If you guessed eight minutes, you’re right.
- JH
Archive for the ‘social justice’
Human Rights Archival Conference
The Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research is holding a free conference this October 4-6, 2007 on the subject of Human Rights Archives and Documentation.
Link to the conference.
-PC-
Bibliomulas
Thanks to the PLG listserv for this bit of news about library innovation in Venezuela.
Here’s an excerpt:
Diving for books
A break came when it was my turn to ride a mule. I enjoyed a great view of the valley but held on tight as Chiquito veered close to the edge.
Hot and slightly bothered after two hours, we reached Calembe, the first village on this path.
Anyone who was not out working the fields - tending the celery that is the main crop here - was waiting for our arrival. The 23 children at the little school were very excited.
“Bibilomu-u-u-u-las,” they shouted as the bags of books were unstrapped. They dived in eagerly, keen to grab the best titles and within minutes were being read to by Christina and Juana, two of the project leaders.
“Spreading the joy of reading is our main aim,” Christina Vieras told me.
“But it’s more than that. We’re helping educate people about other important things like the environment. All the children are planting trees. Anything to improve the quality of life and connect these communities.”
And the full story through BBC News.
-PC-
Massive cuts to Toronto Public Library
Mayor Miller’s recently defeated proposal for two new municiple taxes didn’t take long to fall onto Toronto Public Library.
Spacing Wire reposts a piece from Eye Magazine on the issue.
The cuts are deep. If this is on some level a device to call attention to a crisis in funding for public libraries (and Toronto in general), it’s a good one. First came a threat to close the most recently built TTC subway line. Now the library and the police have been ordered by the city trim the ‘fat’ (as in, essential services).
To be expected, there are a few comments in response to the Eye article that suggest that the library needs to generate its own revenue. Fortunately user fees got shouted down - Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler quickly pointed out that they are “forbidden under section 23(1) of Ontario’s Public Libraries Act, 1990.” He also posted the reference to the Act.
Highlights as reported by Eye Weekly:
• a hiring freeze, which will affect staffing of service desks, program delivery, training sessions and branch closures. For example, the planned re-opening of the Jane-Dundas branch (which received 11,500 visitors a month) won’t happen until 2008 now.
• the elimination of Sunday service in all libraries, excluding those in priority neighbourhoods.
• a $330,000 cut to the library materials budget (which is equivalent to the entire adult book budget for 12 branches, or the entire children’s book budget for 25 branches).
TPL is the second most used public library system in the world, second only to Hong Kong. One of the Eye comments pointed out that TPL is one of Toronto’s unadulterated successes. In the midst of T.O.’s ongoing fumbling of such issues as waterfront development and unabashed condo development in the absence of affordable housing, the library deserves to shine as a pillar of this community.
If the province doesn’t pony up with some funding, this will mark a major blow to community services for the entire GTA.
****** Addendum. July 26.07
Now magazine reacts to the public service cuts in this column, comments on politicking with the province. All complete with Shakespearean references and a nod to Oscar Wilde.
At Quillblog, it’s mentioned that the municipality of Ottawa is also having budget problems.
****** Addendum #2. July 31.07
I’d hate for the folks in Calgary to think we’re neglecting them when we’re talking about municiple funding shortages. This Toronto Star article
outlines a similar battle by Calgary’s mayor from the province of Alberta. (Where the heritage fund is reportedly $16.6 billion).
Call me nostalgic, but does anyone remember the New Deal for Cities?
-PC-
Information and power
Here’s a trackback to a great post from Anthony Pash, Acadian University librarian at the Critical Librarian blog.
Title of the post speaks for itself … check it out.
-PC-
MediaReform.ca
Well, I hate to add a post above PC’s great follow-up piece on FOSS, but anyone who wants to “talk turkey” in a post doesn’t get to stay at the top of the blog roll for long. 
Some wonderful stuff is going down on the MediaReform website that was set up last month by a group of activists, academics, and random folks who are concerned about media in Canada. They’ve been getting a fair amount of help from the American group FreePress who have have been doing some really great work in the US on issues like media concentration, net neutrality, and supporting small & local media outlets. This could be the Canadian version — a bringing-together of some of the activists who work on those and similar issues in this country.
The main organizing tool so far, from what I can tell, is their online forum. People are posting all sorts of great content and trying to use the forum to spread the word about a variety of things that are going on right now (CRTC, independent media, ongoing meetings to try to start something, local initiatives, etc.) SO if you’re interested in such things, please have a wander over the site. Sign up, post, participate! There’s a lot of representation from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, and it would be great to bring people from across the country into the discussions! If you do join, please introduce yourself and let everyone know where you’re from. And if you’re a librarian, let them know about that, too!
I hope you all get a chance to check it out and help build some momentum. As Robert McChesney (soon to be replacing Gandhi as the most quotable activist) says, “Regardless of what a progressive group’s first issue of importance is, its second issue should be media and communication, because so long as the media are in corporate hands, the task of social change will be vastly more difficult, if not imposible, across the board.” Good stuff.
-SIO
PS - Not that any of you would be so rash as to be on Facebook or anything, but there’s MediaReform.ca group there, too, which acts primarily as a landmark to direct people to the forum’s website. It’s a great way to get other people involved, though…just invite them to join the group and hope they drift on over to the forum! Not that any of you are on Facebook, of course, knowing all about the privacy issues. Please note that I did not actually link to Facebook in this post. This is not an endorsement.
