Peter Lor’s Library ABC

Posted on 2012-12-27 by Peter Lor

The content of this post has been moved here.

 

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Access to knowledge handbook

Posted on 2010-09-11 by Peter Lor

Consumers International (CI), the world federation of consumer groups founded in 1960, has released the second edition of its handbook, Access to Knowledge: A Guide for Everyone. Its aim is to provide a concise and nonspecialist introduction to IP and A2K issues, and selected related issues of communications rights and access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). Its intended readership includes consumer groups and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) who wish to become more knowledgeable in this area, individual academics and activists who could use a simple reference guide to the many related issues of A2K, and consumers at large who are affected by unfair IP laws and practices.

The first edition of this book was distributed with a DVD copy of Consumers International’s film When Copyright Goes Bad, and also included a range of freely-licensed books, videos, software, photos and music recordings on DVD ROM. This has been removed for the second edition, but the film remains available for viewing or download from Consumers International’s Web site at http://A2Knetwork.org/film. Some minor corrections to the text have also been made in this edition.

It can be downloaded in pdf format in English, Spanish and French at http://a2knetwork.org/announcing-access-knowledge-guide-everyone.

(Adapted from Preface.)

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Pirates!

Posted on 2010-08-14 by Peter Lor

There is never a dull moment at an IFLA Congress. This afternoon in Gothenburg we were addressed by a pirate. The joint session of FAIFE (Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) and the Section of Information Technology featured Christian Engström, who represent’s Sweden’s Pirate Party (Piratpartiet) in the European Parliament.

He started by drawing an analogy between Pirate Bay (where people can obtain copyrighted stuff free of charge for their personal enjoyment) with libraries, where people can obtain copyrighted stuff free of charge for their personal enjoyment. (Of course, I have used the word “obtain” to refer to two rather different operations. And Mr Engström eliminated public lending right (PLR) from the discussion. PLR is a mechanism in terms of which authors in some countries receive payments in proportion to the number of times their books are borrowed by library patrons. He does not consider this to constitute compensation of rights holders but rather as a form of cultural policy to encourage Swedish authors. All this, of course, is a bit more complicated than can be put in a few sentences.)

Mr  Engström stressed that the Pirate Party does not want to abolish copyright, but to reform it. Copyright should be confined to business-to-business transactions and not apply to what private citizens do to gain access to information and culture. Here is his party’s reform agenda:

(1)    The moral rights of authors should remain unchanged. (In fact, he claims that netiquette already ensures this, since on the Internet there is peer pressure for people to give credit for materials they borrow from others, by making links to the original sites.)

(2)   All non-commercial use should be free, as it was for all practical purposes, until about twenty years ago.

(3)   The term of copyright should be reduced to five years. (He says no serious investor expects payback on an investment to come seventy-plus years down the line.)

(4)   Rules on derivative works should be relaxed, since all culture builds on previous work. [I like this. Most of Shakespeare’s storylines were lifted from other authors. Under the current copyright regime Shakespeare would be spending too much time in court to write any plays. PJL]

(5)   DRM technology should be banned.

Mr Engström mentioned two reasons for this position:  First, culture is a good thing, and relaxing copyright restrictions will stimulate cultural production. Second, in the digital age copyright can only be enforced by monitoring all private communications on the Internet, which would be an intolerable invasion of privacy.

Points to ponder…

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Marathon session, August 12th

Posted on 2010-08-12 by Peter Lor

After hearing Henning Mankell’s deservedly well-attended plenary address, I spent most of the rest of today in the joint session of the sections of Management of Library Associations, Library Theory and Research, Management and Marketing, Education and Training, and Statistics and Evaluation, and the SIG for LIS Education in Developing Countries (sessions 87 and 97). This was the first part of a two-year initiative to clarify and give direction to LIS research for national advocacy.  The two keynotes were especially noteworthy. Sue Hutley spoke about a comprehensive national advocacy program in Australia and in doing so gave a thorough, all-round introduction to national advocacy for LIS. See http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/87-hutley-en.pdf.

The second keynote, in the afternoon session, was by Sharon Markless and David Streatfield, who spoke about “Impact evaluation, advocacy and ethical research: some issues for national strategy development”, available at http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/97-markless-en.pdf.  This was a thoughtful and thought-provoking paper, of interest on the one hand because the authors presented a kind of typology in which national evaluation and advocacy activities were related to the level of library development of various categories of countries — grist to my mill of international and comparative librarianship. On the other hand, they raised a number of ethical issues relating to in-house and outsourced evaluation exercises. Warmly recommended.

