Challenges for libraries in the face of a changing information environment: Library 2.0, intellectual freedom, librarian ethics
The West Bend library controversy continues to escalate....with calls for book burning and growing national exposure (and, unfortunately, ridicule). Here's the (abridged) history and escalation: [Updated on 6/19/09 to include ABC News coverage, and 7/22/09 to include CNN] 02/15/2009: Ginny…
Read More West Bend Library Controversy Continues to Escalate
The West Bend Community Memorial Library board held a public meeting this evening to consider the request from the "West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries" that the library remove books they consider to be "obscene" or "child pornography" from a…
I've written frequently about how the shift from accessing information in offline spaces to online spaces has particular privacy implications. For example, strikingly different privacy norms and expectations emerge when comparing information-seeking activities in libraries vs. bookstores vs. Google Book…
Read More Stutzman: Google exposes Book Search patron records
Hannah Yale, and art student here at UW-Milwaukee, has created an amazing gurellia art project, in collaboration with the UWM Library, called "The Original Google Project." Here's the description from its Facebook page: This project was designed as a collaboration…
The controversy over the status of various GLBTQ-themed books (and now, apparently, any "sexually explicit" books) in the young adult section at the West Bend Library has taken a turn for the worse. The city's common council voted against reappointing…
In recent weeks, two citizens of West Bend, Wisconsin have petitioned the West Bend Community Memorial Library to remove gay-themed books from a section designated “Young Adults,” arguing the books should be reclassified and placed in a restricted area requiring…
Read More UW-M School of Information Studies Statement of Support for the West Bend Library
I'm attending the Library 2.0 Symposium organized by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. We're only an hour into the agenda, and it has already been an incredibly provocative and enlightening event. You can follow the Twitter stream…
Read More Follow the Library 2.0 Symposium at Yale Law School
I'm pleased to announce my involvement in the "Library 2.0 Symposium", hosted by the Yale Information Society Project, to be held on April 4, 2009 at Yale Law School. From the press release: Library 2.0 Symposium to Explore the Future…
Read More Library 2.0 Symposium at Yale Law School (April 4)
http://blip.tv/play/AdmOeIz4Yw Educators often use (or want to use) copyrighted materials from mass media and popular culture in building students’ critical thinking and communication skills. For example, I often have students analyze a particular website or a television ad to identify…
Read More A Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
Banned Books Week 2008 is being celebrated September 27 - October 4, and is the 27th annual celebration of the freedom to choose what we read, as well as to select from a full array of possibilities. According to the…
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