Library Juice 5:7, February 21, 2002
Contents:
- Eldred v. Ashcroft
- II Global Congress of Citizen Networks, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Libraries might not be for "socialist welfare scum" after all
- Library Juice Supplements
- AEQ seeks issue editor
- SIMILE Volume 2 Issue 1 February 2002
- Chilling Effects of Anti-Terrorism (from EFF)
- Americans Facing Greater Loss of Independent Local Media Outlets
- Why We Need _In These Times_
- Toni Samek's list of alternative literature for librarians
- The Library in Crisis, by Julian Samuel (a video)
- Rockabilly Librarian
- That Honda ad
Quote for the week:
"That ideas should freely spread over the globe, for the and mutual
instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been
peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like
fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density at any
point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical
being, incapable of confinement, or exclusive appropriation."Thomas Jefferson, in an 1813 letter to Isaac McPherson on issues
confronting patent law, quoted in _The Nation_, December 17, 2001, p. 25
Homepage of the week: Lawrence Lessig
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig/________________________________________________________________________top
1. Eldred v. Ashcroft
This text from Techlaw Journal's newsbriefs:
http://www.techlawjournal.com/home/newsbriefs/2001/07c.aspLessig Versus the CTEA
7/13. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued an order and opinion in
Eldred v. Ashcroft, a challenge to the constitutionality of the Copyright
Term Extension Act. The Appeals Court denied plaintiff's petition for a
rehearing en banc.[ U.S. Court of Appeal's order of opinion:
http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200107/99-5430d.txtText of the Copyright Extension Act:
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/eldritch/pl105-298.htm ]The original plaintiff of record is Eric Eldred, the proprietor of the
unincorporated Eldritch Press, a website that republishes the works of
others that are not protected by copyright. However, the suit is being
pursued by Laurence Lessig and other law professors who disagree with
recently enacted intellectual property statutes.The 105th Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) to
extend the maximum duration of copyrights from 75 to 95 years. The late
Rep. Sonny Bono (R-CA) sponsored the House version of the bill in 1997.
Hence, the statute is also known by his name. (See, P.L. 105-298, 112 Stat.
2827. It amends 17 U.S.C. 304(b).)On January 11, 1999 the plaintiffs filed their original complaint in U.S.
District Court (DDC). (See also, TLJ story.) On June 28, 1999, the
plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs allege, among
other claims, that the CTEA violates the First Amendment and the copyright
clause of the Constitution. On October 27, 1999, the District Court ruled
that the CTEA does not violate the Constitution. See, Memorandum of the
Court. (See also, TLJ story.) On February 16, 2001, the U.S. Court of
Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion affirming the District Court.[ Plaintiffs' original complaint:
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/eldritch/19990111.htmPlaintiff's second amended complaint:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/eldredvreno/complaint_amd2.htmlDistrict Court's memorandum:
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/eldritch/19991027.htmAppeals Court's opinion:
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/eldritch/20010216op.asp ]Plaintiffs asserted in their petition for rehearing that the Court of
Appeals erred in its treatment of the contentions advanced by one of the
amici, The Eagle Forum (i.e., Phillys Schlafly). Judge Ginsburg, writing
for the Court, rejected the argument. Judge Sentelle dissented.See also, TLJ summary of Eldred v. Reno:
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/eldritch/Default.htm-----
WIRED News on the case:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50527,00.htmlNew York Times story:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Internet-Libraries.htmlWashington Post story:
http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/15241-1.htmlEldritch Press (worth a visit - good stuff there - get it while you can)
http://www.eldritchpress.org/________________________________________________________________________top
2. II Global Congress of Citizen Networks, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
December 2001
Report copyright by Steve Cisler 2001 <cisler[at]pobox.com>
This article may be served, stored, mailed, archived on non-commercial web
sites, magazines, home pages, and mailing lists.In the current issue of Foreign Policy, (1) Lawrence Lessig argues that
the Internet phenomenon is like a shooting star whose trajectory is now in
rapid descent, not because of viruses and hackers or the demise of the
dot.coms (what I now call "faith-based organizations"). What he calls the
"innovation commons" is disappearing because of the corporate push for
restrictive intellectual property laws. He quotes Machiavelli who wrote
"Innovation makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old regime,
and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under
the new." In one private forum the discussion is about the Internet being
"enclosed" by these new initiatives. Those striving for an information
commons where, to use Doug Schuler's phrase, civic intelligence can
flourish, gathered in early December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.(2) More
than 500 people came to the Second Global Congress of Citizen Networks to
meet each other and to hear presentations on the ways that groups of
citizens and non-profits are making use of the Internet and what is know as
information and communication technology or ICT in development parlance.
