Very impressive piece of work by Mother Jones Magazine – a continually growing database/timeline documenting the lies that led up to the current war in Iraq. The creators of this database cast a wide net, including not only George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, whose lies were gross and direct, but also Hans Blix and … Read more Lie by Lie – the Bush War Timeline
This may be old news to some, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of play. At IFLA, the Lithuanian and Latvian delegations were planning to present a resolution condemning Cuba for imprisoning dissident “independent librarians.” Robert Kent & Co. floated news of this in advance and pressured ALA Council to instruct ALA’s IFLA delegate to … Read more Lithuanian librarians apologize for being duped by Robert Kent over Cuba
I’ve got a t-shirt that says “Peace” in Arabic. If I attempt to board a flight while wearing it, at least a JetBlue flight, apparently I will not be allowed on the plane. Raed Jarrar showed up for his JetBlue flight with a t-shirt that said, in Arabic and English, “We will not be silent,” … Read more Arabic writing on your t-shirt? Good luck getting on a plane.
Ben Vershobow in if:book just now posted a brief discussion of the University of California’s just-released contract with Google to digitize its library holdings. The contract reveals that Google has asked for and has apparently gotten certain exclusive rights to the use of the digital copies of UC’s books, à la The Smithsonian’s deal with … Read more Showtiming our libraries (if:book)
Kim Leeder at Envirolibrarian has a brief review of the 1997 book by David Shenk, Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut, which says that the amount of information easily available to people ends up harming more than helping civic participation. It sounds like an interesting book; I wasn’t aware of it. Since that book Shenk … Read more Data Smog
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility have announced that the EPA has begun the process of closing its libraries, in advance of Congress’s decisions on Bush’s budget recommendations. See the news release. This is very bad news.
The Nation magazine posted a web-only article yesterday by Joseph Huff-Hannon titled, “Librarians at the Gates,” which takes an admiring look at American librarians. It discusses librarians’ responses to anti-immigration legislation (with a link to REFORMA’s website); our responses to the USA PATRIOT Act, responses to censorship attempts, four paragraphs about the National Security Archive … Read more The Nation takes an admiring look at librarians
Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board OKs Union Vote. (That’s the headline from the Indianapolis Star.) Read about it at the Union Librarian blog…
Le blog bibliban is a French language blog by French and Lebanese librarians to discuss the situation of libraries in Lebanon and the Lebanese cultural infrastructure in general. Currently on the blog are a letter to IFLA, an item about the Lebanese National Library, and a map showing public libraries that have been closed because … Read more Un blog pour les biblioth?ɬ®ques du Liban
First Monday’s current issue is about the openness movement, including open access publishing, open source software development, and information projects with distributed authorship. One article is especially interesting: Sandra Braman’s Tactical memory: The politics of openness in the construction of memory, which deals with interesting questions about the possible implications of the openness movement for … Read more The politics of openness
Many Library Juice readers who are familiar with Sanford Berman’s work on LC subject heading reform have read or heard the name Barbara Tillett. Barbara Tillett has for many years been the chief of the Library of Congress Cataloging Policy and Support Office, and thus has figured into Berman’s career-long crusade to reform LC’s subject … Read more Interview with Barbara Tillett
RESOLVED, that the Progressive Librarians Guild support sister and fellow librarians in Indianapolis, Indiana in gaining union representation. Below is PLG’s position and letter of support: Progressive Librarians Guild Rider University Library 2083 Lawrenceville Rd. Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 August 8, 2006 Library Board Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library P.O. Box 211 Indianapolis, IN 46206-0211 Dear Indianapolis-Marion … Read more PLG supports Indianapolis librarians
The Committee on House Administration is taking up some of the controversial questions related to proposed changes in cataloging practice at the Library of Congress, and ALA has submitted testimony criticizing LC for announcing some of these changes without sufficient discussion with the library community. (Admittedly, the Calhoun report was merely a presentation of an … Read more ALA Congressional testimony against LC proposed changes
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication passed a resolution against the Bush Administration’s anti-press policies yesterday in San Francisco, at it’s annual conference. The resolution says, “The relationship between the presidency and press has always been uneasy. This tension is both unavoidable and generally salutary: When each side conducts its duties with … Read more AEJMC anti-Bush resolution
The University of Alberta’s Express News today features an article titled “Librarians are freedom fighters, says author,” about professor Toni Samek and her recent advocacy of school librarianship in Alberta. Samek has written extensively on librarians as activists for intellectual freedom and human rights. Dr. Samek has a book coming out soon on Chandos Press … Read more Dr. Toni Samek profiled in U. of Alberta article about teacher-librarian crisis