Blog Project: Week of June 20-26

Annoyed Librarian

In Anarchists @ your Libraray, the AL refers back to the criticism of libraries by "the Boss" in Oakland.  She thought that surely if the Oakland libraries lost the financial battle, they would win the intellectual one.  Unfortunately, there may be a setback.  Pro library protests are being made by an "anti-capitalist initiative" called Bay of Rage.  The reason this may be a setback is because these people are basically anarchists, and anarchists tend to annoy people.  They will do no good to save the library, leading people to believe that libraries are social institutions, which they pretty much are, but attaching that kind of name is not so good.  The Bay of Rage group believes that the city should cut the number of  police before it closes down the libraries. They also compare the libraries to banks because they are both open for borrowing, lending, etc.  That point is not really clear.  Alot of their comparisons are just confusing and don't make much sense.  The group says  there is something "old-fashioned" about libraries and they are all about sharing.  In their article "Anarchy in the Library", they say that "knowledge and information should be accessible to all for free and ideas are not private property of the elite or even those who create the idea."  This idea is essentially one of the beliefs of most libraries, and other institutions.  However, the whole anarchist's idea that everything belongs to everyone does not coincide with the principles of the public library. Then AL compares anarchists principle with public library principles showing why their idea wouldn't work.  The opposing sides are too extreme in this argument.  They really just need someone to step in with some reason and figure it out.
My thoughts:While I can see the point of the anarchists, it is dangerous to have groups like that on your side.  Like AL said, anarchist groups tend to annoy people and sometimes frighten them.  Many members of the public may want the libraries to stay open, but you start throwing around words like "social institution" and people get weird, even if they are true.  I believe that Oakland can find some sort of compromise in these hard times, and do a better job of trying to keep these libraries open.  Closing 14 of 18 libraries for a major community seems a bit drastic.

Upcoming Council Controversies!
AL discusses the upcoming ALA conference and some resolutions to be debated and possibly passed.  One is about Wikileaks.  The resolution supports the right to publish leaked government documents, claiming this is backed by the Library Bill of Rights.  AL doesn't believe this to be necessarily right.  If it is okay to publish government documents, then does it make it okay to publish all documents, including those involved in the safety of witness protection or espionage?  It is possible for Wikileaks to expunge names and other material that may be harmful from the documents, but who decides what is harmful?  AL does not believe that the Library Bill of Rights supports this and thinks that if everyone had full access to government documents, we would be less safe.
There is also a resolution to release Pfc. Bradley Manning, who was arrested in May 2010 for allegedly passing restricted documents to the website Wikileaks.  The resolution calls for his release from pre-trial confinement and for the charges against him to be dropped.  Most people see him as a whistleblower, not really a traitor.  AL believes that this resolution is pointless, because the likelihood of the charges being dropped is practically none.
Another reslolution being debated is about self-service holds. This resolution calls for libraries to reject practices of putting patrons information on materials that are in view of the public.  This is to protect patron identity and their right to privacy for what materials they may be checking out.  Practices to conceal patron identity on materials should be enforced.  AL believes this is overboard, as most patrons using self service for pickup of holds don't seem to mind.  If passed, AL does not believe these resolutions will be effective or widely followed.
My thoughts: I think that the public should have access to government documents, but I don't think that applies to all documents.  I do see the reasoning behind keeping some documents private due to safety issues, however, there may not be an easy solution to determine which documents can be public and which need to be private.  The issue with the self-service holds is something I am more familiar with.  The Hillsborough County Library District practices a self-service hold pickup.  I have never thought that it could be an invasion of privacy.  My biggest concern was that someone could come and take my materials off the shelf! Of course, I guess maybe the librarian wouldn't let them check it out, but it was always a thought going through my head.

Hey Jude

There was only one blog post this week from HJ.  It was called Leaders Can Make Magic Happen Too.  She states that leaders in schools are also responsible in helping to change the teaching culture.  "Good" teaching has to make good use of technology.  She states that technology is used to think and learn, not because it is cool or teachers have to use it because of curriculum requirement.  The action now has been moved from teaching the teachers how to use the technology to encouraging them to "think with and because of the technology."  She also goes on the discuss a conference workshop at theTara Anglican School which is based on these ideas.
My thoughts: The ideas of HJ