Library Juice 4:17 - May 9, 2001
Contents:
- Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman elected ALA president for 2002-2003
- Cataloguing the Missteps at the French National Library
- ARL Statement on Reed Elsevier's Acquisition of Harcourt General
- Best Practices in Information Literacy Programming
- Popular Culture Association library-related CFP
- Noblegate
- Electronic Green Journal
- John Ayala awarded 2001 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year
- Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award
- Roget's Corruptive Thesaurus
- Women and Poverty
- Man sues library over animal attack
- D.M.C.A. (song)
Quote for the week:
"It's no exaggeration to say that in the information age, texts aren't
read, they're searched. But, as Heraclitus said, "If you do not expect the
unexpected, you will not find it." To search a text instead of reading it
is to renounce its capacity to surprise us, to make of the text more than
ever before a tool, and to restrict its range of implication and suggestion
to the ends we assign it."-Chris Fujiwara, in "Disintermediated!" Hermenaut #14
http://www.hermenaut.com/a54.shtml
Homepage of the week: Jen Weintraub
http://www.bombpaper.org/__________________________________________________________________________top
1. Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman elected ALA president for 2002-2003
http://www.ala.org/news/v7n7/freedman_president.html
"As ALA president, Freedman will be the chief elected officer for the
oldest and largest library organization in the world. Celebrating its
125th anniversary this year, ALA has a membership of more than 61,000
librarians, library trustees and library supporters. Its mission is to
promote the highest quality library and information services and public
access to information."Other election results:
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/2001_election.html
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2. Cataloguing the Missteps at the French National Library
International Herald Tribune:
"More than any other new monument in Paris, the new National Library is a
symbol of Francois Mitterrand's desire to prove that he was the
"thinker-president." Today, the building is less associated with thinking
than with calamity: stupendously impractical architecture, despite the
early protests of people with experience in the field; a user-unfriendly
location and a clumsy attempt to mix a scholarly library with a public
one."http://www.iht.com/articles/18731.html
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3. ARL Statement on Reed Elsevier's Acquisition of Harcourt General
Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 15:56:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Julia C Blixrud jblix[at]arl.org
To: Multiple recipients of list arl-announce[at]arl.org
Subject: ARL Announces..ARL Statement on Reed Elsevier's Acquisition of
Harcourt GeneralMay 7, 2001
Today's announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice clearing the
way for the merger of Reed Elsevier and Harcourt directly affects the
academic, research, and library communities.Because of the way publisher price increases have shaped the scholarly
publishing marketplace during the past decade, Association of Research
Library (ARL) members remain very concerned about the ongoing
consolidation of the publishing industry. We believe that continued
extraordinary price increases will severely erode the academic journal
marketplace. In the aggregate, ARL libraries spend over $900 million
per year on books and journals to support the information resource needs
of faculty, students, and the public. But these dollars have been
unable to keep pace with the inflation in the cost of materials from
commercial publishers. For example, science, technology, and medical
journals from commercial publishers have increased in price about 11% a
year between 1990 and 2000, at a time when the consumer price index
increased at an annual rate of just 2.6%.As has been documented elsewhere, mergers and acquisitions have a
negative impact on pricing policies. Data shows that after the purchase
of Pergamon Press by Elsevier Science (a Reed Elsevier company) in
1990-91, the price of Pergamon biomedical titles increased 27% while the
Elsevier titles increased in price about 5.2%. Similarly, after the
purchase of Lippincott by Wolters Kluwer that same year, Lippincott
titles experienced a 25% post-merger price increase. These data
demonstrate that modest transactions that may not rise to the
concentration thresholds of current antitrust guidelines could in fact
enhance the market power of the merging companies and significantly
increase the price of scholarly journals, among other publishing areas.Although the Reed Elsevier acquisition of Harcourt General was today
allowed to proceed without challenge, we hope that this merger does not
follow the pattern of previous mergers, whereby consolidation negatively
impacted the academic, research and library communities.In addition, we note that this merger is still under review in the U.K.
