Library Juice 3:32 - August 23, 2000
Contents:
1. HERMèS: revue critique no. 6
2. Trend toward free access to scholarly info online
3. Knowledgerush.com
4. Corporate Threats to Online Free Speech
5. Librarians: Collaborating in Cyberspace (online workshop)
6. Live Reference
7. Controlled Vocabularies Resource Site
8. Feedback on HealthLink Plus
9. Reading between the lines at the New England Journal of Medicine
10. EPA and Libraries
11. The Nation looks back at historical presidential elections
12. Kenneth Rexroth's COMMUNALISM: FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
13. Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics
14. The Latest News about the FBI's Carnivore
15. Writings about Libraries by Jews
16. Creative Quotations
17. Krazy Kat
Quote for the week:
"... you do not really leave a library ; if you do what it wants you
to do, then you are taking it with you." -Elie Wiesel
Home page of the week: Walt Crawford
http://home.att.net/~walt.crawford/___________________________________________________________________________
1. HERMèS: revue critique no. 6
http://www.microtec.net/charro/
HERMèS: revue critique is web critical web journal on information
issues published in Quebec and edited by Pierre Blouin and Roger
Charland. The Spring-Summer 2000 issue is out, at
http://www.microtec.net/charro/HERMES6/titre.htm . Most of the
articles in Hermes are in French, but three of the articles in
this issue are in English. These are William Birdsall's "A Political
Economy of Librarianship?" and Timothy W. Luke's "MegaMetaphorics:
Re-Reading Globalization, Sustainability, and Virtualization as
Rhetorics of World Politics" and "Anti-Negroponte: Thinking about
Cybernetic Subjectivity in Digital Being and Time."I am sorry to say my French is too poor to intelligently discuss the
rest of the journal, but it is quite interesting.
___________________________________________________________________________top
2. Trend toward free access to scholarly info online
>From the Chronicle of Higher Ed., 8/18/00:
THE TREND TOWARD FREE ACCESS to research and scholarship
online is gaining momentum, surprising even the experts such
as William Y. Arms, a professor of computer science at
Cornell University and editor in chief of "D-Lib Magazine," a
journal of digital-library research.
--> SEE http://chronicle.com/free/2000/08/2000081801t.htm
___________________________________________________________________________top
3. Knowledgerush.com
Hello Fellow Librarians,
I am a Librarian in the Los Angeles area professionally and I also volunteer
at a new web site, http://www.knowledgerush.com, an online library ofpost-copyright texts, dictionaries, author biographies, and community
message boards. All content on Knowledgerush is free and we encourage
downloads, linking, and the free distribution of information. We do
not track or gather information about our users. We have over 400
authors and almost 3000 books online.We are now creating a catalog (an "open directory" in web speak) to
help our patrons locate age-- and reading level-- appropriate text for
their needs. We need librarians to volunteer to help us catalog our
collection among other tasks. Specifically, I need someone with
knowledge and interest in censorship and the history of book bannings.If you are interested, you can contact me at krlibrarian[at]aol.com or go
directly to the web site:http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/jsp/db/directory.jsp
I am pleased to work with a group of people who respect the contributions
librarians can make to electronic literature. Please consider
sharing your
knowledge.Thank you.
Judi Ulicki
KnowledgeRush Librarian
___________________________________________________________________________top
4.
Cybersmears and Consumer Revenge Dot Com: Corporate
Threats to Online Free Speechhttp://www.ncac.org/issues/cybersmears.html
"Corporations have been mounting a growing legal assault against
those who use internet bulletin boards and web sites to criticize
corporate performance and policies. Concerned at how easy it is for
individuals or small groups to spread their opinions online,
businesses are turning to the courts to try to silence those who
tarnish their good name."_________________________
Don Wood
Program Officer/Communications
American Library Association
Office for Intellectual Freedom
dwood[at]ala.org
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/index.html
___________________________________________________________________________top
5. Librarians: Collaborating in Cyberspace (online workshop)
From: Lesley Farmer <lfarmer[at]csulb.edu>
Organization: CSULB
To: calix[at]listproc.sjsu.edu
Subject: Prof. Devt.