Many would include older media such as video and radio too.What are citizen networks? Internet technology projects that benefit
people as citizens rather than as consumers; projects that help
marginalized groups have more control over their existence and even give
them a stronger sense of identity. Citizen networks are about inclusion and
how the technology can be used for democratic goals and for economic
development. Many of the sessions were about community networking efforts
around the world. Community Networking has been used for at least ten
years, but is still vague in many people's minds outside of the field,
especially since the word "community" has been debased by stretching the
meaning of the word to mean customers of an online service ("the AOL
community") or all the nations that may share some point of view about
trade or the environment ("the International community"). In Italy and the
U.S. the term "civic networks" has been used. This bring us closer to
understanding what we were meeting about: how groups of citizens and
non-profit organizations were using network technologies(1) for personal,
social, economic, and political change.Under this banner of citizen networks there were dozens of sessions and
workshops that attracted people from Latin America (mainly Argentina),
U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia, and a sprinkling of
people from other parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and New Zealand. A core
group of people who attended the first conference in Spain in 2000 planned
this one, and are also planning the future ones in Montreal, Canada
(October 2002), and Queensland, Australia (September 2003).I flew out of Silicon Valley the day of the largest broadband failure in
the continuing Internet and telecomms bubble deflation. The judge in a
ferocious court battle allowed At Home to cease service to more than
800,000 cable modem customers around the United States. I consider this
setback one more slowdown that will affect the deployment of better
services in other urban as well as remote areas in the other countries. I
arrived in Argentina as their own financial crisis reached a critical
stage. Citizens, worried about the stability of the peso which was
officially pegged to the U.S. dollar, withdrew 500 million dollars that
Friday, and the day before the conference started, the Argentine government
raided the pension fund and enacted strict measures to prevent the
withdrawal of more than $1000 per month from personal bank accounts. Some
of the Argentine conference organizers were wrapped up in the business of
the forthcoming congress and did not have time to preserve the value of
their savings. Some restaurants accepted credit cards; others stopped, and
more businesses demanded cash. Argentina seemed to be following the same
path as Enron in the U.S. Though there was turmoil in the city, the
conference went rather smoothly....[....]
http://home.inreach.com/cisler/ba.htm
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3. Libraries might not be for "socialist welfare scum" after all
Hans Weinhold, the purported author of the rant, "Libraries are for
socialist welfare scum," which appeared in Library Juice 4:27
( http://www.libr.org/Juice/issues/vol4/LJ_4.27.html ), has written to
inform me that the article was a malicious hoax perpetrated by an enemy
of his. He claims that he is not the author. He IS, however, the author
of an only slightly less rabid libertarian site, titled "The Emancipation
Destination," located at http://members.tripod.com/wiendog/ , which leaves
me feeling that the hoax article might correspond to his actual views on
libraries. I invited him to write about his real feelings on libraries,
so that we could all be convinced that he is not in fact the author of
"Libraries are for socialist welfare scum," after all, but he declined,
citing other demands on his time. My advice to him was to consult a
lawyer, because I think it is pretty illegal to impersonate another person,
especially in order to harm their reputation. (He thinks he knows who the
guy is.)So, consider this a correction. Libraries are not for socialist welfare
scum after all. Perhaps they are merely for Progressive Democrat welfare
scum.
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4. Library Juice Supplements
A new page on the Library Juice site: Supplements and Special Issues.
It's an ongoing compilation, located at:http://libr.org/Juice/supplements.html
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5. AEQ seeks issue editor
From: steve bytom <bytom[at]yahoo.com>
Dear Colleagues:
Responding to popular demand, Academic Exchange Quarterly
http://www.higher-ed.org/AEQ/
plans to dedicate its Winter issue to Information Literacy, specifically:
librarian/faculty collaboration,
competencies,
distance education courses,
models of instruction,
teaching technology,
information skills,
information literacy issues for administrators,
and more...
