Category: Public Sphere

Interview with Jennifer Szunko, director of paid-review service Clarion Review

by RoryLitwin

Rory Litwin: I’m talking with Jennifer Szunko, Clarion Services Director. Jennifer offered to be interviewed for Library Juice to talk about Clarion’s services in doing paid reviews for authors and publishers. Thanks for being willing to do this interview. Jennifer, can you explain a bit about what you do at Clarion, and how it is … Read more Interview with Jennifer Szunko, director of paid-review service Clarion Review

Valuing the People’s Knowledge

by RoryLitwin

Last month in Varanasi, India, the First International Conference of Lokavidya Jan Andolan, or the Peoples’ Knowledge Movement, was held. The original call for participation talked about the situation of the displacement, environmental destruction, and poverty experienced by people throughout India: All these people, the displaced, the communities they belong to, have never gone to … Read more Valuing the People’s Knowledge

Call for Chapters: Piracy: Leakages from Modernity

by RoryLitwin

Call for Chapters Piracy: Leakages From Modernity Edited by Martin Fredriksson (Linköping University) and James Arvanitakis (University of Western Sydney) Published by Litwin Books We are inviting proposals for chapters for an anthology on Piracy planned to be published by the end of 2012. ‘Piracy’ is a concept that seems everywhere in the contemporary world. … Read more Call for Chapters: Piracy: Leakages from Modernity

Repressive Tolerance (link to essay by Marcuse) and a comment on information literacy

by RoryLitwin

For those who have noted, along with Jon Stewart, that in the Fox News era the media treats facts in a relative way, as a matter of political taste… This phenomenon was first described by Frankfurt School critical theorist Herbert Marcuse, in his 1965 essay, “Repressive Tolerance.” According to Marcuse, it is a problem of … Read more Repressive Tolerance (link to essay by Marcuse) and a comment on information literacy

What Google permits and does not permit in Google eBooks

by RoryLitwin

Given Google’s dominance in search and the scope and integration of their Google Books product (hate to use the word product, but libraries have been converted into product here), we should be especially aware of their policies regarding what they will permit and what they will not permit in terms of inclusion in their full … Read more What Google permits and does not permit in Google eBooks

Rory Litwin interviews SafeLibraries’ Dan Kleinman

by RoryLitwin

Dan Kleinman is the man behind the SafeLibraries campaign, which opposes the American Library Association’s intellectual freedom efforts regarding challenged books in school libraries and classrooms. From Dan’s point of view, as many know, ALA is responsible for exposing children to sexually inappropriate materials. Dan agreed to an interview, which we conducted on Facebook chat. … Read more Rory Litwin interviews SafeLibraries’ Dan Kleinman

The Reagan Presidential Library and the Nixon Presidential Library

by RoryLitwin

Caroline Nappo sent a link to this New York Times story to the Library History Round Table email list: What’s a Presidential Library to Do? SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — When Republicans gathered at the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum here for the presidential debate last week, the backdrop was an overhauled exhibition on the Reagan … Read more The Reagan Presidential Library and the Nixon Presidential Library

Call for Papers: Protest on the Page: Print Culture History in Opposition to Almost Anything* (*you can think of)

by RoryLitwin

2nd Call for Papers Protest on the Page: Print Culture History in Opposition to Almost Anything* (*you can think of) Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture Madison, Wisconsin September 28-29, 2012 Protest has a long and varied tradition in America. The conference will feature papers focusing on authors, publishers and readers of … Read more Call for Papers: Protest on the Page: Print Culture History in Opposition to Almost Anything* (*you can think of)

Korean translation of Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library

by RoryLitwin

ILWOL Books of Korea has published a Korean translation of Ed D’Angelo’s Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library: How Postmodern Consumer Capitalism Threatens Democracy, Civil Education and the Public Good. The book was previously published in Japanese translation in 2009 by Kyoto University. D’Angelo’s book has been one of our better selling books … Read more Korean translation of Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library

Tension over Weibo, the Chinese Twitter

by RoryLitwin

You will probably be hearing more about Weibo, a Chinese social networking site that combines aspects of Twitter and Facebook and presently has, at a minimum, 140 million users, which is nearly three times the user base of Twitter. The interesting news at present is that the Chinese government, which shut down access to Twitter … Read more Tension over Weibo, the Chinese Twitter

My problem with Banned Books Week

by RoryLitwin

Some of my colleagues in the Progressive Librarians Guild used to complain that Banned Books Week was an unfortunate distraction from the greater problem of a propagandistic media system. I shared that view and still do, but it is not the objection that I want to explain today. My problem with Banned Books Week is … Read more My problem with Banned Books Week

Suppression of science has continued, despite Obama’s Scientific Integrity Initiative

by RoryLitwin

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is coming to the defense of biologist Charles Monnett, who is being hounded by the Interior Department because of a 2006 publication that communicated alarming news about the effects of global warming on a polar bear population. Since the publication was in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the investigators have … Read more Suppression of science has continued, despite Obama’s Scientific Integrity Initiative

Call for Manuscripts for Special issue of Multicultural Review

by RoryLitwin

Call for Manuscripts for Special issue of Multicultural Review Libraries as a public good in 21st century multicultural societies: Policy and the politics of literacy, libraries and librarianship Guest Editors: Curtis Brewer, Anne McMahan Grant (Clemson University) When it comes to recent national budget discussions, funding for library services has come up short. For example, … Read more Call for Manuscripts for Special issue of Multicultural Review

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

Turning the Reference Desk into a Reference Bureau

by RoryLitwin

Librarians have responded to the internet and other technologies that have reduced people’s demand for our services in a couple of complementary ways over the past 20 years or so (or more). On the one hand, we have pointed out all of the reasons that libraries are still needed and still heavily used, and on … Read more Turning the Reference Desk into a Reference Bureau

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