Sept. 7 4-5pm ASO for Librarians: Collaborating in Cyberspace
accessed free at http://www.tappedin.org
(sign in as a guest or check it out ahead of time and become a Real Member)Partnerships can be virtual these days. Discuss methods of getting
together via the Net: IRC, NetMeeting, common document viewing, etc.
Share what works and what doesn't to optimize collaboration.
Sponsored by California Library Association Information Technology
Section; facilitated by Dr. Lesley Farmer
___________________________________________________________________________top
6. Live Reference
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 06:35:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Thomas J. Hennen Jr." <thennen[at]haplr-index.com>
To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Live reference, theoretical librarian
Writing in Topic 2 of PubLib Digest 1368, Gerry McKiernan, Theoretical
Librarian at Iowa State noted 3 live reference sites and asked if there are
other lists of library 'real-time' reference services, adding that he'd
appreciate learning about them.[See Library Juice 3:31 item number 8 -
http://libr.org/Juice/issues/vol3/LJ_3.31.html#8 ]I subscribe to a list serv and information service at e-groups at:
http://www.egroups.com/group/livereferenceThe live reference database includes the following:
24/7 Live Reference Project : This is a project developed by Susan McGlamery
and Steve Coffman in southern California serving a number of area libraries
and looking to expand based on the CISCO Webline project. Take a look!
http://www.247ref.org .Alliance Library System Live Librarian : Electronic resources help desk
using Live Person on several of the ALS pages. Contact: Mary Carol Lindbloom
or Felicia Sworsky, mlindblm[at]darkstar.rsa.lib.il.us or
fsworsky[at]darkstar.rsa.lib.il.us
http://www.rsa.lib.il.us/public/public.htmCorrect URL for UNT Online Ref. Desk : Univ. of North Texas Libs. Online
Reference Help Desk
http://www.library.unt.edu/admin/HelpDesk/helpdesk.htmLSSI Virtual Library Live Reference Project : LSSI is debuting its new Live
Reference product based on egain at ALA! A number of libraries have already
signed up for this product which Steve Coffman has developed. Take a look!
http://www.lssi.com/virtual
Library Web-Based OPACS :
http://www.lights.com/webcats
Open Directory : Set up your own link to the Open Directory and earn
revenuehttp://homepagetools.com/opendirectory/publisher/
Publishers' Catalogues Home Page : Links to publishers worldwidehttp://www.lights.com/publisher
RRChat : Chat reference service provided by the Florida Distance Learning
Reference & Referral Center, using Conference Room Professional Edition from
WebMaster (similar to Univ. of North Texas). Contact: Rachel Viggiano,
viggiano[at]lib.usf.eduhttp://www.rrc.usf.edu/chat
Talk to a Librarian : "Talk" to a Librarian is a new service created by the
SUNY Morrisville library to allow people outside of the library to "talk"
interactively online to a librarian. It uses AOL Instant Messenger. Response
time is faster than e-mail.For Norwich campus students and faculty , allows
them to reach a reference librarian when one isn't available at Norwich.http://www.morrisville.edu/library/talk.html
University of North Texas, Online Reference Help Desk : August 15, 2000.
The UNT Online Reference Help Desk has moved. The Online Reference Help Desk
has been in existence since May 1999.http://www.library.unt.edu/chatroom/default.htm
Web-based Reference Services : Bibliography and webliography posted by
Peggy Hadid at Multnomah County Libraryhttp://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/lib/products/digref/resources.html
Gerry, I am intrigued. Just what is a theoretical librarian?