To make it possible, we seek a subject editor. See requirements at
http://www.higher-ed.org/AEQ/subed.htmAll the best
Steve Bytomski
AEQ Associate
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6. SIMILE Volume 2 Issue 1 February 2002
Announcing the first issue of volume #2 (see table of contents and
abstracts below) of Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education
(SIMILE), an e-journal published by the University of Toronto Press.The journal, which is currently available for free, is intended to be an
electronic meeting place for anyone and everyone interested in the broad
subject of media literacy. The journal will be published four times per
year, in February, May, August, and November. Each issue will contain three
or four full-length refereed articles from scholars approaching media
literacy from a wide variety of perspectives.SIMILE hopes to bring together scholars and educators at all levels from
the research university to the grade school to the community college and
everything in between. The submission of theoretically-based work that has
been tested and applied in the field-the kind of work that demands
collaboration between university-based researchers and, for example, high
school teachers-is strongly encouraged.SIMILE Volume 2 Issue 1 February 2002
C. Richard King
Defensive dialogues: Native American mascots, anti-Indianism, and
educational institutionsABSTRACT
Exploring the arguments and practices employed by educational institutions
to defend the continued use of Native American names, logos, and imagery,
this article argues that such efforts derive from and promote
anti-Indianism. After an outline of the scope and significance of
anti-Indianism, the common arguments advanced in defense of mascots are
discussed. The central strategies employed by educational institutions in
an effort to preserve "their" Indians are identified, with particular
emphasis on misrecognition, possessiveness, compromise, denial, deferral,
endorsement, and terror. The significance of these anti-Indian practices
for Native Americans is addressed, and suggestions are made about ways to
critically read such enactments of Indianness.Tony L. Talbert
McFreedom? Packaging democracy for student consumptionABSTRACT
High school students are increasingly being exposed to the concept of
"packaged democracy" in social studies textbooks, curricula, and learning
resources. Democracy is defined in pleasing and palatable images that
promote the narrow economic, political, and socio-cultural interests of
corporate giants. Very little space is devoted to critical thought and
analytical inquiry about the differences between popular-democracy (i.e.,
freedom, majority rule, protection of minority rights, free and open
elections) and market-democracy principles (i.e., unrestrained consumption,
efficiency, power and access based on wealth and free/open trade). This
article examines how social education teachers and students are being
offered packaged democracy for mass consumption in two social studies
textbooks published by McGraw-Hill.James O'Donnell
Talking about race: The role of Racial Identity Development models in
antiracist pedagogyABSTRACT
This research explores the efficacy of using Racial Identity Development
(RID) models as a curricular tool for antiracist pedagogy by examining the
responses of high school students and university undergraduate students to
a newspaper article that describes a racial incident. In a comparison of
the responses of the two groups, the choice of language and the
construction of arguments present a level of similarity unexplained by RID
models. RID models are discussed in order to explore their role in
curricular planning for antiracist pedagogy.Tamara Hawkins
Marketing and Online Manager
University of Toronto Press-Journals Division
5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario
M3H 5T8 Canada
email thawkins[at]utpress.utoronto.ca
tel 416.667.7849 fax 416.667.7881
Visit our web site! www.utpjournals.com
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7. Chilling Effects of Anti-Terrorism (from EFF)
"National Security" Toll on Freedom of Expression
(Web page)
The right to free speech faces the strongest challenges during times of
crisis. Whether or not any of us agree about each particular decision made
to prevent public access to sensitive information, it is the Electronic
Frontier Foundation's responsibility to chart any such efforts so that we
as a society are at least aware of what is no longer available to us.This page attempts to convey the chilling effect that responses to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have had on information
availability on the Internet as well as some sense of the effect on people
trying to provide this information.Currently, this page tracks the following:
Websites Shut Down by US Government
Websites Shut Down by Other Governments
Websites Shut Down by Internet Service Provider
Websites Shut Down or Partially Removed by Website Owner
US Government Websites That Shut Down or Removed Information
US Government Requests to Remove Information
Media Professionals Terminated or Suspended
Other Employees Terminated or Suspended
Related Incidents
Related LinksIf you know of a anti-terrorism chilling effect that should be listed
here, please email freespeech[at]eff.orghttp://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/antiterrorism_chill.html
Thanks go to Mary Minow for this link.
