Library Juice 4:15 - April 25, 2001

Contents:

  1. Women In Libraries
  2. The Nitecki Trilogy
  3. Ethics Links to Librarian and Information Manager Associations WWW Pages
  4. Pulitzer and Jefferson Muzzle Awards
  5. ConnectNet.org
  6. A solid future for Questia Media is still an online question mark
  7. Harley Hahn's Master List of Usenet Newsgroups
  8. Down by Law by Carrie Bickner
  9. Information provision for environmental policy making
  10. Business partnerships @ your library
  11. Journalist Condemn Secrecy in American Trade Talks
  12. Branding the Branders: Turnabout Is Fair Play
  13. LAUC-LA 2001 Librarian of the Year: Norma Corral
  14. "virtual tour" of Utne library
  15. The History of the Red & the Green
  16. April's amusing hits


Quote for the week:

"Silence is the language of complicity."
-Unknown


Homepage of the week: Deborah Wassertzug
http://www.columbia.edu/~dw242/

________________________________________________________________________

 Mitch Freedman for ALA President: http://www.Mitch4Prez.org
________________________________________________________________________


1. Women In Libraries

From: "Diedre Conkling" <dconklin[at]OregonVOS.net
To: "FTF List" <feminist[at]MITVMA.MIT.EDU,
        "ALA Women's Studies Section" <wss-l[at]ala.org,
        <lezbrian[at]listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu
Subject: More on Women in Libraries
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 10:53:48 -0700

I have had a number of inquiries asking what is "Women in Libraries" so I
thought I would share my response with the whole list.

"Women in Libraries" is the newsletter that the Feminist Task Force (FTF) of
the American Library Association (ALA) has distributed for over 30 years.
It has news articles, updated on FTF activities within ALA, lists ALA
conference programs of interest to feminists, book reviews, etc.  It usually
is about 12 pages.

Again, here is how to subscribe to the newsletter:

If any of you would like to subscribe to "Women in Libraries" just send a
check for $10.  Make checks payable to ALA/SRRT/FTF (this will help keep it
from getting lost in the ALA maze).  Send checks to:  Women in Libraries,
American Library Association, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, 50
E. Huron St., Chicago, IL  60611.

Diedre Conkling
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027, Newport, OR  97365
Phone & Fax:  (541) 265-3066
E-mail:  dconklin[at]OregonVOS.net
________________________________________________________________________top


2. The Nitecki Trilogy

Metalibrarianship
A Model for Intellectual Foundations
Of Library Information Science
Copyright 1993

Philosophical Aspects
Of Library Information Science
In Retrospect
Copyright 1995

Philosophical Ancestry
Of American
Library Information Science
Copyright 1997

This webbed version of The Nitecki Trilogy is a doctoral student
publishing project of the
Texas Woman's University
School of Library and Information Studies.

The project was initiated by joanne twining williams and has been
carried out with the author's generous permission. It is at once part
of a study of philosophy of librarianship, as well as an effort to
facilitate wider discussion of Nitecki's work in the scholarly
community. Metalibrarianship develops Nitecki's synthetic model and
establishes an intellectual foundation for library information
science, Aspects is a compendium of writings in philosophy of
librarianship, Ancestry is a handbook that explores the developments
of American Library Information Science philosophy.

[From the web site.]

http://www7.twu.edu/library/Nitecki/

________________________________________________________________________top


3. Ethics Links to Librarian and Information Manager Associations WWW Pages

http://www.ou.edu/cas/slis/ethics/EthicsBibOrg.htm

>From the web site:

This jumppage is designed to point to Codes of Ethics and Standards of
Practice published on the WWW by librarian and related professional
associations. The links on this page have been grouped into the following
categories:

Ethics Pages

Those professional associations that publish codes of ethics to the WWW
are listed first, by country, together with a brief description of the
ethics code with pointers to the code of ethics pages.

Mission Statements

Several librarian and information management associations publish
professional statutes or bylaws to the WWW. Those which publish such
pointers, but without ethics pages, are listed second.

