Library Juice 3:4 - January 26, 2000
Contents:
1. Where is everyone?
2. International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE)
3. Information for Social Change No. 10, Winter 1999-2000
4. The Nation announces availability of complete digital archive
5. Hermenaut
6. The Baffler
7. FAIFE reaction to arrest of the librarian Song Yongyi in China
8. The Case of Song Yongyi and U.S.-China relations
9. SRRT Resolution on Socially Responsible Investment
10. Biblioteca Social Reconstruir in danger of closing its doors
11. Library trends to look at in the planning process
12. Game Libraries? Anyone?
Quote for the week:
"An oligarchy of private capital...cannot be effectively checked even by
a democratically organized political society (because) under existing
conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly,
the main sources of information."-Albert Einstein, quoted in a _Nation_ piece about how _Time_ magazine
neglected to mention, in its bio on their "Person of the Century," that
Einstein was a socialist. _The Nation_ vol. 270, no. 3, January 24, 2000.
Homepage of the week: Claire McInerney
http://www.ou.edu/class/mcinfo/___________________________________________________________________________top
1. Where is everyone?
A Juice editorial -
I became a librarian partly for what I believed, and still believe,
to be a common reason: to help provide the foundation for a
democratic society by making important information accessible to
all. I say this is a common motivation, but it is far from the only
one out there. Another common attraction to librarianship is the
image of a low-stress, quiet, even easy career, that allows a person
to avoid messy, unpleasant "issues" by maintaining a passive attitude
toward them, "neutrally" providing access (with false equity), and if
not to be admired, then at least to be valued for it and considered
innocent. That "neutrality" is of course a myth, covering up cozy
relationships to hegemonic voices that are the hidden corruption of
our libraries. This is well-known and has been well-documented by
progressive leaders in librarianship (c.f. Micheal Harris) and
mirrors the broader cultural problem of media monopoly and media
illiteracy that has been the subject of much study and many books, by
the likes of Herbert Schiller, Mark Crispin Miller, Ben Bagdikian, and
Noam Chomsky. It is important, for the sake of democracy, that
librarians see past the consumerist, non-sustainable, neo-liberal,
phony two-party corporate propaganda of centrifugal bumblepuppy that
passes for culture in this marginally civilized country. The future
that Aldous Huxley warned us about in _Brave New World_ is very much
with us today, with the difference being that millions are aware of
it and discuss it freely in the leading progressive publications of
our time. Many of these publications are in our libraries. _The
Nation_, for example, seems to be in most public libraries. Certain
important books are also not too hard to find. Unfortunately,
however, the vast majority of today's dissenters, unsatisfied with
false democracy, are simply impossible to find in most libraries.
The reason for this is no mystery - corporate power has a long reach,
even if it has its effect through complex processes. Politicians lose
their place at the table if they refuse to "play the game" of
influence peddling today. Advertisers have successfully made
investigative reporting a thing of the past at major newspapers, with
non-profits like the Center for Public Integrity partially filling the
void but barely reaching the public. In libraries, professional
independence is on the wane as directors "bow to financial pressure"
and commence with outsourcing and selection by approval plans, even
as their own salaries skyrocket. The average person is unaware of
the propaganda for our consumerist way of life that is embedded in
what passes for culture. It should be no surprise that most
librarians are equally unaware of it.But we know many who are aware. What I do not understand is why our
influence is not more strongly felt. Why is SRRT languishing with a
membership of only 1600, the vast majority completely inactive? The
Alternatives In Print Task Force has grown to about twenty members,
which is an improvement over recent years, but shouldn't its members
number in the hundreds? With the relationship between media and
democracy so well-understood, and the support of democracy such a
common motivation for entering the career of librarianship, shouldn't
the progressive wing be stronger? Shouldn't The Baffler be in our
libraries? Shouldn't there be greater resistance to the process of
corporatization?WHERE IS EVERYBODY???
-Rory Litwin
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2. International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE)
Dear colleague,
I have created an International Center for
Information Ethics (ICIE) that may be of
interest to you. I will link your site in ICIE.