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8. Americans Facing Greater Loss of Independent Local Media Outlets
(Study by the Center for Digital Democracy)
A coalition of consumer and media advocacy organizations, including
Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Media Access Project,
Center for Digital Democracy, and the Civil Rights Forum, filed a response
to a recent federal ruling that relaxes regulations on newspaper broadcast
cross-ownership. The 140-page filing explains how joint ownership of local
newspapers and broadcast television outlets violates the constitutional
requirement that "the widest possible dissemination of information from
diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the people."
Along with concerns that the ruling would trigger new mergers thus reducing
the number of independent media owners, the filing also presented evidence
of declining journalistic standards in markets with cross-ownership.[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]
http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/crossownerfiling.htmlThanks to the Benton Foundation for this notice.
http://www.benton.org/Resources
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9. Why We Need _In These Times_
By Robert McChesney
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/26/06/feature1.shtml
...Progressive politics require progressive media just as much in moments
of darkness as in moments of growth and triumph. Indeed, without such
media, the darkness may become permanent. Over the past quarter-century, In
These Times has provided a trenchant critique of U.S. politics, giving
citizens the information they need to organize and fight back. The world is
a better place thanks to In These Times.Accordingly, In These Times has joined an illustrious list of political
media in U.S. history, going back to the revolutionary era. From
abolitionists and feminists to populists, unionists and socialists, every
progressive movement in U.S. history could almost be defined by its press.
If there was no press, there was no movement. Consider, for example, the
United States in the early 1900s. Members and supporters of the Socialist
Party of Eugene V. Debs published some 323 English and foreign language
daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines. Most of these were
privately owned or were the publications of one of the 5,000 Socialist
Party locals. They reached a total of more than 2 million subscribers.
Appeal to Reason, the socialist newspaper that inspired Jim Weinstein to
launch In These Times, alone had a readership of more than 750,000.All of that changed over the course of the 20th century. Most important,
the nature of our media system changed dramatically. Rather than being a
competitive industry where newcomers could enter on the margins and make a
go of it, the media became dominated by large firms operating in
oligopolistic markets. This reduced the ability of leftist media to
survive, let alone prosper. It also caused a major shake-up in journalism.
Publishers realized that to continue using their monopoly newspapers as
partisan engines might discredit the legitimacy of their enterprise, so
they instituted "professional" journalism as the new model for their
newsrooms. In this new world, trained editors and reporters would run the
newsroom while owners and advertisers would concern themselves with the
business side of the operation. The news would be fair, accurate and
reflect no political bias.Of course, it is impossible to have such nonpartisan journalism, and the
newly minted code for professional journalists had three distinct biases
written into it that reflected the commercial and political needs of the
owners. First, to remove the controversy connected with the selection of
stories, it regarded anything done by official sources-e.g., government
officials and prominent public figures-as the basis for legitimate news.
This gave those in political office (and, to a lesser extent, business)
considerable power to set the news agenda by what they spoke about and what
they didn't.The second bias is that professional journalism tends to present news in a
decontextualized and non-ideological manner. In theory, one could read
every professional news story on a topic and they all would be pretty much
the same. An irony of professional journalism is that those stories which
generate the most coverage-the Middle East, President Clinton's health care
plan-often produce a confused and uninformed readership. In professional
code, this decontextualization is accomplished in part by positing that
there must be a news "hook" or "peg" to justify a story. Hence crucial
social issues like racism or environmental degradation fall through the
cracks of journalism unless there was some event, like a demonstration or
the release of an official report, to justify coverage. So journalism tends
to downplay or eliminate the presentation of a range of informed positions
on controversial issues. This produces a paradox: Journalism, which in
theory should inspire political involvement, tends to strip politics of
meaning and promote a broad depoliticization. That is very bad news for the
left.The third bias of professional journalism is more subtle but most
important: Far from being politically neutral, it smuggles in values
conducive to the commercial aims of the owners and advertisers as well as
the political aims of the owning class. Ben Bagdikian, author of The Media
Monopoly, refers to this as the "dig here, not there" phenomenon. So it is
that crime stories and stories about royal families and celebrities become
legitimate news. (These are inexpensive to cover and they never antagonize
people in power.) So it is that the affairs of government are subjected to
much closer scrutiny than the affairs of big business. And so it is that
those government activities serving the poor (like welfare) get much more
critical attention than those serving the interests of the wealthy (the
CIA, for instance). The genius of professionalism in journalism is that it
tends to make journalists oblivious to the compromises with authority they
routinely make.[...]
