Library Juice 3:28

Library Juice 3:28 - July 26, 2000 Contents: 1. ALA Conference 2000: A Review in Haiku 2. Mick Foley Delivers the ALA Smackdown 3. Fun with Dr. Laura 4. The Librarians of Penzance 5. Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Book Lists 6. Fat Librarians discussion list 7. Informacion y Educacion: Agentes Para el Desarrollo de la Humanidad 8. Chronicle of Higher Ed. on Summer issue of Dissent 9. Discussion of new Nicholson Baker article in the New Yorker 10. Introducing PLG to a new librarian 11. Union Songs 12. Digital Librarian: A Librarian's Choice of the Best of the Web 13. Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages Quote for the week: "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness" -Chinese proverb Home page of the week: Karen Janowsky http://www.wam.umd.edu/~kjanowsk/karen.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 1. ALA Conference 2000: A Review in Haiku from The Laughing Librarian http://www.netjunk.com/users/lafnlibn/alahaiku.htm ____________________________________________________________________________top 2. Mick Foley Delivers the ALA Smackdown By Teri Weesner, Library Juice Youth Services Editor After two programs in a row on Sunday morning (Teen Voices and Librarians & Teens Wrestle With the Internet) at the ALA Conference I was handed a ticket for lunch in the room next door with Mick Foley. I'm bleary, I'm hungry, I don't know who Mick Foley is, but if there's free food in close proximity... at this point, I am all for it. A buffet line for pizza, salad, soda and cookie -- okay. Many hungry librarians sit with their cardboard trays on their laps, eating, talking and looking at the stage which has a small round table with a table cloth and lit candles. Here comes Patrick Jones, I know him, I have been running into him since Friday's preconference on Gay Teens in the 21st Century. And before the conference was over, I would see more of him and his genius revealed. Read more about the man one of my coworkers called, "a Mental Babe!" on his web site <http://www.connectingya.com>. Patrick Jones is the Youth Services Coordinator for the Houston PL System and the author of "Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: A How To Do It Manual" and "What's So Scary about R.L. Stine?" as well as tons of articles. Patrick starts talking about his life-long love of... learning? No, reading? No, libraries? No... Wrestling. It hits me: the READ poster on the wall with the three wrestlers on it (my library ended up with a poster of an animal intstead, because the Friends took WWF to mean World Wildlife Fund) - Mick Foley is a wrestler - he is one of the wrestlers on the READ poster - his wrestling name is MANKIND and we are going to hear him interviewed by Patrick Jones while we eat pizza! The following interview questions are taken from Patrick Jones' web site. You can read Patrick's intro as well as see some nice photos (one with me and Mick!) by following the links "News" and then "My Lunch with Mick" on his site. Mick gives a lot of this information in the introduction to his book, "Mankind: Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweat Socks." The quotes are from my memory, but he really did say this stuff! 1. "Mick Foley, you have taken on a lot of tough opponents in your day, but tell me, have you found any tougher than book reviewers?" Although his book made the New York Times best seller list, it was never reviewed. When he asked his publisher about this, he was informed that books do not have to be reviewed and publications only print a review of a book if they want to. Mick is disenchanted. 2. "Unlike lots of other sports entertainers, you actually wrote your own book, longhand no less. Why was that?" Mick's disenchantment with the publishing industry did not begin with his book being ignored by reviewers. Oh, no: it began with his experience with a ghost writer. "You mean all those sports figure's autobiographies I read and loved as a kid were not actually written by them?" The ghost writer Mick's publisher set him up with had written many a sports figure autobio. In fact, he wrote one about Willy Mays. "Wow," said Mick, "How did you do that?" "Well", said the ghost writer, "I talked to him for about a half an hour." Ouch. Mick reluctantly agreed to the process. He saw a first chapter draft from the ghost, which reverberated with the very inauthentic voice of what the world would think (as he had about his sports heroes) was the real deal. This was when Mick came to the conclusion that "the publishing industry was even faker than professional wrestling!" He told them, "Thanks, but, I'll write my own autobiography." With no keyboarding skills, Mick was left with the option of writing it by hand. And write he did, in a seven-week period including one marathon eighteen hour day. 3. "You're a huge star on television and recently in the movie Beyond the Mat. Tell us why you came here to the American Library Association conference?" Mick explained to us that his time is money and some pay nicely for it. However, he did not accept any money to be there that day. He was there because he believes in reading and libraries and he loves librarians! (Wow! Look who we've got in our corner! Maybe he'll kick some ass for us on the senate and congressional floor! Can you see him in a cage with Karen Jo Gounaud?) 