Thomas J. Hennen Jr.
thennen[at]haplr-index.com
http://www.haplr-index.com
Voice: 262-886-1625
Fax: 262-886-5424
6014 Spring Street
Racine, WI 53406___________________________________________________________________________top
7. Controlled Vocabularies Resource Site
In response to my recent posting regarding the availability of the
Power Point presentations from the CENDI Conference on _Controlled
Vocabulary and the Internet_
[ http://sunsite.berkeley.edu:80/Web4Lib/archive/0007/0346.html ]
I was reminder of a most impressive resource page maintained by Michael
Middleton of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) who maintains
an *excellent* resource page on 'Controlled Vocabularies' at:http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/InfoSys/middle/cont_voc.html
The site includes the following groupings Bibliography,
Thesaurus building & use, Classification schemes Thesaurus sites,
Database of thesauri, Thesaurus software, as well as other resources
notably entries for other compilations [found at the bottom of Michael's
page]/Gerry McKiernan
Theoretical Librarian
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011"The Best Way To Predict the Future is to Assign It a Descriptor"
With Apologies to Alan Kay
___________________________________________________________________________top
8. Feedback on HealthLink Plus
by Mary Ann Meyers
----- Original Message -----
From: "Smith, Edith" <ESmith[at]plcmc.lib.nc.us>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 7:33 PM
Subject: [PUBLIB] FW: email for review> Please excuse cross-postings
>
> >Looking for good, reliable medical information on the Internet without
> >having to sort through 1,000s of sites with bad information? Then
> >visit HealthLink Plus, PLCMC's newest web site.
> >The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County will be debuting a
> >new web site called HealthLink Plus. It is a comprehensive consumer
> >health web site, that covers such popular topics as General health
> >(including Children's health), finding healthcare providers on the
> >Internet, Wellness, Nutrition, Mental Health, Complementary and
> >Alternative Medicine, and numerous medical research tools. Currently,
> >the web site is nearing completion, and we are looking for feedback
> >from others. Please take a look at this site and share with us any
> >comments or feedback you may have.
> >HealthLink Plus: Your Consumer Health Prescription:
> >http://www.healthlinkplus.org
At first glance organization of information is generally cleanly done
and clearly presented--not too many busy distractions, good breadth of
coverage (I'd be prepared for a patron's suggestion of a subheading for
faith healing and prayer under "Complementary & Alternative Medicine.").
>From what I saw, you've a good selection of websites.However, "Additional Resources" is ambiguous in meaning since most of
the resources I saw presented both local and free services--especially
important to highlight for the poor and disenfranchised in your
community.Similarly, "Bookshelf" is not clear in meaning or purpose. To be sure
it is a collection of "books"--almost all--I assume--in print format?
The meaning of the term "bookshelf" (with the availability of other
formats) must have blurred, or soon will blur, for library patrons .
Each "Bookshelf" page offers a tiny reminder to check your online
catalog, but doesn't really say whether you own a print (or other
medium) copy. I checked on *The Complete Illustrated Guide to Ayurveda:
the ancient Indian healing tradition*--it took too many clicks and
downloads to get from the "Bookshelf" page to the title holdings. Can
you link more directly to the record? Or give some indication of
ownership?The link to Amazon.com on all of your "Bookshelf" pages truly disturbs
me as a librarian (and infuriates me as a taxpayer and U.S. citizen).
Why the link? Is Amazon providing you with funds or other support? If
so, where is that noted on the website for your patrons? Are you taking
advantage of some patrons' lack of knowledge of the intellectual freedom
pitfalls of marrying public institutions to commercial interests? Why
do you not provide links to other online booksellers or provide the
addresses of your local booksellers? Where is your statement of
partnership with Amazon.com and its benefits and demands--and dangers
(or your attempts to draw a clear line between your mutual advantages
and responsibilities). If you are not legally required to do this (and
if I were a taxpayer/citizen who has paid for your salaries and the
library system's facilities and equipment, I'd be all over the
legalities), you have an ethical responsibility to your citizens to do
so.Furthermore, if (as you say)
". . .HealthLink Plus users will find reliable, recent, and
authoritative information from sites selected by PLCMC's professional
Information Services staff. . . ." (from "About" link),why be so reticent to indicate the professional qualifications of that
staff? This is an opportunity to tout the selection skills of the
trained professional librarian, isn't it? I would say this is an
excellent opportunity to state how your trained librarians use
professionally-honed searching and evaluation skills to pick the sites
you list--an opportunity for public relations and to let the citizens
know what they're getting for their taxes.As to the link between HealthLink Plus and PLCMC--
"The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County has been striving
to provide and disseminate accurate information to its patrons since it
was founded in 1903. The HealthLink Plus contributors are working
diligently to continue this legacy. . . ." (from About link),what exactly is the connection between the two? Why are you not clear
about this in a highly visible spot on the website? Perhaps another
link called "Warning!" would be useful?There is a lot of good information on your website--it could be a
formidable resource of information for your patrons; but you should be
more forthright with your patrons on the issues I've addressed above.