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/26/06/feature1.shtml
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10. Toni Samek's list of alternative literature for librarians
*Revised since the publication in */Counterpoise/ 4(1/2) (January/April
2000): 10.1967-1973 /Synergy/
/Liberated Librarian's Newsletter/
1969-1979 /Women Library Workers--/continued as /WLW Journal/ until 1994
1970-1995 /Sipapu/
1970- /Women in Libraries/
1971 /Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads
Concerning People/1971-1980 /Alternatives in Print/
1971- /Unabashed Librarian/
/Revolting Librarians/
1972-1984/ Librarians for Social Change /continued as/ Social Change and
Information Systems /(1985-)/Current Awareness-Library Literature/
/Booklegger Magazine/
1973-1979 /Young Adult Alternative Newsletter/
1973-1998/ Emergency Librarian--/continued as /Teacher Librarian /(1998-)
1975 /The living Z : A Guide to the Literature of the Counterculture, the
Alternative Press, and Little Magazines/1977 /On Equal Terms: A Thesaurus for Nonsexist Indexing and Cataloging/
1978- /VOYA, Voice of Youth Advocates/
1979- /New Pages/
1980- /Feminist Collections/
1982 /Alternative Materials in Libraries/
1984- /Alternative Library Literature/
1985- /Social Change and Information Systems/
1990- /Progressive Librarian /
1993- /Librarians at Liberty/
1994- /Information for Social Change/
1994- /Alternative Publishers of Books in North America/
1995 /Zoia! Memoirs of Zoia Horn, Battler for the People's Right to Know/
1996 /Alternative Literature: A Practical Guide for Librarians/
1997- /Counterpoise/:/ For Social Responsibilities, Liberty and Dissent/
1998 /Poor People and Library Services/
1998 /HERMÈS: revue critique/
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11. The Library in Crisis, by Julian Samuel (a video)
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 16:29:57 -0800
From: "julian samuel" <jjsamuel[at]vif.com>
To: <webmaster[at]libr.org>Articles on _The Library in Crisis_ video, 2002
The Library in Crisis
Introduction
by
Vinita Ramani
In the recent past there has been much furor surrounding the meetings of
institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA) or North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The
corresponding clout of protestors has been aided by the ubiquitous presence
of the Internet, which has acted as a useful tool in decentralized
cooperative organization. So much attention has fallen upon this medium of
communication and information acquisition, that little has been said about
how its predecessor and still existing sibling - the library - figures into
the larger equation. Filmmaker, writer and visual artist Julian Samuel has
undertaken the project of tracing the birth and current trajectory of this
public service institution par excellence. 'The Library in Crisis' follows
?The Raft of the Medusa; Into the European Mirror; and City of the Dead and
World Exhibitions (1993 -1995). The trilogy largely concerned itself with
the nuances of colonialism and imperialism, bringing the articulations of
history into the realm of documentary filmmaking. Since the library is the
institution in question here, the concern with history has not been
abandoned. In a recent interview, noted writer and filmmaker Tariq Ali
observed that it is as if history has increasingly become too subversive
because the past has too much knowledge embedded in it. How historiography
has shifted over time can be aptly charted by following the progress and
function of writing and libraries. This is the core articulation of the
documentary.The video consists of interviews with eight academics, historians, and
librarians who offer a kind of collective genealogy of the library, from
the advent of writing and universities to its use as a tool for
disseminating information by the state. This is connected to present
concerns regarding the digitization of texts, copyright laws and how the
privatization of a public domain amounts to an infringement on civil
liberties. As Donald Gutstein aptly notes in the film, the library is in
many ways the foundation of a democratic society. The full gravity of
this statement is articulated as the documentary moves towards considering
bibliocide - euphemistically described as "de-accessioning" books.Tracing the beginnings of writing, Fred Lerner and Ian McLachlan note how
it oscillated between several roles, with the information function and
wisdom embodiment function of writing often caught in a proverbial tussle.