ARL and its members will monitor closely developments in pricing that
follow this merger, and document any erosion of libraries' ability to
provide information resources for their constituencies. As advocates
for scholars, researchers, students and the public, ARL will continue to
work to assure that library materials remain within the reach of the
broadest possible community, and that pricing and access policies ensure
access for generations to come.The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a membership organization
representing more than 120 of the largest research libraries in North
America. It is located on the Web at http://www.arl.org. For detailed
information and data on scholarly publishing and the impact of publisher
price increases, please see: http://www.arl.org/scomm and
http://www.arl.org/scomm/resources.html.
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4. Best Practices in Information Literacy Programming
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 15:39:13 -0500
From: "Thomas G. Kirk, Jr." <kirkto[at]EARLHAM.EDU>
To: COLLIB-L[at]acs.wooster.edu
Reply to: COLLIB-L <COLLIB-L[at]acs.wooster.edu>Dear Colleagues,
This message is to announce the availability of a working document: Best
Practices in Information Literacy Programming. This list of
characteristics has been under development for about twelve months and work
has concluded for this phase of the ACRL Best Practices Project. The
document is available at: http://www.earlham.edu/discus/ (select:
Information Literacy Best Practices: Latest edition of Characteristics of
Best Practice Programming) . At this site there is the ability to add
comments . These comments will be useful in the process of revising the
document in the future. (More information on the Project is available at
http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/bestprac.html .. )This statement of best practices is intended to serve as methodology for
assessing an information literacy program. These characteristics of best
practice along with outcomes assessment based on the ACRL Information
Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html ) provide a robust multi-dimensional
approach to program assessment.The list of characteristics remains a working draft until it is tested
against real programs. This testing will be done in the process of
selecting eight to ten institutions for a national invitational conference
on best practices in information literacy programming in Atlanta in 2002.
It will be held prior to the American Library Association's annual
meeting). As part of that meeting the characteristics will be reviewed and
revised based on the discussions at the meeting. A revised edition is expe
t to be released sometime in late 2002 along with documentation of the
programs that were part of the invitational conference.Inquiries about the characteristics and about the invitational conference
should be directed to Tom Kirk, Earlham College. (765) 983-1360.
kirkto[at]earlham.edu.
__________________________________________________________________________top
5. Popular Culture Association library-related CFP
CALL FOR PAPERS
POPULAR CULTURE ASSOCIATION 2002
LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES, AND POPULAR CULTURE RESEARCH AREA
The Popular Culture Association will be holding its annual joint meeting
with the American Culture Association in Toronto, Canada, on March 13-16
2002. Scholars from numerous disciplines will meet to share their Popular
Culture research and interests.The Libraries, Archives, and Popular Culture Research Area is soliciting
papers dealing with any aspect of Popular Culture as it pertains to
libraries, archives, museums, or research. In the past this has included
descriptions of research collections, studies of popular images of
libraries or librarians, or reports on developments in technical services
for collecting popular culture materials.Prospective presenters should send a one-page abstract by September 15 2001
to:Allen Ellis
Professor of Library Services
W. Frank Steely Library
Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY 41099-6101
859-572-5527
FAX: 859-572-5390
E-Mail: ellisa[at]nku.edu
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6. Noblegate
Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 21:04:08 -0500
From: Bob McChesney <rwmcches[at]uiuc.edu>
Subject: NoblegatePlease read this and then email this to every any U.S. professor you know
who might be interested in academic freedom issues. We are trying to keep
David Noble from losing his job for political reasons, much due to his work
as a labor activist. This is an important fight and if we get enough names,
we can maybe even win it.Thanks.
