Library Juice 3:27 - July 19, 2000
Contents:
1. Questioning Questia
2. ALA Councilor Al Kagan's report to SRRT
3. Why a "CVS"?
4. What's up with Counterpoise
5. Letter from Beacher Wiggins, LC Head of Cataloging, to Sanford Berman
6. Letter from Ian Hancock to James Billington
7. Greetings from the Alternative Press Center
8. Librarians go on strike in Canton, Ohio
9. Arrest Warrants issued for overdue library books
10. Library Bill of Rights - four amended and one new interpretation
11. Public Library Salary Surveys
12. ARL Annual Salary Survey
13. FindArticles.com
14. FBI's Carnivore Gobbles Lots of E-Mail
15. Consumer's online privacy
16. Open Letter asking for the reconnection of the BURN server
17. Sign the Rainforest Site Petition
18. Naked Librarians
Quote for the week:
"Books are weapons in the war of ideas."
-American Library Association, 1942
Home page of the week: Tom Tomlinson
http://mindlink.net/twt/____________________________________________________________________________top
1. Questioning Questia
Or, Disintermediation Goes to College
I came to the ALA Annual Conference with a tight schedule of
activities mostly unrelated to my job as the director of a tiny,
low-budget college library. One of the things I did plan to do for
my job was to visit the booths for Questia and ebrary on the exhibits
floor. I couldn't find the ebrary booth, but I spent some time at
Questia, and I was disappointed by what I learned.As I say, our library is tiny and has a tiny budget. I imagined that
we could turn to Questia, which plans to have 50,000 books and
journals online in early '01 and 250,000 in three years, to
supplement our collection. I had it in my mind that they were going
to be a vendor serving libraries and we could pay for downloads on a
per-use basis; economical for our small student population (like
FirstSearch).It doesn't work that way. Questia is marketing itself directly to
students, who need to buy a month-long or year-long subscription in
order to get at the contents of the library (searching is free).
Subscribers also get file storage to save papers online, can "write"
in the margins of the books and highlight passages, and can get
automatically generated footnotes and bibliographies. These features
encourage students to do all their research within Questia, which
can't do collection development according to local needs; it is
inevitably a "one size fits all" library.It should also be noted that Questia is a for-profit business getting
involved in educational services that *duplicate* services that
non-profit educational institutions are already paying for with
tuition monies. I believe Questia's for-profit status could call
their integrity into question. A capitalist enterprise such as
Questia, in contrast to educational institutions (as compromised as
they may be), has a comparatively strong interest in furthering a
particular ideology (Consumer Capitalism). Can we expect the
literature of the Left to be as well-represented in the Questia
library as it is in real University libraries? I doubt it.Make no mistake, Questia is a money-driven business that has entered
into direct competition with college libraries by going straight for
the students. This is disintermediation in academic library
services. Students will be accessing generic collections from their
dorm rooms, completely bypassing the library's customized collection
and the guidance of librarians. It is an extremely frustrating
development. Why couldn't Questia simply have marketed their online
collection to libraries, the way database vendors do? Librarians
would have been kept in the loop, in their appropriate, educational
function, teaching students how to do research and developing the
collection according to their needs.Questia seems like the future we all knew was coming; I don't even
want to think about where it could go from here, how far along the
path of privatisation, disintermediation, and standardization it is
possible to go before something starts to give. Sadder still, I know
that at my institution, Questia may provide an answer for some
students who find our collection inadequate. Should I discourage
them from using it if they find it valuable and are willing to pay?If you want to contact someone at Questia, you can.