That tiny disavowal of endorsement at the bottom of HealthLink Plus's
home page may cover your legal vulnerabilities, but it is not very
informative for your users.Cordially,
Mary Ann Meyers
ljmmam[at]hypermall.net___________________________________________________________________________top
9. Reading between the lines at the New England Journal of Medicine
>From the Chronicle of Higher Education
http://www.chronicle.comA glance at the August issue of "Boston Magazine":
Reading between the lines at "The New England Journal of
Medicine"The forces of commercialization have won the battle for "The New
England Journal of Medicine," contends Jon Marcus, a senior
editor at the magazine. His article traces the history of the
journal, which in 1921 became the official publication of
Massachusetts Medical Society. For more than 40 years the
journal struggled, until the 1960's, when its articles became
influential and advertising income shot up. Since then, the
journal, with the largest paid circulation of any publication of
its type, has become a cash cow. Nearly $50-million of the
medical society's annual $90-million budget comes from the
journal and 13 smaller publications. "In a time when money has
come to play an unprecedented role in medicine," writes Mr.
Marcus, "the society has used the journal's income to change
both its image and its mission, and not always for the better."
The society has built lavish new offices, and suggested spin-off
endeavors that critics charge would dilute the journal's
sterling reputation. Clashes over editorial independence led
last year to the ouster of one editor, with a leading internal
candidate declining to be considered for the top post because
she wasn't guaranteed a hands-off policy from the society. Last
month, Jeffrey Drazen, an asthma researcher, took over as the
new editor. But according to Mr. Marcus, he arrives a tainted
figure, with close ties to pharmaceutical companies whose drugs
were the subjects of his writings. While the medical society
promised that Dr. Drazen would have complete authority, "it is
clear that he is much more closely aligned with the society's
leaders than his predecessors," Mr. Marcus writes. For his part,
Dr. Drazen promises "evolutionary" changes, though he agrees
that the journal needs to cater more to practicing physicians
than to academics, who make up no more than 15 percent of its
readership. In bowing to the pressure for profitability, "The
New England Journal of Medicine" is no different than other
medical publications today, the article concludes. "The journals
have become so influential and lucrative that their owners can
no longer keep their hands off them, whether or not it's good
for them or for society," says Robert Fletcher, a professor at
Harvard Medical School. The article is not online, but
information about the magazine is available at
http://www.bostonmagazine.com
___________________________________________________________________________top
10. EPA and Libraries
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 11:52:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Melanie Buckingham <Melanie.Buckingham[at]ncmail.net>
To: plib2[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu
Subject: [PUBLIB] Libraries and Roles in the CommunityAn opportunity for libraries to promote the sustainability of their
communities:
http://www.network-democracy.org/epa/ . The EPA is hosting an electronic
discussion to explore ways for libraries to serve as a key source of
environmental information to their communities. Some librarians may be
hesitant about this initiative as expressed in the following e-mail
(http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/PubLib/archive/0008/0078.html ). Yet the
EPA's efforts can also be viewed as a resource method for providing
environmental education materials to the public. Since libraries help
promote an informed citizenry, this partnership between libraries and
the EPA can provide new ways for citizens to discover the natural
resources in their communities and learn ways to sustain those
resources.
