The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) are concerned that the EPA library reopenings will not return the libraries to the state they were before they were shut down.

Here are few of the concerns:

• The minds which plotted their closure remain in charge
• Most of the re-opened new libraries will be housed in less space and one, in Chicago (formerly the largest regional library), will re-open without permanent furniture and shelving
• Collections are broken up and disbursed in a fashion that they may never be reassembled
• Library acquisition and management decisions are done under a political appointee

This week’s episode of Spark on the CBC gives an interview with Ron Deibert who runs the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. His digital wishlist for the Canadian election is available as a video and can be summarized in three excellent points:

1. An elected government should ensure net neutrality
2. An elected government should protect the Internet internationally to ensure free, unfettered access to information in all countries
3. An elected government should support technological innovations that have goals other than those of making money (or those that follow the market rationale). For example, technological innovations that can support human rights.

Ron Deibert says that the Internet is a shared global communication medium but it’s being “carved up, colonized, and militarized” and an elected government in Canada should do all it can to stop this.

The CLA has put together an Election Kit that pulls together a series of issues of importance to the library community and how to bring those to the attention of the candidates. These include copyright, net neutrality, public library infrastructure, etc.

In the meantime, the CCPA has just come out with a free online book called The Harper Record.

This book gives a detailed account of the laws, policies, regulations, and initiatives of the Conservative minority government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper during its 32-month term from January 2006 to September 2008.

Of interest to libraries, the section entitled “Telecommunications on the Free(Market) Way“, by Marita Moll and Leslie Regan Shade.

Michael Geist was speaking at Concordia University last week. His “Why Copyright?” speech covered the history and fallout of bill c-61. It also gives an overview of why copyright has become such a huge issue for a many Canadians in 2008.

There is a great series on CBC’s Spark during the elections caled Canada’s Digital Wish List.

We’re asking people who work in technology and innovation to tell us what they think Canada needs to do now in order to be considered a major innovator in the future.

The first item on the list is given by Heather Creech, Director of Knowledge Communications at the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD). She wishes for a strong vision and national policy for our access to the Internet. She decries how Canada is no longer a leader in broadband access. She believes that the Internet infrastructure should be looked at as seriously as roads and health care. This infrastructure includes not only lines and cables, but also the content, the software, and the engineers that make the whole system work.

She definitely is dead on, but with the campaign being centered mostly on how low the shots can go, I’m skeptical about seeing such serious issues discussed by our leaders.

There have been a number of recent articles about Canadian librarian, Sherrill Cheda, who died June 7th, 2008. Cheda was a librarian at Seneca College, a columnist for Chatelaine, executive director of the Canadian Periodical Publishers Association, helped found the New Feminists in the early ’70s, and was also one of the co-founders of Emergency Librarian. See here, here and here for obits. Yesterday, Section 15 also had a great article about her.

This is the title of an interesting post by a colleague, Olivier Charbonneau. He writes about how the Harper government is refusing to make public a report by Health Canada that link Global warming to health problems. The government insists that the document is too big, and thus can only be provided on demand. A physician for Health Canada has therefore decided to make the report freely available for download on his blog. More info here and here.

Charbonneau mentions how in the USA, the government does not retain copyright on its publications, and that they are automatically put into the public domain, making them available immediately, without barriers to access. However true that may be, it does not stop the American government from pressuring scientists to submit reports that are convenient to the government, or have those reports rewritten by government policy makers. The Union of Concerned Scientists set up a webpage documenting political interference in science. Here is one example of how the government interefered with (and played down) a Congressional testimony on the dangers of global warming to public health.

Seems like the Harper government is taking notes.

Hugh McGuire has an insightful look at the publishing industry in Canada from the point of view of a first time author:

Chapters/Indigo has reduced space for books from 70% to 60%. The rest is candles and calendars (…) The result is that publishers aren’t taking many new writers. The big presses have kicked out their smaller performers; who are now getting picked up by the mid-range presses, meaning that mid-range presses aren’t taking new young writers any more, and small presses are swamped with manuscripts from both published and unpublished writers…with nowhere to sell their books.

Where do libraries fit in all this? How can libraries help to promote small independent presses and new authors? A post last year on LibrarianActivist gives a short reading list of articles on the topic. Here are a few more:

M. K. Browning. 1984. The Small Press and the Library A View from Confluence. Serials Librarian. 9(1):37-41.

“Small” presses are those which, because of the nature of their operations, put out short runs (250 to over one or two thousand copies) of the best efforts of regional poets and writers. There are a number of these adventitious industries alive and well in the Northwest. Regional and academic librarians should know of and support their efforts because they perform a vital function culturally speaking. They help to set the parameters of a genuine regional literature clearly and advantageously because they can and do foster a certain professional competition at their level.