A bit late in the day, let me use this opportunity to encourage anyone who is still hesitating about getting up early enough tomorrow, to do so and attend Hans Rosling’s plenary address at 08:30 in Hall B.  Why? Check out http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html.

Enjoy!

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Högsbo Public Library, August 10th

Posted on 2010-08-10 by Peter Lor

One of the pleasures of not being a secretary general is being able to join in activities that ordinary delegates can take time out to do, such as library visits. This year I chose Library Visit #18, to Högsbo Public Library. It serves a population of around 17.000 in a suburb of Gothenburg and is located in a building erected in 1954 as part of a small shopping center. The building, which was extended in 1999, is not particularly striking but it seems functional and has worn well. A collection of around 30.000 items is on offer, and around 600 library visits are recorded daily. The staff numbers six, of whom four librarians. And they keep pretty busy. We were impressed with the activities on offer. This is grassroots, community-orientated librarianship in action, Swedish style.

See a few pictures of my visit at: http://picasaweb.google.com/PeterJLor/HogsboPublicLibrary#

Thank you, Swedish colleagues, for arranging this visit and the many others, and thank you, Högsbo librarians, for your hospitality.

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Borås, August 8 & 9th

Posted on 2010-08-10 by Peter Lor

I’ve been in Borås attending the IFLA/ALISE/EUCLID Satellite Conference on Cooperation and Collaboration in Teaching and Research: Trends in Library and Information Science Education, which was held in the Swedish School of Library and Information Science. I kicked off the program with a presentation, co-authored with Johannes Britz, on “Internationalization of LIS education: practical partnerships and conceptual challenges” (http://conf.euclid-lis.eu/index.php/IFLA2010/IFLA2010/paper/view/1). In it I continue my exploration of conceptual issues in comparative librarianship, and extend the discussion to international LIS research, education and community service more generally.

After the coffee break I faded out somewhat due to lack of sleep (jetlag), but in Session 2B I heard Jagtar Singh (Punjabi University) speaking about trends and issues in LIS education in India. He reported on India’s plans for a ginormous expansion of higher education in his country, which aims to set up 1500 new universities by 2015. (I’m pretty sure I got the number of zeros right.) For LIS the problem is not so much the number of schools and places, but quality control. He mentioned that there is scope for international collaboration.

Also in Session 2B, Pauline Rothstein spoke about “The dual master’s degree program as a model for educating subject librarians for academic libraries”. This is an interesting and apparently successful initiative which enables students who intend to make a career as subject librarians to obtain two master’s degrees while studying for them concurrently, one in LIS and the other in another discipline. There may be possibilities here for students wanting to go into area studies.

Elisam Magara (Makerere University, Uganda) gave a comprehensive report on the program to upgrade LIS in Southern Sudan: “Regional collaborative LIS education programme: a roadmap for educating librarians in Southern Sudan”. This complements a report given by Ane Lanøy (University of Bergen, Norway) and Maria G.N. Masoke (University Librarian, Makerere University, Uganda), on “Skills acquired and passed on: the collaboration between the University of Bergen and Makerere University and their new partners in the North and South” at the IFLA Pre-conference on LIS Education in Developing Countries, in Milan, Italy, August 2009. In the case of assistance to very poor developing countries I have long advocated the formation of library triplets in preference to twinning. By a triplet I mean collaboration by a developed country and a relatively advanced developing country to assist a less developed country. In this case the triplet consist of institutions from Norway, Uganda and Southern Sudan. The involvement of Uganda means that the assistance is mediated by an institution in a developing country located in the same region which faces comparable challenges. Not only does this reduce project costs, but it also ensures that the assistance is offered at an appropriate level by colleagues who understand the situation of the recipients.

There was more of interest, of course. Most of the presentations can be found on the pre-conference website at:

http://conf.euclid-lis.eu/index.php/IFLA2010/IFLA2010/schedConf/presentations.

This was a small conference with about 60 participants, paced in such a way that we were able to communicate with one another. Borås was a pleasant (albeit rainy) venue, and not to far from Gothenburg. Well organized by our hospitable Swedish colleagues. Thank you!