Melanie Buckingham
Librarian
___________________________________________________________________________top
11. The Nation looks back at historical presidential elections
Dear EmailNation Subscriber,
Now that the major party conventions of 2000 are receeding into memory, we
wanted to draw your attention to The Nation's coverage of presidential
politics over the last one hundred years. The only weekly magazine to
cover each and every presidential race of the last century, The Nation's
reports from elections past still make for surprisingly relevant readin.Some of these reports and dispatches are currently collected at
http://www.thenation.com/e2k.>From John Ward's 1900 lament that the Democratic Party had moved away from
its traditional base, to an unsigned editorial in 1920 insisting that "not
a single fundamental principle" separated the Republicans from the
Democrats,to Paul Sweezey and Leo Huberman's 1956 admonition to vote
socialist, to Carey McWilliams 1968 assessment of the bitter legacy of
LBJ,this material represents an alternative history of the presidency in
twentieth-century America.All available at http://www.thenation.com/e2k
Best regards,
Peter Rothberg
Associate PublisherP.S. If you missed "What's Missing, What Matters," The Nation's August
13th Town Hall meeting in LA on CSPAN featuring Gore Vidal, Lani Guinier,
Barbara Ehrenreich and many others, you can watch and hear it on demand at
http://www.thenation.com/e2k
___________________________________________________________________________top
12. Kenneth Rexroth's COMMUNALISM: FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The complete text of Kenneth Rexroth's COMMUNALISM:
FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY is now
online at http://www.slip.net/~knabb/rexroth/communalism.htm.With his unique combination of broad historical knowledge and wry,
down-to-earth commentary, Rexroth ranges from "primitive communism" through
the communalist tendencies of early Christianity, the radical millenarian
movements of the Middle Ages and Reformation (Anabaptists, Diggers, Brethren
of the Free Spirit) and the numerous attempts, successful or otherwise, to
set up utopian communities in nineteenth-century America (Brook Farm,
Oneida, Fourierists, Hutterites) to the revival of communalist ideas and
experiments in the 1960s counterculture.* * *
The Bureau of Public Secrets website, which has received nearly 200,000 page
visits during its first two years, features Ken Knabb's SITUATIONIST
INTERNATIONAL ANTHOLOGY (translations from the notorious group that helped
trigger the May 1968 revolt in France) and PUBLIC SECRETS, the recent
collection of Knabb's own writings, including "The Joy of Revolution,"
"Confessions of a Mild-Mannered Enemy of the State," and an assortment of
comics, leaflets and articles on Wilhelm Reich, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary
Snyder, the sixties counterculture, radical women, Chinese anarchists,
socially engaged Buddhists, urban "psychogeography," the Watts riot, the
Iranian uprising, the Gulf war, and the recent jobless revolt in France. The
new site index -- http://www.slip.net/~knabb/index1.htm -- includes over
2000 name and topic entries, from anarchism to Zen.BUREAU OF PUBLIC SECRETS
PO Box 1044, Berkeley CA 94701, USA
http://www.slip.net/~knabb
knabb[at]slip.net
___________________________________________________________________________top
13. Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics
South End Press is pleased to announce the release of a provocative new
work by acclaimed black feminist bell hooks.In Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, hooks introduces a
popular theory of feminism rooted in common sense and the wisdom of
experience. hooks applies her critical analysis to the most contentious
and challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive
rights, violence, race, class, and work.With her customary insight and unsparing honesty, hooks calls for a
feminism free from divisive barriers but rich with rigorous debate. hooks
speaks to all those in search of true liberation, asking readers to take a
look at feminism in a new light, and to see that it touches all lives.