Bob
Dear Colleague:
You may have heard that David Noble was selected to occupy a Chair in
the Humanities at Simon Fraser University in Canada, but was then denied
this appointment by adminsitrative fiat. As the decisions in this case
have not yet been finalized, we have prepared a letter of protest from U.S.
academics to be sent to a Simon Fraser officer having a role in this
decision process. To assist you in understanding the issues involved we
have attached a letter of protest sent by concerned academics at the
University of Western Ontario, along with a backgrounder prepared by David
Noble.We want you to join us and sign on to this protest letter. If you are
agreeable, please send your assent, along with your position and
university, to Bob McChesney at his e-mail address: rwmcches[at]uiuc.edu.
Please respond by Monday, May 7 at the very latest so we can send this
letter off on Tuesday, May 8.Thank you very much.
Edward S. Herman
Robert W. McChesneyHere is the letter:
As U.S. academics, we write to protest Simon Fraser University's
cancellation of Dr. David Noble's appointment to the J.S. Woodsworth
Chair in the Humanities and to express our support for Dr. Noble as a
scholar and democratic activist.As we understand it, the Woodsworth Chair is named for a
distinguished Canadian labor activist and is being underwritten by
trade unions and progressive individuals. Dr. Noble would appear to
be an almost perfect choice for such an appointment. He has combined
eminent scholarship relevant to labor issues and, more broadly,
social sciences and the humanities, with a political activism that
represents genuine democracy and is in the spirit of J. S. Woodworth
and the Chair sponsors.Dr. Noble's qualifications as a scholar are beyond question. He ranks
in the global first tier of historians of technology; those of us who
work in this field honor him as a groundbreaking scholar whose
reputation spans nearly a quarter-century. There are no grounds,
intellectual or scholarly, by which he fails to qualify for the
Woodsworth Chair.We strongly urge you to recognize the suitability of Dr. Noble for
the J.S. Woodsworth Chair, as well as the damage to the university's
reputation that would follow from his rejection. The long-term
interests of Simon Fraser University will not be served by allowing
this selection to be blocked by political and interest group
opposition.To us, this seems to be a case where nothing less than academic
freedom at Simon Fraser University hangs in the balance. We urge you
to do the right thing and make certain that Dr. Noble is appointed to
the Woodsworth Chair that he deserves.... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Group of Concerned Academics,
c/o Dr. N. Dyer-Witheford,
Faculty of Information & Media Studies,
University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario N6A 5B7.Dr. John Waterhouse,
Provost and Vice-President Academic,
Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, V5A 1S6.Dear Dr. Waterhouse
We write as concerned academics to express our dismay at Simon Fraser's
University's retraction of Dr. David Noble's appointment to its J.S.
Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities, an issue that we understand you are
currently reviewing.Dr. Noble is an eminent and internationally renowned scholar. He is also
an outspoken critic of virtual education and of university-business
connections, and an academic labour activist. No one following the events
surrounding the Woodsworth Chair - events in which Dr. Noble was first
offered the position by a faculty search committee, only to have this offer
withdrawn by Simon Fraser University's Dean of Arts - can doubt that academic
evaluation of scholarship has been trumped by administrative fear of
criticism and activism.Senior members of Simon Fraser's faculty and administration have had
long-standing and proprietary interests in the virtual education programs
Dr. Noble criticizes. Simon Fraser's current president, Dr. Michael
Stevenson, was vice-president of York University when Dr. Noble was a
leader in a prolonged and bitter faculty strike there. The lines of
force - and the way they override lines of thought - are all too clearThe immediate occasion for the University's withdrawal of its offer is Dr.
