Library Juice 3:39 - October 11, 2000
Contents:
1. Digital Librarian New Sites - 6 October 2000
2. Multilingual Glossary of Library Terms
3. Fall 2000 issue of Moveable Type
4. No More Fair Use under DMCA
5. The UCITA Primer E-mail Tutorial
6. UCITA Satellite Teleconference
7. Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography
8. New Children's Literature Award Announced
9. Links on Cataloging, Metadata & Dublin Core
10. UNESCO Director-General advocates access for all to "common good"
11. UNESCO's Memory of the World Conference
12. A Bookmobile for Nicaragua
13. Docster list
14. Looking back on the Core Values Task Force
15. The Postmodernity of Cyberspace
Quote for the week:
"Knowledge is the sculpture chiseled from the stone mass of
information, as understanding is chiseled of knowledge, and wisdom
of understanding." -Francis Morrone
Homepage of the week: Emily
http://www.mysticnoanklibrary.com/emily.html____________________________________________________________________________top
1. Digital Librarian New Sites - 6 October 2000
<http://www.digital-librarian.com/new.html>
____________________________________________________________________________top
2. Multilingual Glossary of Library Terms
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/is/publications/glossary/index.html
This brief glossary contains translation of common library and
computer terms - 47 in all - into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French
and Spanish.____________________________________________________________________________top
3. Fall 2000 issue of Moveable Type
From: COLLIB-L [mailto:COLLIB-L[at]acs.wooster.edu] On Behalf Of Larry Oberg
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2000 5:11 PM
To: COLLIB-L[at]acs.wooster.edu
Subject: Fall 2000 issue of Moveable Type
Friends,
The Fall 2000 issue (v.8, no.1) of Moveable Type, the Newsletter of the
Mark O. Hatfield Library, is available in pre-print format at:http://library.willamette.edu (click on Publications)
Some of the articles may be of interest to you. They include:
Building Collections in an Age of Change, by Rhonda L. Neugebauer
(Wichita State University).Central to the Academic Mission, By David Lesniaski (St. Olaf
College)Does Size Really Count? Shelving, Access, and the Death of
Traditional Library Research, by Larry R. Oberg (Willamette
University)The Hallie Ford Museum of Art, by John Olbrantz (Willamette
University)JSTOR: Turning Information from the Past into Knowledge for the
Future, by Gary M. Klein (Willamette University)Diversity at Willamette: New Initiatives, New Collections, by
Larry R. Oberg and Joni R. Roberts (Willamette University)Check it out. And, ask me for a paper subscription if it interests
you.Larry R. Oberg
____________________________________________________________________________top
4. No More Fair Use under DMCA
From LISNews.com
The DMCA continues to send shivers down my spine. Wired has a Story
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,39330,00.html> that has some
not-so-nice things to say. Critics of the DMCA say it could lead to a
pay-per-use world where consumers don't truly own the books, movies and
music they purchase. On Oct. 28, the librarian of Congress will announce
new rules governing the access provisions of the DMCA.Remember: Fair use is not a defense to the DMCA.
"The technological measures, which may be as
simple as a password, place restrictions on who can use the digital
information and often disenfranchise the public. Whereas the public may
use the same print resources in a law library, in the digital arena law
libraries are no longer able to provide equal access to all users."
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5. The UCITA Primer E-mail Tutorial
UCITA is a proposed state law aimed at making shrinkwrap and
click-on license agreements legally binding. Several
consumer and business groups, along with the Federal Trade
Commission, have serious concerns with this legislation.