4. "In your long career, tell me, what do you feel are your greatest accomplishments?" "Father; writer; and wrestler; in that order." 5. "Why do you do it? You've been thrown off the top of 20 foot cage through a table, pile driven onto thumbtacks, hit in the head with a steel chair, and that was in a single match. Why, Mick, Why??" Contrary to what many believe, wrestling is, to a great extent, very real. The back cover of Mick's book highlights his injuries over the years. Very few, if any, professional athletes would continue a game after sustaining the types of injuries Mick has finished matches with. But I still don't think I understand the why of it. Listening to Mick and reading his autobiography (of which all in attendance received a copy -- Thank You, HarperCollins!) I think it has to do with his passion for wrestling and his own sense of personal integrity as a wrestler. 6. "You've been a "good guy" and a "bad guy" in your wrestling career. A lot of folks out in the audience today might see all wrestlers as bad guys and don't think you should be featured in the ALA Read posters. To those critics, to those doubters, what do you have to say?" "Kids who have never read a book they were not assigned in school, read my book. Adults who have not read a book in ten years, read my book. This means more to me than all my years of wrestling." Mick has developed such a love for writing and inspiring reading, that he continues to write. He shared a bit of a hilarious Christmas book for children that he is working on. I was greatly impressed by Mick Foley. I bought two READ posters and had him specifically address them to the kids at the two libraries I work in, who ask for wrestling magazines and books and log on to wrestling sites. They are as impressed as I was. Thanks MANKIND and Patrick Jones! ____________________________________________________________________________top 3. Fun with Dr. Laura ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 09:10:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Phineas Narco <pnarco[at]yahoo.com> Subject: New Dr. Laura single out To Whom it May Concern: This is to let you know we have an audio collage available called 'Dr. Laura's Rap' which is a parody of and commentary on The Dr. Laura show. We've tried to capture our impression of The Dr. Laura show with 'Dr. Laura's Rap'. I have submitted it to WWW.MP3.COM but they are afraid they will be sued if they feature it publicly on their site. It is now in their holding tank. I contend that it is legal under the terms of FAIR USE in the U.S. copyright code: that is, it uses samples from her show as a means of commentary on the show. I let you be the judge. Feel free to use it or the news of it in any way you see fit. The single can be downloaded at http://studio.mp3.com/uploads/mp3s/phineas_narco/dr__laura_s_rap.mp3 Let us know if you need a cd or tape copy. -=-Phineas Narco and The National Cynical Network ===== It's all very complex. Or very simple. Or perhaps both. Or neither. ____________________________________________________________________________top 4. The Librarians of Penzance an operatic extravaganza, in PowerPoint by Karen Janowsky http://www.wam.umd.edu/~kjanowsk/lphtml.PPT ____________________________________________________________________________top 5. Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Book Lists Compiled by Sarah Struble http://www.crosswinds.net/~tangents/gbl_lists.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 6. Fat Librarians discussion list Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 20:50:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Katia Roberto <kroberto[at]csc.albany.edu> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:4987] new listserv for fat librarians. In a fit of crankiness, I decided that the world needs such a thing. Here's the description I wrote for it: This is supposed to serve as a forum for fat library workers (past and present) to talk about size acceptance & how it plays out (or DOESN'T play out) in libraries. Acceptable topics include fat-positive resources (what they are, how to get them into libraries, etc.), coworker interactions, so on and so forth. Unacceptable topics include size-bashing and diet tips. Mutual respect is expected at all times. Non-fat members can join so long as they're cool. Queer-positive. If you're interested, please email fatlibrarians-subscribe[at]egroups.com or contact me for more info. Katia -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Katia Roberto, Monographic Cataloger (518) 442-3629 University at Albany kroberto[at]csc.albany.edu 1400 Washington Ave, UL B-35A http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~kroberto Albany, NY 12222 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________________________top 7. Informacion y Educacion: Agentes Para el