This tension between contradictory forces manifests most pointedly in the
shape of the library as an institution that served both purposes. Depending
on the nature of the historical context, the roles played by libraries
varied considerably. Samuel uses understated juxtapositions to convey this
tension through the documentary. The images are not always inter-cut with
each other, thereby occupying full screen presence. Instead, he repeats his
preference for split screens, previously utilized in his trilogy. The
camera roves across the spines of aged books on shelves, while one of the
interviewees speaks in a smaller frame - a screen within a screen.
Similarly, pages awash in sepia-toned light share space with flashes of
computer screens where a search for Nalanda University yields a digital
image of the building. Thus attention is constantly drawn to the contrast
between fragments of digitized information with their immediacy, and the
organization of texts, which necessarily require more time and patience.Islamic historian Sumaiya Hamdani offers an important critical perspective
on libraries as purveyors of information dissemination. There is particular
relevance to her observation that the Industrial Revolution and the rise of
the nation state required an invented homogeneity. This was embodied in
education, libraries and state propaganda. The alignment of education and
libraries with state propaganda is one shift in the interpretation of
libraries that is astutely explored. No surprise then, that Peter McNally
refers to the underground network of publications written during the French
Revolution. Rather than censorship, a more effective means of suppressing
dissent was provided by creating middle-class values of morality through
mass literacy. This point is visually complemented by website images of
Khmer Rouge victims, perhaps hinting at the point that creating a mass
culture also allowed for the elimination of a nameless mass. Libraries
therefore, were increasingly used as repositories of detailed information
on genocide, and the propagation of state ideology.Manal Stamboulie, Donald Gutstein and Brian Campbell further the multiple
interpretations of libraries presented in the documentary by highlighting
how they have now become centers of E-commerce. The inclusion of software
into the copyright act in 1976 has raised crucial questions about corporate
take-over of information. While efforts are being made to copyright and
commodify information, libraries increasingly become the carriers of
electronic information - in itself incomplete and frequently less widely
accessible than one presumes. Much of the fuss around information
technology has revolved around issues of availability and the curtailment
of file sharing and free access. However, Gutstein's point that
institutions in the information technology field are more concerned with
how to charge for information rather than how to increase access acts as an
important connective to previous definitions of libraries. What was
previously a public service now faces infringements from the private sector
and institutions such as the World Trade Organization play a role as
participants in support of this corporate orientation. Thankfully, Samuel
avoids any conclusive remarks about these dramatic shifts. The threat to
free access and the marginalization of a library's role in questioning and
creating ideas are assertively put forward. But the various perspectives
avoid being prescriptive, therefore allowing room for debate.Overall, the questions considered in this documentary have wide
applicability inside and outside classrooms. Its considerations of how
writing and ideas have developed through time make it a relevant tool in
fields such as history, cultural theory and media studies, especially if
one considers the library as a core institution within the academy. Perhaps
more significantly, it handles the phenomena of globalization without
stating the obvious or re-playing the now-popular trope of protestors who
constitute the "anti-globalization" movement - itself an inaccurate