If you need more information about it
please contact me back.
Kind regards
R. CapurroProf. Dr. Rafael Capurro
FH Stuttgart (HBI) University of Applied Sciences,
Wolframstr. 32, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany
E-Mail: capurro[at]hbi-stuttgart.de; Tel. : +49 - 711 - 25 706 - 48
Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Philosophie,
Dillmannstr. 15, 70049 Stuttgart, Germany
Private: Redtenbacherstr. 9, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Tel.: +49 - 721 - 98 22 9 -22 (fax: -21)
Homepage in German/English/Spanish/French:
http://v.hbi-stuttgart.de/~capurro/index.html
International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE):
http://v.hbi-stuttgart.de/~capurro/icie-index.html
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3. Information for Social Change No. 10, Winter 1999-2000
is now on the web
at http://libr.org/ISC/TOC.html
Contents:
Editorial.
http://libr.org/ISC/articles/10-editorial.htmlPublic Libraries, Social Exclusion and Social Class
http://libr.org/ISC/articles/10-public.htmlLibraries in the Soviet Union
http://libr.org/ISC/articles/10-Soviet.html"Friends" versus supporters of Cuban libraries
http://libr.org/ISC/articles/10-Cuba.htmlReviews
http://libr.org/ISC/articles/10-reviews.html___________________________________________________________________________top
4. The Nation announces availability of complete digital archive
January 4, 2000
Publisher of historic weekly magazine to demonstrate prototype of a
searchable digital archive at ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio,
Texas.The Nation, America's oldest weekly journal of politics and culture,
today announced plans to publish "The Digital Archive:
1865-Present"--a fully searchable electronic version of the
magazine's complete back file.The collection is a breathtaking assemblage of words and images from
the most thought-provoking writers, activists, and artists of the
19th and 20th centuries--from the Civil War to the present day. This
indispensable compendium of primary source material includes every
article, editorial, poem, and cultural review published since Volume
I, Number 1 on July 6th, 1865. Original illustrations and
advertisements are also included.The archive is scheduled to be available in spring of 2000 and will
be accessible, on a subscription basis, via the World Wide Web. Users
will be able to view high-resolution images of the original magazine
pages--over 200,000 in all. In addition, the full text of the entire
collection is searchable by word or phrase. A powerful web-enabled
database application combined with Adobe's Acrobat Reader software
allows browsing by index categories as well as advanced full-text
searching restricted by date range, author, and subject.The Nation Digital Archive makes it possible for scholars and other
researchers to access this invaluable historical material in ways
never before possible. The Nation's depth and breadth of coverage
and--its lifelong spirit of journalistic independence--is unmatched
by any other journal of opinion published in the last 135 years. Says
Nation publisher and editorial director Victor Navasky, "By making
available in a searchable electronic form, materials which in many
cases were ignored by the mainstream press at the time of their
original publication, we hope to provide a unique window on the
events and trends that have shaped the world in which we live."For information on subscribing to the full backfile, email
archive[at]thenation.com
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5. Hermenaut
The Hermenaut website is now loaded with content, and I mean loaded.
It's very worth subscribing to the print edition - don't forget how fat
and book-like it is - but the website is now a real web destination
instead of just a place to find out how to subscribe. Included are
highlights from issues 13 (Vertigo, with Baudelaire as Hermenaut of
the Month), 14 (Anorexia/Technology, with Simone Weil as Hermenaut of
the Month) and 15 (Fake Authenticity, with Phillip K. Dick as Hermenaut
of the Month). In addition there is also a Hermenaut Community thing
called Wicked Pavilion, where people can discuss the articles and issues
in Hermenaut.If you run into me at the ALA annual conference in Chicago, you might
see me wearing my Hermenaut T-shirt. yes, you can order them online.Rory
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6. The Baffler
"Highly recommended." - Village Voice
"The smartest and most exciting magazine in America." - Toronto Star
"The Baffler is fast becoming one of my all-time favorite literary
journals, with its brilliantly critical coverage of
pop/business/consumer culture, along with the `alternative' art and
music scenes." - Alternative Press Review"You'd have to look back at the fights between New York
intellectuals in the fifties to find the sort of verbal firepower
unleashed here." - The Nation"Absolutely vital. almost like a road map of contemporary culture."
