Federal Depository Library Program in jeopardy
Citizens, though ye may be weary, please read this item from the ALA Washington Office: BATTLE FRONT: Federal Depository Library Program….
Korean translation of Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library
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
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
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
Daniel Ellsberg interviewed by ALA’s Leonard Kniffel
Daniel Ellsberg spoke at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans this summer, about the current world situation and libraries. ALA’s Leonard Kniffel followed up with this on-camera interview.
Suppression of science has continued, despite Obama’s Scientific Integrity Initiative
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
CFP: 2012 Joint Conference of Librarians of Color
2012 Joint Conference of Librarians of Color Call for Proposals The 2012 Joint Conference of Librarians of Color, JCLC 2012: Gathering at the Waters: Celebrating Stories and Embracing Communities will take place from September 19-23, 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri. The mission of JCLC is to advance the issues affecting librarians of color within the … Read more CFP: 2012 Joint Conference of Librarians of Color
CFP: Information Literacy and Social Justice: Radical Professional Praxis (An Edited Collection)
CFP: Information Literacy and Social Justice: Radical Professional Praxis (An Edited Collection) Editors: Shana Higgins and Lua Gregory are instruction and reference librarians at University of Redlands. They recently co-taught a first-year seminar titled, “Bleep! Censorship and Free Speech in the U.S.” Outline: In her award winning essay “Information Literacy and Reflective Pedagogical Praxis,” Heidi … Read more CFP: Information Literacy and Social Justice: Radical Professional Praxis (An Edited Collection)
Meet the Library Juice bloggers
After doing Library Juice as a solo project for twelve and a half years, I have decided it should be a team blog, and I have recruited a group of co-bloggers. There are now six people behind the Library Juice blog: me (Rory Litwin), Alison Lewis, Erik Estep, Terry Epperson, Alan Mattlage, and Melissa Morrone. … Read more Meet the Library Juice bloggers
The bullshit problem #debtceiling
As a friend pointed out to me that The Daily Show has noted, the debate about the debt ceiling is ongoing because of a bullshit problem. I realized this while listening to President Obama’s speech about the debt ceiling last night. People are so accustomed to bullshit, especially in politics, that the default response to … Read more The bullshit problem #debtceiling
Overheard
At my university, there is a group of student tour guides who give tours of the campus to prospective students and their families. The library is included in their tour, and it is often amusing to listen to the misinformation about the library that they sometimes include. We periodically provide updated information, and the tour … Read more Overheard
Alison M. Lewis new Chief Acquisitions Editor for Library Juice Press
Litwin Books PO Box 3320 Duluth, MN 55803 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Subject: Library Juice Press announces appointment of Alison M. Lewis, Ph.D. as Chief Acquisitions Editor. Duluth, MN — July 15, 2011. Library Juice Press, publisher of “books for librarians with a critical edge,” is proud to announce the recruitment of Alison M. Lewis, a … Read more Alison M. Lewis new Chief Acquisitions Editor for Library Juice Press
Call for Manuscripts for Special issue of Multicultural Review
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
2011 Catalog
We finished our 2011 catalog in time to bring it to the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans last weekend. We now have it available for download on our website, or you can request to have a copy mailed to you.
Julia Skinner reviews Critical Library Instruction
Julia Skinner has posted a thoughtful review of Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods to her blog. Her review will give readers a good sense of whether the books is for them.
University of Alberta PLG on McMaster University Librarian Jeff Trzeciak’s rather open comments
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
Sue Halpern on People and Machines
Sue Halpern has a review essay in the new issue of the New York Review of Books titled “Mind Control & the Internet, in which she reviews You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier, The Filter Bubble, by Eli Parser, and World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet, by … Read more Sue Halpern on People and Machines
Articles on Canadian Media Studies
Just sharing this link to a nice-sized collection of articles on media studies and media ecology, most with a Canadian-theory slant. These articles are not heavy reading, and provide a good intro to a number of topics that you may be curious about.
Ron Day’s introduction to The Culture of the Internet and the Internet as Cult
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
Call for Papers: Genre in Theory, Practice and Research (Archival Science)
Genre in Theory, Practice and Research Call for Papers: Archival Science Genre can be defined as a pattern of communication that conforms to community norms. Genres are not fixed, but are constantly evolving and emerging. Examples of familiar genres range from speech utterances to publications, from text messages to databases, from blogs to formal reports. … Read more Call for Papers: Genre in Theory, Practice and Research (Archival Science)