Desarrollo de la Humanidad Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 07:15:50 -0400 From: IFLA LISTS <iflalists[at]nlc-bnc.ca> Subject: CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL "INFORMACION Y EDUCACION: AGENTES PARA EL DESARROLLO To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL "INFORMACION Y EDUCACION: AGENTES PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LA HUMANIDAD. MEXICO 2000" Los invitamos a participar en este Congreso organizado por la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, en coordinación con la Asociación Mexicana de Bibliotecarios, A.C. (AMBAC) Donde se trataran los más recientes aspectos, avances y perspectivas de desarrollo en cuanto a la generación, transmisión y uso de la información documental en el mundo, de manera que permita una revisión retrospectiva y una visión prospectiva en el arribo del nuevo milenio, para reconocer, analizar, reflexionar y proponer acciones sobre su impacto en el desarrollo de la humanidad. Este evento se celebrará en la Ciudad de San Luis Potosí, S.L.P., del 13 al 15 de septiembre del presente año, por lo que esperamos contar con su valiosa participación. A las personas que se inscriban en la página Web se le hará un 10% de descuento. Visite nuestra página http://infoedu2000.uaslp.mx o bien para mayores informes dirigirse al e-mail: infoedu2000[at]uaslp.mx A t e n t a m e n t e COMITÉ ORGANIZADOR ____________________________________________________________________________top 8. Chronicle of Higher Ed. on Summer issue of Dissent A glance at the summer issue of "Dissent": Reviewing the new books about books In "Goodbye to All That?: Elegies for the Book," Steven J. Zipperstein, a Stanford University professor of Jewish culture and history, writes about books on books -- and their sometimes melancholy authors. These books are no longer focused on the pleasure of the page; rather, they dwell on something darker -- whether books "will retain in the near future, and in the wake of the cultural changes in technology all around us, little more than a cult-like, minuscule following." "What sets them apart from other, earlier books on books is an internal tension between lyrical evocation of the pleasure of book reading, collecting, even handling, and a keen uneasiness about the future of those very pleasures," Mr. Zipperstein writes. "The fundamental question underlying them is, quite simply, whether books -- like, say, fountain pens or manual typewriters -- are now, or will soon be, the province of the picturesque, remnants of a slower, bygone age." Mr. Zipperstein whisks through the spectrum of such writings, commenting on authors from Anna Quindlen to Anne Fadiman to Lynne Sharon Schwartz. The works range from brighter views of the future to dismal pessimism. Sven Birkerts, for example, says that the leisurely perusal of books is more and more often an "elegiac exercise." "Once this is undermined, our spiritual values, even subjectivity, might well disappear." He already sees some of that in his college classroom where students can't read Henry James." James is beyond the reach of Mr. Birkerts's students not because of the difficulty of his language, but rather because the students have no knowledge of the indirect. "Their electronically circumscribed world completely denies them these experiences," Mr. Zipperstein writes. He contrasts Mr. Birkerts's view with that of Henry Petroski, whose "universe is one where technology seeks to respond sensibly -- and with, perhaps, an uncanny, unlikely, smoothness -- to human needs; Birkerts' [view] is one where technology threatens to supplant them, to remake human needs into something fundamentally inhumane." Nevertheless, hope is not lost; Mr. Zipperstein cites Harry Potter and Oprah's Book Club among the recent signs that the love of books will survive. The article is not available online, but information about the journal can be found on its Web site, at http://www.dissentmagazine.org ____________________________________________________________________________top 9. Discussion of new Nicholson Baker article in the New Yorker Messages taken from ALA Council List and ALA Member Forum. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. From Mark Rosenzweig: Dear friends, As some of you already must know and others will have heard soon enough, there is a scathing, disturbing article by Nicholson Baker in the current New Yorker (7/24/2000, p 48-) about the dereliction of responsibilities by the library profession with respect to the preservation of the complete historic record and our stewardship of the human birthright of ideas and their embodiments, in their original formats, to the best of our ability. Entitled "Deadline" it regards the literal "trashing of America's newspapers" by the libraries of record, including the British Library, the Library of Congress, the NYPL Research Library, other major research institutions as well as local, regional and state libraries of all kinds. He shows how, beginning in 1950, with the wild enthusiasm for microfilm, embraced zealously by the management of the Library of