Libraries are concerned because UCITA poses a threat to free
speech, fair use, preservation, and the license negotiation
process. Because UCITA is extremely complex and is rapidly
moving to state legislative agendas, ALA members have asked
the Washington Office to make UCITA education a priority for
the next several months.The Office for Information Technology Policy is sponsoring a
mini-tutorial on UCITA basics, modeled on the popular
copyright e-mail tutorial presented this spring. The UCITA
Primer is FREE to ALA and non-ALA members. E-mail sessions
begin on November 6th and will run through November 20th.To subscribe to the UCITA Primer, send a message with the
subject line blank to:(Please note the character after the first ala in the
address is a number one, not a lower case L.)In the body of the email, type:
subscribe ucitatut Your First Name Your Last Name
For more information on UCITA and Advocacy please see the
Washington Office UCITA Web site:
http://www.ala.org/washoff/ucita/____________________________________________________________________________top
6. UCITA Satellite Teleconference (Dec. 13, 2000)
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 11:05:21 -0500
From: Julia Blixrud <jblix[at]arl.org>
To: Multiple recipients of list <arl-announce[at]arl.org>
Subject: ARL Announces..UCITA Satellite Teleconference (Dec. 13, 2000)
October 5, 2000
ARL Announces . . .
UCITA: A Guide to Understanding and Action
A Satellite Teleconference
December 13, 2000
1:00-4:00 p.m. ESTSponsored by:
American Association of Law Libraries
American Library Association
Association of Research Libraries
Medical Library Association
Special Libraries Association
UCITA, the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, is a proposed state
law that seeks to create a unified approach to the licensing of software and
information. Two states--Maryland and Virginia--have passed UCITA, and it will
be under consideration in many other states in the near future. Several aspects
of UCITA pose problems for higher education and libraries.* UCITA legitimizes a non-negotiable contract-based system of intellectual
property with no exemptions and fair use defenses for the research, education,
and library communities as provided for in federal copyright law.* UCITA permits this same kind of contract to apply to mixed media
transactions where a book accompanied by a CD, for example, could be governed by
the same restrictions as placed on the CD.* UCITA permits provisions that prohibit reverse engineering or the public
comment or criticism of a product.* UCITA allows the licensor to electronically disable, remove, or prevent the
usage of computer information or software that resides on your system creating
significant security issues along with interrupting services and operations.* UCITA allows software firms to waive liability for known defects in their
software that they failed to disclose to their customers.UCITA can directly impact the ability of libraries and educational institutions
to carry out their missions, to effectively manage their operations, and to
preserve and apply community values in their daily work.With four panelists who were actively involved in the UCITA debates in their
states, this teleconference will help you learn more about UCITA and what you
can do to deal with it in your state!Panelists for the teleconference are:
* James Neal, Dean of University Libraries, Johns Hopkins University;
* Rodney Petersen, Director, Policy & Planning, Office of Information
Technology, University of Maryland;
* Catherine Wojewodzki, Reference Librarian, University of Delaware, and
former State Representative in the Delaware Legislature; and
* Sarah K. (Sally) Wiant, Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law,
Washington & Lee UniversityDetails and registration information can be found at <www.arl.org/ucita.html>.
-------------
The Association of Research Libraries represents over 120 of the major research
libraries in North America and works to shape and influence forces affecting the
future of research libraries in the process of scholarly communication. ARL
programs and services promote equitable access to, and effective use of
knowledge in support of teaching, research, scholarship, and community service.
The Association articulates the concerns of research libraries and their
institutions, forges coalitions, influences information policy
development, and supports innovation and improvement in research library
operations.
--
Julia C. Blixrud <jblix[at]arl.org>
Director of Information Services, ARL <www.arl.org>
Assistant Director, Public Programs, SPARC <www.arl.org/sparc/>
21 Dupont Circle, Washington DC 20036
Tel: (202) 296-2296 ext.133 Fax: (202) 872-0884 Cell: (202) 251-4678
____________________________________________________________________________top
7. Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 13:04:46 -0500
From: "Charles W. Bailey, Jr." <cbailey[at]UH.EDU>
To: MEDLIB-L[at]LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: Version 33, Scholarly Electronic Publishing BibliographyVersion 33 of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography
is now available. This selective bibliography presents over
1,220 articles, books, electronic documents, and other sources
that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing
efforts on the Internet and other networks.HTML: <URL:http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html
Acrobat: <URL:http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.pdf
Word 97: <URL:http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.docThe HTML document is designed for interactive use. Each
major section is a separate file. There are live links to
sources available on the Internet. It can be can be searched using
Boolean operators.The HTML document also includes Scholarly Electronic Publishing
Resources, a collection of links to related Web sites:<URL:http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepr.htm
The Acrobat and Word files are designed for printing. The Acrobat
file is over 320 KB and the Word file is over 370 KB.(Revised sections in this version are marked with an asterisk.)
