Friday March 19, 2004

(02:38 pm) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Drive

     In the process of trying to 'ghost' my computer to my new external harddrive for backup I somehow managed to go in the opposite direction and my computer suddenly thought it was a very empty Iomega. All calls for help led to naught so I'm in the process of reinstalling and restoring what programs and information I have. Whatever emails or addresses I had from anyone are gone so if I was talking to you about something you may not hear from me right away.

     Not the worst thing in the world, just a little something to make life interesting.

     If I don't get any posting done on Sunday, have a nice weekend!

(08:55 am) Powell on Cuba

     A must read.

Thursday March 18, 2004

(07:09 pm) Home

     But first...

     I keep forgetting to post, I finally finished that Meltzer book. It stunk. The first 70 pages had a great premise going and then he jerks your chain, but the main premise is still going until page after painful page it fizzles into utter nonsense.

     It took me 2-3 weeks to get through it and 2-3 days to get through this. Granted her cast of characters is more complicated then any plot she has managed to come up with but since the point of both books was to be fun then Hamilton wins hands down.

     Good-Night

(07:05 pm) Breathe

     When all is said and done we can but sing...

Love, exciting and new
Come aboard, we're expecting you
Love, life's sweetest reward
Let it flow, it floats back to you

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

And love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore
It's love
Welcome aboard
It's love!

(06:17 pm) re: Progressives

     A Response:

Hi, Greg @ SHUSH

This is in reference to your recent blogging about Libr.org, PLG, SRRT, etc. I am cc-ing Conservativelib and Jack Stephens.

I am the the webmaster, editor, proprietor, whatever you want to call me, over at Libr.org, and I read with interest your discussion of my website and the associated groups.

You and Jack Stephens and assorted other "conservative librarians" have been doing a lot of "lumping" of late - that is, lumping groups and people and tendencies together in the library world, as long as they don't overlap your own interests and activities. At least that's how it seems to me.

Where to begin..... The Social Responsibilities Round Table and PLG do have overlapping memberships, but many people in PLG are not in SRRT (or even in ALA), and most people in SRRT are not in PLG. The political orientations, issues, and activities are different even if some of the major players are active in both groups. Libr.org supports the work of both groups as well as other groups, including ISC, which is a British group, and the Women's Studies Section of ACRL. Libr.org represents a broader range, politically, than any of the groups it supports.

The Progressive Librarians Council.... I call that PLG's antecedant on the website, but it is PLG's antecedant in time only - there is no historical connection between the two groups. The PLC disbanded in the 40's or 50's. PLG members didn't even learn of the existence of the PLC until it had existed for a couple of years and the editors of the journal received a paper on the PLC from an author we didn't know. (That's the article on the PL website.) PLG members were pleased to know about this organization that had gone before and found some affinities with it, but we don't consider ourselves to be continuing their project in any way.

It's funny to read you and Jack Stephens disparaging the PLC for its opposition to WWII. At the time, conservative opinion in the US was squarely against joining the war, and US conservatives openly supported hitler until quite late. Things look different in hindsight for everyone, not just the left.

The most surprising and laughable, as well as common, act of "lumping" that you folks indulge in is that of lumping together the radical and progressive librarian community (which is quite small, though not as small as yours) with that of librarianship as a whole and ALA. SRRT only has about 1600 members, all told, next to ALA's 59,000 some-odd personal members. ALA members (and ALA's positions too) are relatively middle-of-the-road, and we on the left find ourselves in opposition to (and frequently battling) the organization. We are more numerous than you, at least in terms of the active people, better organized, and more involved in ALA in a way that touches on politics. That is true. But ALA itself, you will see as you observe a little more closely and over time, is quite moderate and often views the SRRT crowd as a vocal minority and as a pain in the rear, but also very often as the soul of the profession (which is how we see ourselves) in a professional context that chases soul itself away from the processes of decision-making and planning, business relations, and even service.

I think many of us on the left - though surely not all - see commonalities with you on the right that you yourselves don't seem to see. Unlike the average mainstream liberals, progressives are strongly motivated by some of the same values that motivate you: honesty, integrity, human dignity, a view of the world as fallen and in need of salvation, a suspicion of commercialism and its influence, etc. Our interpretations are different, but some of the basic motivations are the same. I appreciate that you all mean well and I hope you appreciate the same about us, though we will continue to be in direct opposition on many (though probably not all) issues because of our differing philosophies, interpretations, commitments and backgrounds.

Sincerely,

Rory Litwin

Added later: (It takes all of the philosophical reflection I can muster to say this; most of the time I think you are all evil and twisted, as I'm sure you think we are. But at root we are all merely passionate people. I am not suggesting that we should "work together;" just that we should respect one another's humanity.)

