In keeping with the topic of the day, here’s a report on internet filtering from the National Coalition Against Censorship which is admittedly, a bit dated, having been produced in 2001. But it gives an excellent overview of many of the issues and problems being discussed in the wake of the LPL debate. And an update of the report in 2006 shows that the same concerns with internet filtering software remain to this day.
Here are some examples of what happens when you filter:
- JH
“The Prelinger Library is a small privately owned “public library” in San Francisco with the unique philosophy that browsing library stacks can reveal new knowledge, if the books are arranged for browsing. This is counter to most public libraries who rely on computer terminal searching, databases and the Dewey Decimal system to atomize books and subjects, with stack browsing a sort of random after effect. Now a (real) public library in Arizona has joined the revolution and claims to be the first public library in the nation to drop the Dewey Decimal system. Instead, books will be shelved by topic, similar to the way bookstores arrange books. The demise of the century-old Dewey Decimal system is overdue, county librarians say: “People think of books by subject. Very few people say, ‘Oh, I know Dewey by heart.’ “”
(via MetaFilter which has some great discussion about the role of classification systems in libraries and bookstores)
- JH
To add on to Sabina’s earlier post … now that Siobhan Stevenson’s call for keeping the public domain in public libraries has cracked into the public domain itself through First Monday, it’s time to talk turkey.
First, let me wax poetic for a moment and say that isn’t it great to be a part of a profession that shares information amongst each other, just because we want to? It will never cease to warm my heart. Second, our commitment to information sharing means that private interests from Gates and vendors alike, with their prepackaged sales pitches and honourary Harvard degrees, can’t measure up to the library community’s capacity to educate and inform the public, critically. It’s what we do.
That said, when terms such as Free and Open Source Software and Community Informatics arrive on the scene, they may not make the best first impression. FOSS and CI at first seem like brash guests at the party. They talk over your head, interrupt and confuse the humble and loyal guests, eat too much finger food and then question your menu choices, all while being nervy enough to recommend a better place for you to get your veggies.
Humph. So much for an invite back. However, if techie terms such as these crash the party again and continue to be so obtuse and unreachable, I urge you to see past their initial lack of manners and see them as the bold and renegade newcomers that they are, and simply in need of a guiding hand from some of the more experienced kids on the block. (And hey, they’ve got a solid point when it comes to buying more organic and locally grown food.)
If I were to have a standing list of block party invitees to mentor these newcomers into our midst, who would be on it? First, I’d make it a potluck. Second, I’d invite the ppl with whom FOSS and CI are already good friends and regularly exchange recipes.
The usual suspects are of course:
Jessamyn West. Pimp your Firefox. Watch a video on installing Ubuntu. Make friends with Wikipedia.
Sarah Houghton-Jan. Too many ideas to mention.
Aaron Schmidt . Great blog title, appreciated the Gmail Greasemonkey tip.
Erica Olson. Another great blog title, probably helped me stay in library school at a moment of weakness. Includes some in your face techie goodness.
The Team at Lifehacker. (Still getting acquainted).
Casey Bisson. From whom there is recommended reading: Open Source Software and Libraries; LTR 43.3
And for a few Canadian based suspects
Richard Akerman - Science Library Pad.
Dean Giustini - Open Medicine.
Jeff Trzeciak and Amanda Etches-Johnson, both at McMaster University, conducting reference interviews through Second Life and using an Endeca powered catalogue. added June 13.07
… this list is a work in progress. Any suggestions?
-PC-
Siobhan Stevenson, faculty at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information Studies, has published a paper in First Monday entitled “Public libraries, public access computing, FOSS and CI: There are alternatives to private philanthropy“. Great read!
I had the great fortune to read her University of Western Ontario PhD thesis (The post-Fordist public library : from Carnegie to Gates) in which she lays out her critique of Gates and Carnegie-style philanthropy. Great thesis — interlibrary loan that baby if you get a chance. It’s only 125 pages long, too: good and succinct. She also has an article in the Winter 06/07 issue of Progressive Librarian entitled “Philanthropies Unexpected Consequences: public libraries and the struggle over free v. proprietary software”. Do you see the theme in her research?