Table of Contents
1 Economic Issues*
2 Electronic Books and Texts
2.1 Case Studies and History*
2.2 General Works*
2.3 Library Issues*
3 Electronic Serials
3.1 Case Studies and History*
3.2 Critiques
3.3 Electronic Distribution of Printed Journals*
3.4 General Works*
3.5 Library Issues
3.6 Research*
4 General Works*
5 Legal Issues
5.1 Intellectual Property Rights*
5.2 License Agreements*
5.3 Other Legal Issues
6 Library Issues
6.1 Cataloging, Identifiers, and Metadata*
6.2 Digital Libraries*
6.3 General Works*
6.4 Information Conversion, Integrity, and Preservation*
7 New Publishing Models*
8 Publisher Issues*
8.1 Electronic Commerce/Copyright Systems*
Appendix A. Related Bibliographies by the Same Author
Appendix B. About the AuthorBest Regards,
CharlesCharles W. Bailey, Jr., Assistant Dean for Systems,
University Libraries, University of Houston, Houston, TX
77204-2091. E-mail: cbailey[at]uh.edu. Voice: (713) 743-9804.
Fax: (713) 743-9811.<URL:http://info.lib.uh.edu/cwb/bailey.htm
<URL:http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html____________________________________________________________________________top
8. New Children's Literature Award Announced
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 08:46:40 +0100
From: Josche Neven <Josche.Neven[at]IFLA.NL>
Subject: New Children's Literature Award Announced
To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CAPress Release
For Immediate ReleaseNew Children's Literature Award Announced
BALTIMORE, MD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2000 -- The Council for Exceptional
Children's Division on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
(MRDD) will present the first biennial Dolly Gray Children's Literature
Award at their conference in Baltimore, October 14, 2000. The Dolly Gray
Award recognizes high quality fictional children's books with positive
portrayals of individuals with mental retardation and developmental
disabilities.The Dolly Gray Award is the first of its kind that specifically highlights
children's books that include characters with mental retardation or
developmental disabilities. This long-overdue form of recognition was
developed in response to a growing body of literature in this area, and to
assist in dispelling many common and harmful myths portrayed in the media
regarding individuals with mental retardation or developmental
disabilities. The Division on Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities has teamed up with Special Needs Project, a worldwide leader
in the distribution of books related to disability to create this award."It is past time to recognize individuals who make positive contributions
to the field of disabilities and who enhance the lives of persons with
disabilities by picturing them in a positive light in various forms of
literature," says Tom Smith, Executive Director of MRDD. "These kinds of
efforts will go a long way in facilitating the acceptance of persons with
disabilities into inclusive settings."
The award will be presented to Laurie Lears and Karen Ritz for their
picture storybook, Ian's Walk. The story follows Ian, who has autism, as
he gets separated from his sisters in the park. His older sister Julie
finds him only by seeing the world from his perspective. The Horn Book
review praises the "low-key watercolors" which "casually offset Ian's
idiosyncrasies with Julie's frustration and impatience." According to the
Booklist editorial review, "this book offers a valuable, warmly told
lesson" that sensitizes readers to sibling dynamics and to the condition
of autism.
Janet Tashjian will receive the Dolly Gray Award for her chapter book, Tru
Confessions. In the story, 12-year-old Tru records her thoughts and
feelings in her computerized diary, including her dreams to have her own
television show and to cure her brother of his developmental disability.
The Horn Book review describes this novel as having a "breezy tone, helped
along by frequent lists and computer graphics," and the Booklist review
reports that this "fast and funny first-person novel" has a "good mix of
well-handled subject matter and reader appeal."