Issuing an invitation to participate fully in feminist movement and to
benefit fully from it, hooks shows that feminism - far from being an
outdated concept or one limited to an intellectual elite - is indeed for
everybody.140 pages
ISBN 0-89608-628-3 paper $12.00
ISBN 0-89608-629-1 cloth $40.00Table of Contents
http://www.southendpress.org/books/fifeTOC.shtmlExcerpt
http://www.southendpress.org/books/fifeexc.shtmlRecent Interview with bell hooks
http://www.southendpress.org/books/FemTh2exc.shtmlPraise for bell hooks
"Each offering from bell hooks is a major event, she has so much to give
us." - Maya Angelou"One of the foremost black intellectuals in America today." - Publishers
Weekly"Ardent, questioning, and rigorous...a formidable feminist social and
cultural critic." - Booklist"[An] astute and downright brilliant...social critic and thinker." -
Kirkus Reviews"An abrasive, take-no-prisoners feminist cultural critic." - Amazon.com
To order, please call 800-533-8478
For review, desk, or exam copies, please fax 617-547-1333
Or visit http://www.southendpress.org
To schedule an event or interview with bell hooks, please call Sonia at
617-547-4002 or reply to this email.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sonia Shah
South End Press
7 Brookline Street, #1
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-547-4002
617-547-1333 fax
general office email: southend[at]igc.apc.org
http://www.southendpress.org___________________________________________________________________________top
14. The Latest News about the FBI's Carnivore
"FBI Prepares to Disclose Material on Wiretapping" -- Reuters (via Yahoo!news)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000817/wr/fbi_carnivore_dc_2.html
"Group Objects to FBI E-mail Release" -- AP (via Yahoo!news)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000817/tc/carnivore_6.html
"Carnivore Going to Review U." -- _Washington Post_
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7949-2000Aug10.html
Focus on Carnivore -- _Computerworld_
http://www.computerworld.com/resources/carnivore/
Privacy in the Digital Age -- _New York Times_
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/index-privacy.html
FBI Programs and Initiatives: Carnivore Diagnostic Tool
http://www.fbi.gov/programs/carnivore/carnivore.htm
Electronic Privacy Information Center
http://www.epic.org/
Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for a Temporary
Restraining Order -- _Tech Law Journal_
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/epicvdoj/20000802mem.asp
"FBI's 'Carnivore' Follows Court Orders" -- _LA Times_
http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20000812/t000075644.html
"Carnivore is why new laws are needed for new technology" -- _Computerworld_
http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV63-128-233-1141_STO48
648,00.html
Digital Privacy Act of 2000 -- GPO [.pdf, 5 pages]
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=106_cong_bil
ls&docid=f:h4987ih.txt.pdfAs US Congressman (R-Ga) and House Judiciary Committee member Bob
Barr has pointed out, the latest US government surveillance project,
the FBI's Carnivore, might have been largely overlooked by the public
were it not for two factors: the choice on the part of the bureau to
name the system "Carnivore" and EarthLink Inc.'s litigation over the
placement of the packet-sniffer on its network. Be that as it may,
this email surveillance system has been at the center of controversy
of late. While the FBI has explained that the system uses
court-authorized wire taps to surveil criminal suspects, civil
liberties groups are concerned that Carnivore may violate the Fourth
Amendment Protection against illegal search and seizure. On July 12,
the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request, and six days later it asked the
Justice Department to expedite the request as Carnivore had become
such a focus of media concern. When the request was not granted after
the ten-day time limit FOIA required, EPIC filed a civil action, and
on August 2, US District Judge James Robertson ordered the FBI to
respond to EPIC's request within ten days with a schedule of record
releases. This Wednesday, the FBI announced that it would release the
first set of documents within 45 days. In the meantime, the
development of Carnivore moves ahead, as the Justice Department plans
to select a university within days to review the system's hardware
and software.Recent coverage is available from Reuters, the Associated Press (both
via Yahoo!news), and the _Washington Post_, the first two of which
report on the FBI's Wednesday announcement and EPIC's response to the
timetable, while the _Post_ covers the Justice Department's decision
to have a major university review the system. For background
information, readers can turn to _Computerworld_'s special section on
Carnivore or the _New York Times_'s section on Internet privacy (free