Noble's refusal to submit to a reference check conducted by a private
consulting firm hired by Simon Fraser, a process the university claims is a
normal procedure. But the list is clearly not a "normal" list, since it is
predominantly composed of people known to oppose Dr. Noble's views. The
procedure has a Catch 22 aspect. Dr. Noble was offered the choice of
accepting the screening, and exposing himself to predictable attacks that
would provide grounds for his rejection; or refusing it, and being rejected
for not complying with the procedure. This is a "heads I win tails you
lose" situation for those who do not want Dr. Noble appointed. It is not,
however, a fair process of scholarly evaluation.There are several ironies in this situation. One, of course, is that the
Woodsworth chair is named after one of Canada's leading labour activists,
and is funded by hundreds of trades unions and radical individuals. One can
only wince at how J.S.Woodsworth would respond to the treatment given out
to Dr. Noble in his name. Another is that the whole series of events
ratifies the arguments Dr. Noble has made about the erosion of academic
autonomy. One of his main contentions is that the convergence of interests
between commerce, entrepreneurial faculty and corporate-oriented university
administrations around telelearning constitutes a serious threat to freedom
of thought, teaching and learning. His current treatment by Simon Fraser
University could be a case study for this argument.The signatories of this letter do not necessarily support all or any of
Dr. Noble's positions in these debates. Some of us indeed have commented
critically on his arguments about technology. But we do believe that what
has happened around his appointment to the Woodsworth chair is a
transgression of academic freedom and judgment, one that has ominous
implications for all Canadian universities. We urge you to remedy this
situation by accepting the original decision of the faculty search
committee to appoint Dr. Noble to the J.S. Woodsworth ChairYours sincerely,
Nick Dyer-Witheford (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Bernd Frohmann (Associate Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Lynne McKechnie (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Daniel Robinson (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Siobahn Stevenson (Instructor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies,
University of Western Ontario).Steven Joyce (Instructor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies,
University of Western Ontario).Grant Campbell (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Tim Blackmore (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Paul Theberge (Associate Professor, Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, University of Western Ontario).Gaile McGregor (Adjunct Faculty, Faculty of Information and Media Studies,
University of Western Ontario).... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
March 26, 2001
To: Jim Turk, Neil Tudiver (Fax 613-820-7244)
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)
From: David F. Noble (phone 416- 778-6927/ Fax 416-778-8928)
Re: Complaint to Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee about a
violation of academic freedom in hiring by Simon Fraser University(1) At the end of October, 2000, completely out of the blue, I received a
letter from Professor Steven Duguid, Chair of the Department of Humanities
at SFU, informing me that I had been selected as one of three finalists for
the James Woodsworth Chair in Humanities at SFU. The letter described this
unique position and invited me to Vancouver for an interview. In a
subsequent telephone conversation Duguid elaborated, pointing out that the
Chair had been endowed by hundreds of union locals and individual workers
and farmers throughout Canada, that the position entailed teaching teaching
in the Humanities and engaging in social outreach on issues of social
justice and peace in the spirit of CCF founder Woodsworth, and that, to his
knowledge, it was unique in North America.I was honored and humbled to be considered for such a prestigious
permanent position (which had heretofore been held only on a temporary
basis by Ed Broadbent and Alan Whitehorn), and expressed my keen interest
to Duguid. I cautioned him at the outset, however, that there were two
matters which might jeopardize my chances. One was that, although I have
worked in Canada for ten years, I am an American citizen. The second was
that the new SFU president Michael Stevenson had previously been
VP/Academic at York University and, in that capacity, was the chief
adversary of my union in the longest academic strike in English Canadian
history, in which I was both active and visible. Duguid assured me that
there were many Americans at SFU and that Stevenson would have no more than
a pro forma role in the appointment process.(2) I visited Vancouver for three days in early January and engaged in a