Homepages

A number of professional associations have a Web presence but have not
published either codes of ethics or statutes to the Web. Links to their
home pages are provided.
________________________________________________________________________top


4. Pulitzer and Jefferson Muzzle Awards

2001 Pulitzer Prizes [.pdf]
http://www.pulitzer.org/2001/2001.html

The Pulitzer Prizes
http://www.pulitzer.org/

2001 Jefferson Muzzles
http://www.tjcenter.org/muzzles.html

This week the Pulitzer Prize Board announced the 2001 Pulitzer Prizes
for achievements in American journalism, letters, drama, and music. A
list of the winners and their citations, the finalists, links to the
works (many will not be available until this summer), short
biographies, and lists of jurors are available at the site, along
with official press releases. The main Pulitzer site offers a
searchable archive and interactive timeline of all winners since
1917. The full texts of winning journalism entries for 1995-2000,
including photographs and cartoons, are also provided. Also recently
announced are the recipients of the Jefferson Muzzles, awarded by the
Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression "as a
means to draw national attention to abridgments of free speech and
press." This year's recipients include the 106th US Congress (for
passing the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)), the
Sacramento (California) Convention & Visitors' Bureau (for clothing a
nude statue of Poseidon), and the Administration of the Paxson School
of Advanced Studies in Jacksonville, Florida (for excising the play
_Angels in America_ from a school textbook). Award recipients for
previous years (to 1992) are also listed at the site. [MD

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2001.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
________________________________________________________________________top


5. ConnectNet.org

[IFACTION:1508] ConnectNet.org and Conectado.org
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:00:54 -0500
From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org>
To: Intellectual Freedom Action News <ifaction[at]ala1.ala.org>

At http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/children.html#other

ConnectNet.org
"The largest Internet directory ever created that guides young people
to locations where          public Internet access is available,
including more than 20,000 libraries and technology            centers
across the country."

Conectado.org
"Nosotros le ayudaremos a encontrar el lugar mas cercano a usted, donde
pueda usar una computadora, conectarse a la Internet y obtener ayuda
para aprender nuevas tecnologias--todo esto en forma gratuita!"

_______

Don Wood
Program Officer/Communications
American Library Association
Office for Intellectual Freedom
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
1-800-545-2433, ext. 4225
Fax: 312-280-4227
dwood[at]ala.org
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/
http://www.ala.org/cipa/cipalegalfund.html
intellectual freedom @ your library
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." --Thomas
Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791. ME 8:276
________________________________________________________________________top


6. A solid future for Questia Media is still an online question mark

By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

As college students around the country begin studying for final exams
later this month, Houston's Questia Media will be facing a big test of
its own.

The developer of an online service designed to help students write
better research papers will be deep into a revamped marketing campaign
designed to overcome a simple fact: After nearly three years, more
than $110 million in spent venture capital and the building of a
300-person staff, the company still boasts fewer than 1,000 paying
subscribers.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/877827

______________________________________________________________________top


7. Harley Hahn's Master List of Usenet Newsgroups

http://www.harley.com/usenet/

After visiting this site, I am now convinced that there is, in fact,
a newsgroup for pretty much every interest under the sun. Created and
maintained by Harley Hahn, author of _Harley Hahn's Internet & Web
Yellow Pages_, this site makes it exceedingly easy to discover
newsgroups related to your hobbies or concerns. Newsgroups are listed
by category and topic (example: Hobbies: Scale models: Model
rockets). If you have a newsreader installed, the provided link will
take you right to the messages. A keyword search engine is also
provided, with options to match whole or partial words and to exclude
or include adult groups in your search. [MD]

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2001.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
________________________________________________________________________top


8. Down by Law by Carrie Bickner

The New Internet Laws Will Hurt the Poorest of the Poor
http://www.alistapart.com/stories/downbylaw/

"A LIBRARY'S CORE MISSION is to provide free and full access to a world
of ideas. The most exciting thing to happen in libraries in the last
decade has been to see that mission extended to include access to the
Internet. New library services, funded by generous federal support, have
made more Internet access available to more and more people. Now, those
same sources may force public libraries to censor Internet access."
________________________________________________________________________top