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TWIL: This Week in Libraries

Posted on 2010-07-30 by Peter Lor

Based at the Amsterdam Public Library, the Netherlands, TWIL has a weekly ‘vimeo’ post on library matters with an international flavor: http://www.thisweekinlibraries.com/

The latest TWIL offering is TWIL#15, an interview with Dr Stuart Hamilton, IFLA’s Senior Policy Adviser.  It can be viewed at: http://www.thisweekinlibraries.com/?p=115

Stuart is a British librarian who worked in public libraries in the South of England, then went to London to do his MLS.  For his master’s thesis he visited Cuba and to study the Independent Libraries movement there. Then he worked for IFLA’s Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) office in Copenhagen, Denmark. While there, he obtained a PhD at the Royal Danish School of Librarianship and Information Science. His dissertation was on barriers to access to information on the Internet.  He then took a ‘sabbatical’ and spent the best part of 18 months walking across the USA from east to west, in the process visiting over 100 libraries and even more bars. He has a gift for making friends and drawing out people, and had a great, sometimes hilarious, time in the US.

In the interview Stuart discusses IFLA’s policy work in the areas of freedom of access to information and intellectual property issues, about cuts to library funding in the UK, library volunteers, IFLA-ALP library development projects, and the the upcoming IFLA Congress (Gothenburg, Sweden, 2010). Although we get to see one of his walking shoes, unfortunately he doesn’t really get to talk about his long walk on this show.

It’s a long video. The interviewer burbles and mumbles a lot. Fast-forward a bit to get to the actual interview.  Enjoy!

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Fasting for school libraries

Posted on 2010-07-28 by Peter Lor

I’ve just received an e-mail from the mailing list of LIASA, the Library and Information Association of South Africa, inviting members to join a 24 hour fast for school libraries, which is being organized by Equal Education (http://www.equaleducation.org.za/). This effort deserves to be more widely known. Here are some details:

Equal Education: 24 Hour Fast for School Libraries

 

Minimum Norms and Standards for all Schools!

One School, One Library, One Librarian!

 

WHAT IS THE 24 HOUR FAST FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES?

Equal Education (EE) calls on everyone to join our Fast for School Libraries from 6:00 pm on Thursday 29 July until 6:00 pm on Friday 30 July to show government that all children deserve a quality education which includes properly stocked libraries, managed by librarians.

WHY IS EQUAL EDUCATION FASTING (NOT EATING) FOR 24 HOURS?

As a result of EE’s consistent campaigning a National Policy recognising the need for a library or library stocks in every school was published by government on 11 June 2010. In addition, School Libraries Guidelines have been drafted, but these must be improved to give schools a clear instruction to establish libraries and must be accompanied by a budget allocation. It is crucial that post for school librarians are established. Most importantly, Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure must be finalised for all schools. All these document will only be implemented when government has a budget, plan and timetable to ensure that all schools in South Africa have libraries with a librarian. The campaign is working but there is a long way to go!

WHY LIBRARIES?

Education is very unequal in South Africa. Only 8% of schools in South Africa have functional libraries. Libraries play a critical role in building literacy by developing a culture of reading. They provide access to much needed information and resources and are safe places to study. This is a matter of freedom, justice and equality. Everyone has the same rights – rich and poor.

WHY FASTING?

EE has written a dozen letters to government, met with key officials, held numerous marches and delivered the largest education petition since democracy in South Africa. Some are hearing us, but others still need to be convinced. The decision to fast was taken by the EE members themselves and has been approved by the Board.

There is a long history of hunger being a tool of struggle. EE members have studied the history of the Suffragettes in the UK, the student protests in Tiananmen Square in China, and the ongoing struggle for the DREAM Act in the Unites States. We will not be starting a hunger strike, but rather we will be fasting for 24 hours.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

o Eat supper before the Fast on 29 July together with others and then fast until 6:00 pm on 30 July.

o Wear the Fast Sticker on 30 July when you wake up to show that you are fasting.

o Write a letter to the editor of your favourite newspaper to explain why you’re fasting for libaries.

o Get at least 4 other people to join the Fast with you & fast in a group. <CUT>

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The Book: First installment

Posted on 2010-07-28 by Peter Lor

At long last I’ve posted the first installments of the book, which I have provisionally entitled International and comparative librarianship: a thematic approach. I’m making it available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.

This license means that you are welcome to download this work and share it with others as long as you mention me and link back to me, but you can’t change the work in any way or use it commercially.

Click here for the title page, preface and synopsis, and here for Chapter 1.

I look forward to comments.

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