series of very enjoyable and intensive interviews. By the end of January I
had been informed by Duguid that I had won the unanimous endorsement of
both the Search Committee and the full Department of Humanities and that
the selection of the Department would be forwarded to the Dean.(3) Eagerly awaiting a call from the Dean to negotiate the terms of the
job, I received instead a call from Libby Dybikowski, representing the
private Vancouver consulting firm Provence. Ms. Dybikowski explained that
her firm had been retained by SFU to do a reference check on me. Since BC
law requires employers to obtain a candidate's permission before consulting
any reference, she was calling to ask me to give her permission to talk
with four people whose names had been given to her by SFU. When I heard the
list, everything became clear. None of the people on her list were even
remotely related to my academic fields nor had any of them had any
experience with me as a colleague. The only connection three of them had to
me was as agents of activities or enterprises which I had publicly
criticized. (Linda Harasim, director of the SFU Virtual U project, and Stan
Shapson, York VP/Research, as avid promoters of both corporate-academic
partnerships and online education, and Steven Feinberg,a statistician and
former York VP, as an advocate of academic-industrial ties and, in
particular, of the U.S.- based International Space University which I
helped to keep out of Canada). The fourth person, Sheila Embleton, a
linguist, now holds Michael Stevenson's job as York VP/Academic. Since we
have had no relation whatsoever I assume she was listed merely as
Stevenson's proxy. Ms. Dybikowski explained that she had been asked by SFU
to obtain information from these people about my style of "interaction", my
collegiality and character. I informed her that I had never in fact even
met any of these people (except Harasim, with whom I dined once a decade
ago). I told her that the list was unambiguously political in that it
included my political adversaries and antagonists and that I could not give
her permission to consult them. I explained that the BC law existed to
provide protection from exactly this kind of nefarious practice, that the
use of an outside consultant in the matter of academic appointments was
highly irregular and usurped the prerogative of the faculty, and that my
cooperation would lend legitimacy to what I considered a violation of
well-established academic procedure.Ms. Dybikowski phoned me back the next day with another list but before
she revealed the new names I informed her that I had been advised not to
cooperate in this irregular administration initiative. I told her that I
had already provided the university with over a dozen names and that she
could talk with any of those people. She did in fact call some of them and,
according to their reports, was indeed seeking material for character
assassination - the time-honored practice of employers unable to challenge
a person's job qualifications and prohibited by law from overtly objecting
to a person's political beliefs in hiring and promotion decisions.(4) At the beginning of March I phoned the Dean to inquire about when I
would receive official notification of my selection as Woodsworth Chair so
that I could prepare for the move. I left an explanation on his voice mail
that I needed to tell my employer what I was going to do and put my house
on the market. Rather than call me back, the Dean used the Department Chair
and his secretary as intermediaries to tell me that no decision had yet
been made and not to sell my house. After I insisted upon the courtesy of a
direct reply he finally phoned me to tell me that I was being
"presumptuous" in assuming that I had the job, that I would not be hearing
anything for "at least several months" and that it would not be prudent for
me to sell my house. I asked him if the administration intended to block
the appointment and he refused to answer, saying he was only following
standard procedure. I asked him for other examples of SFU's use of an
outside consulting firm in academic appointments and he refused to answer.
I asked him how he knew Steven Feinberg (whom I believe only Stevenson
would have known) and he refused to answer.(5) On March 19, I learned from Steve Duguid that the Department had
received a copy of a letter from the Dean of Arts to the Vice President
Academic stating that he was "unable to support" the faculty's
recommendation. The only reason given was my refusal to cooperate with the
outside consulting firm. (According to Duguid that letter should have been
addressed to the Department not to the Vice President.)(6) On March 24 , I learned from Steve Duguid that the Deparment had
received a letter from the Vice President/Academic stating that he "was
inclined not to support " the Department's recommendation and requesting
that the Department "reconsider" its recommendation. Here too the only
reason given was my refusal to cooperate with the private consulting firm.