9. Information provision for environmental policy making - report

[MEMBER-FORUM:2205] Report of 1st National Conference on Science,
Policy & the Environment Released. Hill Briefings Scheduled (fwd)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 20:50:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: Frederick W Stoss <fstoss[at]acsu.buffalo.edu>
To: [long list]
Cc: [long list]

Friends and colleagues,

I would like to ask your help in getting word out to your friends and
colleagues, and others you feel would be interested in the report
described below.

"Recommendations for Improving the Scientific Basis for Environmental
Decisionmaking: A Report from the first National Conference on Science,
Policy, and the Environment" is a timely and important document to help
guide our national leaders on a course of environmental action. Please
send this message on to those individuals, organizations, and discussion
lists you feel would benefit from this report.

I will admit up front my bias towards this report and the messages it
contains.

I was the Co-Chair of one of the breakout-committees (Information Systems,
recommending the creation of a national environmental information
infrastructure) at the national conference where this report's origins
lie. NCSE did a fantastic job of formulating a concise report on the
future of our environment in these otherwise unsure environmental times.

Information for print and online copies of the report are contained in the
advisory from the report's producer, the National Council for Science and
the Environment.

Thank you for passing on this information.

Fred Stoss
Science and Engineering Library
University at Buffalo
State University of New York

Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 12:35:30 -0400
From: Kevin Hutton <khutton[at]ncseonline.org>

Washington, APRIL 23, 2001

REPORT PRESENTS RECOMMENDATIONS OF FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE,
POLICY AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

EXPERTS SAY NEW APPROACHES ARE NEEDED TO IMPROVE AND EXPEDITE
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONMAKING

LANDMARK REPORT TO BE RELEASED ON EARTH DAY BRIEFINGS SCHEDULED FOR
CAPITOL HILL AND IN AGENCIES

HTML VERSION is here: http://www.cnie.org/updates/97.htm

On Earth Day 2001, the National Council for Science and the Environment
(NCSE) is releasing a report reflecting the views of many of the
nations leading environmental scientists and decisionmakers calling for
major changes in the relationship between science and environmental
policy. The report emphasizes the need for significant investment in
new approaches to science and for changes in governmental organization
to address serious voids that impede efforts to acquire and translate
scientific knowledge.

The report, which offers specific recommendations for improving the
scientific basis for environmental decisionmaking, is based on
deliberations by more than 450 scientists, policymakers, and
stakeholders from a broad range of disciplines, interests, and locales.
The group was convened late last year as the first National Conference
on Science, Policy, and the Environment. NCSE asked participants to
assess the current state of environmental decisionmaking in the United
States and to advise the incoming Administration and the new Congress on
needed improvements. The results are contained in a new report entitled
"Recommendations for Improving the Scientific Basis for Environmental
Decisionmaking," which can be found at www.cnie.org/2000conference
Printed copies are available from NCSE: staff[at]NCSEonline.org or
202-530-5810.

NCSE has scheduled a series of briefings to present the report:
* Wednesday April 25 at the National Science  Foundation
* A Capitol Hill press briefing Thursday, April 26 at 10:00 a.m.,
chaired by NCSE President Ambassador Richard Benedick, and featuring
remarks by members of the Science Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
* Friday April 26 at 10:30 a.m. in the Science Committee Hearing Room
2325 Rayburn House Office Building, for Congressional staff and
interested public
* At a date and location to be determined for Senate staff and
interested public
* May 18 at the National Academy of Sciences

To arrange for a briefing for your organization, contact Rob Viehl at
202-530-5810; staff[at]NCSEonline.org

REPORT PRESENTS RECOMMENDATIONS OF FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE,
POLICY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The report addresses the environmental challenges now facing our society
through a detailed set of recommendations compiled by 14 expert working
groups that met during the conference. Among the issues deliberated
were:

 A New Interdisciplinary Science of Sustainability

 The report calls for a new interdisciplinary science of sustainability
that integrates:

 Sustainability Science seeks to improve upon the substantial, but still
limited, understanding of nature-society interactions.  It aims to
provide a better understanding of the complex dynamic interactions
between human society and nature so that the alarming trends towards
increasing vulnerability are reversed.  Achieving sustainability will
not only require changes in scientific collaborations and mindsets, but
also changes in the institutions that fund and communicate science.

