You may have read recently about a recent announcement from the Egyptian ministry of culture, permitting translations of works by two of Israel’s leading writers, Amos Oz and David Grossman. Now, the Guardian has a great article about Andalus Books, based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Andalus translates Arabic-language books about “social, cultural and political issues as expressed through Arabic literary, poetic and expository writings.” Small steps in a larger journey towards greater understanding, but still. A story to warm your heart on a chilly autumn day.
Archive for the ‘other’
American children’s books: between 1.3% and 6% diverse…
Some depressing statistics about representations of minorities (black, Latino, American Indian and Asian) in American children’s literature, reported by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center:
- 172 books (6%) had significant African or African American content.
- 40 books (1.3%) had significant American Indian content.
Thanks to Mitali for the link.
New issue of Information for Social Change Journal
For those of you who aren’t familiar with this organisation, Information for Social Change “examines issues of censorship, freedom and ethics amongst library and information workers,” and promotes “alternatives to the dominant paradigms of library and information work.”
The latest issue of their journal, No. 28, Winter 2008/09, is available now.
The Tamer Institute For Community Education awarded the 2009 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
The Tamer Institute For Community Education has been awarded the 2009 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, according to a National Post article from yesterday.
The Institute works in the West Bank and along the Gaza Strip, making books available to children there who cannot attend school. The Award website acknowledges the Institute’s work, “under difficult circumstances,” to carry out “reading promotion of an unusual breadth and versatility.” The Institute has dedicated the award to “the children of Palestine who have faced many painful events throughout the past 60 years.”
Authors supporting imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo
Writers Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, JM Coetzee and Umberto Eco are among those demanding that Liu Xiaobo be released. He has been in prison in China for a month after signing Charter 08.
Children’s author Lauren Child inaugurated as Unesco Artist for Peace
Fabulous children’s author Lauren Child, creator of the impossibly endearing Charlie and Lola (I will never not ever eat a tomato! and others) has been recognised for her work with UNESCO’s Programme for the Education of Children in Need. Child spent the last 18 months visiting Unesco projects around the world, “from Mexico to Mongolia.” The result is the documentary, “My Life is A Story.”
Ethics and classification.
This blog entry by FIS classification prof Jens Erik Mai regarding the POPLINE controversy makes an important philosophical comment about classification in general.
Quote from Jens Erik’s entry:
Classifications are political instruments… all classifications make epistemological, ethical, and political statements; there is nothing new to this. The library blogshere seems to argue that POPLINE’s move is unprecedented and unacceptable… get a grip; what is the ethical assumption behind Dewey’s religion section? I don’t see any ethical justification in the introduction to LCSH…
While blocking a search term was an obvious misuse of what Hope Olson refers to as “the power to name”, this situation begs the question of how we decide what terms are included in classification schemes in the first place, and how we navigate who has a say in describing research documents. While the Harper and Bush governments are making the politics of information more obvious, the professional can take advantage of the controversies to give these kinds of issues in classification a higher profile in professional discourse.
How we construct subjects: A feminist analysis. Hope Olson.
List of Hope Olson’s Publications.
Participatory Appraisal and Arrangement for Multicultural Archival Collections, Katie Shilton and Ramesh Srinivasan
LibrarianActivist gets a facelift
LibrarianActivist had been using a very old version of Wordpress. This weekend, I’ve given the blog a facelift with a new version of Wordpress, and a new theme. Apparently, our site was in dire need of an upgrade since it was being hacked (Thanks to Paula who discovered this!) Hope you all enjoy the new look (which might evolve over the next few days).
Update: There seems to be a problem with the RSS feed for this site when you subscribe through Bloglines. I will try to get this resolved as soon as possible.
Petition to help save CHN
As PC blogged about last month, the Canadian Health Network (CHN) is going to be shut down. An advocacy group (Friends of the CHN) has been created and they are asking people to sign their petition. They want 5000 signatures before sending it to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health on February 14th.
- DD