Their PR person is Katy Glass, Senior Account Executive at Shandwich
International's Houston office. I am sure she would love to learn
how to anticipate and respond to your complaints. She can be reached
at 713-572-4801 or by email at kglass[at]shandwick.com. I would skip her
and go straight to the librarians.The librarians are Carol Ann Hughes, Ph.D. in charge of the
collection, and also Nancy Buchanan and Suzan D. McGinnis. Carol Ann
Hughes can be reached at chughes[at]questia.com or by phone at
713-358-2578.-Rory Litwin
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2. ALA Councilor Al Kagan's report to SRRT
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 22:38:44 -0500
To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org>
From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu>
Subject: [SRRTAC-L:4973] Report on ALA Council
Report on ALA Council, Chicago, July 2000
We are making some progress on organizing to represent SRRT interests
on the ALA Council. In our second try at forming a Progressive
Caucus, Herb Biblo and I invited 20 Councilors to attend a meeting on
Friday night. The response was gratifying, 11 Councilors and one
prospective candidate appeared, and we had a serious as well as
entertaining discussion. One of our agenda items was recruiting new
progressive councilors, and we plan to invite the candidates to our
next caucus meeting. I am very hopeful about this kind of organizing
for the future. Let us know if you are considering running for ALA
Council.The major agenda item on the Council agenda was the Core Values
statement. Most of you have probably heard by now that we won the
battle, although the debate is not over. The document was referred
back to two ALA Presidents to be revisited next summer. The Core
Values document was attacked from all sides including by members of
the ethnic caucuses. Perhaps the most important criticism came from
the Intellectual Freedom Committee. They noted that the words
"intellectual freedom" were absent. The IFC's formal response noted
that "The very nature of a core value requires consistency and
consensus." Several people made this point on the Council floor.
Such a document should be passed by acclamation rather than forced
through for the wrong reasons.Another major discussion took place around an outsourcing and
privatization report that was only distributed the day before it was
discussed. However, we did get the Executive Summary about a week
before the meeting. Some of you may remember my posting to the
listserv just before I left for Chicago. The report defined
"privatization" completely out of existence and stated that
outsourcing per se had no significant negative impact. I blasted the
report in the Council Caucus, and many Councilors spoke against it in
Council debate. It was supposed to be an informational item only,
but it ended up as an action item. In the end, the Council
officially received the report but took no other action.On our second try, the Council rejected socially responsible
investing again by a vote of 54 to 67. Losing by 13 votes was
actually good progress. Mark had developed a discussion with several
Councilors who voted against it last time, and one of them actually
introduced the resolution on the floor. I have some hope that the
newly elected members may make the difference on our third try at
Midwinter 2001.Another potentially important resolution concerned ALA's electronic
meeting policy. ALA committees will now be able to experiment with
chat rooms for real online meetings. In response to my question, the
task force representative asserted that the document did not include
making policy decisions online. Perhaps SRRT needs to have some
debate on this. I am concerned that this will eventually lead to
making decisions online in a way that will subvert the democratic
process. ALA Council is a very political body, and important ALA
committees and other bodies also work in a political way. Much
happens in caucus, and things can change overnight due to lobbying.
If Council had voted on the Core Values statement in a chat room, I
am convinced that it would have been approved. I see this as a very
dangerous trend that could weaken SRRT's impact on the process.The low point of the Council sessions was probably when the body
rejected a policy document to put ALA and libraries in compliance
with the disability law. Many Councilors objected to the language
that libraries "must" do various things. They wanted less rigid
language. I found this debate quite embarrassing.Let me also give an update on the new policy on "Speaking with One
Voice." The ALA lawyer met with the Round Table Coordinating
Committee and explained the legal structure of the organization. She
also provided a document on guidelines for 501(c)(3) organizations for
electoral politics. The document refers only to the prohibition on
supporting candidates for office, and should have no bearing for us
on Speaking with One Voice. To my knowledge, SRRT has never
officially endorsed a candidate other than for ALA President or
Council. However, the lawyer's interpretation of even that is
problematical since she asserted that even inviting a candidate to
speak may be against the law under certain circumstances. Note that
we invited Winona LaDuke to speak before she was a candidate and that
she did not speak as a candidate. Of course, this is selectively
enforced. It is interesting that Nancy Kranich hosted a benefit for
Major Owens without any protest from the lawyer. In any case, there
is an interpretation problem here, and there is confusion between
what is law and what is ALA policy. In the end, the lawyer finally
admitted that ALA Council has delegated certain speaking functions to
divisions but not to round tables. The Progressive Caucus discussed
this topic at length and came to a conclusion that it would be
useless to challenge the policy in the abstract and that we should
wait until we were challenged for a specific action. I reported this
to the SRRT Action Council, and there seemed to be agreement on this
course of action.Finally, let me note resolutions passed by consent that may be
important to some of you. The Council Committee on Legislation
proposed and won four resolutions. The first one, Resolution on
Freedom of Information Act Exemptions in the Defense Department
Authorization Bill (S.2549), urges withdrawal of these exemptions.