Here is the abstract from her First Monday paper:
In January 2007, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) announced its second multi–year technology grant program for America’s public libraries. The purpose of Phase II, Keeping communities connected: The next step is to help public libraries sustain the public access computing infrastructure laid down during Phase I. Now, as then, the goal of the program is to bridge the digital divide. But it is a digital divide as defined by Bill Gates and not the public library community. Situating Gates’ philanthropy within a critical policy frame, this paper considers two alternatives to Gates’ problem definition of the digital divide, and how knowledge of these might benefit those communities served by public access computing (PAC) services as found in public libraries. The two specific alternatives considered come from the Free Software Foundation (FSF), and Community Informatics (CI). Significantly, both social movements promote the potential of free and open software as an important part of any solution. Finally, the public library literature is reviewed for patterns in the community’s use of FOSS, and the argument is made for its use in the delivery of PAC services.
First Monday is just super.
-SIO
Here at LA we’ve made the odd mention of the value of new and accessible audio materials, and how they support patrons needing alternatives to print materials. Shannon LaBelle, a MLIS student at SLAIS, UBC put together a fantastic presentation on the complete history of audio books in Canada.
Have a look …
Audio books and access to information for Canadians with print disabilities.
I’d like an iPod in the fetching canary yellow depicted in “an example of an audiocassette player”.
-PC
Chip Ward’s illuminating article on how the library has become a de facto ’shelter’ in place of the state’s shrunken safety net provides an excellent opportunity to look at how ppl who are often perceived as non-citizens, non-persons, non-existant nuisances in the collective conscience are reclaiming their power and identities.
Here are some props to ‘information’ efforts that seek to give voiceless groups space to speak for themselves by putting the media in their own hands.
First is Homeless Nation, a Canada wide non-profit organization that provides an online community and forum for homeless people to express their point of view, and an opportunity for the public to interact with and learn some things about being homeless in Canada. Launched in [June] no, April of 2006, membership has grown to over 2000 participants.
Mentions of Homeless Nation in the media can be found here and here and in Rabble podcasts here.
Second is an archives that is documenting the history and cultural heritage of people who’ve been in contact with the psychiatric system.
Librarians, carve out a wee moment in your hectic schedules check out the Psychiatric Survivor Archives, Toronto. It’s a forum and space that aims to preserve the history of psychiatric survivors for current and future generations. PSAT seeks to create an opportunity to restore a sense of agency and personhood to psychiatric survivors, to value their lived experience, history and culture, and to engage a voiceless and stigmatized population in the democratic process of self expression.
Articles here and here published recently in the Toronto Star speak to MAD pride, a movement akin to the ‘queering’ of gay/lesbian culture.
- PC
An article about the shift in the role of public library from “library” to “homeless shelter”. (via MetaFilter which, as always, has lots of good discussion around all aspects of this issue.)
- JH
LoudLit.org offers free MP3 audio books of classic works that you can download or read long with onscreen. (via MetaFilter)
Edit: For anyone interested, my co-editor, PC, also linked to a similar site in an earlier post of hers - LibriVox - which also provides MP3 files of books in the public domain and allows people to contribute their own readings as well.
- JH
This week is Freedom to Read Weekf in Canada. I’ve been a bit remiss in posting relevant information here, even as I’ve been doing a daily post on the topic over on my personal blog which could’ve been easily cross-posted here. (Next year!)
But I do have something that I wanted to cross-post on both sites to close out the week: the results of the CLA’s Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom’s web survey titled “Tracking Challenged Resources in Canadian Libraries” (PDF) for the year 2006.
This report doesn’t include every instance of book challenges in Canada last year but does give a good overview of some of the types of materials that get challenged, the reasons why and the response of and/or actions taken by the reporting library.
Thanks to Toni Samek, who is chair of that committee, for permission to post this document.
- JH
A 21 year old gamer in Palmer, Alaska had his laptop confiscated and faces possible criminal charges for illegally accessing WiFi at the Palmer, Alaska library after hours from the parking lot.
Some observers online point out that the library could easily thwart such violations of their usage policies by disabling the signal as part of the library’s closing procedures while others suggest that this user has a history of piggybacking on the WiFi of other businesses and organizations and this unauthorized access shouldn’t be allowed.
(via Digg)
- JH