The Dolly Gray Children's Literature Awards will be presented at a
luncheon/ceremony at the Baltimore Holiday Inn * Inner Harbor on October
14, 2000.For further information, contact:
Tina T. Dyches, Acting Public Relations Chair,
The Council for Exceptional Children
Division on MRDD
(801) 378-5045
tina_dyches[at]byu.edu
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9. Links on Cataloging, Metadata & Dublin Core
From: CharmngDyk[at]aol.com
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 17:13:08 EDT
Subject: Cataloging, Metadata & Dublin Core
To: csu_slis[at]listproc.sjsu.edu, gcugno[at]alliant.eduHi!
i have a few bookmarks to share. i thought i might route the list to
all of you to check out. it may not be the best or most concise list so add
to it if you like and pass any other info on to the list. i compile, sort,
evaluate site links and info, and save them and then send out lists when
asked. the newer students among us may find this list useful. i apologize
for duplication.
http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/law/acqs/lis_cat.html
http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/ercelawn/serials.html
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/cts/autocat/
http://www.sla.org/chapter/ctor/toolbox/resource/index.html
http://www.tlcdelivers.com/tlc/crs/CRS0000.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/resource/library/cataloging/
http://www.mun.ca/library/cat/index.html#MARC
http://www.purl.org/oclc/cataloging-internet
http://www.oclc.org/fp/
http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/9256cat/toc.htm
http://www.ipl.org/svcs/onthejob.html#cataloging
http://home.istar.ca/~allegrow/library&cataloguinglinks.htm
http://geography.miningco.com/library/congress/bllc.htm
http://www.links2go.com/search?search=cataloging
http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/
http://www.oclc.org/fp/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcdot/
This service will retrieve a Web page and automatically generate Dublin Core
metadata, either as HTML <meta> tags or as RDF/XML, suitable for embedding in
the <head>...</head> section of the page.http://www.lub.lu.se/cgi-bin/nmdc.pl
"This service is provided by the "Nordic Metadata Project" in order to assure
good support for the creation of Dublin Core metadata to the Nordic
"Net-publisher" community. If you use the metadata created by this form and
follow our examples, term lists and recommendations, your HTML documents will
carry high quality metadata. "META Tagging for Search Engines
http://WWW.Stars.com/Search/Meta/Tag.htmlMetadata and Resource Description
http://www.w3.org/Metadata/MARCit - THE tool for cataloging the Internet in MARC format.
http://www.marcit.com/International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
Digital Libraries - Metadata Resources
http://www.ifla.org/II/metadata.htmCooperative Online Resource Catalog [OCLC]
http://www.oclc.org/oclc/corc/index.htm
CORC is a state of the art, Web-based system that helps libraries provide
well guided access to Web resources using new, automated tools and library
cooperation. CORC empowers librarians with automated tools for the
cooperative creation, selection, organization, and maintenance of Web based
resources. (OCLC)
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10. UNESCO Director-General advocates access for all to "common good"
October 9, 2000 - "It is UNESCO's duty to sound the alarm about the
dangers of globalization and constantly to recall the need for equality of
access for all to what some call the 'common good'". said UNESCO's
Director-General KoÔchiro Matsuura today when addressing the160th session
of the Organisation's Executive Board. "Globalization is today generating
uncharted challenges calling for new norms or ethical principles - or even
regulatory mechanisms - with which to guarantee the continued exercise of
universally recognized human rights. Many, if not all, of these challenges
fall squarely within UNESCO's defined responsibilities", Mr Matsuura said.In this regard, Mr Matsuura highlighted particularly important issues to
be addressed by UNESCO, notably: cultural diversity, basic education in
the knowledge society, the digital divide, dialogue among civilisations
and freedom of expression and media pluralism. Saying that he would be
explaining his views on these priorities more fully on Wednesday, he
stressed that these issues are making UNESCO "more relevant than ever".