Congress, and proceeding to spread everywhere at an ever faster pace (now fueled by the added enthusiasm about how everything is going to be scanned and available on the Web), that the actual physical newspapers of the post-1870 period, in all their colorfulness, unique artifactual significance,impact, browsability etc. have been systematically trashed, destroyed in reproduction, discarded or sold off, and replaced, regardless of the actual physical condition of the bound runs, with microfilm or microfiche and with no complete paper back-up ANYWHERE. The idea was that the post 1870's newspapers were "deteriorating' (what isn't?) but hisinvestigation shows that the major considerations have had to do with space saving and that perfectly fine,bound sets of our most important newspapers,in reasonable states of preservation and with a shelf-life, under properconditions, which in many cases would rival most books, all have had substited for them copies on reels of low-resolution, sometimes illegible, monochrome, and also physically/chemically unstable microfilm (which is browsable only by people with nerves of steel). Incomplete, unreadable, microfilm runs have replaced complete sets of the real thing.The real things are being destroyed, wholesale. The article in the New Yorker's current issue is another indictment by admitted library-lover/muckraker, novelist/journalist Nicholson Baker, of our profession's concern for the "bottom line", the giving of the appearance of with-it-ness, and of savvy kowtowing to political/economic expediency, over and against the professional responsibility to resist the destructive forces which threaten to create gaps and blurs in the human record,trends which are the results of unquestioning acceptance of corporate influences,of the increasing monopolization of ownership of information resources, and the irresitableness of "virtualization" of public space and of artifactual authenticity. His other forays into this arena were his work about the implications of the destruction of our card catalogs,and his exposes of the SFPL's large scale, irresponsible "weeding" of books in order to fit into their new accomodations which seemed to have more important purposes than housing the printed collection. It is embarassing and depressing that a non-librarian has called on the conscience of the library world, in work aimed at a level at which our most central functions and beliefs are concerned, and we have never risen, as a profession or an association, to the challenges he has previously posed, except with the spokespeople for instituions crafting of bureaucratic excuses and management-styled rationalizations.We have never engaged this extraordinary man and what he represents. This time once again he is saying "stem the tide" before it's too late. See if you don't think, as I do, that we have a need to examine how, in light of his call, we can and must review, rethink and renew our commitment to what librarianship is all about. I cannot summarize the richness of Baker's argument or capture the pathos of his desperate account as he tries,almost singlehabdledly, and at great personal effort and expense, to "save" the few surving intact copies of major newspapers through efforts of his own to acquire them before they are sold to dealers who cut them up for re-sale as birthday knicknacks, etc. ALA Councilors must read it for themselves. The "Heads" must read it and think of something other than clever justifications for disatrous policies. Baker must be engaged, openly, honestly, constructively and the implications of his story, "Dealine" must be thought through. I urge us all to take it seriously, especially as he has exposed to public scrutiny, in brilliant prose and in a major,widely-read journal of high repute, and, what's more,as an advocate - a friend - of libraries, a seamy side of our profession's behavior which is more undermining of the public image of librarianship and of its necessity than all the negative efforts Family Friendly Libraries and local book challengers. Sincerely, Mark C. Rosenzweig ALA Councilor at large .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 09:03:47 -0400 From: Peter Graham <psgraham[at]syr.edu> Organization: Syracuse University Library To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: [ALACOUN:4931] Re: CORRECTED: (please replace previous versi I'm sorry that MR jumps to the conclusion that Nicholson Baker is correct in indicting librarianship. As for myself, I draw two conclusions so far: 1. Nicholson Baker has the right problem and the wrong enemy. Libraries are hit be constraints in many ways, and society's continuing unwillingness to expend resources on preserving its own history are the root problem. We then end up finding unsatisfactory conclusions. They are often the best that can be done with the knowledge and standards available at the time. 2. Librarians can't answer Baker. He's too good, and we will look too defensive. It would be most helpful if we could find someone of similar stature or better -- a literary person, or a historian -- who would write similarly well about