Controversy consumed the 1977 ALA Annual Conference in Detroit over The Speaker, a narrative film commissioned by ALA and produced by the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC). The film’s story: A student current events committee and a teacher in a small-town high school invite a speaker who theorizes that blacks are genetically inferior to whites. The … Continue reading The Speaker Controversy in the 21st Century
In an alternative universe, I’m a film historian. I got hooked in college, where multiple film society screenings were shown almost nightly for a couple of bucks apiece. Heaven. And among all my genres of interest (terrible 1950s science fiction, cult stuff, noir, silents, splashy MGM musicals, and on and on), there’s a much less-recognized … Continue reading A Cautionary Tale
During the ALA Washington Office Update on Saturday morning, Patrice McDermott, executive director of Open the Government, introduced Spencer Ackerman, national security editor for the Guardian US, who discussed details of how the newspaper acquired information and documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden and came to the decision to publish them. Before Ackerman took the podium, McDermott shared her … Continue reading Putting NSA Under the Microscope
ALA Council wrapped up its business for the 2014 Midwinter Meeting at Council III this morning, announcing the election of three new members—Peter D. Hepburn, Gina L. Persichini, and Gail A. Schlachter—to the ALA Executive Board for three-year terms. Mike L. Marlin was also elected to a five-month term, replacing Sylvia K. Norton, who now … Continue reading Council III Critiques Government Surveillance
Earlier today, a federal district court struck down net neutrality, the nondiscrimination rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governing how internet service providers deliver online information. ALA President Barbara K. Stripling swiftly responded to the decision in Verizon v. FCC (PDF file) by expressing the Association’s disappointment at this blow to a principle ALA has long advocated: … Continue reading Troubling Decision Nixes Net Neutrality Rules
Why did you decide to write a memoir about your childhood experiences in Sierra Leone? ISHMAEL BEAH: It came out of several frustrations about the lack of knowledge about the use of children in war and also the way my country was only presented as a place of violence. I wanted to put a human … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ishmael Beah
New Year’s week was a good time for me to catch up on work (or at least attempt to become less behind!). Accordingly, there are a few recent developments and upcoming events involving the Digital Content and Libraries Working Group (DCWG) that I’d like to highlight here. Several weeks ago, I ventured forth to New … Continue reading Catching Up Over the Holidays
It was almost 10 years ago that ALA members started to discuss Google’s plan to digitize the collection of several research libraries to create a book search database. I recall a lot of grumbling about the very idea: Surely this was a very risky thing for the research libraries to agree to, and might it … Continue reading Google Book Search: We’ve Come a Long Way
“Sometimes libraries that are doing ‘all the right things’ pay a price for their excellence through uncivil attacks and attempts to dismantle their work,” Barbara Jones, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), told American Libraries. She is referring to Orland Park (Ill.) Public Library (OPPL) in south suburban Chicago, which has endured several … Continue reading Illinois Library Comes Under Fire
The name of Xavier’s disorder is virtually unpronounceable: megalencephaly, polymicrogyria, polydactyly, and hydrocephalus syndrome, or MPPH for short. First identified in 2004, the syndrome is little understood, with no known cause and only about a dozen cases worldwide. “I think that the case for open access really hits home when you have a situation where … Continue reading How Open Access Scholarship Saves Lives
In May 2013, when I started to track the Big Six and their library lending terms, there were a lot of changes taking place in the publishing world. I assumed that I’d be issuing updates at least monthly. Instead, we entered a time of limited change until September 25, when Penguin resumed licensing its ebooks … Continue reading The Big Six Publishers and Library Lending: An Update
By now, we’ve gotten used to the idea that many children’s books identify a Reading Level (RL) somewhere on the jacket or back cover. This number is handy for parents and children’s librarians trying to find books of an appropriate comprehension level for young readers. But where did the number come from? It was generated … Continue reading Guide to Reading Levels