Stop direct-to-consumer drug ads in Canada
Oy, librarians! No doubt you’ve already heard. But in case you haven’t, the push for direct-to-consumer advertising in Canada is marching on. However, if you like acronyms, it’s DTCA.
CanWest Global Communications Corporation stands to increase its profits should a lawsuit they are waging in the name of ‘freedom of expression’ succeed. While the public health system is strained under the weight of increasing costs that are largely the result of pharmaceutical expenses, CanWest seems to be thinking to themselves … why should Pfizer get all the cash? How can we get a piece of this action?
I say “they” because a corporation such as CanWest Global is not an individual. It is a group of individuals. If you’ve seen The Corporation, you will know the importance of this distinction. Despite this, under the law corporations are viewed as having the same rights as individuals. This lawsuit is claiming that CanWest Global’s right to freedom of expression is being violated. Does a corporation have this ‘right’? Meaning, do they have the ‘right’ to ‘freely express’ an advertisement on behalf of another multi-million dollor corporation, especially when they stand to profit from airing that ad? What about a corporation’s moral responsibility to society? Or the responsibility of the people who run that corporation?
Still reading? Back to direct-to-consumer advertising. The basic skinny is that it is legal in the US and New Zealand, Canada not so much. It gets muddy. Canadians have been exposed to drug ads through the American media, and in Canada ads for over the counter medications are permitted, as are ads that don’t recommend a drug for a specific condition. Americans and New Zealanders are exposed to the “feeling X? ask your doctor and buy Y” kind of marketing. According to the Toronto Star, US spending increased 10x over the course of 11 years, from 1994 -2005. Open Medicine, the British Medical Journal, Toronto Star, a recent CBC podcast, the Canadian Pharmacists Association and the CMAJ all have good information describing how direct-to-consumer advertising impacts health spending. No one seems to be a fan.
Direct-to-consumer advertising is not ‘free speech’. Advertising messages are carefully constructed bids to pitch products. They are created by talented, creative and well-compensated advertising teams. Legalizing direct-to-consumer advertising would permit profit-seeking corporations to compete with public health interests and public (as in your tax) dollars. As librarians, we can inform/remind the public that for safe and effective medical and health information, ads are not credible sources given that they are rife with branding strategies and backed by well-funded market research. Even if some ads are deemed ‘legal’ and hit the airwaves, they are in fact not ‘health information’. Unfortunately, the research suggests their impact is still huge.
Your Media notes that it is not safe to assume that it will be easy to prove that CanWest Global does not have a case. So you may be thinking, what can a librarian do in a situation such as this. Let’s consider some options …
First, whether you are a health librarian, academic librarian, public librarian, or special librarian - make your patrons aware of this issue:
a) CanWest Global is attempting to encroach on the public’s rights and they/we have a right to be informed about it
b) from an media/information literacy standpoint, DTCA exemplifies what NOT to use for informative purposes.
c) Tell your patrons about this film: Big Bucks, Big Pharma
(’c’ added June 10.07)
While I’m all for seeking alternative sources to health information, DTCA stinks. Freedom of expression being the wonderful thing that it is, you can exercise yours by talking to your Member of Parliament, sending a dirty note to the CRTC, and ccing whatever you do to the CanWest Global turkeys.
Oy, that was long. Thanks for hanging in there.
-PC-
Reed Elsevier backs down on arms fairs
Check out the news through Library Juice, and kudos to those who signed the petition.
-PC-
Medical secrecy on its way out.
The Toronto Star’s latest piece in its series on medical secrecy today brought with it some good news for Ontarians.
The word is … no more secrets, no more lies. The stage has been set for Ontario to be the leaders in medical transparency in Canada.
Not only will mortality and morbidity records of hospitals be made public, but the health professions colleges will be required to make public findings against nurses, occupational therapists, dentists, acupuncturists, and physicians and the like. That’s findings, not complaints. Due process is still at work here. To boot, the records of physicians will not be wiped clean after six years, as they were previously.
The latest high profile case of cronyism and cover ups within the medical establishment led to wrongful convictions against innocent people due to the incompetent practice of Ontario pathologist Dr. Charles Smith. The CBC reported that ten years ago, Ontario’s Chief Coroner Dr. James Young attempted to block complaints against him. Evidence that eventually led to the release of one of Smith’s victims was found on his desk.
Here are the people who want to help you stay safe in the hospital and the medical establishment at large:
Ontario Hospital Association
Ontario Medical Association
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
(and the colleges of nurses, dentists, acupuncturists, PTs, OTs, social workers, etc.)
Please drop them a line to say ‘well done!’ or ‘you’ll be hearing from us!’ or rather, ‘it’s about time.’
-PC
May 7.07 - The Ombudsman of Ontario pressures government for oversight over hospitals here.
What the media neglects to mention …
Mind Freedom asks the questions that don’t make it into the mainstream media about the potential link between violent behaviour and anti-depressants. Here’s their statement on the tragic event at Virgina Tech.
And more articles on this issue from The Public Library of Science and The Guardian.
Finally, info on how anti-depressant prescribing is being targeted at youth in The Peoples Voice.
April 20.07 - PC