what should really be done. Our answers will look like whining mosquitoes. We should provide some formal answers but be under no illusion that they are responses on his scale. --pg -- Peter Graham Syracuse University Library psgraham[at]syr.edu Syracuse NY 13244-2010 315/443-5530 fax 315/443-2060 4/00nw4.7 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 10:51:14 -0400 To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:4998] Re: [ALACOUN:4930] Re: CORRECTED: (please replace previous versi Julie, Peter Graham assumes I've jumped to the conclusion Baker is correct in his assessment. He, on the other hand, assumes not only that Baker is wrong (or doesn't understand the problem) but that, if we are to engage at all, "our side" has to find someone of stature (not a mere librarian or collection thereof!) to put in the ring who would present the "real" solution (i.e. one that shows that we've been basically right, given the so-called constraints). I understand Peter Graham's trepidation at publicly engaging an argument by someone as well-informed, passionate, and skilled in the persuasive arts as Mr. Baker. The research and documentation for Baker's New Yorker article "Deadline" is formidable, the historical and technical knowledge he acquired and aplied extraordinarily impressive, the variety of people interviewed and entreated far-ranging and exhaustive, and the actual work he did in actually trying to prevent the disaster he describes from unfolding before his eyes (but behind the backs of the scholarly community,the general public, and even the cast majority of librarians) is an awesome example of citizen concern about libraries and the heritage they are meant to protect. Baker, however, is not out to "get us". I believe he would welcome acknowledgement and the cooperation of the ALA in investigating and, above all, helping in solving the problem he has identified. The issues which he raises must, in my opinion, be formally addressed, and I believe it should be done at an Association level. First, his article and concerns should be officially noted by the President and the Executive Director. In that response, perhaps, the intention of the Executive Board to convene a high-level committee should be announced, a committee which would be charged to examine the nature of the problem, take depositions from Baker and some of his supporters (like Thomas Tanselle (vice-president of the Guggenheim Foundation and pre-eminent blbliographer) and William Hart (chair of the National Trust for Historic Preservation)), and consider the implications of Baker having to personally form his own American Newspaper Repository to deal with a national library issue as best he could. The committee would report to Council with its assessment and recommendations. Remember, this is now a very public issue. We can ride it out, irresponsibly. We can offer bureaucratic justifications for the policies the hidden effects of which he has brought to light. Or we can offer our fullest cooperation in dealing with the problem in a systematic, planned and collaborative way, a way which represents the best of the professional ethos of American librarianship. Mark Rosenzweig ALA Councilor at large At 8:39 AM -0400 07/24/2000, jcummins wrote: > Thanks Mark, for bringing this article to our attention. Nicholson > Baker's name commands a lot of attention and his writings have an > impact. > > In your call for a response, what do you suggest that ALA as a whole, > or Council do specifically -- to whom and what form? > > Julie Cummins > The New York Public Library .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. At 8:19 AM -0500 07/24/2000, James B. Casey wrote: Councilor Rosenzweig and Nicholson Baker may view the microfilming and eventual digitizing of old newspapers as "trashing" of a precious resource, but those of us who have been involved rather intimately with the microfilming projects of the past 25 years may see things differently. Newspapers published from about the 1860s to present are printed on "wood pulp" paper which turns yellow with age and crumbles to the touch after 20 or 30 years. Prior to about 1860, rag content paper was used more prevalantly and the older newspapers tend to be much more durable and usable in their original form. A researcher who goes through an original newspaper from the 1920s (say), even in bound form, would likely end up by destroying the newspaper just by paging through it. Scholars, archivists, manuscript curators, and historical society librarians (such as I was at Western Reserve Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society during 1977-84), have fought desperately hard and with the help of National Endowment for Humanities Grants to obtain custody of and to microfilm old newspapers before they deteriorate all together and are lost forever. Better to have them on microform than not to have access to the information at all. Even as a public librarian, I hunted down and gained permission to film unique runs of small town papers from my community so that they would be preserved and not "lost in a fire" or via