ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is engaged in a research project about privacy and libraries. There is a survey to fill out at privacyrevolution.org. I’m not sure where they’re going … Read more OIF’s Privacy Revolution
Just some scattered thoughts post-Anaheim, potential essays that will for the moment remain seeds…. It is surprising that ALA, being what it is, doesn’t have better control of its own … Read more Scattered thoughts post-conference
John Miedema of Slow Reading has posted a brief review of Questioning Library Neutrality. Thanks, John!
I’m bringing this double-sided flyer with me to ALA tomorrow to hand out to people who visit my reception on Saturday night, and to guests at the Alternative Press Reception … Read more Flyer
Open letter from Saad Eskander, Director of the Iraq National Library and Archives, June 21, 2008 An Open Letter to the Director of Hoover Institute I have read Mr. Sousa’s … Read more Saad Eskander’s open letter to the Hoover Institution
John Ronald sent me a link to a review of a British pamphlet titled Rethinking Public Service Reform: The Public Value Alternative, from the Trade Union Congress (UK). The review … Read more Democratizing Public Services
You (or your library) can now place a standing order for books published by Library Juice Press or Litwin Books. Standing orders will get a 25% discount from the cover … Read more LJP Standing Orders
INFORMATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE (ISC) ISSN 1364-694X (print) ISSN 1756-901X (online) CALL FOR PAPERS — The Summer 2009 issue of the journal Information for Social Change (ISC) will focus on … Read more ISC Call for Papers
The ALA International Relations Committee has just released a very nice, detailed history of the “independent library” movement, Friends of Cuban Libraries, and ALA and IFLA’s activities in relation to … Read more Cuba Update from the International Relations Committee
Jeff Lilburn has reviewed Questioning Library Neutrality for the blog LibrarianActivist. His review is careful not to be overly excited by the book, but is much appreciated as the first … Read more Review of Questioning Library Neutrality
It is still not dead. A resolution has just been sent to the ALA Council list for discussion, calling on ALA to recognize the dissident “independent librarians” as members of … Read more The Cuba Debate – Why the “middle” is not the middle
Thank you The Onion, for this: “Area Eccentric Reads Entire Book.”
Nicholas Carr writes in the Atlantic Monthly that “Google is Making Us Stupid,” focusing on the way a decade of web browsing has altered the way his mind works to … Read more Is Google Making Us Stupid?
SRRT Newsletter issue 162/163, June 2008, is now up on the web in PDF form. This issue has a schedule of SRRT events at ALA in Anaheim, news from the … Read more New SRRT Newsletter
Here’s a brief essay in the New York Times by Edward Rothstein that I am afraid I don’t have much to say about at the moment. I think I agree … Read more The problem with cultural property
Are you going to be at the ALA Conference in Anaheim later this month? Litwin Books / Library Juice Press will be holding a reception. I will be showing the … Read more Library Juice Press / Litwin Books Reception at ALA in Anaheim
Thomas Mann’s Foreword to David Bade’s Responsible Librarianship: Library Policies for Unreliable Systems: There is a kind of “code word” situation that has developed in the library profession in recent … Read more Thomas Mann’s Foreword to Responsible Librarianship
Via Kevin Arthur’s Questioning Technology blog, a tidbit on the fiasco known as One Laptop Per Child…
I’m slow to catch this one, so I’ll just mention it (as an important scholarly paper that argues for the future of paper): William Powers’ “Hamlet’s Blackberry: Why Paper is … Read more The future of paper
CLOSED EPA LIBRARIES TO RETURN IN LAVATORY-SIZED SPACES; Political Appointee Asserts Control over All Libraries, Repeals 30-Year-Old Manual “Ordered by Congress to re-open its shuttered libraries, the U.S. Environmental Protection … Read more EPA libraries restored in miniature form