New Entities Would Encourage Collaboration and Communication

 In addition to various programs recommended for development by key
players such as the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of
Sciences/National Research Council, and the Environmental Protection
Agency, the report also advocates forming new or reinvigorated entities,
including:

 In addition to the clear need for additional funding and programs, the
report also addresses how possible savings in both time and money could
be realized. For instance, the report discusses how crucial it is to
identify and coordinate the missions and activities of the numerous
governmental, quasi-governmental, and nongovernmental organizations
involved in environmental decisionmaking to avoid duplication of effort
and to create synergy. Further, the report asserts that the breadth,
depth, and diversity of the scientific specialties involved make
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches essential.

 Underscored throughout the report is the contention that sound
environmental decisionmaking is dependent on an effective interface
between scientists and policymakers and the reliable and timely
translation of information and views between the two communities.  The
report further emphasizes the need for science-based education at every
level of society if the general public and their elected public
officials are to make informed, effective, and timely decisions.

 Conference video tapes available from NCSE

 Copies of video tapes from the conference, including the John H. Chafee
Memorial Lecture on Science and the Environment, presented by Nobel
Laureates F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina, are available for $20
each from NCSE see www.cnie.org/2000conference/tapes or contact
staff[at]NCSEonline.org for details.

 For copies of the report, more detailed information on briefings, and
assistance in scheduling briefings or interviews, contact:

 David Blockstein at david[at]cnie.org and (202) 530-5810, ext. 205,
 Rob Viehl at staff[at]ncseonline.org and (202) 530-5810 or
 Deborah Strauss at dstrausslynch[at]aol.com and (202) 530-5810 or (301)
229-3123.

 On December 6 and 7, 2001, the National Museum of Natural History of
the Smithsonian Institution and the National Council for Science and the
Environment will host the second National Conference on Science, Policy
and the Environment, with a theme of Sustainable Communities: Science
and Solutions.

 Additional information about other activities of NCSE is available at
www.cnie.org

--
Kevin Hutton, Webmaster
National Council for Science and the Environment
1725 K St. NW Suite 212 Washington, DC 20006
http://www.cnie.org
______________________________________________________________________top


10. Business partnerships @ your library

[MEMBER-FORUM:2173] business partnerships @ your library
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 17:15:25 -0500
From: "Mary Ann Meyers" <ljmmam[at]hypermall.net>
To: <member-forum[at]ala.org>
Reply to: member-forum[at]ala.org

This is my first posting here, and I would like to know from ALA's
Executive Board and from any Council member exactly what this
statement means--denotations, connotations, implications, hopes,
wishes, dreams, etc.  Copied from the campaign's website:

https://cs.ala.org/@yourlibrary/goals.cfm

"The campaign represents a commitment to cultivate major partnerships
with both non-profit and business institutions."

In particular, I would like to have your interpretation of "major
partnerships with . . . business institutions."  What does that mean?
Is there a policy change being established here?  Is there a shift in
ethics?  How far do these partnerships go--as far as any individual
library wants to take them?  Without guidance from ALA?  Without
criticism from ALA?  Without censure from ALA?  Is this, indeed, an
attempt to sell parts of our public library tradition and reputation
to business?  What are your concerns (any, none) about this phrase?

Personally, I find the campaign approach otherwise worth a try.  Don't
know if it will have any long term value or not.  I don't like
branding (I don't like the commercial meanings attached), but maybe it
gives patrons a useful mnemonic.  On the other hand, I'd rather
patrons remember us for more than techno-commercial pop attachments
like the @ sign.  Remember when everything attached to computer tech
was cool or way cool?  Remember the olden days of "surfing the
Web."  How fuddy-duddy those phrases sound today.  Here's another now
corny oldie:  "dotcom" anything.