neglect. The filming process invariably meant breaking the bindings and caused some damage to the usability of the originals since getting a good microfilm exposure required that the papers lie flat, but afterwards the papers were wrapped up in acid free paper and stored away. It is true that microforms and digitization resolve space problems, but they also address preservation issues. We digitized our collection of Oak Lawn photographs and have stored away the originals. Not only can anyone access this collection over the WWW via our website, but the original photos are preserved from damage caused by repeated handling and the images are far more widely accessible than ever before. --- If that isn't the essense of good librarianship, what is? Site for historical photographs digitized: http://www.lib.oak-lawn.il.us/filehtml/local.html James B. Casey -- My own views as a public librarian .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 09:58:58 -0400 To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:4997] Re: [ALACOUN:4925] A disturbing light cast on librarianship's "core" responsibilities Jim, Read the article. Of course it addresses and very critically and intelligently analyzes in a larger context all these arguments laid out in your second paragraph. Indeed that's the gist of the article. The fact that you at Oak Lawn in your project "stored away the originals" represents a more responsible program than the ones he describes at large research institutions and national libraries. I think you will find his research disturbing and at odds with your notion of stewardship. Mark .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Mark: It is true that we wrapped up old, deteriorating newspapers and put them in storage following the microfilming process, but keep in mind that those old newspapers will continue to disintegrate despite our best efforts at storage and even de-acidification. Their eventual disappearance as usable resources is inevitable. The "bottom line" for us wasn't saving the storage space, but saving the information and the images of those precious newspapers for future generations. Is it better to read the original newspapers than to see the microform or digitized image? Of course, it is! But that isn't a viable option over the long term. Nor is it always convenient or possible for scholars who live thousands of miles away to read obscure, radical Chicago newspapers of the early 1900s in their original, paper form. Should only those who are fortunate or rich enough to come to Chicago be able to read them? There will always be constraints of space and money which must be addressed, whether we like it or not. But the most important and devastating constraint of all is the insufficiency of TIME. Not all the money in the world can prevent us or those things that we value (like old newspapers) from growing old and disappearing. How do we save the essense of what is best and carry it on to future generations? James B. Casey -- My own views as a public librarian. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 12:17:30 -0400 To: "James B. Casey" <jimcasey[at]lib.oak-lawn.il.us>, member-forum[at]ala.org From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net> Subject: [MEMBER-FORUM:1795] Re: Constraints will always be with us. Jim, There's really no point in arguing with ME about this. The article by Baker is one which challenges so many of the assumptions most of us have held in this area (and many of which are embedded in your responses). It's all about "constraints". I can't - and needn't - present the whole story as Baker has done. Suffice it to say it is MUST reading for all librarians, and, as many of us will recognize (perhaps even you!) it requires a rethinking of many things. Let me just point out that Baker is a t pains to say he is NOT against microfilming, by any means. He is against the way that the imlementation of microfilming projects and the policies and practices underlying them have left gaps and blotches in the historic record, degraded information quality when it was unnecessary, led to wholesale destruction of original materials which were in useable condition where there often was no other original copy institutionally available. Mark .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 13:37:50 -0500 (EST) From: ANN SNOEYENBOS <snoeyena[at]elmer4.bobst.nyu.edu> Subject: [ALACOUN:4956] Re: Rebutting Baker To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Organization: NYU Libraries While I find all this back and forth vaguely interesting I must say that I agree wholeheartedly with Nicholson Baker's article as I did with his article about the SFPL. I suspect I am not alone in agreeing with him, and I think it would be inappropriate for Council, and/or the Association to make a group statement about something that really comes down to varying personal philosophies of librarianship and curation of the world's knowledge. Issues such as these are multi-faceted and it would be patently untrue for any body or subset of this association to claim to represent the profession or the Association as