      There is nothing mainstream about ALA. CIPA, Patriot Act, President Bush, Cuba, their stance is always left of center. And then some. One of the candidates for President, Michael Gorman, is no. 2 on the petition to stop war in Iraq although thankfully he didn't sign the Afghanistan one (more on him at a later date).

     The key words are 'vocal' and 'active'. That you make up a minority does not decrease your influence. ALA is trying online voting this year because of the low feedback but I'd bet money a high percentage of PLG and SRRT vote. That's one of the problems with political activism right or left, in the end its only the activists really doing anything.

     You try to make the 'lumping together' of websites sound benign but if my website was www.republicans.com/shush you'd be having a field day. Nor can you distance yourself from those articles concerning the original Progressives. That's like Trent Lott saying Strom Thurmond would have been a good president but just to make the birthday boy happy. That you posted the article doesn't say you respect the history but embrace it. It wouldn't shock me if there were conservatives who supported Hitler any more then it shocks me that liberals fought against civil rights. I embrace none of them.

     Hate? evil? twisted? Strong words. I don't feel or think any of them. I think your irresponsible and wrong. I won't respect your humanity at the expense of lost life around the globe.

(06:01 pm) Gay Marriages

     We had some talk over at Conservativelib on how gay marriages might affect libraries. The only scenario I could come up with was gay couples asking for pro-gay family stories being read in storyhour.

     Obviously that situation is not far off...

(05:57 pm) Do-Nothing Progressives

     Via NRO's The Corner comes this page with Dr. Seuss' view of appeasement. It seemed appropriate.

(05:54 pm) Cuban Heroes

     Courtesy of Nat'l Review.

(05:36 pm) Reflex vs Thought

     From an emailer:

I like your blog, and find your thinking on library issues stimulating. ALA’s dogma on a variety of issues is fairly ridiculous and it’s nice to see other viewpoints represented. I just finished my MLS and am willing to entertain the idea that the apprenticeship method popular at Dewey’s time is the right way to go. If you read librarian job ads carefully you’ll notice that they require an MLS and a specific set of job skills which the MLS does not teach. An apprenticeship would. Most arguments for the degree say it should teach theory because job skills become obsolete; yet there is no significant body of theory (except for cataloging—where everyone acknowledges you learn the job by doing it), certainly not enough to justify a graduate degree.

Your politics are sometimes more reflexive than thoughtful (a fault which I periodically share, though from a liberal standpoint). You might be interested in this link to an article on the discovery of a mass grave in Bosnia last August, the fourteenth found in 2003.

Be well, and thanks for the venue.

     The deal with Bosnia is that they are looking for 250,000 dead and haven't found near that many. Also there is the fact that there has been a lot of killing on both sides. I believe it was a situation older and bloodier than the Israeli-Palestinian mess. Iraq was a one-sided ongoing project of mass murder and individual torture.

     As for being reflexive, on some things it simply has to be that way. I enjoy debating issues and any library issue is open to debate here, I'm not interested in just one-sided arguments. But some things in life have to be seen in black & white, gray keeps everyone lost.

(05:27 pm) How-To ?

     Last week I posted about the Marple Library and their unusual selection in sex education books. Some input from an emailer:

This has been a major issue in the Philadelphia area. Ann Abrams, the President of the Marple Public Library defended the purchase of such materials. In an editorial Ms. Abrams wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer she defended such materials. Ms. Abrams claimed that it was the library's mission to provide a wide range of timely materials and services to enrich the lives of the Marple community. I wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper protesting this line of reasoning on professional grounds. The letter was never published. Upon further investigation the Marple Public library has a substantial collection of materials surrounding alternative life styles as well as strong sexual content.

(05:17 pm) Whistlin' Past The Graveyard

     From one of my fans:

Fascinating!:

"The risk of WMDs in Iraq, the slaughtering of a people by Saddam, and they still wanted us to do nothing."

If that 1st person plural stands for people who recite unfounded whoppers, convincing themselves that, despite all evidence, they're true--indeed, so true that they constitute casus belli that justify killing + maiming--then, yes, you're right: I want you to do nothing. Please. Much more nothing; much less blogging. (Though it's a fine line, certainly, between doing blogging and doing nothing. Usually they amount to about the same thing.)

Lest you get carried away with the delusion that your suddenly-rising hit counts this week, product of Rory's linking to you on the PLG list, are evidence that you must be doing something right, don't lose site of this: your site's pathetic. It's a piece of crap. I've seen it once and that's way more than enough for these eyes. Invest the time in your library patrons instead.

Wednesday March 17, 2004

(07:10 pm) Home

     Night

(05:38 pm) Progressives

     ALA has a Social Responsibilities Round Table, I've mentioned them before. The SRRT page is hosted by libr.org. Libr.org:

... exists to provide communication services to librarians and library workers, individually and in groups, who believe in libraries as a social good and as an ideal pattern for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and who wish to promote progressive thought and action and a concept of social responsibility within the library world and in the world at large.

