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 […]

Here’s a trackback to a great post from Anthony Pash, Acadian University librarian at the Critical Librarian blog.

Asking questions about power.

Title of the post speaks for itself … check it out.

-PC-

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 […]

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. […]

Check out the news through Library Juice, and kudos to those who signed the petition.

-PC-

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 […]

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 […]

Reed Elsevier isn’t just charging high prices for journals, no, they’ve also got some rather nasty side projects going on:

From the British Medical Journal: “While promoting world health through its publications, including The Lancet, Reed Elsevier also organises international trade fairs for the arms industry.”

From The Independent: “New allegations on Reed Elsevier’s links to […]

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 […]

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