a whole. Ann Snoeyenbos On this I speak as an individual and do not claim to represent the New Members Round Table. Ann Snoeyenbos ____________________________________________________________________________top 10. Introducing PLG to a new librarian http://libr.org/PLG Note to PLGnet-L from Kristine Kelleher: >I am new to the library field and I joined your listserv to become more >familiar with your organization because I share many of the same sentiments >as your group. As was stated in the Statement of Purpose, members of your >organization oppose the "commodification of information" and the current >neutrality stance taken by public libraries. I'm interested to find out >what are some of the steps that the organization and/or its members have >taken to combat these trends. Any input would be greatly appreciated. >Thank you for your time. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Response from Mark Rosenzweig: Thanks for your inquiry. As an organization we publish a journal , provide speakers and arrange public events/programs which take aspects of those very large issues as subjects (like "commodification" and pseudo-neutrality) for critical analysis and debate. We are, also, active opponents in our institutions and communities of privitization of public libraries and of public information resources, outsourcing of key library functions, commercialization of library services, fees for service, and all economic, social, regional, racial barriers to access to information and to the highest levels of information services. Some of our members are involved in the community library movements which have set up info-shops to provide alternative lnformation services where they're needed. We have been involved as an organization and individually in the anti-WTO movement, opposing the WTO agenda's likely effects on public libraries and on information provision generally: this has taken the form of PLG contingents at demos and networking with anti-WTO activists in the library community. Also PLGers were active in getting the ALA to pass a resolution highly critical of the WTO. We are active in support of the alternative press: several of our members are involved in the Alternative Center, The Alternative Press Index and the Alternatives-in-Print Task Force of ALA/SRRT. We have advanced the principle (through petitions, demonstrations and practice in our libraries themselves), with regards to neutrality, that librarians have a professional obligation to actively engage public issues and controversies, and that he ALA as our principal professional organization, needs to take positions on all social,political, cultural and economic question which impact the larger, global context in which librarianship operates. These are just a few of the ways PLG helps combats the trends we noted in our statement of purpose. Mark Rosenzweig ____________________________________________________________________________top 11. Union Songs [QuickTime, RealPlayer] http://www.chepd.mq.edu.au/boomerang/unionsong/ Forgotten the words to "Joe Hill," "Look for the Union Label," or "Do Re Mi?" Look no further than this site, created and maintained by Mark Gregory, a Web Development Project Officer at Macquarie University (Australia), which features the lyrics and many audio clips of approximately 100 classic and more recent union songs. Numerous lyrics pages also link to related sites. In addition, the site offers some book and CD reviews, a Union Discography, a bibliography, and song and union links. Joe Hill ain't never died. [MD] > From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ____________________________________________________________________________top 12. Digital Librarian: A Librarian's Choice of the Best of the Web - http://www.digital-librarian.com/ An excellent directory of online resources, organized by topic, and maintained by a librarian. Although most of the many links are only briefly annotated, the "see" and "see also" references assist searchers. The simplicity of the page makes it load quickly, and this is a good starting place for new Web searchers and librarians alike. - ht > From Librarians' Index to the Intenet - http://lii.org ____________________________________________________________________________top 13. Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/ Detailed information on over one hundred spices including the history, chemical constituents, culinary use, and etymology of the plant names. There are several indices: alphabetic (a large file which may load slowly), geographic, morphologic (the part of the plant used in cookery), botanic, and Spice mixtures (e.g., five spice powder, Thai curry pastes). The site is also keyword searchable and is available in both German and English, with spice names in several other languages. Use the keyword search or the alphabetic index if you know only the foreign name of a spice. - mg > From Librarians' Index to the Internet - http://lii.org ____________________________________________________________________________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 25-Jul-100. ul-100.