- Factsheet Five"Undeniably one of the smartest publications in the country.
Consistently ahead of the pack critically, The Baffler is genuinely
dangerous and would be illegal if more people knew about it." -
Might magazine"[The Baffler] has played a leading role in keeping contemporary
culture honest." Utne Reader.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
The Baffler website now has some actual content and is worth a
visit. Baffler #13 is just out, by the way. Here's something from
the website, explaining The Baffler to those who need to know:About the Baffler
The Baffler sprang into this world back in 1988 from a very simple
idea. Thanks to the forces of academic professionalization, it seemed
to us, cultural criticism had become specialized and intentionally
obscure. The authority of high culture may have collapsed, but the
high-culture critics had no intention of allowing their authority to
collapse with it. Instead they abandoned the mundane project of
enlightenment and aimed for bafflement, for a style that made much of
its own radicalism but had astonishingly little to say about the
conditions of life in late twentieth-century America. We set out to
puncture their pretensions and to beat them at their own game.Our suspicion of the high critical style quickly merged with a
broader analysis of the culture business. If there was ever a time
not to be baffling, we insisted, this was it. Between the rise of the
Culture Trust and its desire to put an ad on every available surface,
a demographic on every face, and an A&R man in every avant-garde,
these were times that called for explosive analysis and strong,
unambiguous statements.What we got instead were ten years in which the high critics
declared that the production of mass culture was not worth talking
about at all, since to do so was to make the distasteful assumption
that the public stupidly fell for the commercial ephemera that
increasingly made up our cultural surroundings. No, when the subject
was everyday life only one interpretation held their interest: that
the noble consumer used the dross with which he or she was bombarded
to fashion little talismans of rebellion and subversion. And with
that little mouÈ of politeness a hundred year legacy was abandoned
when we needed it most.What we thought was really eerie, though, was the way mass culture
reflected the high critics' priorities. While they spoke proudly of
their own subversiveness and turned out account after account of the
liberating potential of each act of consuming, the culture industry
itself grabbed with both hands at the golden promise of
rebellion-through-consumption. The more closely American speech was
brought under centralized corporate control, the more strenuously did
our advertising, TV sitcoms, and even our management literature insist
on the virtue and widespread availability of revolution. In economic
terms, the nineties were years of unprecedented consolidation; in
terms of official culture, they were years of unprecedented
radical-talk. For us they were a great time to be making trouble.As The Baffler grew, our writing began to focus more and more on
business culture and the culture business. For all the flash and
cosmopolitanism of contemporary American life, we reasoned, never has
it been so directly a product of the corporate imagination. As we
waded through the unplumbed depths of management literature, our
original suspicions were confirmed: when business advice literature
warmly embraces chaos, celebrates the collapsing of high and low, and
heralds the demolition of intellectual order as a profit-maximizing
opportunity, it's time to dust off those much-vilified
metanarratives. And when the partisans of corporate-sponsored
transgression responded by labelling us both reactionary elitists and
a bunch of Reds, we knew we had hit the interpretative jackpot. Yes,
postmodernism is the cultural logic of late capitalism.The Baffler draws on a long American tradition of dissent,
especially the critique of business culture that grew up back in the
hopeful days of the teens, twenties, and thirties. When starting the
magazine we were inspired simultaneously by Randolph Bourne and H. L.