The second and third urge fully funding the Government Printing
Office and the Patent and Trademark Office. The last is a Resolution
on a Study to Transfer Superintendent of Documents Operations to the
Library of Congress, and it asks for ALA input to the study. The ALA
Intellectual Freedom Committee proposed and Council approved four
revised interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights. These were
minor revisions in order to prepare for a new published edition of
the interpretations.I would be happy to get comments or questions on my report or other
Council matters.Al Kagan
SRRT Councilor
akagan[at]uiuc.edu.
Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USAtel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu
____________________________________________________________________________top
3. Why a "CVS"? (Mark Rosenzweig)
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 19:36:08 -0400
To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org>
From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net>
Subject: [ALACOUN:4900] Why a "CVS"?.
Do we really want a Core Values Statement? Do we really need a Core
Values Statement? What IS a Core Values Statement and why have we
done so well without one?Want one? We only are having this discussion because among many other
recommendations of COPE there was talk about the need for a statement
of ALA's professional core values. This somehow became a commandmant:
thou shalt have a core values statement and a task forces was
assembled with the ultimately inglorious task of creating this
document. It was originally assumed it was needed for pedagogical
purposes. This assumption was never seriously examined.Need one? Not so obviously, although it sounds good to say we do. How
did the issue come up? Some people invoked in Council the expression
"violating core values" in a debate over outsourcing of book
selection. Legend has it that literal-minded Councilors went
scurrying to their policy manuals to see if we had a "statement" of
core values, an exhaustive enumeration, suspecting that there wasn't
one, and implying that the uttering of the expression "core values"
in a rhetorical context did not refer to any official document where
these values were laid out, and whose "violation" ,thus, was a claim
without content.We, therefore, stumbled upon the issue of whether we have or ought to
have a "CVS": it was not something which most of us, even those who
invoked the expression, ever thought we needed in order to discuss
what we should do, what our basic beliefs are, what we consider
important, what motivates or should motivate us , what are our
professional obligations and purposes in the varied activities we
carry out in so many different kinds of institutions, to what tasks
do we devote ourselves and why do we believe they should best be
addressed by professionals (or not).What ARE Core Values Statements? As I was giving some consideration
to the meaning of the term "values" itself in the expression, it
occured to me that the idea of the "Core Values Satement" is not a
ancient one,in fact that its provenance is rather recent and that it
is, indeed, nothing more profound than a piece of late 20th Century
management-speak. Despite the fuzzy wuzziness of the term "values",
it is linked inextricably to the corporate world of promotion and
advertising as it has banefully influenced all kinds of institutions
(like professional associations and universities) and subodinated
content to form, and meaning to effect. .Let's face it. The genre of the "Core Values Statement" is related
more to public relations than to serious instructional usefulness or
concrete policy guidance. That's why our TF's considerations
immeditely went from being a question of how we needed it for
educational purposes to trying to craft something that "the public"
would understand and like. The very form of the typical CVS is,
classically, bulleted single words like "integrity" "resourcefulness"
"quality" with a few words of decorative flourish about how your firm
(university, association) represents that.Now, admittedly, the CVTF ingeniously stretched the limits of the
genre. But maybe it's the genre itself which is problematic. I think
it's worth considering. And it would in no way impugn the work of the
CVTF to say that perhaps we have learned a lot in the course of this
whole discussion and that we do not really need or want a CVS. Maybe
it's process not product which is important here.Mark Rosenzweig
> Had Don Sager not asked that the taskforce be disbanned, I would have
> risen to object to its total demise. If the taskforce has a member or two
> who would like to be reappointed -- or who are willing to bereappointed,
> it would seem that their wise counsel could help those who follow from
> going down exactly the same road as the original task force traveled.