registration required), or they can go right to sites of the
controversy's major players, the FBI and EPIC. The latter's August 2
petition to the US District Court has been posted online by _Tech Law
Journal_. An August 12 letter to the editor of the _LA TImes_ from
John E. Collingwood, the FBI's Assistant Director of Public and
Congressional Affairs defends Carnivore, while Bob Barr's editorial
in _Computerworld_ explains the need for the Digital Privacy Act of
2000, a bill he introduced in Congress July 27 in response to
Carnivore and other surveillance strategies. [TK]> From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/___________________________________________________________________________top
15. Writings about Libraries by Jews
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 09:20:15 -0400
From: IFLA LISTS <iflalists[at]nlc-bnc.ca>
Subject: Writings about Libraries by Jews
To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CASafranot,
Browsing through some books in our collection, I came across 2
interesting essays that I hadn't seen before.First, I came across an essay by Philip Roth (author of _Goodbye,
Columbus_ - a novel about a librarian) about the Newark Public
Library. It was written in 1969, after the Newark City Council voted
to strike $2.8 million from the budget that was needed by the library,
essentially shutting it down.Among the nice things Mr. Roth has to say is :
"The library wasn't simply where one had to go to get the books, it
was a kind of exciting haven to which a city youngster willingly went
for his lesson in self-control. And then there was the lesson in
order, the enormous institution itself serving as instructor. What
trust it inspired - in both oneself and in systems - first to decode
the catalogue card, then to make it through the corridors and
stairwells into the open stacks, and there to discover, exactly where
it was supposed to be, the desired book."He also calls librarians "knowledgeable, dutiful, employees who
weren't teachers".I found the essay in _Reading Myself and Others_ (NY : Farrar &
Goroux, 1975).The more recent _From the Kingdom of Memory : Reminiscences_ by Elie
Wiesel (NY : Summit Books, 1990) contains the essay "Inside a
Library", which includes the following :"If the school is a temple, then the library is a sanctuary"
"... I have always felt such deep attachment to libraries ... [Here,]
the Rabbanites and the Karaites live side by side in harmony. The Gaon
of Vilna and the Maggid of Mezeritch coexist in peace.""... you do not really leave a library ; if you do what it wants you
to do, then you are taking it with you."In a book I recently reviewed, Lawrence A. Hoffman wrote, referring to
the New York Public Library, that it "virtually demand[s] silent
respect, even religious veneration, for the collective human mind of
the centuries that [it] house[s]. " (_Broken Tablets_, pg. 55).He also showed that he appreciated the work of cataloguers : "An
uncatalogued book by an anonymous author on an unknown subject is
meaningless. But give me the author, topic, or call number and I can
relate it to other works - file it away as "belonging" somewhere.
_Now_ it has meaning." (_Broken Tablets_, pg. 53).I am curious if anyone on the list can point me to other interesting
essays / quotations about libraries or librarians, particularly those
about Jewish ones or by Jewish authors.Please e-mail me directly at: safran-can[at]yahoo.com
with your comments.I already know about the quotations area of IFLA's site :
http://www.ifla.org/I/humour/subj.htmThanks in advance,
Steven M. Bergson, Librarian
Jewish Public Library of Toronto
___________________________________________________________________________top
16. Creative Quotations
From the website "Creative Quotations"
http://www.creativequotations.com
search results for "librar"
powered by PROBE v1.5
1.A newspaper is a circulating library with high blood pressure.
Bugs Baer (1886-1969) U.S. journalist, cartoonist
In "Correct Quotes for DOS," WordStar International, 1991.
2.. . . if those only wrote, who were sure of being read, we should have
fewer authors; and the shelves of libraries
would not groan beneath the weight of dusty tomes more voluminous than
luminous.
Lady Marguerite Blessington (1789-1849) English socialite, writer
"The Confessions of an Elderly Lady," 1838.
3.I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) Argentine poet, short-story writer
In "1,911 Best Things Anybody Ever Said," ed. Robert Byrne, 1988.
4.If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would
be librarians.
Warren Buffett (1930-____) U.S. business executive In "Washington Post."
5.I learned 3 important things in college -- to use a library, to memorize
quickly and visually, to drop asleep any
time given a horizontal surface and 15 minutes. What I could not learn
was to think creatively on schedule.