Mencken; determined somehow to follow in the paths of both The Masses
and punk rock. We aimed for nothing less than to revive the old
generalist project, to speak about our culture without excessive
jargon and as though people cared. We would confront the pomposities
of power in the most direct manner we knew, we would call it on its
lies and burst the bubble of the moment, whether it was "alternative"
culture or the liberating promise of the cyber-revolution.More importantly, The Baffler was our attempt to restore a sense of
outrage and urgency to the literature of the Left and simultaneously
to unmask the pretensions of the lifestyle liberals. The cultural
crisis of our time cannot be understood without reference to the fact
that the modes of cultural dissidence that arose in the sixties are
today indistinguishable from management theory. The distance between
the new species of business thinkers and the rebel stars who populate
our national firmament is almost zero. Our society is blessed with a
great profusion of self-proclaimed subversives, few of which have any
problem with the terrifying economic-cultural order into which we are
blithely stepping on the eve of the millennium.But to describe The Baffler in terms of the books we read or the
records we listened to or the writers we admired overlooks what was,
until quite recently, the central, unassuagable fact that dictated
the way we did things. To put it simply, we believed in small
magazines and in self-publishing because we had to. Until a certain
species of cynicism became acceptable in mainstream press a few years
ago, almost nobody else would publish us. We have been outsiders to
the mainstream of our time not merely as a matter of choice, but
because as recently as 1994 the way we thought and wrote about
culture was not something encouraged warmly by editors.It is also important to point out where The Baffler's critique
stops. We make no grand claims about what art or culture can do to
transform politics. We confess that we admire certain old
avant-gardes, that we like the early writing of John Dos Passos and
Edmund Wilson, that we are always looking for a cartoonist like Art
Young. But we realize that political change is going to require
actual politics. What we are absolutely sure about is that
contemporary capitalism has marshalled the forces of culture,
whatever they are, to ensconce itself in power and to insulate itself
from criticism to an almost entirely unprecedented extent.[Editor's note: few if any public libraries carry The Baffler.
Where is everyone?]
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7. FAIFE reaction to arrest of the librarian Song Yongyi in China
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 11:42:04 +0100
From: Carsten Frederiksen <cfrederi[at]IPOST.KK.DK>
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: FAIFE reaction to arrest of the librarian Song
Yongyi in China
To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CAThe Chair of the IFLA / FAIFE Committee has forwarded an open letter to
the Premier of the People's Republic of China, His Excellency Zhu Rongji,
expressing concern in regard to the arrest of and charges against the
librarian and scholar Mr Song Yongyi in Beijing, China:Mr Premier, Your Excellency
On behalf of the International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA) and as the Chair of its Committee on Free Access to
Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), I am deeply concerned by the
arrest of Mr Song Yongyi, our colleague librarian, a scholar and head of
technical services at Waidner-Spahr Library at Dickinson College in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA.Mr Song Yongyi, a distinguished scholar on the
history and documents of the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, was detained in
Beijing with his wife, Ms Helen Yao, on 7 August 1999 while in China
collecting old newspapers and other documents. Ms Yao was released on 16
November, but Mr Song remained in prison and we are informed that he was
charged with "the purchase and illegal provision of intelligence to foreign
people" on December 24. These allegations against Mr Song Yongyi appear to
be unwarranted since he was reviewing previously published and non-secret
documents.In welcoming delegates to the wonderful 62nd IFLA Conference, which your
Government hosted in Beijing in August 1996, Premier Li Peng wrote:Libraries are the treasure chests of our knowledge and have played an
irreplaceable role in promoting civilisation I am confident that the
conference will promote further cultural exchange and friendly
cooperation between the library and information profession in China and
the profession in the rest of the world.Indeed, that Conference promoted much valuable collaboration and discussion,
not least being the discussion on free access to information and freedom of
expression which led to the establishment of the Committee which I have the
honour to chair. The Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of
Expression bases its work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 19, which states that:Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers.The Committee and IFLA as an international professional body urge you to
recognise the crucial importance of academic and intellectual freedom and of
scholarship and research which enable the pursuit of truth and the creation
of mutual understanding between cultures. In recognition of Mr Song?s
distinguished scholarly record, we ask you to review and dismiss the
charges, which apparently stem from his collection of research materials -
the normal work as a scholar and librarian.Should the matter have to go to trial, we therefore encourage your
government to ensure Mr Song?s right to a fair trial as defined in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and equally embodied in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China signed in
1998.Furthermore, we are concerned that, in view of the length of time he has
already spent in prison and the fact that he is a cancer patient who
requires regular medical check-ups, the health of Mr Song Yongyi may have
deteriorated and that he may not be fit for a long trial, even less
imprisonment.We respectfully appeal to you and your Minister of Justice to ensure that
the charges against Mr Song Yongyi are clarified quickly and, should the
case reach that stage, to ensure that it be tried without delay in a fair
trial in accordance with and in respect of the fundamental human rights.Yours sincerely,
Alex Byrne
Chair
IFLA FAIFE CommitteeFurther information at the FAIFE web site: http://www.faife.dk/news/news.htm
FAIFE (Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) is the
instrument of the International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA) to promote intellectual freedom and the vital mission of
libraries as gateways to knowledge and ideas. FAIFE advocates intellectual
freedom in all aspects related to libraries and librarianship. FAIFE was
launched in 1997 and consists of a Committee and an Office. The Committee
has 27 members nominated by national library associations from almost all
parts of the world.IFLA / FAIFE Office
c/o Copenhagen Department of Culture
Islands Brygge 37
DK 2300 Copenhagen S.
