why do you think I have not given you any information about the cuban libraries support group also known as clsg? Me: Because you suck? Subjex: That seems reasonable. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Subjex "current brain limitations": Subjex(tm) is currently undergoing DEEP BETA debugging and testing. For best searching results, we suggest that you use full sentences to talk to Subjex, except when Subjex asks you a question that does not require it. As the developers of Subjex, our goal over the first few weeks is to give you an idea or "taste" of its incredible potential. For now we suggest that you use sentence structure like: Where can I buy a new car? What is the definition of Alkali? Tell me about MP3 players. I want to look up an HTML tutorial. Thanks for your kind patience. The developers and Subjex(tm) staff... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. I won't mince words - Subjex really sucks. It doesn't seem to do any natural language processing at all - it seems to be little more than an altavista search that only gives three results. It's supposed to help you refine your search iteratively but it doesn't seem to do that at all. Supplying more information just gets you farther from the desired result, not nearer. I recommend it for amusement. You might be asked clarifying questions such as these: "What information about I would like to to know how long fidel castro has been in power do you want to know?" or "What specific details about okay how successful was the great literacy campaign do you want?" I worked for some time at getting some useable results using a natural language query and not once did it work. I would have better results typing in the same natural language query into altavista, without the artificial unintelligence, because I would at least get a list of hits more than three items long.... ____________________________________________________________________________top 17. Fan mail for Dr. Laura Dear Dr. Laura, Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow em. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. How should I deal with this? I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as it suggests in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. Lev. 25:44 states that I may buy slaves from the nations that are around us. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify? I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 10:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Lev. 20:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging. - A Fan ____________________________________________________________________________top 18. Dr. Laura ducks the tough questions MSNBC has noticed that physiologist and radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger has devised a signal to let her producers know when she doesn't like the way an interview is going. Currently touring to promote her new book, Parenthood by Proxy, and increasingly embattled over sponsor attrition and public outcry over her forthcoming TV show, Dr. Laura is putting her foot down to make sure topics she doesn't care to discuss aren't talked about. In a recent interview with Canadian journalist Arlene Bynon, it was agreed that questions would not be asked about the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission's chastising of Dr. Laura, but Bynon insisted upon the right to ask about Dr. Laura's views on homosexuality, whether the questions were answered or not. A few minutes into the interview, Bynon asked Schlessinger about the controversy, and she evaded the question, says the source. Then Bynon rephrased the question. "Dr. Laura tapped her [earpiece] and said, 'I'm having trouble hearing you,' " says MSNBC's source. "Then the screen went blank. Her people in the U.S. cut off the interview. I spoke with one of them who told me that was her sign to bail out of the interview." A spokeswoman for Schlessinger denied that the interview was intentionally cut short. [I don't know the origin of this story. -Editor.] ____________________________________________________________________________top 19. Censorware blocks Dr. Laura's hate speech, but her site is immune From: Ben Ostrowsky <sylvar[at]vaxer.net> To: juice[at]libr.org Subject: Censorware blocks Dr. Laura's hate speech, but her site is immune Quoted verbatim from http://www.peacefire.org/BaitAndSwitch/ "Bait and Switch" is an experiment to find out whether small, personal home pages and Web sites of large organizations get identical treatment from blocking software companies in deciding what to block. Most censorware products attempt to block "hate speech", with "hate speech" usually defined to include derogatory statements based on sexual orientation. (The definitions used by the different companies are usually published on the company Web sites; current definitions at the time of the experiment are collected here) We collected some of the anti-gay statements from the home pages of four well-known conservative sites: the Family Research Council, the Focus on the Family, the Official Dr. Laura web page and Concerned Women for America (none of these sites are currently blocked by any of the programs that we tested). We then created one different "bait" Web page for each of these organizations, with the "bait" page consisting of quotes taken from the organization's Web site, without telling the viewer where the quotes came from. The "bait" pages were submitted for review to each of the blocking companies (through anonymous HotMail accounts so that the companies wouldn't know the submissions were coming from Peacefire). In all cases, the blocking companies agreed to block the pages we submitted in their "hate speech" categories. We then contacted the blocking companies to ask if they would block the organizations whose Web pages were the sources of our anti-gay quotes. So far, all of the censorware companies in our experiment have been back-pedaling since then, saying that they will not block the pages which were the original sources for the anti-gay quotes. Naturally, Peacefire does not advocate censoring these pages, but only because we are against censorship in general. If blocking software claims to block sites which "denigrate people based on sexual orientation" -- as almost all censorware companies claim to do, in their published definitions of "hate speech" -- then the sites that we listed clearly meet those criteria. -- Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. -- Dwight Eisenhower, 1953 ____________________________________________________________________________top 20. May 10, 2000 The Library of Congress Cataloging Policy and Support Office Dear Mr. Berman, The change from UNTOUCHABLES to DALITS was approved at this morning's subject heading editorial meeting for Weekly List 00-18. We presently have no plans to change our heading for GYPSIES. Sincerely, Tom Yee Acting Chief, CPSO (See Library Juice 3:20, item #11 - http://libr.org/Juice/issues/vol3/LJ_3.20.html#11 ) ____________________________________________________________________________top 21. Re: Weeding procedures (song) Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 21:43:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Nann Blaine Hilyard <nhilyard[at]lvdl.org> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu> Subject: RE: weeding procedures Kathryn wrote: ...... I am looking for anyone who has successfully come up with a plan that works and that gets the staff excited about weeding..... Kathryn, You could start with a song! This was posted to soc.libraries.talk; my printout of the post is 3/21/96. It was written by Carla Toebbel at the Des Moines, IA, PL, and is to be sung to the tune "Rawhide": Keep weedin', weedin', weedin', It's more space we're needin' Keep at them books a-weedin', DISCARD! Thru dust and webs and leather In all kinds of weather Wishin' my section was all done. All the things we're pitchin', Both fiction and nonfiction, May haunt us but is sure has been fun. Chorus: Pull 'em down, dust 'em off, Dust 'em off, pull 'em down, Pull 'em down, dust 'em off, DISCARD! Cart 'em out, stamp 'em up, Stamp 'em up, cart 'em out, Cart 'em out, Stamp 'em up, DISCARD! Keep choosin', choosin', choosin, Books we must be loosin', Can't be no refusin', DISCARD! Don't try to understand 'em Just pick and pull and stamp 'em, Soon we'll have shelvin' we can use. Our Head's calculatin' The target we'll be makin' Be makin' or we'll be singin' the blues. (Repeat Chorus) HTH, Nann (who thinks that "Library: the Musical" is a concept someone should pursue....) Nann Blaine Hilyard Lake Villa District Library Lake Villa, Illinois ____________________________________________________________________________top L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://libr.org/Juice/ | | Library Juice is supported by a voluntary subscription | fee of $10 per year, variable based on ability and | desire to pay. You may send a check payable in US funds | to Rory Litwin, at PO Box 720511, San Jose, CA 95172 | | 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. If you are the author of some | email in Library Juice which you want removed from | the web, please write to me and I will remove it. | | Your comments and suggestions are welcome. | | Rory[at]libr.org This page was created by SimpleText2Html 1.0.3 on 6-Jun-100. un-100.