>
> Never did so few run into a barricade held steady by so many -- and to
> receive as their reward, a mere standing ovation.
>
> Blanche Woolls____________________________________________________________________________top
4. What's up with Counterpoise.
As the Chair person of the Alternatives In Print Task Force (AIP) of
SRRT I've often been asked, over the last six months, "So what's up
with Counterpoise? Why was it suspended? Is it going to
continue?" For those who don't know, Counterpoise is the review
journal of the alternative press edited by Charles Willett and
ostensibly published by AIP. (In truth, Charles has always handled
the business of its publication, but it has ejoyed greater
credibility as a result of the ALA imprimatur.)Contentious issues relating to Counterpoise and Charles' other
activities within AIP have taken up an inordinate amount of time at
SRRT's Action Council meetings, making it harder to get our work
done. I do not wish to get into the details of these issues except
to say that as AIP Co-Chair (with Charles) and then Chair I have been
in conflict with him over these issues. I thought, and still think,
that he was in the wrong about a number of things, and that his
stubbornness has ultimately hurt him.At ALA's midwinter meeting in February publication of Counteroise was
suspended until further notice. Peter McDonald was unanimously
accepted as an arbitrator and took comments up until ALA Annual. In
the same time period, Charles Willett wrote an ambitious business
plan for Counterpoise and shortly before the annual conference
distributed it widely in the library community (but strangely didn't
send it to AIP). Peter made this business plan a part of his report
at Annual.Here's what happened at Annual: Peter presented his report, which had
been distributed a few days earlier. The report made a number of
recommendations, most notably that we should accept Charles' business
plan as a beginning, but also that the editorship of Counterpoise
should be a rotating position and that Charles should announce his
retirement. Peter's report also strongly emphasized that
Counterpoise belonged to SRRT and not to Charles. Surprisingly (to
me) Charles spoke in favor of adopting Peter's recommendations. Mark
Rosenzweig and Elaine Harger offered an alternative resolution that
was much more modest than the business plan, and would have limited
the future Counterpoise to an all-volunteer (that is, unpaid)
publication, like it has been to date. Also in the mix was a
proposal to take advantage of ALA's Publication Services, which could
potentially publish and distribute the magazine much more cheaply than
in the past.Sanford Berman, who is a strong supporter of Charles Willett's
Countepoise and sat next to him at the meeting, offered a substitute
motion to the one on the table (Mark and Elaine's), citing an
unbridgeable chasm between Charles' supporters and challengers. His
motion was this: for SRRT to give up its control of Counterpoise and
to ask ALA to give up its ownership of the trademark. Over the past
half-year, the possibility of Counterpoise going its own way had
occassionally been discussed, but only as a possibility of last
resort. Its becoming reality had a surreal quality. Sanford's
substitute motion was voted on and passed by a wide margin,
apparently so we could finally get the issue behind us.It may be unrealistic of me to think that Counterpoise still had a
future within SRRT. It is hard to see where the energy to produce it
would have come from if Charles were rotated out as editor. But with
the help of ALA Publication Services, content limited to reviews as
originally proposed, production values brought down to a limited
level, and with the help of a large and active board of contributing
editors, it might not have been too much for a volunteer editor to
pull together. Perhaps a publication like that is somewhere in AIP's
future.For now, it is sad to see Counterpoise leave SRRT. Some of the
people who led the vote for this outcome also spoke of this sadness,
with the effect that we felt unsure why it was happening while it was
happening. I truly hope the new, independent Counterpoise will be
successful. I will certainly subscribe. But if the current editor
continues to ignore the criticisms that have been made, I think it
will not succeed in surmounting the obstacles that it faces (high
cost, irregular frequency, few subscribers, and an unclear editorial
identity).-Rory Litwin
____________________________________________________________________________top
5. Letter from Beacher Wiggins, LC Head of Cataloging, to Sanford Berman
June 22, 2000
Dear Sanford:
On April 21, 2000, the Library received the final report of the ALCTS
Cataloging and Classification Section Subject Analysis Committee Task
Force on Library of Congress Subject Heading Revision Relating to the
Poor People's Policy (ALA Council Document 1999-2000 CD#4). The Task
Force reviewed and made recommendations on thirty-three proposals for
new and revised Library of Congress subject headings and indicating
which the Task Force viewed would make useful and reasonable
additions to LCSH.The recommendations in the report did not themselves constitute
proposals. The information on each recommended heading was, however,
complete enough for staff in LC's Cataloging Policy and Support Office
to be able to proceed. Therefore, I am happy to report the actions
taken by the Library of Congress on the Task Force recommendations.
Of the fifteen new headings recommended for addition to LCSH by the
Task Force, fourteen have been or are being added to LCSH, with one
in a slightly revised form. An additional recommended heading,
"Corporate welfare," was added as a Used For reference on the
existing heading Subsidies. In addition, the reference structures of
two headings, "Poor" and "Public welfare," were revised; the
free-floating subdivision -Assaults against" is being changed to
"-Violence against;" and a new heading is being established for
"Corporate power." A detailed list of the new headings and changes is
enclosed. The weekly lists of new and revised LC subject headings may
be viewed on the Web site of the Cataloging Policy and Support Office at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpsoSincerely,
Beacher J. E. Wiggins
Director of Cataloging
Changes made to the LCSH in Response to the SAC Task Force
RecommendationsAfro-American homeless women: Heading established on Weekly List 00-24
Afro-American poor families: Heading established on Weekly List 00-25
Children of unemployed parents: Heading established on Weekly List
00-21Classism: Heading established on Weekly List 00-24
Corporate welfare: Added as a Used For (UF) reference on the existing
heading Subsidies on Weekly Lis 99-51Homeless boys: Heading established on Weekly List 00-24
Homeless girls: Heading established on Weekly List 00-24
Homeless persons' art: Following the existing pattern in LCSH, the
heading was established as Homeless persons as artists on Weekly List
00-21Homeless teenagers: Heading established on Weekly List 00-17
Low-income housing: the heading Poor-Housing was changed to
Low-income housing on Weekly List 00-24Poor families: Heading established on Weekly List 00-25
Poor parents: Heading established on Weekly List 00-25
Poor single mothers: Heading established on Weekly List 00-25
Right to housing: Heading established on Weekly List 00-24
Working poor: Heading established on Weekly List 00-24
The following changes were also made:
Corporate power: Heading established on Weekly List 00-25
Poor: A Broader Term (BT) reference for Persons was added to this
headingPublic Welfare: the Used For (UF) reference on this existing heading
was revised from Welfare, Public to Welfare (Public assistance)-Violence against: the free-floating subdivision -Assaults against,
which was authorized for use under classes of persons and ethnic
groups, is being changed to -Violence against on WL00-25____________________________________________________________________________top
6. Letter from Ian Hancock to James Billington
James H. Billington
Librarian of Congress
Washington, DC 20540-4305Dear Mr. Billington:
Over a period of many years sporadic attempts have been made to
persuade the Library of Congress to change its subject heading
"Gypsies" to "Roma." In line with the move to re-label ethnic groups
by more acceptable names, Lapps are now Saami, Hottentots are
Khoi-San, Eskimos are now Inuit, and most recently Untouchables are
now Dalits. And yet you are stubbornly refusing to change "Gypsy" to
"Roma."The word "Gypsy" is objectionable on two counts. First, it is simply
inaccurate. it derives from "Egyptian," and our ancestors were from
India. That alone should propt a change. Secondly, it is a loaded
and offensive term. The various traditional dictionary entries
indicate that: the OED for example has "a cunning rogue...deceitful,
fickle." Only the new Encarta dictionary has "Gypsy: An offensive
term for a member of the Romani people." A recent letter written by
Mr. Tom Yee of your Cataloging Policy and Support Office indicates
that you "presently have no plans to change [your] heading
GYPSIES." May I ask why? While the term may be more familiar to the
general public than "Romani" or "Roma," there was a time when "nigger"
was likewise far more common than the more appropriate ethnonyms.