Denmark
Phone +45-33 66 46 37 or +45-33 66 46 27
Fax +45-33 66 70 64
E-mail: faife[at]ifla.org
Web site: http://www.faife.dk
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8. The Case of Song Yongyi and U.S.-China relations
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Subject: Detention of Yongyi Song
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 22:35:31 -0800
From: Philip Gasper <ptrg[at]sirius.com>
Subject: fyi
Message-ID: <200001190458.VAA12694[at]boulder.colorado.edu>As you may have already known, Mr. Yongyi Song, a
librarian/scholar from Dickinson College, an alum from CU Boulder, and a
veteran student assistant at Norlin library, was detained by the Chinese
government in Beijing while he was collecting research materials on the
Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in August 1999. His wife, Helen
Yao, who was also detained because she happened to be there with him, was
released and returned to the U.S. in November, but Mr. Song was arrested
on Christmas Eve and imprisoned. The charge against him was "illegally
collect and purchase intelligence for abroad."
Right now, Dickinson College is staging a public campaign to free
him. Many major media, such as Washington Post, The New York Times, and
Chronicle for Higher Education, have reported this. Dickinson has created
a very informative website on Mr. Song, and is inviting people to join
them and "to register your support, not only for the release of Mr. Song
but for the freedom to pursue academic research internationally."
(quoted from the Dickinson website)
Here is the URL of the Dickinson website. Please take a look at it
and sign your support if you want.Thank you!
zhijia
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 11:26:26 -0500
From: "Leibo, Steven A." <leibo[at]cnsvax.albany.edu>
Subject: H-ASIA: Song Yongyi and U.S.-China relationsH-ASIA
**************************************************
From: mark selden <ms44[at]cornell.edu>
Subject: The Case of Song Yongyi and U.S.-China relationsAs many of you know, Song Yongyi, the Dickinson college librarian and
scholar specializing in the Cultural Revolution, was arrested in China
in August and charged on December 24, 1999 with "the purchase and
illegal provision of intelligence to foreigners." The charge, which
falls short of treason, is a serious one.The case is simultaneously a reflection of the current phase of
U.S.-China tensions exacerbated by the U.S. bombing of the Chinese
embassy last spring and other factors and one that has profound
implications not only for Mr. Song and his family but for all forms of
intellectual and cultural exchange between China and the United States
as well as other nations.Song is the coauthor of the voluminous bibliography of Cultural
Revolution sources, <underline>The Cultural Revolution: A Bibliography
1966-1996</underline> (Cambridge: Harvard-Yenching Library, 1998) and a
widely published author on the Cultural Revolution and on modern
Chinese literature.For more than a decade, like many other scholars and librarians, he has
traveled to China to collect the voluminous sources of the Cultural
Revolution, as he did in 1999.Mr. Song, a Chinese citizen, has a green card and was scheduled to
become a U.S. citizen in September 1999.On Thursday, January 13, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao stated
that Song Yongyi had been "paid by foreign institutions to gather
information. He has violated Chinese law." The statement provides the
firmest evidence to date that Song will be tried shortly, and that the
verdict has disseminated by the Chinese government given prior to the
trial.Several aspects of the case are particularly troubling. Among these is
the fact that the charges publicly leveled against Song are of such
generality that they could be applied to virtually every foreigner in
China who collects even published material for research purposes. A
second area of concern is that the case throws a particularly heavy
pall on the research activities of Chinese researchers, both those in
China and those abroad, dealing a heavy blow to the prospects for joint
Chinese-international research and other cultural relations. It is a
chilling warning to Chinese researchers who may face heavy prison
sentences for the pursuit of legitimate research, particularly if that
research involves joint work with foreign nationals. While
international researchers may experience inconvenience as a result of
the new climate and may find it more difficult to conduct research in
China, they are far less likely to be arbitrarily jailed for research
activities deemed inimicable by the Chinese state. In short, the case
is one that has the potential to seriously set back the full range of
China's cultural relations with the United States and other countries.These are among the reasons why a petition has been drawn up on behalf
of the Chinese studies community (broadly conceived) calling for Mr.