Well?  Could we have the campaign without the "major partnerships with
.. . . business institutions" or are we heading down that latest trendy
path like a bunch of lemmings?  I'm really interested in all your
opinions.

Cordially,
Mary Ann Meyers
ljmmam[at]hypermall.net

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 16:02:03 -0500
From: "Gerald Hodges" <ghodges[at]ala.org>
To: <Member-forum[at]ala.org>
Reply to: member-forum[at]ala.org

Mary Ann Meyers posted a question regarding ALA policy and partnerships to
support the Campaign for America's Libraries.

This is not a new policy or a policy change.  In fact, we are following
Policy 9.1 as we seek to establish any new major partners or sponsors for
the campaign.  What is different is that we are pursuing these partners and
sponsors in a way we haven't done before because of the scope and breadth
of the project.  We have added a step of approval for the ALA Executive
Board because we are seeking long term commitments.  This added step is in
the form of a template that covers such items as an organizational profile
of the potential sponsor, any prior history with ALA, and reasons for
considering the organization.

When the ALA Executive Board approved the plan for the Campaign for
America's Libraries, it was with the understanding that ALA could not
conduct the campaign without significant funding beyond our budget, both in
actual dollars and in-kind contributions.  In other words, ALA would be
investing in a major public awareness and education campaign to speak
loudly and clearly on behalf of libraries and librarians and  seeking
outside sources of funding to support this five-year initiative and to
reach new au iences.  In doing so, we are looking beyond our traditional
library vendor/funders.  The Library Champions also play a role in helping
ALA achieve a successful campaign.

This is not a new concept.  Other sponsorships include:  Barnes & Noble
(Public Programs "StoryLines" project);  New Line Cinema (sponsor of Teen
Read Week 2001 for YALSA); and the Prudential Insurance Co. (PLA - Jump
Start project).

Please contact me if you have any additional questions regarding the
Campaign.

Gerald G. Hodges, Acting Director
Communications and Marketing
American Library Association
50 E. Huron Street
Chicago, IL  60657 USA
The ultimate search engine is @ your library
Untangle the web @ your library
1-800-545-2433, x2428 (voice); 312-280-4392 (fax)
ghodges[at]ala.org; http://www.ala.org
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 13:35:38 -0000
From: "Sean Stewart" <seanclis[at]hotmail.com>
To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org>
Reply to: srrtac-l[at]ala.org

><snip>
> > This is not a new policy or a policy change.  In fact, we are
>following Policy 9.1 as we seek to establish any *new major partners
>or sponsors for the campaign*.  What is different is that we are
>pursuing these partners and sponsors *in a way we haven't done before*
>because of the scope and breadth of the project.

If ALA is, indeed, following the statement below regarding
formal relationships with "other organizations and business
enterprises," then I find it hard to believe that some of the listed
"criteria" upon which those relationships are based
are being met.

For example, the first criteria dictates that "the relationship
is, as much as possible, reciprocal in that there are mutual needs
and a sharing of purposes."  I doubt that the needs and purposes
of a corporation are ever going to be similar to those of ALA,
since the purpose of a corporation is to make a profit and, as
noted below, ALA's mission is "to promote and improve library
and information services and librarians or to assist libraries
in achieving their mission."  The main difference being that ALA
is operating from a non-profit standpoint in support of libraries,
which are, in most cases, not-for-profit public institutions.  These two
purposes will forever be worlds apart.

Mary Ann makes a good point about the need to control the
public's perceptions that libraries are endorsing the products
and services of a particular business enterprise.  I'm just
guessing here, but I doubt that most members of the public are
going to be aware of, or even care to find out about, the
fine lines drawn by ALA in the rules listed below.  By now,
Americans are so deadened to the corporate presence proliferating
in every corner of their society, that they'll probably just
gloss over the fact that it's now in the library, as well.
However, as a supposedly forward-thinking organization with
genuine concerns about preserving intellectual freedom, I would
think that ALA would want to make a crystal-clear delineation
between itself and the corporations it partners with, who so
often are at odds with the same principles that librarians
struggle to uphold.

