Home > News Archive > November 2004

November 29, 2004

This is the title of a new book by Ruth Rikowski. It specifically deals with the WTO, the GATS and their effect on libraries. Background and overview to the book in ISC.

source: danielle

The AIHEC Virtual Library is a collection of online resources by, for, and about the indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific, and it is browsable by tribe, location, or subject.

source: Thanks Chris!

November 24, 2004

A government-wide plan, called A-76, to contract out government services to private companies, is affecting the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Library. Can a private company really offer the private mining industry all the required information to improve the health and safety of US miners?

source: Thanks Chris!

November 23, 2004

Feliciter's 50(5) issue has many articles on media democracy and the role of librarians in media activism. Brian Campbell and Barbara Jo May write:

The writers (...) offer analysis and background about current media and media policy, and some practical suggestions about how libraries and individuals can be involved in initiating a more vigorous public policy discussion on media; fostering alternative, local and independent media; and guiding children toward a critical understanding of media. We think these are very important tasks... for our profession, for our communities and - dare we say it? - for social justice and democracy.

Articles of note:

• Consider the Alternatives: Libraries and the Media by Brian Campbell
• The ABCs of Media Education: A Hands-on-Approach by Doris Baltruschat
• Media, Democracy and Libraries: The Growth of Media Activism in the United States by Nancy Kranich

Media Democracy Day was on October 18, 2004

School Libraries in Canada Online is inviting submissions on the general subject of school libraries, intellectual freedom, and social responsibility. Deadline: March 1, 2005. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: Access to Information; Advocacy; Child Development; Colonialism; Core Value; Collections; Community Activism; Community Standards; Corporate Sponsorships; Current Climate of Crisis in School Libraries; Cultural Literacy; Democratic Education; Distance Learning; Ethics; Freedom of Expression & Censorship; Educating for Global Citizenship; Family Values; Homophobia; Identities; Information Literacy; Interconnectivity; International Development; Issues of Internet Access & Child Protection; Lifelong Learning; Knowledge Society; Political Correctness; Privacy & Confidentiality; Privatization; Progressive Views; Publishing; Racism; Rights of the Child; Rights of the Girl-child; Sexism; Social Responsibilities for K-12; Virtual Community; White Privilege.

source: BCLA-listserv

The Venezuelan Comision de Relaciones Anarquistas (CRA) is opening the Centro de Estudios Sociales Libertarios (CESL), an an independent, self-managed non-profit organization without ties of any kind to parties or organizations, whose primary bjective is the study and spreading of values such as self-management, mutual aid, solidarity, social justice and cultural advancement in general. The social library has a collection of over 1,000 books and 2,500 specialized periodicals in the fields of the Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Anarchism, Alternative Culture, Philosophy, Globalization and Human Rights, that is waiting for a suitable physical space in order to be made available to the public at large. More info.

source: liste ra-l

November 19, 2004

... except for qualified adult specialists. An article in Mosnews.com reports on Russian authorities banning books on "mind altering substances". Qualified adults are not subject to this ban. Authorities are also asking librarians to inform parents of their children's reading habits.

source: Google News

November 18, 2004

In Montreal this weekend, there is a "Salon du livre libre", organized by the Cogitateurs Agitateurs. The event is:

an open book fair organized in response to the Salon du livre de Montréal (Montreal book fair). The event will inform the public about media concentration, copyright law, small-scale publishing and Open Content.

Visitors to the Salon will be able to read free and public domain books and download them to CD-ROM. In addition, there will be conferences and panel discussions on freedom of information in an age of media concentration and commoditized culture.

A collection of theoretical and analytical works revolving around the issue of Intellectual Property regimes will be published for the occasion, as well as a collection of original artwork.