But, he added, "our relevance has to be demonstrated and we must recapture
recognised international leadership" in UNESCO's specialised fields of
competence.The 160th session of UNESCO's Executive Board was opened this morning by
its Chairperson, Sonia Mendieta de Badaroux (Honduras).Ms Mendieta de Badaroux's opening address recalled the absolute need for
UNESCO to address human suffering, notably the scourges of poverty,
violence and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly its impact on children.
She was encouraged by the outcome of the recent Millennium Assembly at the
United Nations which set "some of the key objectives for the target date of
2015": reduce the proportion of people suffering from hunger; improve
access to safe drinking water; ensure successful primary education for
children world-wide; and reverse the spread of the major diseases.She declared: "We need to understand that economic growth and greater
wealth do not in themselves produce morally acceptable governments or
socially responsible citizens. [Ö] We seem to have grown accustomed to the
practice of sacrificing individuals and sometimes communities for a
perceived general interest. This has often resulted in the exclusion or
persecution of minorities."Ms Mendieta de Badaroux added: "It is in properly understanding UNESCO's
ethical mission that we in this forum should strive to foster a new global
vision of development lending fresh impetus to the observance of the values
contained in the Constitution of our Organization, and to the encouragement
of human solidarity, mutual respect and cultural diversity. [Ö] It is our
bounden duty to assist the Organization in giving the developing countries
- within its mandate - the means to consolidate their own development."In his address, largely devoted to the UNESCO reform process underway, Mr
Matsuura welcomed recent events in the former Yugoslavia: "We cannot but
rejoice at the recent news from Belgrade, where democracy has taken the
upper hand and the people have become the masters of their own destinies.
UNESCO has constantly supported independent media in ex-Yugoslavia, and
this must certainly have played its part in the return to democracy."Speaking about the reform process he launched as soon as he took office
eleven months ago, the Director-General said: "Reform is not a luxury or a
foible. It is a must. If we do not reform, quickly and effectively, this
Organization will be in the midst of a severe crisis."Mr Matsuura defined his reform programme saying: "The common thread
running all through my proposals is relevance and excellence. Programme on
the one hand, and management and administration on the other, are two sides
of the same coin. There is but one context and one overall vision."The most painful part of the reform has already largely been accomplished,
the Director-General declared, speaking about the sharp reduction in the
number of high level posts and the rejuvenation of the Organization
through the voluntary departure of some 100 staff members. Mr Matsuura
also insisted on the need for quality recruitment and for increasing the
budget devoted to personnel training from the current level of 0,13% of
personnel expenditure to 1% in the next biennium and to 3% by the end of
2007.Mr Matsuura regretted that the United States is not a full member of
UNESCO, where major issues concerning globalisation are taken up, and
spoke of his active work for the return of the United States to membership
of UNESCO. He reported on his visit to Washington in September and said he
had received strong support for his reforms there. He further announced
that he will return to Washington in November at the invitation of the US
Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, to participate in International
Education Week.Mr Matsuura highlighted the consensus that has emerged in consultations
about the reform process and the need for UNESCO "to adopt, as a
federating objective for its action in the years to come, the notion of
globalisation with a human face".(Source : UNESCO Press Release 'No. 2000-99 of 10/09/2000)
____________________________________________________________________________top
11. UNESCO's Memory of the World Conference
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 01:09:18 -0500
From: Lourdes Feria Basurto <lferia[at]ucol.mx>
Subject: MEMORY OF THE WORLD
To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CAUNESCO's Memory of the World Conference was celebrated in Mexico from
September 27 to 29, 2000In Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico, the Second International Conference of the
UNESCO Memory of the World Programme brought together specialists in
preservation and access techniques and policies to discuss new trends in
preserving and disseminating archives and library heritage materials. 125
professionals from 43 countries attended the meeting, which was organized by
the Mexican Memory of the World National Committee, the University of Colima
and the Government of the State of Colima.The programme included four main topics: Access to our Documentary Heritage,
Pilot projects and the Memory of the World Register, Regional priorities in
safeguarding and Access to documentary heritage, and Regional priorities in
safeguarding and Access to documentary heritage.In his speech for the opening ceremony Alain Modoux, Assistant
Director-General a.i. for Communication and Information, UNESCO, said that
the Programme "is not about sites and monuments but about manuscripts,
incunabula and archives, whether sound, film, paper or also oral tradition.