Thanks for reading,

Sean Stewart
ALA Member
University of South Carolina
______________________________________________________________________top


11. Journalist Condemn Secrecy in American Trade Talks

Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 11:14:55 +0400
Subject: Journalists Condemn Secrecy in American Trade Talks
           'Threat To Foundations Of Democracy'
---------Original message---------
From the International Federation of Journalist

http://www.ifj.org/publications/press/pr/203.html
Media Release April 12th 2001

Journalists Condemn Secrecy in American Trade Talks: 'Threat To
Foundations Of Democracy"

THE WORLD'S largest journalists' group, the International Federation of
Journalists, today condemned a "sinister process of secrecy" that has
excluded civil society groups and citizens from negotiations on a new
trade agreement between 34 countries to be discussed at the Summit of
the Americas in Quebec next week.

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is the name given to the
process of expanding the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to
all other countries of the Western Hemisphere except Cuba. With a
population of 800 million and a combined GDP of $11 trillion (US), the
FTAA would be the largest free trade zone in the world.

In a statement issued today, and backed by its member organisations
throughout the Americas, the IFJ claims the new trade pact will be "a
charter for state-corporate power threatening the fundamental rights of
millions of people in the western hemisphere and undermining social
programmes, environmental protection and natural resources."

The IFJ accuses governments of negotiating in secret with scant regard
for citizens' rights. At the same time more than 500 representatives of
corporations in the region have had privileged access to FTAA negotiating
documents.

"This is a shameful exercise. The most far-reaching free trade agreement
in the world, with a scope that will reach into every area of life for
citizens of the Americas, is being discussed behind closed doors," said
Christopher Warren, President of the IFJ, "It threatens the foundations of
democracy."

The IFJ demands that the current FTAA negotiations are revised in favour
of an inclusive and democratic process that will promote open government
and will respect the concerns of all people. "The debate about
international trade should no longer take place within a charmed circle
of sheltered political elites, bureaucrats and corporate power brokers",
says the IFJ.

The IFJ, representing unions and associations of journalists in more than
100 countries, says that the FTAA is part of a poisonous web of secrecy
that cloaks international trade discussions. In February the IFJ
protested to the World Bank over undue secrecy in its work and the IFJ's
regional group in Europe, the European Federation of Journalists, has
been campaigning for years to end secrecy within the institutions of the
European Union.

"The business of international trade and politics is increasingly subject
to confidentiality and secret deals in which the public are denied access
to vital information," says the IFJ.

IFJ associations and trade unions of journalists throughout Latin America
and the United States and Canada will be taking up this theme in protests
to their national governments over the way the talks on the FTAA have been
conducted. "The danger is that the FTAA will encourage more secrecy in
public life, not less," says the IFJ.

Under the draft text for the FTAA to be discussed next week corporations
will be able to sue governments in the region for compensation if national
laws hit their profits. These cases will be heard through secretive
international tribunals used under the NAFTA.

"While confidentiality may protect commercial interests it amounts to
secret government when it can influence the enforcement of national laws,"
says the IFJ. " Corporations are using NAFTA to challenge the functioning
of national government."

The IFJ warns that national rules covering environmental protection,
trade union and labour rights, public services and cultural heritage are
all under threat. Corporations are suing governments for profit loss -
even where it acts to protect the health of its citizens.

The IFJ points to the example of the Ethyl Corporation that used NAFTA
rules to challenge Canadian government restrictions on production of an
ethanol-based petrol additive, which was considered hazardous to health.
The company received 13$million compensation and the Canadian Government
had to lift its ban.

Another tribunal case pending concerns United Parcel Service a
corporation that is challenging the very existence of the publicly
financed Canadian postal system claiming that it represents unfair
competition. If the claim is upheld it could undermine government
participation in any service that competes with the private sector.

