Category: People In Focus

University of Alberta PLG on McMaster University Librarian Jeff Trzeciak’s rather open comments

by RoryLitwin

McMaster University Librarian Jeff Trzeciak’s recently revealed in a talk at Penn State that he plans not to hire librarians in the future at his library, setting off a firestorm in Canada. (He said that he plans not to hire MLS holding librarians for professional positions but people with PhD’s in other fields instead.) The … Read more University of Alberta PLG on McMaster University Librarian Jeff Trzeciak’s rather open comments

Ron Day’s introduction to The Culture of the Internet and the Internet as Cult

by RoryLitwin

We have just posted Ron Day’s introduction to Philippe Breton’s book, The Culture of the Internet and the Internet as Cult: Social Fears and Religious Fantasies to the Litwin Books website. We posted translator David Bade’s introduction to the author’s work here back in April. I have come to realize what an important author on … Read more Ron Day’s introduction to The Culture of the Internet and the Internet as Cult

New book: Out Behind the Desk

by RoryLitwin

Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians Editor: Tracy Nectoux Price: $30.00 Published: May 2011 ISBN: 978-1-936117-03-1 Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians is an anthology of personal accounts by librarians and library workers relating experiences of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer at work. A broad spectrum of … Read more New book: Out Behind the Desk

Thoughts on MiT7

by RoryLitwin

I was in Cambridge, MA last weekend for MiT7: unstable platforms: the promise and peril of transition. This conference is put on every two years jointly by MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program and the MIT Communication Forum. The conference is concerned with new media and new communication technologies and their broad implications. Presenters came to … Read more Thoughts on MiT7

Philippe Breton

by RoryLitwin

Philippe Breton: a brief introduction …by David Bade, the translator of Breton’s book Le culte de l’Internet: Une menace pour le lien social?, which Litwin Books has published under the English title: The Culture of the Internet and the Internet as Cult: Social Fears and Religious Fantasies… I discovered the work of Philippe Breton when … Read more Philippe Breton

Nadia Plesner free speech case

by RoryLitwin

Librarians interested in intellectual freedom should take note of a case of censorship by copyright lawsuit. Danish artist Nadia Plesner has used an image of a Louis Vuitton handbag in some biting artwork about the genocide in Darfur to show our culpability in not bridging the gap between the tragedy there and our shallow consumerist … Read more Nadia Plesner free speech case

Updated: Alternative Press Bibliography

by RoryLitwin

Byron Anderson has updated his “Bibliographic and Web Tools for Alternative Media,” which is published regularly in Counterpoise. Sections include Reference Books/Online Databases; Web Sources; Distributors; Organizations; Small Press/Alternative Media: News, Reviews, Awards, Reprints; and Related works. Also see Byron’s guide to “Getting Alternative Press Titles into Libraries and Promoting Alternative Presses in the Library.“

Toni Samek reviews R. J. Cox’s The Demise of the Library School

by RoryLitwin

Toni Samek (winner of Library Journal‘s first annual teaching award in 2007) has a review of R. J. Cox’s The Demise of the Library School: Personal Reflections on Professional Education in the Modern Corporate University in the new issue of the CAUT Bulletin (Canadian Association of University Teachers). Her review begins: Library and information education … Read more Toni Samek reviews R. J. Cox’s The Demise of the Library School

The art of old school (mid 20th century) printing technology

by RoryLitwin

Lincoln Cushing wrote this cool article on old school (mid-20th century) printing technology: Cranking It Out, Old-School Style: Art of the Gestetner”. Lincoln is a librarian who had a previous career doing printing and graphic design for community groups. Every society has its pecking order, and printing is no exception. Equipment matters. At the top … Read more The art of old school (mid 20th century) printing technology

Mary Minow Appointed to IMLS Advisory Board

by RoryLitwin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 7, 2010 Press Contacts 202-653-4630 Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov Mary Minow Appointed to IMLS Advisory Board Washington, DC-On October 6, Mary Minow of California was appointed to the National Museum and Library Services Board (NMLSB). Minow was nominated by President Obama on April 26 and confirmed by the Senate on September 29. … Read more Mary Minow Appointed to IMLS Advisory Board

Inaccuracy in Adbusters article

by RoryLitwin

I am not going to spend a lot of time on this, but I want to point out an inaccuracy in an article on the Adbuster’s website (and maybe in the magazine as well, I can’t tell) titled, “Google’s Flaw,” written by Micah White. I’m not unsympathetic with White’s point about Google, but I have … Read more Inaccuracy in Adbusters article

Our niche and how to get back into it

by RoryLitwin

More and more, I find that the library profession’s efforts to stay relevant in the age of information technology are in fact eroding our relevance. As a result of these efforts, it is becoming less and less clear what we offer that is different from what everybody else offers in the information economy. The reason … Read more Our niche and how to get back into it

Tony Judt has died

by RoryLitwin

The New York Times has reported that Tony Judt has died. I have been a regular reader of Tony Judt’s columns in the New York Review of Books and saw him as a guiding light. I was amazed back in April to read his “Open Letter on ALS,” where he described his physical condition to … Read more Tony Judt has died

Chris Hedges on Howard Zinn’s FBI file

by RoryLitwin

By the end of the file one walks away with a profound respect for Zinn and a deep distaste for the buffoonish goons in the FBI who followed and monitored him. There is no reason, with the massive expansion of our internal security apparatus, to think that things have improved. There are today 1,271 government … Read more Chris Hedges on Howard Zinn’s FBI file