Duguid also informed me that the Department had met to discuss both the
Dean's and Vice President's rejection of their recommendation and decided
to reaffirm their decision and to refuse to reconsider it. According to
Duguid, this throws the matter into the hands of the university's
"Appointments Committee," a subcommittee of the Tenure and Promotion
Committee, with no clear schedule.(7) I requested of Duguid copies of the Dean's and Vice-President's
letters and was told that he had been told by them not to give me copies. I
made the same formal request of both the Dean and the Vice- President and
never received a reply.(8) I am asking the CAUT to look into this matter immediately, as it
appears to entail an egregious violation of free speech, academic freedom
and established academic practice. I have not as yet enlisted the support
of the SFU faculty association nor have I retained an attorney.(9) I believe this case illuminates all too clearly how corporatization
has compromised the integrity of academia, a trend which I have been
warning about for twenty years and which has in recent years generated
considerable concern on the part of the CAUT. SFU is increasingly
committing itself to the corporate model and the corporate embrace and
considers itself the Canadian flagship of online education - a potent
administration vehicle of institutional restructuring at the expense of
faculty. Michael Stevenson, SFU's new president, is an outspoken champion
of both corporate partnerships and online education, and, as his central
role in the York strike demonstrated, a vigorous opponent of faculty
rights. The Chair of the SFU Board of Governors, Evaleen Jaager Roy, is
Vice President of Electronic Arts (Canada), a subsidiary of the one of the
world's largest "edutainment" conglomerates, Electronic Arts, and a leading
developer of educational software. Thus, the Board Chair has a direct
interest in the enterprise of online education of which I have been
outspokenly critical. I believe, and the SFU Humanities faculty shares my
belief, that the blocking of my appointment stems from the SFU
administration's opposition to my political views on matters of grave
public import. Insofar as this prejudice informs university decision-making
on appointments, it violates academic norms as well as the Human Rights Act
of British Columbia which explicitly prohibits discrimination in hiring on
the basis of political belief.(10) My aim in this matter is to satisfy my rightful claim to the SFU
Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities. The remedy sought is a prompt
administrative ratification of the Department of Humanities recommendation.
Justice delayed is justice denied.(11) SFU Cast of Characters
Steven Duguid, Chair, Department of Humanities 604-716-6310
John T. Pierce, Dean, Faculty of Arts 604-291-4415
John Waterhouse, Vice President, Academic
Michael Stevenson, President 604-291-4641
Evaleen Jaager Roy, Chair, Board of Governors
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7. Electronic Green Journal
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 15:19:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Terry Abraham <tabraham[at]UIDAHO.EDU>Dear Friends of the EGJ,
The Earthday 2001 issue of the Electronic Green Journal is now available
on the Web at: http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/egj14/ .Articles in this issue treat environmental concerns in Australia, India,
Indonesia, and North America. Many thanks to all the editors for their
hard work and time spent on production of this issue with special thanks
to webmaster Bill Kerr, copy editor Linnea Marshall, book review editor
Nancy Young, and our column editors Flora Shrode and William Ted Johnson.We are also pleased to announce that the EGJ will now be indexed and
available through the H.W. Wilson Company electronic indexes, which
includes General Science, Applied Science and Technology, and the Readers'
Guide.Thanks for your readership and support.
MARIA ANNA JANKOWSKA
majanko[at]uidaho.edu
General Editor, Electronic Green Journal
http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/index.html
University of Idaho Library,
Rayburn Street,
Moscow, ID 83844-2350, USA
voice: 208-885-6631
fax: 208-885-6817-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Terry Abraham Special Collections, University of Idaho
http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/
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8. John Ayala awarded 2001 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year
Date: 4 May 2001 17:08:14 -0700
From: Verla Peterson <vpeterson[at]uwalumni.com>
To: reformanet[at]lmri.ucsb.edu
Reply to: reformanet[at]lmri.ucsb.eduJohn Ayala, Dean of Learning Resources at Fullerton College in Fullerton,
CA, has been selected as the 2001 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year.