The organizers hope one day (with the help of librarians) to create a catalogue of works in the public domain and to provide a space (a public domain library?) where people could print out or burn these works. Librarians should be at the forefront of this issue.

source: act-mtl listserv

The ALA wrote a letter (PDF) supporting the NIH policy "Enhanced Public Access to NIH Research Information". This policy will mandate all NIH funded medical research to be deposited six months after publication in PubMed Central.

source: Open Access News

Open Source Software and Libraries Bibliography: an impressive bibliography compiled by Brenda Chawner of New Zealand.

source: ResourceShelf

Budget problems are causing three libraries to close in California. Some library supervisors and organizations believe that the solution to budget crises is the privatization of a public good.

source: PLGNet-listserv, Google News

November 15, 2004

Thus went the title of a conference in St. Petersburg at the end of October. Their final statement declares that public domain information should be central to national information policies and should help create a knowledge society where libraries play a central role.

source: American Scientist Open Access Forum

Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General in waiting, should be questionned on his Human Rights records. Inform your Senators!

source: PLGNet-listserv

A concerned citizen wrote to Radical Reference saying that "Erie County library will get 80% budget cut if the proposed budget for Erie County is passed, meaning that all 52 libraries across Erie County will close due to lack of funds." You can help out by signing an advocacy letter on the library website.

source: PLGNet-listserv, Radical Reference

November 12, 2004

...Hello Gonzales. Attorney General John Ashcroft resigns. The ALA and NPR assess his legacy. His successor, Alberto Gonzales, does not inspire confidence.

source: PLGNet-listserv, Google News

The Middle East Librarians Association has a Committee on Iraqi Libraries to "coordinate the organization's response to the damage and destruction suffered by libraries in Iraq during and after the war in March and April 2003." There is also a listserv, Iraqcrisis, for "for communicating substantive information on cultural property damaged, destroyed or lost from Libraries and Museums in Iraq."

source: Thanks Chris!

The Globe and Mail reports (free for now) on Ottawa's copyright plans that would see Web users pay levy on free material if changes in Copyright Reform become law. Also see excerpt in Open Acces News.

source: Open Access News

November 8, 2004

Iran's National Library and the US Library of Congress signed an an agreement to exchange resources. Mohammad Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi, Iran's library director, said of the accord: "We regard cultural and scientific issues as different from politics." Not so for the US Treasury Department. Its regulations require publishers and authors to seek a licence to publish literature from embargoed countries such as Cuba, Iran and Sudan in the U.S. Lawsuits lie ahead for the Department for this "impediment to the free flow of information."

L'Insoumise (the unsubdued or rebellious) is opening its doors on November 13. The bookstore will have books, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers in French and English from anarchist authors and distributors, as well as on subjects such as ecology, anarchism, labour, anti-racism, economics, history, feminism, etc.

source: A-librarians listserv

Radio programme highlighting the role of libraries in this electronic era.

source: NYLINE listserv

November 5, 2004

Looking to "provide a unique bridge to appeal to disenfranchised youth, alienated by current collections"? Check out Julie Bartel's From A to Zine: Building a Winning Zine Collection in Your Library

source: Thanks Chris!

November 2, 2004

Quebecor is a Québécois company that owns, in Québec, the biggest TV chain, the biggest cable and Internet provider, a big chain of bookstores, and is, with Quebecor World, one of the biggest commercial printers in the world (Publishers who use Quebecor printers include Harper Collins, McGraw Hill, Reed Elsevier, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, etc.).

As though this media concentration wasn't bad enough, a group called Justice@Quebecor claims that Quebecor World is "degrading working conditions by reducing overtime pay, raising health insurance costs, increasing workloads, and reducing staffing. When workers try to form unions to improve workplace conditions Quebecor World threatens them with job losses and plant closure." Librarians are being asked to sign a petition to take a stand against this company to demand that it adheres to core international labor standards and respect basic human rights.

source: PLGNet-listserv

The British Columbia Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) released a report with "significant recommendations for protecting British Columbians’ personal information in the possession of private contractors from disclosure to the FBI under the USA Patriot Act." The report was triggered because of a BC Government & Service Employees Union lawsuit that raised concerns about personal information in the custody of a US linked outsource provider located in Canada being vulnerable to secret disclosure to the FBI under the USA Patriot Act.

source: APLA-listserv

To put on your calendars for next year: The New Orleans Bookfair. An independent publishing mecca.

source: Thanks Chris

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