Urgent message from the ALA Washington Office: On Wednesday, July 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the amended H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), by a vote … Read more Contact your Senators about DOPA
The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) would deny E-Rate funds to libraries that do not block whatever social networking sites and chat services the FCC puts on a “bad” list. … Read more DOPA Resolution
Prior to Wednesday, the muqata’a was a large government building in Nablus, Palestine, originally built by the British in the 1920s and used until this week for civil government functions. … Read more Israel targets Nablus administrative records for destruction
The International Committee of the Blue Shield has released a statement on threatened cultural property in the Middle East conflict. The statement simply states the group’s concern about the conflict … Read more International Committee of the Blue Shield statement on threatened cultural property in the Middle East conflict
The Library of Congress Professional Guild (AFSCME 2910) recently published a paper by LC librarian Thomas Mann entitled, “What’s going on at the Library of Congress?” (PDF) The paper addresses … Read more What’s going on at the Library of Congress? (Thomas Mann)
A new FAIR Action Alert reports that FEMA security guards are blocking journalists from talking to Katrina victims in FEMA trailer parks. FAIR cites the original story from the Baton … Read more Katrina victims muzzled
I found this on the Librarian 2 blog: New Orleans Public Library has set up a wish list through the online book vendor Alibris, to help channel people’s desire to … Read more New Orleans Public Library Wish List at Alibris
I’ve recently gotten into Wikipedia as a contributor, as Jessamyn West noted recently. She encouraged me to start editing articles during the ALA Midwinter Meeting back in January, but I … Read more Wikipedia and Why Librarians Make Good Wikipedia Contributors
It has seemed to me for quite some time that discussions about the American Library Association in the blogosphere and in the popular press often distort the nature of the … Read more What ALA is doing
Hymne ?ɬ† l’?ɬ©galit?ɬ© par Marie-Joseph CH?É‚Ä?NIER (1764-1811) ?É‚Ä?galit?ɬ© douce et touchante, Sur qui reposent nos destins, C’est aujourd’hui que l’on te chante, Parmi les jeux et les festins. Ce jour … Read more Hymne ?ɬ† l’?ɬ©galit?ɬ©
The Dade County, FL, school board’s attempt to ban Vamos a Cuba, the children’s book that local Cuban expatriats complain paints too rosy a picture of life in the socialist … Read more Vamos a Cuba update
In a blog post on if:Book titled the myth of universal knowledge 2: hyper-nodes and one-way flows, Ben Vershbow reports on a set of interesting discussions about international information flows, … Read more if:Book on the “trade imbalance” in international information flows…
This month is the 40th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act, which sets up the process by which the public can get access to unpublished government information. The National … Read more 40th Anniversary of FOIA
Libraries in the UK have been in a state of crisis for the last decade or more far beyond the degree of troubles we’ve seen in the U.S. Library use … Read more The “Love Libraries” campaign (UK)
Washington State recently passed a law against internet gambling that contains a provision banning speech that “aids and abets” the gambling industry it defines as illegal. As it is explained … Read more Censorship via Washington State Anti-Gambling Law
Susan Maret has an article in the latest issue of Progressive Librarian titled Formats are a Tool for the Quest for Truth: HURIDOCS Human Rights Materials for Library and Human … Read more HURIDOCS
Students of media consolidation and market censorship are well aware of the importance of small, independent and alternative publishers in providing balanced viewpoints in libraries. In our practice as librarians … Read more Resources for the Alternative Press
SRRT Statement to ALA Council, 6/28/06 The Action Council of the Social Responsibilities Round Table made the decision that we could not leave New Orleans without issuing a statement bearing … Read more SRRT Statement on New Orleans
ALA Annual 2006 Report to SRRT By SRRT Councilor Al Kagan Having our meeting in New Orleans after Katrina was strange, sad, and even heartbreaking for those who saw the … Read more Al Kagan’s Council Report to SRRT
Librarian Karen Coyle (who has so often been excellent on tech and privacy issues) has an article online, with lots of good pictures, titled, Proud to Swim Home: NOLA after … Read more Proud to Swim Home: NOLA after Katrina