These are of course of other nature as monuments. While one is monumental,
solid and visible from long distances, the other is often hidden and has to
be discovered and preserved in completely different ways""The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, is the story's frame of the
Sleeping beauty and the prince. In other words it signifies a union of all
those who are preserving and giving access to the beauty -the world's
documentary heritage. Therefore I hope that the Second International Memory
of the World Conference hosted in Mexico, in the country of sun, sea and
gods, where narrative and pictographic heritage like Popol-Vuh and Codices
were created, makes a significant contribution towards a clear vision and a
world-wide workshop of preservation of and access to documentary heritage in
the information age", Mr. Modoux said.
____________________________________________________________________________top
12. A Bookmobile for Nicaragua
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2000 22:48:32 +0200
To: ProgLib[at]listbot.com
From: Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen <frauke.mahrt-thomsen[at]rz.hu-berlin.de>
Subject: A Bookmobile for NicaraguaProgressive Librarians Around the World -
http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/100/115158/adresse.htmDear friends,
I have the pleasure to send you a letter from Elisabeth Zilz from
Frankfurt a.M./Germany, responsible for "A Bookmobile for Nicaragua", now
staying for many weeks in Managua/Nicaragua. I would be glad if some of you
could find ways to support the wonderful work Elisabeth Zilz does for the
Nicaraguan poeple.Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen
To the Progressive Librarians of the World
Our longstanding project "A Bookmobile for Nicaragua" (since 1987) still needs
30 000 US $ for financing iis own library in Managua. The city of Managua is
donating a site for the buildung of 1170 m" where the library of 434 m"
will be constructed: a reading room with 60 places, a magazine for 16 000
books, administration, children's room, garage and lecture room. The plans
are set up, the costs will be about 100 000 US $. We are lacking 30 000 US $.The building must be erected within a year up to february 2001, otherwise
the offer of the town will be withdrawn. Please help our project with your
donation, so that we can continue our work. With our bookmobile and the
public library we make an important contribution against the illiteracy and
for the reading abilities in a country where now even the attendance of
elementary schools costs money.We thank you in advance for your help.
Elisabeth Zilz
Hermesweg 9
60316 Frankfurt a.M.
Tel. & Fax: o69 492694Ein Bücherbus in Nicaragua e.V.
(A Bookmobile for Nicaragua e.VJ
Frankfurter Volksbank
KtoNr: 77 609 407
BLZ (zip code of the bank): 501 900 00____________________________________________________________________________top
13. Docster list
From LISNews.com
Daniel Chudnov has the Docster <http://oss4lib.org/readings/docster.php>
list up and running now.This list is intended for those wishing to help
build and test a docster-like prototype, and is open to all
participants. This project is specifically aimed at shared discovery and
analysis of technical, social, and legal changes to existing p2p (Peer to
Peer) models we will need to make to make instant document delivery real
and equitable for all involved. See the docster proposal at
http://oss4lib.org/readings/docster.php for more background.