Agnes George DeMille (1905-____) U.S. dancer, choreographer
"Dance to the Piper," 1952.
6.Life is a library owned by an author. It has a few books which he wrote
himself, but most of them were written for
him.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) U.S. clergyman
In "Webster's Electronic Quotebase," ed. Keith Mohler, 1994.
7.Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order,
calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy,
neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady,
unorgastic, reliable, deep and long-lasting.
Germaine Greer (1939-____) English reformer, author, educator
"Daddy, We Hardly Knew You," "Still in Melbourne, January 1987," 1989.
8.I acknowledge immense debt to the griots [tribal poets] of Africa --
where today it is rightly said that when a griot
dies, it is as if a library has burned to the ground.
Alex Haley (1921-1992) U.S. novelist, journalist
"We must honor our Ancestors," in "Ebony," Aug 1986.
9.The great British Library -- one of these sequestered pools of obsolete
literature to which modern authors repair, and
draw buckets full of classic lore, or "pure English, undefiled"
wherewith to swell their own scanty rills of thought.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) U.S. short-story writer, essayist
"The Sketch-Book," "The Art of Book-Making," 1819-20.
10.If I were founding a university I would begin with a smoking room; next
a dormitory; and then a decent reading
room and a library. After that, if I still had more money that I
couldn't use, I would hire a professor and get some
text books.
Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) Canadian author, educator, economist, humorist
In "Correct Quotes for DOS," WordStar International, 1991.
11.My Alma mater was books, a good library . . . . I could spend the rest
of my life reading, just satisfying my
curiosity.
Malcolm X (1925-1965) U.S. political activist
"Autobiograhy of Malcolm X."
12.Yes, there's such a thing as luck in trial law but it only comes at 3
o'clock in the morning. . . . You'll still find
me in the library looking for luck at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Louis Nizer (1902-1994) English lawyer
In "Simpson's Contemporary Quotations," by James B. Simpson, 1988.
13.He who learns, and makes no use of his learning, is a beast of burden
with a load of books. Does the ass
comprehend whether he carries on his back a library or a bundle of faggots?
Moslih Eddin Saadi (1184-1291) Persian poet
In "Wisdom of the Ages at Your Fingertips," MCR software, 1995.
14.As the biggest library if it is in disorder is not as useful as a small
but well-arranged one, so you may accumulate a
vast amount of knowledge but it will be of far less value than a much
smaller amount if you have not thought it
over for yourself.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
"Parerga and Paralipomena," vol. 2, ch. 22, sct. 257, 1851.
15.When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out
of it.
Marie de Sevigne (1626-1696) French diarist
"Letters of Madame de Sevigne to Her Daughter and Friends," 1811.
=Ffound in: one/1570.htm
16.Even in life [Sinclair Lewis] was fully alive only in his writing. He
lives in public libraries from Maine to
California, in worn copies in the bookshelves of women from small towns
who, in their girlhood, imagined
themselves as Carol Kennicotts. . .
Dorothy Thompson (1894-1961) U.S. journalist, writer
"The Boy from Sauk Center," Atlantic, Nov 1960.
17.If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library?
Lily Tomlin (1939-____) U.S. actress, comedienne
In "Webster's Electronic Quotebase," ed. Keith Mohler, 1994.
18.To a historian libraries are food, shelter, and even muse.
Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989) U.S. historian
"Practising History," "The Houses of Research," 1981.___________________________________________________________________________top
17. Krazy Kat - http://www.krazy.com/
The Coconino County Homepage is devoted to the work of
George Herriman and his classic and surreal comic strip
"Krazy Kat," which ran from 1915 to 1944. In addition to
lots of graphics, here you can find a bibliography, as well
as a chronology of many of Herriman's various other titles
(most entries include a link to a sample strip). This
searchable site also features information on Don Marquis'
book of verse Archy and Mehitabel, illustrated by
Herriman. - tm> 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 22-Aug-100.