As September comes to a close, it’s a good time to point out that Wikipedia has an option to view the Top 100 viewed pages of every month. In September 2006, sex-related pages (List of Sexual Positions, Sex, Pornography) compete with popular media stories (Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, Dawson College Shootings) and more general topics (Canada, Brazil) for the top spot.
Archive for September, 2006
Friday Fun Link - The Faces of YouTube (Sept 22/06)
The Faces of YouTube - heartwarming, melancholy, profound, beautiful all at once. (via MetaFilter)
Librarian Wanted
“Are you interested in putting your library science education and experience to work in one of today’s most challenging, interesting and rewarding environments? Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions is recruiting for a Chief Librarian to manage the Detainee Library, under the direction of the Joint Task Force-Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” (via MetaFilter)
- JH (Note: I originally posted this as a FFL but that didn’t feel right. Also, I’ve never been happier to use the “Cuban Libraries” tag.)
Friday Fun Link - Google Book Search “Explore Banned Books” (Sept 15, 2006)
I know this is my second Google-related FFL in a row but this one’s worth it. Google has partnered with the American Library Association to create a special page in honour of Banned Books Week (Sept 23-30). (This is the equivalent of Freedom to Read Week in Canada which happens during the last week of February and is organized by the Book & Periodical Council of Canada.)
Micheal Geist spoke at the Canadian Library Association conference this year in Ottawa and called Google Book Search a “card catalogue for the 21st century” and I can’t think of a better way to describe it than that. The Google/ALA page only allows you to browse a selected few pages since most of the books are still covered by copyright. But can you imagine the day when you can search the entire book quickly and completely?
(via Boing Boing)
Taking a Stand: A Conference on Activism in Canadian Cultural Archives
A reminder of the approaching deadline for submissions to this conference.
Apologies for cross-postings.
Call for papers
Taking a Stand: A Conference on Activism in Canadian Cultural Archives
This conference focuses on the archives of Canadian writers, visual artists,
performance artists, filmmakers, composers, and other culture creators who
are involved with activism and advocacy. How do archival materials show
imaginative work being created in the context of work for social justice or
in support of political action?
The conference invites dialogue between the archival, scholarly, and
cultural professions concerning how creative artists engage with activism
and advocacy. Activism may encompass concerns for religious or cultural
identity, poverty, racism, mental or physical disability,
gender equality, sexuality, or alternative and mainstream political
movements.
How is the intersection of art and activism demonstrated in archival
holdings and how could this connection be better documented? How do activist
or advocacy concerns overlap with imaginative creative work in artists’
archives? What new types of archival materials are emerging?
Presentations should be based on the content of Canadian archival holdings
and discuss Canadian creative producers. Proposals (300ÂÂ500 words) and a
brief biographical note (50ÂÂ100 words) should be sent to:
Dr. Kathy Garay garay@mcmaster.ca, Dr. Christl Verduyn cverduyn@mta.ca
and Dr. Pierre Anctil panctil@uottawa.ca by 15 September 2006.
The conference will take place in Ottawa at Library and Archives Canada ,
June 12-14 2007.
*********
Appel de présentations
Prendre position : Un colloque sur l’activisme comme thème dans les archives
culturelles canadiennes
Ce colloque porte principalement sur les archives d’auteurs, d’artistes
visuels, d’artistes de la scène, de cinéastes, de compositeurs et d’autres
créateurs de culture canadiens qui se sont démarqués par leur activisme et
leurs prises de position. Comment les documents d’archives reflètentÂÂils la
création artistique dans le cadre d’engagements pour la justice sociale ou
le militantisme politique?
Le colloque a pour but le dialogue et l’échange dâ??idées parmi les
représentants des domaines de l’archivistique, des universités et du monde
de la culture, à propos de la façon dont les artistes et créateurs
s’adonnent à l’activisme et au militantisme. L’activisme peut être lié Ã
des préoccupations liées à l’identité religieuse ou culturelle, à la
pauvreté, au racisme, à des déficiences intellectuelles ou physiques, Ã
l’inéquité, à la sexualité, ou bien à des mouvements politiques
traditionnels ou alternatifs.
Comment cette convergence de l’art et de l’activisme se manifesteÂÂtÂÂelle
dans les fonds et collections d’archives, et comment pourraitÂÂon mieux la
documenter? Comment les questions d’activisme ou de militantisme
s’entrecroisentÂÂelles avec le travail de création et d’imagination? Quels
nouveaux types de documents d’archives commenceÂÂtÂÂon à produire?
Les présentations devraient se baser sur le contenu de documents d’archives
canadiens et porter sur des artistes et cré ateurs canadiens. Veuillez faire
parvenir vos propositions (de 300 Ã 500 mots) et une courte biographie (de
50 Ã 100 mots) aux professeurs Christl Verduyn (cverduyn@mta.ca), Pierre
Anctil (panctil@uottawa.ca) ou Kathy Garay (, et à Catherine Hobbs
(catherine.hobbs@lacÂÂbac.gc.ca) au plus tard le 15 septembre 2006.
Le colloque se déroulera à Ottawa, les 12-14 juin 2007 à Bibliothèque et
Archives Canada.
Catherine Hobbs,
Archivist, Literary Archives (English-language)
Library and Archives Canada
WS 598, 550 Blvd de la Cité
Gatineau, QC, K1A 0N4
Tel: (819) 934-8331 Fax: (819) 934-8333
e-mail: catherine.hobbs@lac-bac.gc.ca
- JH
Friday Fun Link - Google Accessible Search (Sept. 8, 2006)
Google Accessible Search is “an early Google Labs product designed to identify and prioritize search results that are more easily usable by blind and visually impaired users. Regular Google search helps you find a set of documents that is most relevant to your tasks. Accessible Search goes one step further by helping you find the most accessible pages in that result set.”
- JH
Friday Fun Link - Visualizing The World Population (Sept. 1, 2006)
Do you ever have one of those moments where your mind briefly conceptualizes some gigantic idea? This illustration of the population of the earth using pixels had the same effect for me. (via Digg)
- JH