That didn't justify its use or make it right. "Gypsy" is offensive
to Roma, plain and simple. By refusing to acknowledge this, the
Library of Congress succeeds in maintaining the status quo, and
thereby the prejudice which exists against our people. Do please
reconsider your policy in this connection.Sincerely
Ian F. Hancock
Roma Member, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
Roma Representative to the UN (ECO-SOC/DPI/UNICEF)
____________________________________________________________________________top
7. Greetings from the Alternative Press Center
Thanks for your interest in the Alternative Press Index and in
the alternative press.If you have not visited the APC web site recently, you will find:
--updated links to over 370 web sites in our "Alternative Voices
on the Internet" section--an online directory of all the publications in the current edition of
the Alternative Press Index and all members of the Independent
Press Association (IPA)--an order form for our print directory "Annotations," published jointly
with the IPA and for the APC t-shirt.
--Information on how to request articles from the Alternative Press
Center collection which is part of the UMBC (University of Maryland
Baltimore County) Library Special Collections Division. You can now
search for APC periodicals in the UofM online catalog. See the directions
on the "Library" page at the APC web site.
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8. Librarians go on strike in Canton, Ohio
While an employees' union voted to authorize a strike at the Stark
County District Library, management is preparing to at least keep the
downtown branch open.By a lopsided 85 to 4 vote, Service Employees International Union
District 925 members authorized their contract negotiating team to
call a strike. Union members have been picketing at some of the
county library systemís branches in recent weeks.The rest of the story:
http://www.cantonrep.com/newstemplate_main.php?ID=29681&r=3____________________________________________________________________________top
9. Arrest Warrants issued for overdue library books
http://detnews.com/2000/macomb/0007/09/c05-88029.htm
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10. Library Bill of Rights - four amended and one new interpretation
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 10:32:30 -0500
From: Don Wood <dwood[at]ala.org>
Subject: [MEMBER-FORUM:1772] Four Amended Interpretations,
One New Interpretation of the Library Bill of RightsOn July 12, 2000, the ALA Council adopted a new Interpretation to the
Library Bill of Rights: Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic
Libraries.http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ifprinciplesacademiclibraries.html
On July 12, 2000, the ALA Council amended four Interpretations to the
Library Bill of Rights:Access to Library Resources and Services Regardless of Gender or
Sexual Orientation
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/acc_gend.htmlAccess to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/accmedia.htmlLibrary-Initiated Programs as a Resource
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/lib_res.htmlRestricted Access to Library Materials
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/rest_mat.html
_________________________
Don Wood
Program Officer/Communications
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
dwood[at]ala.org
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/index.html
____________________________________________________________________________top
11. Public Library Salary Surveys - West North Central States -
http://www.win.org/library/library_office/reports/salarysurvey/2000/
The report for the year 2000 tracks wages and salaries of
shelvers, clerical, paraprofessionals, starting MLS,
department heads, assistant directors, and directors of
libraries in the West North Central States of the U.S. In
addition, the survey tracks key budgetary indices such as
spending for technology and cost per FTE unit. Reports
are divided by size of library: Class 5 (largest) to Class 1
(smallest). Also available in Excel 97 format. From the St.