Byron Anderson. 2006. Alternative Publishers of Books in North America, 6th Edition.

The directory is a unique reference tool that gathers information on significant alternative presses and places this under one cover. The information attempts to educate and bring more awareness of alternative presses to librarians and others interested in these publications.

Byron Anderson. May 2006. Getting Alternative Press Titles into Libraries. Alternatives in Publication Task Force. Social Responsibilities Round Table. American Library Association.

List of ideas for libraries and librarians on how to promote small presses.

Byron Anderson. January 2008. Bibliographic and Web Tools for Alternative Publications. from ALA’s Alternative Media Task Force.

Thanks to Nathan Whitlock of the Quillblog for this link to an article from the CBC, about Afghani bookseller, Shah Muhammad Rais, who you may remember from The Bookseller of Kabul. I couldn’t find the website, if it’s up yet, but there is contact info here.

There was a very thoughtful article in last week’s online Library Journal, about the disconnected adult population in the United States, and how (public) libraries can and should be helping them.

The article states that “roughly 3.8 million people nationwide between the ages of 18 and 24 are neither in school nor employed,” or one in six. Many groups call these young people - who identify as adults and are often facing very adult library information needs, such as materials on parenting, job finding resources, information about going back to school, etc. - the “disconnected youth.” They may bring their kids to our storytimes, or use our public Internet terminals, but we can do more by helping them build literacy skills and social networks, and by linking them up with community agencies for job or education assistance.

The article also astutely notes that we often “lose” these groups of adults when they are in middle school, so we should also focus on programs and services to this age group to, in part, help maintain and strengthen links to the community and to literacy at this age.

28-year old Kazuhiro Doi has been biking around Japan for the past two years, visiting libraries and sharing a collection of books about the environment and social issues with the Japanese public.

He says he first read a book by Think the Earth and was astounded by the “careless deeds human beings have imposed on Earth,” and was moved to make a collection of books available to people across the country.

So, he quit his job and built a custom bookmobile to attach to his bike. He has visited about 1,200 libraries in Japan so far, and hopes to visit every library in the country by the time he turns 30.

You may not have known that ALA has a policy (Policy 61) about library services to the poor. Similarly, you may not know that the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) has a task force called the Homelessness, Hunger, and Poverty Task Force (HHPTF).

That was a lot of background, all to say that the HHPTF recently addressed Policy 61 in its survey report, now online. The ALA charged thr HHPTF to survey ALA members about their knowledge of the polocy, identify key issues and trends, and make recommendations. The report concluded that member respondents identified poor people using various manners, didn’t collaborate to provide programs or services to the poor because there was no official policy within ALA to do so, and felt that there was a lack of professional guidance from ALA regarding library services to the poor. 85% of respondents advocated training staff to senasitize them to issues affecting the poor and barriers hindering library use.

The report recommended that ALA “clarify why library service to the poor is integral to our profession […] and not a fringe issue” (4). They suggested a number of specific ideas for ALA to this end, including a regular column in American Libraries, a dedicated ALA staff member, a toolkit for libraries interested in serving the poor, an ALA distinguished service award for libraries that successfully serve the poor, and an advocacy campaign similar to @ Your Library. They also suggested that, within libraries themselves, administrators include poor people and poverty-focused organisations in library decision-making (4).

Libraries who serve the poor are also asked to post resources to the Library Success Wiki.

The NewScientist has pubished a great article on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). According to Wikileaks, ACTA is:

a multi-lateral trade agreement of strict enforcement of intellectual property rights related to Internet activity and trade in information-based goods hiding behind the issue of false trademarks. If adopted, a treaty of this form would impose a strong, top-down enforcement regime, with new cooperation requirements upon internet service providers, including perfunctionary disclosure of customer information. The proposal also bans “anti-circumvention” measures which may affect online anonymity systems and would likely outlaw multi-region CD/DVD players.

Michael Geist has written abundantly on the topic, and the CLA has written an in depth brief to the Government of Canada on the topic back in April.

Here are a couple of quotes from the NewScientist article:

ACTA aims to make it easier to penalise and prosecute people running websites or networks that aid and abet the sharing of copyrighted content, including music, movies, TV shows and books. While copyright infringement is already illegal, policing it across multiple borders has been difficult (…)

So swift and secretive have deliberations been that ACTA might easily have slipped under the radar altogether had it not been for a discussion paper that leaked from a source close to the Canadian government this May. ACTA is ostensibly designed to create a global coalition against the counterfeiting of goods - ranging from medicines to aircraft spares and designer underpants - all currently covered by a confusing array of international laws.