Despite claims by its supporters in the early 1990s that NAFTA would make
countries more productive, it has only enabled large corporations to
expand the scale of their operations at the expense of the public interest.

"The prospect of a dramatic expansion of the excessive powers enjoyed by
corporations under NAFTA to other countries in the region is disastrous,"
warns the IFJ.

The IFJ says closer ties between countries in the Americas and around the
world are vital, but they should not be based upon the assumptions and
goals of the FTAA. An international trading system based upon democracy,
sustainability, diversity and development must be the priority. But first
"it is time for governments to open themselves up to public scrutiny and
give democracy back to the people."

Further Information: Aidan White, General Secretary 0032 2 223 2265
________________________________________________________________________top


12. Branding the Branders: Turnabout Is Fair Play

Cyberspatial pundits have been telling us for some time that the world is
dissolving into information ("from atoms to bits"), and entrepreneurs now
echo this by dismissing mere products as passe.  "The world is filled with
made-for-export factories filled with cheap labor.  Competing based on the
value of your product is a loser's game, a sucker's game".

The quotation is Naomi Klein's way of summarizing the conventional wisdom,
a wisdom that leads directly to an emphasis upon branding.  "The goal of
the successful brand", she says, "is nothing short of transcendence from
the world of products and things".  Further, "brands, not intellectuals or
activists or religious leaders, are the true meaning brokers of our
corporate age, helping us look with awe and wonder at lattes and running
shoes and laptop computers.

Klein, who is a columnist for the Toronto Globe and Mail, goes on to
explain how branding is parasitic upon all that is highest in our culture.
It is "a giant meaning vacuum" that, having sucked up old and revered
meanings, "must project its story onto as many cultural surfaces as
possible" -- even if this means invading previously sacrosanct spaces such
as schools and libraries.

There's an important qualification, however:

   Part of the reason these companies have become so successful at
   becoming meaning brokers is because we have left many of these powerful
   ideas unattended.  Who else was speaking to young people in a language
   of ideas and inspiration besides Nike?

But, of course,

   There is a gaping dichotomy between the brands' spiritual
   transcendental meaning -- what they have promised us -- and the reality
   of their products and the way those products were produced.

In other words, it would be truer to say that the wizards of Madison
Avenue are meaning destroyers than that they are meaning brokers.  In my
radio listening I have lately been beset by the main choral theme of
Beethoven's ninth symphony in advertisements for used cars and mall
experiences and, unhappily, even a political talk show on Albany's
National Public Radio.  There may be no more effective way to trivialize a
noble work of art.  I am always amazed that such outrages are met by no
public protest.  The shattering dissonance between what the work of art is
striving to express and what it is actually being used to express suggests
that we simply do not attend to the world's expressive qualities any
longer -- which in turn makes understandable the irrelevance of art in our
day.

But there is also a more hopeful way to view the transcendental
aspirations of the corporation.  The branders are correct in saying that
businesses need to realize they are selling more than a narrowly defined
product.  They most certainly are selling a great deal more.  But this is
a dangerous thing to admit, since the meaning game is one that everyone
can play.  Once you teach your customers to care about the meaning of your
brand, you can't necessarily stop them from looking a little further, a
little deeper, to find the real meaning of what you produce and how you
produce it.  Then they will realize that every purchase does indeed buy a
great deal beside the product, and that much of the meaning they have been
investing in all this time is degrading to both people and environment.

Klein cites the activists in Seattle and elsewhere:  "Clearly these people
don't believe they can change the world through shopping".  I know what
she means:  not through "just shopping", and not through more and more
shopping.  But, in a fuller sense, changing the world through shopping --
through their choices about what to buy and not to buy -- is exactly what
the activists are struggling to do.  And when it finally dawns on the
population at large that, with every buying decision, we nudge the world a
little bit in this direction or that, then the branders will have been
transcended at their own game.