Song's release and addressed to President Jiang Zemin and other leading
Chinese and American officials. That petition, signed by more than one
hundred members of the Chinese studies community in the United States,
Canada, Australia and Europe, was recently forwarded to the respective
governments. By the Chinese studies community we mean all those
actively interested in China and the future of China-international
relations including students, faculty and a variety of professionals
whose study, research, teaching and other interests include China.
Efforts are presently being made to expand the number of signatories
and build public awareness of the case. David Strand, China historian
at Dickinson College and Song's colleague, has taken the lead in
publicizing the events of the case which affects in various ways the
H-ASIA membership.Those interested in reading or supporting the petition calling for
Song's release are referred to David Strand's web page:
http://www.dickinson.edu/~strand/index.htmlFor fuller information on the case, including reportage and editorials
in the <underline>New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post,
Asian Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Chronicle of
Higher Education</underline> and other sources, consult the Dickinson
College web page at www.dickinson.edu.mark selden
Binghamton and Cornell Universities
ms44[at]cornell.edu
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9. SRRT Resolution on Socially Responsible Investment
Here is the resolultion passed by SRRT but rejected by the ALA Council.
Resolution on Socially Responsible Investment
Whereas Council Document 55 (1998) on Socially Responsible Investment
was referred to BARC for financial implications on June 29, 1998;And whereas a model code based on the South African Council of
Churches investment code was attached to the original resolution;And whereas a report was presented to the ALA Council on January 21,
1999 (1998-99 CD #3) asking for more time to develop additional
information;And whereas the latest report from the ALA Executive Board's Finance
and Audit Subcommittee did not seriously consider the various types
of investment options available and made no reference to the model
investment code (1999-00 EBD #4.4, November 7, 1999);And whereas the report only advocates the possibility of individual
challenges to specific investments after the fact;And whereas there is no acknowledgement in the report that socially
responsible investments can yield high returns;And whereas the report incorrectly dismisses the value of
investments in mutual funds of any type;Be it resolved that an ad hoc committee of Council be empowered to
revisit the Socially Responsible Investment issue and report back at
the July 2000 Annual Meeting.
Moved by Mark Rosenzweig, Councilor at large
Seconded by Al Kagan, SRRT Councilor___________________________________________________________________________top
10. Biblioteca Social Reconstruir in danger of closing its doors
The Biblioteca Social Reconstruir (The Library of Social
Reconstruction), is an anarchist space located in downtown Mexico
City. The Biblioteca Social Reconstruir first began in 1978.The library currently contains 3,000 books, of which approximately
850 are anarchist. Some are extremely old, such as La Pornocracia by
Proudhon, edited in Spain in 1892. We also have 4,700 magazines, some
very old and important such as the historic "Revista Blanca." The
library also holds dozens of magazines edited during the Spanish
Revolution of 1936, as well as important Mexican anarchist
publications. Hundreds of newspapers are still in the process of
being classified, including issue #13 of Regeneracion, edited by the
Flores Magon brothers [Anarchists and heroes of the Mexican
Revolution], published November 7, 1900.The Biblioteca Social Reconstruir is visited by investigators
researching books, students researching thesis topics, professors,
etc., but it is mainly frequented by liberationist youth [many of
them punks and other working class kids] that look to the library for
inspiration and knowledge in the quest for freedom and justice for all.The BSR is also a meeting point for liberationist men and women from
Mexico and many other parts of the world.The BSR is the fruit of the labor of old friends who are no longer
with us today. We were supported by the bibliographic funds of
Marcos Alcon, Ignacio Portilla, Benjamin Cano Ruiz, Eliseo Rojas and
Ricardo Mestre Ventura.SOLIDARITY PETITION.