ACTA would make it illegal not just to share copyrighted material, but to operate websites that index the locations of such material that people can download. It would also outlaw systems like BitTorrent or Gnutella that help users find files on “peer-to-peer” (P2P) networks of computers.

In June, the OECD had a Ministerial Conference on the Future of the Internet Economy. They published a report which is intended to help countries shape policies concerning the Internet economy. The themes that are addressed are the following:

• Making Internet access available to everyone and everywhere.
• Promoting Internet-based innovation, competition and user choice.
• Securing critical information infrastructures and responding to new threats.
• Ensuring the protection of personal information, respect for intellectual property rights, and more generally a trusted Internet-based environment which offers protection to individuals, especially minors and other vulnerable groups.
• Promoting secure and responsible use of the Internet; and,
• Creating an environment that encourages infrastructure investment, higher levels of connectivity and innovative services and applications.

There were some positive policy suggestions that were made, such as:

• Promote a culture of openness and sharing of research data among public research communities.
• Raise awareness of the potential costs and benefits of restrictions and limitations on access to and sharing of research data from public funding.

The OECD Civil Society Forum, comprised of the OECD Civil Society Reference Group and the The Trade Union Advisory Committee, produced a paper (and their own conference) intended to bring to the attention of the OECD Ministers assembled and the OECD member countries the concerns of those not represented at the Ministerial conference.

Their paper highlights the following:

The policy goals for the Future Internet Economy should be considered within the broader framework of protection of human rights, the promotion of democratic institutions, access to information, and the provision of affordable and non-discriminatory access to advanced communication networks and services.

Their recommendations cover

• Freedom of expression
• Protection of Privacy and Transparency
• Consumer Protection
• Promotion of Access to Knowledge
• Internet Governance
• Promotion of Open Standards and Net Neutrality
• Balanced Intellectual Property Policies
• Support for Pluralistic Media

The Canadian Telecom Summmit has allowed the Chairman of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstein, and the head of Canada’s Competition Bureau, Sheridan Scott, to bring Net Neutrality to the forefront as “one of the polarizing issues of the day [that] will have to be addressed and debated.” The CRTC is perhaps planning on holding a “major public consultation in order to obtain the views of interested parties.” Thankfully, the CLA and BCLA recently voted on a Net Neutrality Resolution. (see also the BCLA backgrounder (pdf) nicely put together by Devon Greyson)

SaveOurNet (here and here) and Michael Geist have more to say on the CRTC and Competition Bureau speeches.

In the meantime, SaveOurNet is having a party on Sunday June 22 to strategize about the next steps that need to be taken. The discussion will be led by Steve Anderson from the SaveOurnet.ca Coalition and Campaign for Democratic Media.

CBC’s radio show Search Engine is the most downloaded show on the CBC website in the News and Current Affairs section. It has won awards in the US and has a large following on Facebook and on their own website. It’s covered issues like Net Neutrality and Copyright, with the last show covering an interview with Minister of Industry Jim Prentice on Bill C-61.

What does the CBC do in the face of such success?

They cancel the show.

A blogger in Calgary has great ideas on how to make sure this show stays alive. Here’s a great quote from his blog:

(…)canceling CBC Search Engine is like extinguishing a bright torch in our digital democracy. If we want Canadians to stay informed and be engaged in well-reasoned debate, we can’t afford to see shows like Search Engine, an intensely focused source of information, be canceled.

He suggests calling CBC Audience Relations at 1-866-306-4636 to tell them what Search Engine means to you. Ask the operate to enter your comments into the system for the record. You could also write the CBC. I also think that someone absolutely needs to create a Facebook group.

Please help save Search Engine!

I have been remiss in not posting several important CLA/BCLA resolutions that have passed at their respective AGMs in May, one of which is a Resolution on CanWest and Free Speech. This resolution essentially asks that CanWest “withdraw its legal suit against Mordecai Briemberg and the others charged with having produced a parody of The Vancouver Sun in June 2007.” Both BCLA and CLA have written a letter to CanWest asking them to retract the lawsuit (which is a SLAPP).

Of interest perhaps is the recent book (Oct. 2007) written by Marc Edge, called Asper Nation, on the topic of the CanWest empire.

In April 2008, Library Juice Press published a collection of essays entitled “Questioning Library Neutrality: Essays from Progressive Librarian.” Jeff Lilburn has written a great review for the book for LibrarianActivist. Here’s a quote from the review:

The debate over neutrality in librarianship is one that has been ongoing for many decades and the essays collected here represent an important part of that debate. Lewis’ volume deserves to be required reading in all LIS programs.

Jeff Lilburn is a Public Services Librarian at Mount Allison University and has been interested in library neutrality for some time now. He has written on the topic in both the Feliciter and Progressive Librarian.