     They describe SRRT as:

The American Library Association's left-based social activist group.

     Love that 'left-based', don't you?

     Now Libr also hosts the Progressive Librarians Guild. Here's a little something of their stated purpose:

Members of PLG do not accept the sterile notion of the neutrality of librarianship, and we strongly oppose the commodification of information which turns the 'information commons' into privatized, commercialized zones. We will help to dissect the implications of these powerful trends, and fight their anti-democratic tendencies.

     One of their non-neutral members is Ann Sparanese, the librarian who helped Michael Moore publish his 'Stupid White Men' book and was also active in dissuading ALA from making a demand of Castro to release the librarians he had thrown in prison.

     Back to Libr for moment. A section is available called Librarians For Peace with various links including a petition to stop war in Iraq. Over 1200 signatures show they have their following. They even have a 'No Bombing in Afghanistan' petition but not quite as many signers.

     Farther down the Peace area is a fascinating article from LJ in 1940. It would seem that year at the ALA conference the Progressive Librarians Council voted and sent a message to President Roosevelt to stop getting involved with the war in Europe, stating:

We urge you, therefore, to keep America out of war and to protect the cultural achievements and civil liberties of the American people by ending loans and credits to warring nations and by solving our domestic problems constructively."

     The Progressives/Libr/SRRT want peace. They want democracy. They want to fight for human rights. But when the Nazis were invading Europe they wanted us to do nothing. When we were attacked on 9/11 they wanted us to do nothing. The risk of WMDs in Iraq, the slaughtering of a people by Saddam, and they still wanted us to do nothing. When Cuba throws someone into prison its to die, but when people are sent there because they are librarians, this group stands up for Castro. These are the people who are influencing ALA and they obviously have no interest in responsibility, social or otherwise.

(05:33 pm) MLA President

     Just an update, Katie Baxter did respond and said she would give her two cents on the debate , the other candidate, Jacqueline Rafferty, has not replied.

(05:23 pm) Anti-Spanish Libraries

     Courtesy of LisNews...

     A library in Kentucky is taking over a private Spanish language collection and using it as a base for a branch. The staff will all be bilingual.

(05:17 pm) Driving

     You gotta love New England. Lovely storm yesterday. I'm a half-mile from home crawling down a hill when I tap my brakes a bit too hard and find myself facing uphill. Luckily no one was hurt no cars were even touched although I had a good view of the person driving in the oncoming lane. Looked like she was saying something unpleasant.

Tuesday March 16, 2004

(04:35 pm) Home soon...

     Its snowin to beat the band so I'm headin out at 5 before it gets too dark. I will work on some projects at home and type them up tomorrow for posting.

     Just a note about that person who accused me of being a chickenhawk and was touting their family's military expertise. Turns out they're a member of the Progressive Librarians Guild. Stay tuned for more on the progressives tomorrow... its a doozy.

Night.

Monday March 15, 2004

(12:38 pm) Standards - what a concept!

     School Lib J has a site of the month section and this month is Highlander Way Middle School. In the brief article is this:

Google-free zone: By instituting a "no open Web search" policy, Hastings discourages students from jumping immediately to Google. He teaches them to check the databases and recommended Web sites instead and has broken many of their Google habits. That way, Hastings says, "our library research projects incorporate only the best sources, no matter how they are delivered."

(12:27 pm) Chickenhawkery?

     From an emailer:

[WEB Griffin had another Corps book come out in Jan which I hadn't known about called Retreat, Hell! Its a great series, very man's man kinda stuff which is always good for the ego....]

what always surprises my husband ( who was in Vietnam, during Tet) and my father (who was in the Pacific on an aircraft carrier during WW2) is the love of the idea of war by republicans, but their retreat from the dirty work by them and theirs...george and jeb's kids--all in their 20s--aren't serving now. nor did george, jeb, cheney.

     You shoot yourself in the foot with that last bit. W at least served if not in combat. Clinton outright dodged and then spent his presidency using the military like toys in a toy chest pulling them out and using them for whatever struck his fancy. Its been years and we still have not found the signs of mass graves that were supposed to be in Bosnia. We found evidence in Iraq in a matter of months.

     As for the love of war charge. You say war and think WWII, Vietnam, The Gulf. I say war and think WWII, Vietnam, The Gulf, and also gang violence, child predators, murderers, rapists, and the random acts of rage that seem to be increasing in our crowded society. None of these things are going away. There is always going to be some madman threatening your safety, whether its with an army or a switchblade. I believe men watch western and war movies the same way women watch Oprah, to find the qualities necessary to face the challenges that come our way. Griffin doesn't glorify war, he paints the kind of people it takes to fight and win one. Your father and husband have first hand experience with war and obviously gained the experience necessary to come out alive. The home you have now is all the safer and better for it. Don't knock it.

(12:05 pm) Comics

     A useful tool for libraries.

(12:04 pm) Elections