                      *   *   *   *   *  *  *  *  *

Naomi Klein is author of *No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies*.  The
quotations above were taken from Lapis magazine #13 (Spring, 2001),
which contains the abridged text of a talk she gave at a May, 2000
conference, Re-imagining Politics and Society at the Millennium.

SLT

From NETFUTURE #120 - http://www.netfuture.org/
________________________________________________________________________top


13. LAUC-LA 2001 Librarian of the Year: Norma Corral

The Librarians Association of the University of California, Los
Angeles(LAUC-LA) has the honor and pleasure of granting Norma Corral its
2001 Librarian of the Year Award in recognition of exceptional contributions
to diversity, librarianship and to the teaching and research missions of
UCLA. Norma's nomination not only stood out because of her notable
achievements but also for the broad-based support, documentation and
accolades submitted by UCLA librarians and faculty, and regional and
national library leaders.

Norma has long been an advocate of cultural diversity by incorporating a
broad perspective in her teaching, bibliographic instruction, and collection
development; by mentoring innumerable students; by actively recruiting
people of culturally diverse backgrounds to the library profession, the UCLA
library and information studies program and employment at the UCLA Library;
and by challenging as well as engaging her colleagues to address these
issues.  Outside of the library her community outreach efforts have
addressed the survival and literacy needs of low-income families.

Norma's role as a champion for diversity at the UCLA Library became apparent
when she was appointed to the first Library Committee on Diversity (LCD) in
October 1988.  From the outset, she was instrumental in setting the focus of
the Committee's agenda and mission to tackle issues of racism,
discrimination, and exclusion.  A quiet and reserved person by nature, Norma
astounded many who knew her superficially by her passionate and outspoken
comments and criticism of UCLA Library policies, procedures, and behavior
that were unnecessary barriers to the employment of ethnic minorities in the
Library.  Though it was difficult for her to do so her deeply held
convictions allowed her to speak forthrightly and with moral courage to
challenge the status quo.  Norma's tireless dedication in promoting
diversity has been witnessed inside and outside the library community.
Selected activities include:

In her professional responsibilities in building a reference collection and
providing reference service, Norma is acutely aware of the changing nature
of ethnic and social science scholarship as it becomes more
multidisciplinary and focuses on new subjects that require information not
found in traditional reference tools.  Norma has gained the admiration of
faculty and students whom she has assisted in tackling community and
cross-disciplinary research.

In short, Norma's social consciousness guides her long-term dedication in
fighting prejudice and inequity in librarianship and the community at-large.
It is an honor to recognize Norma Corral's unwavering commitment to
diversity and contributions to recruitment, reference, collection
development, instruction, and mentoring not just at UCLA but also across the
nation.

Committee on LAUC-LA Librarian of the Year Award, 2000-01
Anita Colby, Science & Engineering Library (Chair)
Ruby A. Bell-Gam, YRL Library
Clara M. Chu, Information Studies
Linda Maisner, Law Library

*Presentation of the award was made at the LAUC-LA Assembly on 19th April
2001.
______________________________________________________________________top


14. "virtual tour" of Utne library

fyi:  http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~SLA/tour11.htm

________________________________________________________________________top


15. The History of the Red & the Green

To the history of May Day there is a Green side and there is a Red side.
Green is a relationship to the earth and what grows therefrom. Red is a
relationship to other people and the blood spilt there among. Green
designates life with only necessary labor. Red designates death with
surplus labor. Green is natural appropriation; Red is social expropriation.
Green is husbandry and nurturance; Red is proletarianization and
prostitution. Green is useful activity; Red is useless toil. Green is
creation of desire; Red is class struggle. May Day is both....

http://reclaimmayday.org/
______________________________________________________________________top


16. April's amusing hits

These are some web searches (mostly from Google) that led people to pages
on libr.org during the month of April:

secretaries nice leg
left wing rubbish
cows watering methods
how can juice clean pennies
pickle juice benefits
pickle juice consumption
occupational outlook for skateboarders
important people from Germany
nude juice bar legislation
librarians are the secret masters

______________________________________________________________________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