Charles City-County Library District, MO. See their Plans
and Reports for earlier surveys, as well as a Strategic
Planning Process and a Library Technology Plan. - cl
Subjects: Librarians -- Salaries, etc.> From Librarians Index to the Internet - http://lii.org
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12. ARL Annual Salary Survey - http://www.arl.org/stats/salary/
The Association of Research Libraries' "Annual Salary
Survey is a compilation of data covering over 12,000
professional positions in ARL libraries. Tables display
average, median, and beginning salaries; salaries by
position and experience, sex, and race/ethnic background;
and salaries in different geographic regions and sizes of
libraries. Additional tables cover law, medical, Canadian,
and nonuniversity research libraries." Published since
1973, the Web site has statistics back to 1995. - cl
Subjects: Librarians -- Salaries, etc.> From Librarians Index to the Internet - http://lii.org
____________________________________________________________________________top
13. FindArticles.com
http://www.findarticles.com/PI/index.jhtml
This new service is a partnership between LookSmart and the Gale
Group, a publisher of research and reference materials for libraries,
businesses, and information technologists. The site offers free
access to the full-text of articles published in over 350 magazines
and journals dating from 1998. Users can search the database by
keyword and by one of the nine subject categories (Arts &
Entertainment, Computers & Technology, Reference & Education, Sports,
etc.). Search returns include article title, periodical, and short
description, with a link to the full-text, which is conveniently and
quickly displayed at the FindArticles site, though with numerous
advertising banners. Visitors can also view a list of the
publications indexed, alphabetically or by subject. Periodical
listings include a one-sentence description and a link to their
Website. Despite the banners and other commercial content (the bills
must be paid, after all) this site is a very useful reference source,
indexing many leading journals and magazines. [MD]> From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
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14. FBI's Carnivore Gobbles Lots of E-Mail
From EPIC Alert - Volume 7.13, July 12, 2000
http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_7.13.html
Recent press reports confirm the roll-out of a new Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) system called Carnivore, which is designed to
covertly search electronic mail messages to and from targeted criminal
suspects, but could also compromise the privacy of millions of
Internet users. The system, which is installed directly into an
Internet service provider's network, reportedly can scan millions of
messages each second. The FBI recently demonstrated the Carnivore
system to telecommunications industry representatives, many of whom
are disturbed by the prospect of having the invasive technology
installed on their internal systems and administered by federal
agents.Public details concerning Carnivore's capabilities are sketchy. The
existence of the system was first revealed by attorney Robert
Corn-Revere in Congressional testimony in April. He described a case
in which government agents sought to install Carnivore on the system
of an ISP he represented. Published reports suggest that the system
could give the government the ability to intercept the communications
of all of an ISP's customers, not just those of a targeted criminal
suspect. Even when programmed to obtain only the communications of a
suspect, Carnivore would enable government agents to intercept the
actual content of e-mail messages without first making a showing of
probable cause as required by the Fourth Amendment and federal wiretap
statutes. Armed just with a pen register or trap and trace order,
which authorizes only the collection of information identifying the
senders and recipients of e-mail messages, Carnivore would enable
agents to receive the entire communication.The deployment of Carnivore is just the latest indication that legal
protections have failed to keep pace with advancing surveillance
technology. The existing wiretap statutes, which were drafted with
telephones in mind and amended in 1986 to apply to electronic
communications, do not adequately address many of the realities of the
Internet. For that reason, it is likely that Congress will review the
use of Carnivore and consider the need for updating the relevant
federal laws. House Majority Leader Dick Armey today called on
Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh to address
the privacy concerns raised by the Carnivore system.There is also a need for public disclosure of the capabilities of
Carnivore and other intrusive new technologies being used by law
enforcement investigators. EPIC has submitted a Freedom of