As blogged about on BoingBoing, a wiki has been created listing legitimate uses of P2P. It would be great to create an educational section with examples of the use of P2P in an academic setting.

Charlie Angus (NDP MP) has presented a private member’s bill on Net Neutrality. Bill C-552 is actually an amendment to the Telecommunications Act.

This enactment amends the Telecommunications Act to prohibit network operators from engaging in network management practices that favour, degrade or prioritize any content, application or service transmitted over a broadband network based on its source, ownership or destination, subject to certain exceptions. This enactment also prohibits network operators from preventing a user from attaching any device to their network and requires network operators to make information about the user’s access to the Internet available to the user.

The CBC writes that the Liberals have not yet given indication that they will support the Bill, preferring to let the CRTC intervene in cases of Net Neutrality infractions.

Line 36.2a in the Bill says network managers will still have the right “manage the flow of network traffic in a reasonable manner in order to relieve congestion;”. I’m not a legal expert, but what does “reasonable manner” mean. How will ISPs interpret that. Hopefully the CRTC will address this when it looks at the Bell throttling case.

PEER has reported that although the EPA libraries have been ordered to reopen their libraries, they are being placed in ridiculously small spaces with few resources. According to the news report pertaining to the Chicago EPA library::

• The re-opened library will be in a vacant reception area on the 16th floor of a federal building;
• The re-opened library will occupy less than one-tenth the area of the closed library and will be only slightly larger than the typical men’s restroom in that same building;
• No provision is made to restore the unique Great Lakes ecological collection or to recover any of the other holdings from the former library.

From 11h30 to 13h30 today, there will be a Net Neutrality Rally on Parliament Hill. (See CBC article). There will be some great speakers, like Charlie Angus (NDP MP) and Phillipa Lawson (CIPPIC). Ottawa-Gatineau WiFi will be providing roaming WiFi, so hopefully we’ll get some live bloggers?

To keep up to date on Net Neutrality info, Michael Geist has been writing a great blog on Neutrality.ca. Also consider joining the SaveOurNet coalition.

The Chinese America Library Association (CALA) is collecting donations to assist those devastated by the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province.

In addition to the thousands of lives lost, at least 21 libraries in the province were severely damaged or destroyed.

To make a donation please go to http://www.cala-web.org/forms/earthquakedonation.htm

Michael Dowling
Director- International Relations Office
Chapter Relations Office
American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
[email protected]
ph +1 312-280-3200
fax +1 312-280-4392
www.ala.org

(via CLA mailing list)

- JH

For those of you not on the CLA listserv, there was an announcement of the publication of “The Community-Led Libraries Toolkit” (pdf), put together through a project called the “Working Together Project” led by four public libraries (Vancouver, Regina, Toronto, and Halifax). The toolkit:

offers eight Tools for use by library staff as they work out in community spaces with socially excluded individuals. The Toolkit is based in the Project’s real-life experiences and the lessons shared are based on some of our challenges and successes.

Also published recently are two new reports (here and here) by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on the growing economic inequalities in Canada.

As though the American government didn’t learn from the EPA library closure fiasco and outrage, according to Library Journal, the NAL FY09 budget proposal includes a $3 million reduction. An excellent letter of concern was sent by the United States Agricultural Information Network to Washington. Here is a portion of the letter:

The President’s FY 2009 Budget Estimate includes $18 million for the USDA National Agricultural Library, a $4 million reduction from the FY 2008 Budget estimate, and $6 million less than the FY 2007 actual budget for the Library.

Significant changes proposed by ARS include redirecting $993,000 in AWIC funds to support NAL participation in a new digital portal for veterinary medicine; eliminating funding for the National Agricultural Law Center, the nation’s leading source for agricultural and food law research and information, which complements and works with NAL, which does not cover these areas; and most importantly, reducing funding for non-digital content/document delivery/Special Collections by $3,000,000.

As a national library, the print collection is core to researchers and the agricultural history of the nation. It is this reduction of $3,000,000 for the print collections that is of immediate concern. In FY 2007, NAL document delivery services filled 29,000 requests from the NAL collection for materials which were available in print-only–not available electronically. In FY 20009, such requests for print-only materials would not be filled.

The ramifications of the proposed reductions or redirections of NAL funding include not only the inability for NAL to fill requests for materials available only in print, but the complete cessation of book and journal purchases, and the inability to catalog and make available print materials already acquired. In addition, cancellation of the receipt of free publications from the U.S. and other countries would have a major impact. In recent years the USDA required all USDA-authored publications to be delivered to the NAL; but what good is this if there no money to catalog them and make them findable?