The Biblioteca Social Reconstruir is facing a very difficult economic
situation, the high costs of rent, telephone, electricity, Internet
service, correspondence (we receive about 50 letters a month), etc.
We have been hit with an economic situation so extreme that if we do
not receive financial help from friends who are able to collaborate,
it is very likely that this liberationist center will close its doors
forever.If the Biblioteca Social Reconstruir is unable to finance its costs,
it will mean closing what has been perhaps the most important center
in Mexico for the dissemination of anarchist ideas during the last 22
years, during which the center has slowly built on its modest roots.The BSR is part of Mexico's anarchist community and its loss would
mean a defeat and a setback for the organized movement--a defeat and
a loss that we do not know if we could recover from.It is for these reasons that we appeal to your solidarity, so that
the library can continue to be one of the points of contact for
anarchy in Mexico. So that this project continues to carry out its
principal task: the sowing of ideas.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY,
PLEASE FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING FORM:I commit to helping support the Biblioteca Social Reconstruir:
Collectively ____________ Individually _____________
Amount: ________________
Type of support:
Monthly _______ Quarterly ______ Annually ______
For the space of:
6 months __________ One Year __________ Two Years ___________
I will deposit the amount in the library's bank account _________
I will send the amount in cash [not recommended] _______________
I will send the amount via check or money order ________________[Support from abroad may require special arrangements to successful
transfer funds. Please write and we will investigate your case.]Address, telephone number, and e-mail (if available) of the collective
or
individual:______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
If you have any questions, please write us and we will respond
immediately.Thank you for any and all support.
BIBLIOTECA SOCIAL RECONSTRUIR
MORELOS 45 DESPACHO 206 COL. CENTRO
libertad[at]mail.internet.com.mx
www.libertad.org.mx
A.P. 9090 C.P. 06002 MEXICO 1 D.F.
TEL-FAX 55-12-08-86********
The A-Infos News Service
News about and of interest to anarchists
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11. Library trends to look at in the planning process
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 16:26:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Kiesner_PN <Kiesner_PN[at]co.brown.wi.us>
To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>
Subject: FW: Trends - Thank You!
Thanks very much to everyone who responded to my question about library
trends to look at in preparation for our strategic planning process. Many
of you asked to have the responses forwarded to you. Here they are:* LITA technology trends from: http://www.lita.org/
* The Public Library Services for Youth with Special Needs: A Plan for
WI has a few pages on "Societal Trends and Their Implications for Library
Services to Youth with Special Needs" at
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dltcl/pld/doc/ysnpl.doc, pages 7-9.
* The Digital Divide
* Most of these with web links are in Bob Bocher's Library Tech. page
at http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dltcl/pld/lib_nii.html: 1) issues of LJ's
Infotech News at
http://www.ljdigital.com/articles/infotech/news/infotechnewsarchive.asp;
2) issues of Library Hi Tech, Computers in Libraries, Information
Technology and Libraries (LITA Journal); 3) LITA's "Telecommunications
Electronic Reviews" at http:///www.lita.org/ter/; 4) "Scholarly Electronic
Publishing Bibliography" at http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html
* The Benton Foundation report, "Buildings, Books, and Bytes:
Libraries and Communities in a Digital Age," and " Local Places, Global
Connections: Libraries in the Digital Age." Benton Foundation is
www.benton.org, telephone: 202-638-5770, fax: 202-638-5771
* Bruce Shuman's "The Library of the Future: Alternative Scenarios for
the Information Profession," (Libraries Unlimited, 1989)
* Christine Hage's article in last January's American Librarie .
