May 2004 Archives

Daniel Boorstin memorial turns into “book lovefest”

I have been reading The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World which has a lovely foreword by James Billington, current Librarian of Congress. His predecessor, Daniel Boorstin, died recently at the age of 87. A memorial service was held yesterday at the Library of Congress.

“If Boorstin is remembered for nothing else, he will always be known as the one who opened up the Library of Congress to the people. Until he came along, the library existed pretty much to serve Congress. Boorstin saw the world’s largest repository of knowledge as “a multimedia encyclopedia” and insisted that the bounty be shared with everyone.” [see sidebar if you need a login. thanks dsdlc]

how the other half seethes

Posted on 05May04 by jessamyn

Noted without comment: a pro-filtering anti-ALA opinion piece from Michnews.com by non-book-reader Arlene Sawicki. [lisnews]

the [another] anarchist in the library

Posted on 05May04 by jessamyn

Siva Vaidhyanathan is going on a tour to promote his book The Anarchist in the Library — a book about who is maintaining control over information in a world of digital knowledge, among other things — and is guest blogging over at the Lessig Blog this week. [copyfight]

word fun – google

Posted on 05May04 by jessamyn

Domain name registrations that include the word “google”. Of note: googlelibrary.com, stopgoogle.com, bannedingoogle.com, googleos.com.

today’s long-ass article on the PATRIOT Act is….

Posted on 05May04 by jessamyn

Resolving to Resist by Elaine Scarry is a long and worthwile article on how people are resisting the USAPA.

“Despite impediments to resistance, 238 towns, cities, and counties have now created a firewall against executive trespass in their communities. Though there are many differences between the resolutions… the resistance is built out of six identifiable acts”