The list can be found on Sourceforge at :
http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/oss4lib-docster
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14. Looking back on the Core Values Task Force
Tim Wojcik of the About.com Librarians' page posted an interview with
GraceAnne DeCandido and Janet Swan Hill on the failed Core Values Task
Force of ALA. You can read that interview at
http://librarians.about.com/library/weekly/aa092700a.htm
Both of the interviewees were of course ON the CVTF, so it was a one-sided
interview. Tim made up for it by offering Mark Rosenzweig the chance
to follow up with an article. Mark of course was a leader of the
opposition. His interview is copied below:Cored Values: a response to DeCandido and Hill
Contrary to the opinions, as presented in the interview which appeared
here, of ALA Councilors Grace Ann DeCandido and Janet Swan Hill, both of
whom I continue to hold in high esteem, the proposed ALA Core Values
Statement, in its fifth iteration, the one that was actually presented by
the Core Values Task Force to the Council of the AmericanLibrary
Association, was, despite all spin-control, resoundingly rejected by
Council and, at that, by a wide margin of votes.You wouldn't know it from
what they said in their discussion here.They can try to use the fact that the resolution through which it was
rejected said the discussion of "core values" must, of course, 'go on',
to suggest that the resolution and vote meant that the same process was
being continued, that a new Task Force of the same type would be
constituted and that their own rejected document was being taken as an
interim model, but this is clearly NOT the case. This episode is over.This is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings. It is just the fact of the
matter.At the second ALA Council Meeting at the last Annual Conference where
this Core Values Statement came up, there was (apparently much to Task
Force members' surprise) widespread scepticism among many ALA units and
individual Councilors about the necessity of such a brief and summary
statement and, clearly, deep reservations and concerns about the quality
of the product of the process. In the end, with Council's extended debate
and unequivoval vote, the clear sense of the body was that if "core
values" is to be revisited (as it must be, I suppose, over and over
again), it will be in some other manner and to some other end. In
recognition of this (at least so I thought), the Core Values Task Force
dissolved itself.The drama of how the reversals of fortune of a prestigious ALA Task
Force, completely assured of its Statement sailing through Council
unfolded must await another occasion for its telling and, as an active
participant in the opposition, I am perhaps not the person to tell it. But
perhaps their ultimate undoing, clever as it seemed , I'm sure,at the
time, was the Core Values Task Force revealing, in a slightly panicked
meeting prior to Councl II (a hearing of some sort meant to address what
they began at the very last moment to just barely see as significant
opposition), that they had a "sixth" version in hand, which they were
withholding, but would bring forward if their fifth revision were rejected
by Council.What it communicated, however, was: "you don't like these core values..
then, wait a minute, we've got some core values you'll really like".This
was the last straw, because it suggested that in as foundational a matter
as the specification of the profession's core values, the fifth revision,
which is the one they chose to present to Council and were hoping (indeed
expecting) to see passed, was not their last word, their best effort, the
most appropriate formulation.To its credit, ALA Council was not interested
in seeing the secret, last minute sixth draft, which was held in abeyance
by the Task Force "just in case".The presented Statement was defeated. The criticism of it was, after due
gratitude was expressed for the considerable efforts of the group, sharp
and frank, with many Councilors rising, from different constituencies and
with different viewpoints, to speak against it, including the
representative of the IFC who read a powerful and explicit statement , and
with very few rising to defend it who were not part of the Task Force
itself, a group which found itself clustered around a microphone on the
floor to respond to each comment collectively in a most unusual manner, a
courtesy extended to them by the body , but something which hardly fell
within the parameters of procedure as usual.Despite this, the Task Force headed by Councilor Don Sager,was denied the
victory they thought, until moments before, they were assured by their
having systematically solicited support from Councilors in advance for
whatever document the Task Force presented, something which those who
signed on to obviously did not see as binding, since many of them came to
vote against the Task Force's statement.The fact is that, from version one to version five, the Core Values Statement
a)was of dubious necessity and usefulness, b) was not comprehensive or ,
in any way, an improvement on existing documentation in our policy manual
and c) that it had, in the attempt to present the briefest imaginable
statement, for reasons which were questionable to begin with,
misrepresented, in significant ways, the value-oriention and commitments
of ALA.In fact, it did not re-state our values, it re-valued our values.