summing up of a diverse movement. Rather, by delving into the historically
shifting function of libraries and current developments involving corporate
presence, it draws attention to how globalization concretely threatens
intellectual freedom as well as political and economic liberties. By
raising the idea of a library as a community whose reading rooms provide
presence, distance and a space to engage in debates, it implicitly compels
us to question how we understand the growing presence of web-based
communities and what limits will be imposed upon this method of social
activism.*
3 février 2002 - COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE
(English follows)
Provenant des réalisateurs Julian Samuel et Mary Ellen Davis
Le documentaire "The Library in Crisis", réalisé par Julian Samuel a été
sélectionné pour le Singapore International Film Festival mais rejeté
par un jury composé de blancs pour Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
(15 au 24 février 2002). "The Library in Crisis" répond pourtant à
plusieurs critères d'éligibilité: "oeuvres qui ont su traduire, à partir
d'un point de vue original et pertinent, une sensibilité intellectuelle
et esthétique, (...) oeuvres indépendantes n'ayant pu bénéficier d'une
diffusion adéquate, (...) oeuvres atypiques, etc."Mary Ellen Davis retire son documentaire "Le Pays hanté" des Rendez-vous
de cinéma québécois en solidarité avec Julian Samuel. Ce documentaire (à
l'affiche du Cinéma Parallèle Excentris, janvier 2002) a gagné un prix
en Équateur remis par l'organisation autochtone CONAIE, mais a été
refusé par Radio-Canada/CBC, Télé-Québec, Rencontres internationales du
documentaire de Montréal, Images du Nouveau Monde (Québec).Bien entendu, le fait que Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois présentent
quelques oeuvres de réalisateurs de minorités visibles peut atténuer une
responsabilité en termes de discrimination. Pourtant, depuis ses 20 ans
d'existence, aucun individu provenant de minorités visibles anglophones
n'a occupé un poste décisionnel dans le cadre du festival. La directrice
et le personnel-clé sont des francophones blancs. Sur la base de
contribuables montréalais, plus de 18% ne sont ni blancs ni
francophones, pourtant les minorités visibles sont exclues des fonctions
décisionnelles aux Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.Nous sommes convaincus que nos oeuvres auront de meilleures chances de
diffusion et de reconnaissance si les comités de sélection, les jurys et
toutes les institutions incluent des minorités visibles dont la langue
maternelle ou d'adoption est le français ou l'anglais.Julian Samuel, jjsamuel[at]vif.com
Mary Ellen Davis, medavis[at]sympatico.ca*
The Library in Crisis (46 minutes, 2002) est un documentaire sur les
bibliothèques; les bibliocides du passé et du présent; le niveau
d'alphabétisation et la Révolution française; la transfiguration des
bibliothèques en centres commerciaux cybernétiques; l'impact du droit
d'auteur et de la numérisation des textes; les archives des Khmers
Rouges; les préoccupations de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce en ce
qui concerne la démocratie.*
Nous vous invitons à communiquer avec la directrice des RVCQ, Ségolène
Roederer:
Tél.: 514 526 9635; fax: 514 526 1955; courriel: info[at]rvcq.comc.c. MP Marie Malavoy, PQ, co-présidente d'un comité bilatéral
franco-québécois sur la diversité culturelle
c.c. des réalisateurs indépendants ici et à l'étranger
- * *
3 février 2002 - PRESS RELEASE
From: Film-makers Julian Samuel and Mary Ellen Davis
Julian Samuel's documentary "The Library in Crisis" has been accepted at
Singapore International Film Festival but rejected by an all-white jury
at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois (15-24 February, 2002). "The
Library in Crisis" reflects several of the eligibility criteria:
"oeuvres qui ont su traduire, à partir d'un point de vue original et
pertinent, une sensibilité intellectuelle et esthétique, (...) oeuvres
indépendantes n'ayant pu bénéficier d'une diffusion adéquate, (...)
