The talk I gave in Alberta on February 5th was recorded. The recording is now on the web in mp3 form. Toni Samek’s introduction feels a bit grand, but the real me will be on the mic shortly. The recording itself came out all right. Not all of the audience questions are audible, but as … Read more Podcast of Alberta Talk: Disintermediation 2.0
Phil Agre, the UCLA LIS professor who went missing last year, has been found, though I suppose that from his perspective he was never lost. UCLA police department’s missing person’s bulletin update states, “Philip Agre was located by LA County Sheriff’s Department on January 16, 2010 and is in good health and is self sufficient.” … Read more Phil Agre found
I have posted the first chapter of Juris Dilevko’s The Politics of Professionalism: A Retro-Progressive Proposal for Librarianship to the Library Juice Press website: Chapter One: Fateful Choices. It is the introductory chapter and provides a good feel for the book as a whole.
ALA has announced that they have chosen Barbara M. Jones to be the new head of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, replacing the long-serving Judith Krug, who passed away in April. The ALA Press Release quotes Jones describing the present day context of intellectual freedom in her letter of application: Twenty-first century IF issues are … Read more New OIF Director Announced
Phil Agre is a professor of library science at UCLA whom I’ve long wished to meet. A few weeks ago the Los Angeles Police Department announced that he was missing. He abandoned his apartment and his job at some point between December of 2008 and May of 2009, according to the LAPD missing person alert … Read more Phil Agre is missing
One of the first books from Library Juice Press was Ed D’Angelo’s Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library: How Postmodern Consumer Capitalism Threatens Democracy, Civil Education and the Public Good, and it has been our best selling book so far. We’re pleased to announce that the book has been translated into Japanese and … Read more Ed D’Angelo’s book translated into Japanese
John Miedema gave his talk at the Library of Congress the other day, and has posted his text and bibliography. John is working on an interesting follow-up project to Slow Reading…
From the New Yorker, “The Minow Sisters: An Example for Malia and Sasha Obama?” Yes, that’s Minow as in Mary Minow of librarylaw.com… 🙂
John Miedema, author of Slow Reading, will be speaking at a forum on the Future of Reading at the Library of Congress, on October 22nd. The forum is sponsored by the Library of Congress’ Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC).
This is not library-related, but I would like to pass on a link to an article on the career of the late Polish intellectual Leszek Kolakowski by Tony Judt, in the New York Review of Books. I read a book of his in college (titled, simply, Religion) that influenced my thinking. I admired Kolakowski for … Read more Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009)
I should have posted something about this earlier, sorry. I will be speaking at Drexel in Philadelphia tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday, 8/11/09), at the iSchool, 5pm, Rush Building, Room 014. They have posted a description to their news site. If you have a chance to go and you have found out about it here, say hello … Read more Speaking at Drexel
ALA Council Report to SRRT, Chicago, July 2009 Before reporting on the business of the meetings, let me first honor the life of E.J. Josey, who died just before Annual Meeting. EJ was a founding member of SRRT and the founding father of the Black Caucus of ALA, the first black male President of ALA … Read more SRRT Councilor’s report
The following is the list of authors in the Author Index to Speaking of Information: The Library Juice Quotation Book. (Note that some authors listed, like me, are there because they show up in the notes.) A Achenbach, Joel Aeschylus Agre, Phil Alfino, Mark Allen, Woody Alterman, Eric American Library Association Angus, Ian Atton, Chris … Read more List of authors in Speaking of Information: the Library Juice Quotation Book
Events for your calendar this upcoming ALA Annual in Chicago: Litwin Books and Library Juice Press will be sharing a booth with the Alternative Press Center in the Exhibits Hall. The Exhibits Hall is open from Saturday, July 11 at 9am until Tuesday, July 14 at 2pm. We’ll be at booth 1637. I hope you’ll … Read more Library Juice Press and Litwin Books @ALA
The Baffler is coming back! The Baffler was my favorite magazine during the years it was being published. Thomas Frank has announced he is bringing it back, and is involving some really great people. This is great news, especially for smart, critical, non-trendy Gen-Xers, whom I think the magazine really spoke to.
Alternative Media Reception at Annual Conference On Monday, July 13, from 7-10 pm, the Alternative Media Reception (ALA Annual, Chicago) will join forces with the SRRT 40th Anniversary Celebration in a not-to-be-missed event featuring great food, drink, and music as well as books, zines, and other materials from progressive publishers in Chicago and all over … Read more Alternative Media Reception at Annual Conference
The current issue of InterActions, the UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, has a review of David Bade’s Responsible Librarianship. The review, by Michael Wartenbe, provides a thorough and accurate overview of the book, so anyone who is curious about what Bade’s book is all about might find it useful.
Lauren Pressley will be signing her new book, So You Want To Be a Librarian, at the Library Juice Press booth in the exhibits at the ALA Conference in Chicago. Place: Booth 1637, Exhibits Hall, McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago Time: 10am, Sunday, July 12, 2009 The book is scheduled to be published July 1st, … Read more Lauren Pressley Book Signing – So You Want To Be a Librarian
Library of Walls Foreword by Davin Heckman My first experience of what would become Samuel Gerald Collins’ Library of Walls came several years back, when I was an editor for the journal Reconstruction ‹reconstruction.eserver.org›. My editorial curiosity was piqued by the title of an article that Collins submitted for consideration in a special issue of … Read more Davin Heckman’s Foreword to Library of Walls
Announcement that went to PLGnet-L this morning: The Progressive Librarians Guild is pleased to announce the winner of the 2009 Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize. Sarah Clark has been awarded the prize for her essay entitled “Marketing the Library? Why Librarians Should Focus on Stewardship and Advocacy.” Ms. Clark is currently enrolled in the Department of … Read more 2009 Miriam Braverman Prize Winner Announced