LibrarianActivist.org

Google will soon be releasing their own take on a Wikipedia-style of information resource - Google Knols (screenshot).

Some of the significant differences will be: named authors (who can choose to receive a portion of ad revenue for the “knol” pages they write) instead of Wikipedia’s anonymous author model. The site will allow multiple “knols” on a single topic (each will be written by a single author) with the community voting for the best one and suggesting changes in a separate area instead of the collaborative style of composing articles used on Wikipedia.

(via MetaFilter)

On a completely unrelated note, this will be the last Friday Fun Link I post on LibrarianActivist. After some recent discussions with the other two librarians I took on this project with about the future of the site, it was felt that we need to re-focus on the serious side of activism. We also discussed some other potential changes and improvements to the site. Hopefully more details about these items will be forthcoming in the weeks and months to come.

I am happy to remain involved with LA as a contributor but for anyone who’s enjoyed this recurring feature, I will continue to post the Friday Fun Links on my personal blog.

- JH

It appears that the CDMCA will not be tabled until January. This is a great time to continue pressuring the government to create a sensible copyright law that adheres to recoginizing public interest over private interests.

Jim says get in touch, so try and do so and let him know exactly what you think about it:

Jim Prentice Constituency Office
Suite 105
1318 Centre St NE
Calgary, Alberta T2E 2R7
403 216-7777
Fax 403 230-4368
Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca

_DJ_

(from avaaz.org via Siue Moffat)

ahem: ‘ludricrous’ as in, well said. not ‘as if’. ludicrous, deifinitely.

Right now, a major UN summit in Bali has just a few days left to hammer out an agreement on stopping catastrophic climate change. But instead of helping out, Canada is actually sabotaging the talks! On Saturday, experts gave us the global “fossil” award for being the worst country in the world on climate change.

There’s still a few days left to save Canada’s reputation — and the climate — but we need a massive democratic roar to remind our Prime Minister what Canada is all about, and stop him from blocking the world at Bali. Click below to sign the petition, which will be advertized with the number of signatures in an ad campaign across Canada this week. The goal is to get 25,000 people to sign in the next 3 days — before the ads run. After you sign, forward this email to all your friends and family right away: Link

Prime Minister Harper’s short-sighted, undemocratic and big oil-driven policy on climate change is damaging the world and destroying our image as a good country. We’re supposed to be the nice guys, who try to do the right thing in the world.

The vast majority of Canadians are hopping mad on this issue — we can win this. We just need to show Harper how serious we are that he change course. Sign up now and forward this email to everyone you know - we’ve got just 3 days to hit 25,000 signatures!

Thanks for you help!

PS - Here are links to some more info on this:

David Suzuki (the Nature of Things) calls the government’s spin on climate change “humiliating” and “ludicrous”:
Toronto Star article

The former editor-in-chief of CBC news discusses the damage done by Canada’s climate policy to our international reputation: CBC article

-PC-

Hi Everybody,

As I’m sure most have you have heard, the Canadian Government is planning on pushing through some new copyright legislation to conform with the WIPO treaties that is going to be supposedly stricter than the DMCA. There are some really serious issues about this legislation that is likely to affect all of us as students, researchers, librarians and journalists, and as citizens in terms of fair use, circumvention, parody, downloading, digital rights management, and so on.

Three things bother me specifically about this. The first is the Government’s general refusal to answer questions clearly about what the legislation is going to entail, and its refusal to consult the public adequately.

The second involves the industry and trading partners push that is the supposed reason behind this sudden eagerness to table new copyright legislation. Intense lobbying by the Canadian Recording Industry Association which represents the “big four” record labels (sony, universal, emi, and warner) who make up 75% of the global music industry, US ambassador David Wilkins, are all supposedly the big players pushing for reform.

Third, the DMCA is strict enough, as are the WIPO provisions, yet the government is planning to implement a copyright act that goes well beyond the requirements set out by WIPO itself. Why is this? Canada has a pretty strict and fairly sensible copyright legislation already.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada is opposed to reform as it stands.

http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/reports/2007/copyright_12_04_e.pdf

The Canadian Association of University Teachers is questioning whether or not this is the right way to go. Check out Excess Copyright as well:

http://excesscopyright.blogspot.com/2007/12/caut-copyright-position.html

Canadian musicians are opposed to this version of copyright:

http://www.musiccreators.ca/wp/

I believe quite strongly that when multinational corporations begin to make Canadian legislation there is something seriously wrong with how things are being done. I also believe that when the public is shut out of the process of law making by the government we are setting a dangerous precedent.

I urge you to take action and let the government know that this is not acceptable for copyright reform and not acceptable for good governance.
Links to sample and form letters, MP addresses, and other important government contacts can be found here:

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/letters

A really great breakdown at what is at stake by Wayne Macphail can be found here:

http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=65169

Michael Geist’s excellent blog that will keep you up to date on these issues like no other is here:

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/blogsection/0/126/

Canadian Library Associations page on Copyright (though I can’t seem to find a position on the proposed legislation. Let me know if you have it:

http://tinyurl.com/yrr2ln

Finally, if I haven’t convinced you, maybe Brian the Frog will:

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14247

Feel free to forward this, create your own, and spread the word around as far and as wide as possible. Also forward any links you know of or articles and we will post them here.

_DJ_

This list is focused mostly on the Internet and technology as things that librarians are better at (rather than librarians successfully utilizing these tools beyond what normal users might do - he says, typing on a blog) but it’s still a lot of food for thought.

To be honest, I think it wouldn’t be hard to make a 100 item list of why libraries and librarians are still essential.

Plus they forgot #34 - “Librarians are the ultimate service occupation. Gas station attendant of the mind.” (Thanks to Michelle L. for the quote.)

- JH