oeuvres atypiques, etc."Mary Ellen Davis has retracted her documentary "Haunted Land" from Les
Rendez-vous de cinéma québécois in solidarity with Julian Samuel. Her
documentary (released at Cinéma Parallèle Excentris in January, 2002)
won an award from Ecuador's First Peoples' organization CONAIE, but has
been rejected by CBC/Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, Rencontres
internationales du documentaire de Montréal, Images du Nouveau Monde
(Québec).Of course, the fact that Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois will screen
the works of a few visible minority film-makers may mitigate the charge
of discrimination. However, since its inception 20 years ago, not a
single anglophone visible minority has ever been hired for a key
decision-making position within this festival. The director and all
personnel in key positions are white francophones. The tax base in
Montreal's population is over 18 per cent non-white and non-francophone,
yet visible minorities are excluded from decision-making positions at
Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.We are convinced that works such as ours will stand a better chance for
more visibility and acknowledgment if selection committees, juries and
all institutions include visible minorities, both French and
English-speaking.Julian Samuel, jjsamuel[at]vif.com
Mary Ellen Davis, medavis[at]sympatico.ca*
The Library in Crisis (46 minutes, 2002) is a documentary on libraries;
historic and contemporary bibliocides; literacy and the French
Revolution; libraries morphing into centers of E-commerce; the impact of
copyright and the digitization of texts; the Khmer Rouge's catalogues of
people killed; and the World Trade Organization's concern for democracy.*
We urge you to contact RCVQ director, Ségolène Roederer:
Phone: 514 526 9635; fax: 514 526 1955; e-mail: info[at]rvcq.comc.c. PQ MP Marie Malavoy, co-president of a joint committee with France
on cultural diversity
c.c. independent filmmakers throughout the world
- * *
*
CBC radio interview: 5 February 2002, copy on cassette
*
support letter:
14 February 2002
Madame Ségolène et le Comité de sélection des RVCQ,
J'ai pris connaissance du communiqué de presse émis par Julian Samuel et
Mary Ellen Davis pour protester contre la non-inclusion du documentaire de
M. Samuel, "The Library in Crisis." Je ne sais pas si le fait de n'avoir
pas accepté le documentaire s'explique par de la discrimination de la part
des RCVQ. Mais il/elle soulèvent un point intéressant en notant que les
postes décisionnels de cadre des RVCQ soient occupés par des personnes de
couleur blanche uniquement. Je suis d'accord avec eux que vous devriez
ouvrir des postes décisionnels à des "non-blancs/blanches" lors des
prochains RVCQ, question d'apporter de l'équité ainsi qu'un reflet d'abord
de la réalité dans le domaine du cinéma québécois et, comme il/elle l'ont
mentionné, de la réalité démographique de Montréal.Mais, aussi important à mon avis est le fait que les Rendez-vous du cinéma
québécois aient abdiqué à une responsabilité de diffuser de l'information
cruciale fournie par un cinéaste qui pose un regard critique sur ce qui se
passe réellement dans notre monde. Je suis bibliothécaire et je sais
pertinemment que le système des bibliothèques publiques et universitaires
sera sous attaque lorsque les institutions comme l'Organisme mondial du
commerce (et surtout l'entente connu sous le nom du GATS - General
Agreement on Trades and Services) concluent les ententes de commerce
international qui sont en négociation actuellement (voir un article à ce
sujet au: http://libr.org/ISC/articles/14-Hunt.html). Ce phénomène fait
partie des changements majeurs en train de s'opérer dans le commerce
international qui donneront un pouvoir incroyable aux entreprises au
détriment des droits des citoyennes et citoyens de tous les pays. Je ne
sais pas si Julian Samuel traite du sujet des bibliothèques adéquatement
(j'aimerais pouvoir voir son film pour pouvoir en juger moi-même), mais,
selon la description de son documentaire, il aborde des questions
importantes à ce sujet. Puisque les médias traditionnels ne traitent pas du
tout de ces questions et sachant que beaucoup de gens ont soif
d'information pour pouvoir alimenter leurs luttes contre la mondialisation,
je réitère qu'il incombe aux événements tels que les Rendez-vous du cinéma
québécois d'assurer la diffusion de documentaires de penseurs critiques qui
nous informent sur la réalité mondiale.Vous avez beaucoup de courts métrages classés art et expérimentation ou
fiction dans votre programme de cette année; personnellement, je
préfèrerais voir beaucoup plus de documentaires qui fournissent de
l'information et de la réflexion.Merci de votre attention.
Colette Lebeuf
Bibliothécaire/recherchiste
clebeuf[at]netaxis.ca*
http://ccca.ca/ccca.html
http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V7N2/ARTS/samuel.html
www.cgocable.net/~naveg8r
http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V7N1/ARTS/arts.html
http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V7N1/ARTS/samuel1.html
http://www.web.net/blackrosebooks/iem.htm
http://www.web.net/blackrosebooks/raftof.htm"Heureusement que les monarques vont parfois trop loin, sinon ils ne
tomberaient jamais.""Léon l'Africain" Amin Maalouf, 1986
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12. Rockabilly Librarian
Yet another personalized librarian's weblog, here is Rockabilly Librarian:
http://www.rablibrarian.blogspot.com/
(Thanks to Jessamyn and her network of email elves for the link.)
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13. That Honda ad
In case you haven't seen it yet....
http://www.hhgproject.org/honda.jpg
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