This marks the first year featuring the award renamed for REFORMA founder
Dr. Trejo.Ayala's contributions to Latino librarianship span nearly forty years and
include experience in both public and academic libraries. His first
position, in the early '60s, was as a bookmobile staffer for Long Beach
(CA) Public Library. After a stint in the Air Force which included time in
Vietnam, he received his MLS in 1971 from Immaculate Heart College in Los
Angeles. He also received a Master's of Public Administration from Cal
State-Long Beach in 1981. He served in various positions for the Long Beach
Community College District before coming to Fullerton as Dean in 1990."John's impact can best be measured through the positive influence which
he has had on others," said his nominators, which included a dozen
REFORMistas from across the country. An example of this influence which
they cited was Ayala's involvement in the Kindercaminata program at
Fullerton. This program exposes young children and their parents to life on
a college campus, as well as to career and vocational information. Over
7,000 children have been exposed to the possibilities of higher education
since he annual event's inception in 1995.Ayala is a founding member of REFORMA and has affectionately become known
as "El Padrino de REFORMA." He has maintained a close affiliation with the
group over the years, serving in a number of capacities. These included
holding the presidency (1974-1976) and serving on the RNC Steering
Committee in 1996, for the first national conference in Austin.ALA Diversity Officer Sandra Ríos Balderrama calls Ayala "a mentor,
steward, leader, healer and community builder." She considers him "a
touchstone to which we return for the original integrity and spirit of
REFORMA.""John's sense of service and his caring concern for the professional
advancement of fellow REFORMISTAS permeates his professional life," said El
Paso (TX) Community College's Luis Chaparro. Time and again, the letters of
support accompanying the nomination referred to situations where he had
served as mentor and advisor to library students, REFORMA chapters (both
existing and nascent) and individual librarians.Ayala has also contributed to Latino librarianship by publishing and
lecturing on related topics. He has two works in progress, including a
history of REFORMA which he is writing with Sal Güereña. Ayala will take
advantage of his memory of the early years of the association, writing the
history from 1971 to 1981.In the past several years, Ayala has taken his message to various parts of
the country. He has presented programs on recruiting and maintaining
diversity at several state library association meetings, including Nevada
Library Association, Missouri Library Association, and Utah Library
Association. At the first RNC, he presented a program on Hispanic library
services in community colleges.Juan Tomás Lee, Past President of REFORMA de Utah, spoke of Ayala's
ability to "motivate decision-makers to assess their own recruiting,
hiring, and mentoring practices." Ayala filled the bill, not only
articulating eloquently the need for diversity, but also donating his time
and travel, in spite of the fact that he was at that time involved with
major remodeling of the library facilities in Fullerton. It was obvious
from the comments of other nominators that Ayala's donation of time and
experience for such purposes is routine.In addition to his contributions to librarianship, Ayala has been a
broader representative and advocate of Latino issues as a member and
president of the Latino Faculty Staff Association of the North Orange
County Community District, as well as other academic organizations.Perhaps Ayala's most poignant contribution to the profession is the
scholarship endowment which he recently established in the name of his late
wife Patricia. The scholarship will assist students in pursuit of the MLS.
"This effort underscores the essence of John's contribution to Latino
librarianship and illustrates the highest level of personal and
professional commitment, which he repeatedly and unselfishly makes," said
the nominators.The Trejo LOTY award recipient is presented with a plaque and $400, both
donated by Hispanic Book Distributors of Tucson, owned by Arnulfo and Ninfa
Trejo. The presentation will be made at the REFORMA fundraiser at ALA in
San Francisco on Sunday, June 17.
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9. Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award
[IFACTION:1581] Who Was Eli M. Oboler?
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 10:19:39 -0500
From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org>
To: Intellectual Freedom Action News <ifaction[at]ala1.ala.org>Who Was Eli M. Oboler?
http://www.isu.edu/library/about/oboler.htm"Eli Martin Oboler (1915-1983) came to Idaho State College (now Idaho
State University) to be the head librarian in 1949, where he remained
until his retirement in 1980. He was very active in many library
organizations, including the Idaho Library Association, which he helped
organize, the Pacific
Northwest Library Association, and the American Library Association.
During his illustrious career, his was a strong voice speaking out
against censorship, so much so that the American Library Association*s
Intellectual Freedom Round Table posthumously created an award in his
honor."See also
The Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award
http://www.isu.edu/library/about/emoaward.htm_______
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
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10. Roget's corruptive thesaurus
A glance at the May issue of "The Atlantic Monthly":
from the Chronicle of Higher Education's daily email...Simon Winchester, author of "The Professor and the Madman,"
praises Peter Mark Roget but argues that his thesaurus is a
failure, a crutch for crossword-puzzle cheats and lazy writers.