Title was "Books, Bytes, Buildings, and Bodies: Public Libraries in the
21st Century," p.79
* Tom Zillner addresses some of Coffman's issues in the fall issue of
New Tech News
* article by Don Sager in the September/October 1999 issue of Public
Libraries, "Environmental Scan and the Public Library," pp.283-288
* Read the short book by Walt Crawford and Michael Gorman, "Future
Libraries: Dreams, Madness, & Reality," Chicago and London: ALA Editions,
1995. ISBN: 0-8389-0647-8 (pbk) or its update "Being Analog: Creating
Tomorrow's Libraries." Chicago and London: ALA Editions, 1999. ISBN
0-8389-0754-7 (pbk). A couple of shorter works of his may be found on the
web: 1) a rebuttal to Coffman's ELL, "Gutting America's Local Libraries:
Informal Comments on 'Building Earth's Largest Library' " at
http://home.att.net/~wcc.libmedx/gutting.htm; 2) "Paper Persists: Why
Physical Library Collections Still Matter" by Walt Crawford, ONLINE,
January 1998, copyright © Online Inc. at
http://www.onlineinc.com/onlinemag/OL1998/crawford1.html; 3) "Millennial
Reference Librarianship: Avoiding Disintermediation, Disorientation, and
Disinformation," Walt Crawford, North Suburban Library System, April 1997
at http://nsls1.nslsilus.org/nslsinfo/ref/. Other recent articles by
Crawford worth reading: 1) "We Call Them Libraries: What the 'L' Word
Means to Me," American Libraries 30:10 (November 1999) pp.38-40, and 2)
"Library Space: The Next Frontier?" ONLINE Magazine 23:1 (March/April
1999) pp. 61-66
* Online articles from Library Trends at
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/catalog/trends/issues.html, and Karma at
http://www.zdnet.com/pccomp/stories/all/0,6605,401623,00.html
* Ethel Himmel's "Planning for Results: A Public Library
Transformation Process," ALA 1998, ISBN# 0838934889 (guidebook), and
083893479X (manual). Also, Sandra Nelson's "Managing for Results:
Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries," ALA 1/2000, ISBN#
083893486
* "Making Online Use Count: Equipping PLs with Measurement Tools," by
Judith Hiott. It appeared in October 1, 1999 Library Journal.
* Clifford Stoll's "High Tech Heretic."
* Vision 2008: Mapping the Future of Your Library, 3M Library Systems,
from Judy Nelson
* International City/County Management Association's (ICMA) IQ Service
Report (formerly MIS Reports), Volume 31, No. 7, July 1999, "The Role of
the Public Library." The ISSN is 0047-5262
* Dallas Public Library masterplan at
www.lib.ci.dallas.tx.us/MasterPlan/masterplan.htm
* St. Charles County Library district's web pageWhat a great response - Thank you!
Pam
****************************************
Pamela Nyberg Kiesner
Assistant Director
Brown County Library
515 Pine Street
Green Bay, WI 54301
Phone: (920) 448-4400 x.365
FAX: (920) 488-4364
email: kiesner_pn[at]co.brown.wi.us
*****************************************
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12. Game Libraries? Anyone?
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 20:27:23 -0500
From: Michel Coconis <coconism[at]gvsu.edu>
Organization: GVSU School of Social Work, Grand Rapids, MI
To: rory[at]libr.org
Subject: Odd question. . .I know your name as the webmaster for Library Juice. I am interested in
trying to find out if ANY (and which) libraries loan board games, toys
or other arts-related items beyond music CD's and videos and video games
and the like (in addition to having newspapers, books, periodicals and
reference materials)?If it does exist, can you connect me with the web site for the library
or librarians?If not, has it been tried and what has been/might have been the points
of resistance for such within a community? I'm thinking mostly of
public libraries but not being a librarian, my head might be - well, you
can guess.Thanks and only at your earliest convenience.
Michel Coconis, PhD, MSW
Grand Rapids, MI
coconism[at]gvsu.edu
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