It refused an explicit commitment to intellectual freedom and of our
importance as defenders of constitutional liberties and as active
opponents of censorship; it eschewed commitment to social responsibility
and promoting informed citizen-involvement; it neglected our role in
community-building and democratization of cultural access; it refused to
embrace openly our recently much-vaunted commitment to diversity in
staffing, and educating in the profession, in sevice-orientation and in
collections; it ignored our implicit mandate to maintain a
commercial-free environment unbiased by market forces; it shied away from
oppposition to fees-for-services in public facilities : It declined to
emphasize the necessity of a profession committed to advocacy, especially
advocacy, as well as service, for the least-advantaged as much as for the
advanced scholar engaged in research; it overlooked the value of our
involvement in cultural and information policy at every level, from the
local and national to the international.It never once mentioned the word "book".
Not least of all, it did not speak to and for librarians and
librarianship, for the value to us and hopefully to others of our own
profession in a global information environment, for a commitment to the
need for advanced library education, for the importance of promoting the
highest quality professional training and development, for the necessity
of advocating for increased government commitment (and other commitments)
to a free library network (without strings attached).It made no case for libraries as a public good. It left openings for the
irresponsibility of privatization and outsourcing of basic library
functions; it encouraged the formation of unequal "partnerships" with the
corporate sector which would like to incorporate public librarianship( and
other library sectors) and transform it in its own image , colonizing
the libraries as it is doing to the rest of the public sphere;In its presentation it advanced no vision, no promise, no clear mandates.
It was a passive and ineffectual document, and -- when internal ALA
internal politics were put aside --it appeared threadbare and paltry
compared to what we already had on the books, policies which spoke so
eloquently of our profession's principles, perspectives and prospects.If there is any question that there weren't substantive(rather than merely
stylistic) issues at stake in the Core Values discussion,the fact that,
even as she was interviewed here long after the defeat of the Core Values
Statement, former Task Force member Janet Swann Hill continued to maintain
that "intellectual freedom" is a piece of librarians "jargon", which no
one outside the field understands, and which she had no qualms about
jettisoning and purposely excluding from the document. That, to me, shows
to what extent the Task Force was operating on a "new" and different
wavelength from the Council and the Membership and not merely re-stating
more clearly and explicitly our basic values and commitments.The consideration of core values will continue, but not in the context of
a public relations exercise or as a way of creating a document which
would, under the guise of simplicity and brevity, re-orient the profession
in ways its' present commitments preclude.Mark Rosenzweig
ALA Councilor at large
____________________________________________________________________________top
15. The Postmodernity of Cyberspace
>From the Chronicle of Higher Education email of 10/9:
A glance at the October 2000 issue of "Spark-Online":
The postmodernity of cyberspaceIn cyberspace, postmodernism rules; it is "par excellence the
domain ruled by postmodern ideas," writes Adrian Mihalache, a
Romania-based contributor to the Internet-based magazine. "Much
like the Western World for free-market ideology and the Eastern
one for Marxist Modernism, cyberspace provides postmodernism a
laboratory for experimentation and testing," he suggests. This
is apparent, he says, in the nature of cyberspace as "an entity
on the make," and in the main figures of cyberspace.
Cybersurfers who explore the World Wide Web, cybersmiths who
build it, and cyberevangelists who extoll its virtues "are no
longer the stable, coherent and rational selves of the Modern
School, but the petulant, playful, multicentered, disembodied
'spirits' of postmodernism," he writes. "They do not recognize
such things as 'universal truth' and reject the belief that
reason and science offer a stable foundation for knowledge and
ethical behavior." So, he suggests, the Web strips science of
its authority, and in fact does not even offer a guarantee that
its own information "corresponds to anything true or real." That
aspect of the Web, he suggests, echoes the thesis of
postmodernism, that claims to "truth" frequently are exercises
in the exertion of power and that "truth" is not absolute, but
depends on context. Similarly, he argues, cyberspace conforms to
postmodernism's claims for "the primacy of text over reality,"
because in cyberspace "the only reality is textual." It operates
like language, where words gain their meaning by reference to
other words, but more intensely so: Its references are not
consistent or constant, but multiple, "in an endless process of
signification." The article is available online at
http://www.spark-online.com/october00/discourse/mihalache.html
____________________________________________________________________________top
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