"It should be roundly condemned as a crucial part of the engine
work that has transported us to our current state of linguistic
and intellectual mediocrity," he says. In the 1700's, Mr.
Winchester writes, lists and catalogs of synonyms helped people
speak sophisticatedly so they could appear fashionable in
society. However, these compilations were superficial -- they
didn't treat the nuances of near and absolute synonyms and so
failed to consider a word's context in actual usage. Roget, whom
Mr. Winchester calls a polymath "in the literal sense of the
word," had a different philosophy of language classification.
Mr. Winchester writes that "his was a 'conceptual' thesaurus,
whereas the others were merely arranged alphabetically or
otherwise organized to be useful." Roget placed words into six
different classes -- each of which had sets and subsets -- that
dealt with external and internal experience. Roget's complex
organization, Mr. Winchester contends, overestimated the
intellectual abilities of his readers, for the reference "was
meant for users equipped with more finely honed intellects and
with a very real lexical intuition." Most users of the book
today lack the sort of linguistic acumen Roget took for granted,
Mr. Winchester writes. The thesaurus is no boon for writers, he
argues. The skill with which a writer uses words, not the number
he uses, indicates talent. Therefore, Mr. Winchester asks, "To
make us think a little more, to make us wonder a little longer,
might it not now be for the best for your book simply to vanish,
and for the name that is at the root of the eponym to be
banished from the lexicon for all time?" The article is
available online athttp://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/05/winchester-p1.htm
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11. Women and Poverty
Fallows[at]large
WORKING CLASSES
James Fallows and Barbara EhrenreichMay 2-4 | "A few years ago, I tried pitching a story on women in poverty
to the top editor of a major national magazine," Barbara Ehrenreich writes
to James Fallows. "We were at a pricey restaurant, and he was openly
unenthusiastic. Finally, over the decaf espressos and death-by-chocolate
dessert, he said, 'Okay, do your thing on poverty. Only make it
upscale.' That's the kind of thing you're up against when you try to make
poverty visible." See parts one and two of Fallows's e-mail exchange with
Ehrenreich about her new book, *Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in
America*.http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fallows/jf2001-05-02/
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12. Man sues library over animal attack
http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/fri/metro/news_1mi4cat.html
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13. D.M.C.A. (song)
By: Jack Valenti and the Media People
(Found on a User Friendly ARS posting referring to a
Slashdot comment)
Parody of Y.M.C.A. by The Village People (BMI)
Posted to Lisnews.com by Ben OstrowskyYoung man, we'll take all your sites down
I said, young man, this won't get off the ground
I said, young man, your mirrors will be found
There's no need to make any copies
Young man, Napster has got to go
I said, young man, we want more of your dough
You can't do this; the law went through Congress
Forget about DeCSSIt's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
We own everything that young people enjoy
Music, movies, and all your toys
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
You can only stream Real
You can't get a fair deal
You can't do whatever you feelYoung man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, don't play that MP3
I said, young man, you can forget your dreams
You reverse engineered our thing
No man makes copies for himself
I said, young man, take Apex off the shelf
Or we'll sue you, through the D.M.C.A.
Didn't you read the E.U.L.A.?It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
We own everything that young people enjoy
Music, movies, and all your toys
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
You can only stream Real
You can't get a fair deal
You can't do whatever you feelYoung man, I was once in your place,
I said, I felt the U.S. was off base
I felt no man cared about regions
I felt the whole world was as one
That's when someone came up to me
And said, young man, no more iCraveTV
There's a thing here called the D.M.C.A.
Next we'll have U.C.I.T.A.It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
We own everything that young people enjoy
Music, movies, and all your toys
D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
It's here to stay; it's the D.M.C.A.
Young man, young man, we'll take all your sites down
Young man, young man, this won't get off the ground
D.M.C.A.
Just follow the D.M.C.A.
Young man, young man, I was once in your place
Young man, young man, I was way off base
D.M.C.A.
D.M.C.A.
D.M.C.A.
D.M.C.A.
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