Information Act request to the FBI seeking the release of information
on Carnivore and related technologies.Robert Corn-Revere's testimony on Carnivore is available at:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary/corn0406.htm
____________________________________________________________________________top
15. Consumer's online privacy
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 11:54:25 -0400
From: Karen Gorss Benko <Karen.Gorss.Benko[at]williams.edu>
To: newlib <NEWLIB-L[at]usc.edu>
Subject: another new privacy issue
Here is an interesting article about consumers' online privacy that has
nothing to do with credit cards. These people track what you SAY, not
what you buy.http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/july2000/nf00707g.htm
I saw this article posted on freenet-chat, a list for discussing the
Free Network Project. Anyone can subscribe to the list at
http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/freenet-chatKaren
--
Karen Gorss Benko
Catalog Librarian
Williams College
Williamstown MA 01267
413-597-4322
Karen.Gorss.Benko[at]williams.edu
____________________________________________________________________________top
16. Open Letter asking for the reconnection of the BURN server
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 08:10:09 -0400
From: IFLA LISTS <iflalists[at]nlc-bnc.ca>
Subject: Open letter
To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CAAN OPEN LETTER TO
Carol Padden
Professor and Chair
Department of Communication
University of California June 16th, 2000
The new information technology has offered the promise of more
egalitarian, participatory, and progressive structures. Similarly, new
technologies provide the basis for a golden age of free, uncensored and
democratic communication. In this crucial development, the Internet has
opened up a very important space for exchanging comments, thoughts, and
value judgments, among students, professors, and librarians, about all
kind of social, political, economic, and cultural issues.On the other hand, with a personal computer, basic knowledge of
the relevant software, and a modem providing access to a telephone line,
one can transmit and receive messages, data, images and sound, to and
from any other part of the world. From that of point view, this has
opened up a bridge to political organizations, such as the one
illustrated through the now legendary use of information technology by
Zapatista leader Marcos by sending out his communiques over the Internet,
among other subversive Latin America groups, including the Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejercito del Pueblo (FARC-EP).
(see for example: http://www.jpmspain.com/links/movimientos.htm)In short, the new technology must be to students, professors, library
administrators, and other library staff a model of democratic
communication, a potential of information for everyone, not a tool of
restriction, censorship or barrier facing multiculturalism or cultural
diversity of the University of the State of California at San Diego.
Hence, we request the IMMEDIATE and unconditional reconnection of the
Burn server. With this action, you would be part of a democratic effort
of this precious information.
Sincerely yours
Several Librarians
Felipe Meneses Tello (Mexico)
Carlos Cordoba (Argentina)
Lorena Torres Rivera (Mexico)
Martin Vera Cabanas (Mexico)
Sonia Roxana Gamboa Fuentes (Peru)
Coral Chamu Arias (Mexico)
Carmen Yasmina Lopex Morales (Mexico)
Julia Gonzalez Valencia (Mexico)
Raul Novelo Pena (Mexico)
Enestor Serna Avila (Mexico)
Julia Campos Hernandez (Mexico)
Armando Trejo (USA)
M. Trinidad Lopez Mondragon (Mexico)
____________________________________________________________________________top
17. Sign the Rainforest Site Petition
From: "Chris. Gwyntopher" <housepeace[at]gn.apc.org>
Subject: www.thehungersite.com
Mime-Version: 1.0Sign The Rainforest Site Petition, which will be delivered to the United
Nations Commission on Sustainable Development this Fall 2000. The petition
urges the UN to enforce the international communityís political and legal
commitments to protect the rainforests. All you have to do is click on the
link below to sign up - and don't forget to pass this e-mail along to all
of your friends:
http://www.therainforestsite.com/rbt/TRSPetition/r061322____________________________________________________________________________top
18. Naked Librarians
http://www.jessamyn.com/naked.html
Jessamyn West has updated her collection of images. The first page
and the page marked "more" give you book-plates and old-fashioned
drawings; "links" gives you some photos. It's mostly women with
books. The bookplates are suitable for stealing and using on your
own web pages or for print clip-art; a very nice collection.
____________________________________________________________________________top
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