Save RIF

A long while ago I posted about my fond memories of the Reading is Fundamental program. I never knew of the possibility of my schools falling into the low-income or at risk area categories -- all I knew was that I got books to call my own. When I wrote that initial post in 2004 - I wasn't a mother yet. Now I find my daughter enjoying the books I received, as a child, from RIF (even if she is just looking at the pictures - she is only 2). The program is accomplishing its goal in a new generation.

I don't think words can express the sadness I felt upon reading following (which I found via librarianwoes):

Press Release February 7, 2008

President Bush Eliminates Funding for Reading Is Fundamental’s Historic Book Distribution Program Serving 4.6 Million Children

Statement from Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO, of Reading Is Fundamental

"President Bush’s proposed budget calling for the elimination of Reading Is Fundamental’s (RIF) Inexpensive Book Distribution program would be devastating to the 4.6 million children and their families who receive free books and reading encouragement from RIF programs at nearly 20,000 locations throughout the U.S.

“Unless Congress reinstates $25.5 million in funding for this program, RIF would not be able to distribute 16 million books annually to the nation’s youngest and most at-risk children. RIF programs in schools, childcare centers, migrant programs, military bases, and other locations serve children from low-income families, children with disabilities, foster and homeless children, and children without access to libraries. The Inexpensive Book Distribution program is authorized under the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (SEC.5451 Inexpensive Book Distribution Program for Reading Motivation) and is not funded through earmarks. It has been funded by Congress and six Administrations without interruption since 1975.

“Since its founding in 1966, RIF’s programs have played an important role in improving literacy in this country. The U.S. Department of Education has shown that the number of books in a child’s home is a significant predictor of academic achievement. In addition, RIF programs also support academic achievement by involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and other caring adults in encouraging children to read for fun. We urge all Americans to contact their Congressional representatives and ask them to reinstate funding for this important program.”

If you have the time - write someone of authority and ask them to save RIF - by doing so they'll be saving generations of readers.

Job Posting | OKC

Technical Librarian, FAA, Oklahoma City, OK

Job duties: Serve as Technical Librarian maintaining a collection of books, periodicals, technical reports, and reference materials supporting Government users. Specific tasks include: inventorying and managing library collection; maintaining on-line and manual catalog entries and records; shelving, filing, and repairing library materials; preparing printed shelf list cards; and providing information and assistance to library users. Library is operated using Library of Congress subject headings and classifications, Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR II), and Cybertools for Libraries.

Desired skills: Bachelors degree required; prefer Masters degree in Library Science. Minimum of three years practical work experience as a Librarian, performing library cataloging and using Library of Congress procedures and Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR II). Must be computer-literate and have good interpersonal and communications skills.

To apply please visit: http://csdok.com/applyjob.asp?jobid=65

OK.gov reviewed by Libraryola

If you haven't looked at the e-goverment reviews at Libraryola you should.
Not a glowing review -- but not a horrid one either

...Gov. Brad Henry’s media center consists of black and white and color head shots, plus bios of him and First Lady Kim Henry in PDF form. For online user services, Gov. Henry has an e-newsletter and a legislative bill tracker, which are always nice. But one thing he offers that I don’t remember seeing before is the parole look-up service, in which you can check on the status of a specific prisoner’s parole or commutation....

LoC Native American Heritage Month Keynote Address

Found this via one of the Library of Congress's RSS feeds -- click on the link below to view it.

T I T L E: Native American Heritage Month Keynote Address by Rep. Tom Cole

SPEAKER: Rep. Tom Cole
EVENT DATE: 11/06/2007
RUNNING TIME: 54 minutes

DESCRIPTION:
Five years to the day after being elected to represent Oklahoma's 4th congressional district, Rep. Tom Cole delivered the keynote address for the Library's 2007 celebration of Native American Heritage Month.

Sen. Coffee brings you a gaming PSA

Found this via Gamasutra

The ESRB, in conjunction with Oklahoma State Senator Glenn Coffee, has unveiled a new Public Service Announcement campaign to explain and encourage parents to use video game ratings, timed to coincide with the holiday shopping season.
...
Said State Senator Coffee, “As a father, I know about the tough decisions parents face today about the media they allow into their homes. The simple fact is that there’s no substitute for parental involvement and responsibility."

He continued, "It’s important that parents play an active role in choosing games for their children, just as it’s important for Oklahoma retailers to comply with their store policies that restrict the sale or rental of M-rated games to those under 17. ESRB ratings are an effective and informative resource that allows parents to decide if the video game their child wants is appropriate. I’m proud to be educating parents in our state about the tools at their disposal.”

Perhaps Sen. Coffee would like to visit a local library during a teen gaming event and talk to them too? I have an idea for a costume he could wear to get his point across...

Update: Inhofe, NIH and OA

Open Access News posted an update regarding Inhofe and his amendment to the LHHS appropriations bill.

When Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) withdrew his two anti-OA amendments to the LHHS appropriations bill, he and Sen Michael Enzi (R-WY) filed a "colloquy" or speech to be added to the legislative history. Its primary purpose was to influence the conference committee to strike or weaken the NIH provision before sending the bill to the president. Here's the text of the colloquy (from the Congressional Record for October 23, 2007), complete but for the opening and closing courtesies:...

Mr. INHOFE. I would like to add my voice to Senator ENZI’s concern regarding the NIH public access mandate that would force private sector publishers to make their articles freely available on an NIH Web site. I am concerned that this proposal will harm the journal businesses, hurt scientific communication, and impose a severe regulatory taking on commercial and nonprofit publishers. I also believe that this change in policy could have a negative impact on the intellectual property protections for scientific journal articles. I believe this issue is different from making underlying scientific data available. I believe that federally funded scientific raw data should be available for other researchers to review. I would also ask that Senators HARKIN and SPECTER agree to work with me to revise this NIH provision when this bill is conferenced....

I'm glad to see that Senator Inhofe is so concerned about the financial well being of all the scientific publishing houses in his constituency area. After all we know there aren't any researchers, scholars, consumers, or patients who would need speedy free open access to research funded by public monies -- especially to help with their financial or physical well being.

Maybe a with a time machine we could get the Istook of 2004 to champion NIH open access to his Republican colleague?

Nominee for Attorney General - Thoughts on Librarians

Got this via SG - no link because the bulk of it is NSFW. Anyways, the Politics article, by FearTheReaper, today points out something about the potential nominee for US Attorney General, retired federal judge Michael B. Mukasey.

In May 2004 he wrote an editorial in the WSJ entitled 'The Spirit of Liberty'
Before attacking the Patriot Act, try reading it. In it he had this to say about ALA's criticism of the PATRIOT Act.

..More recently, a statute called the USA Patriot Act has become the focus of a good deal of hysteria, some of it reflexive, much of it recreational.

My favorite example is the well-publicized resolution of the American Library Association condemning what the librarians claim to believe is a section of the statute that authorizes the FBI to obtain library records and to investigate people based on the books they take out. Some of the membership have announced a policy of destroying records so that they do not fall into the hands of the FBI.

First a word on the organization that gives us this news. The motto of this organization is "Free people read freely." When it was called to their attention that there are 10 librarians languishing in Cuban prisons for encouraging their fellow countrymen to read freely, an imprisonment that has been condemned by Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel, among others, this association declined to vote any resolution of condemnation, although they did find time at their convention to condemn their own government.

In addition to the library association, many towns and villages across the country, notably Berkeley, Calif., and Amherst, Mass., have announced that they will not cooperate with any effort to gather evidence under the statute. A former vice president has called for the statute's repeal, and a former presidential candidate has called the act "morally wrong," "shameful" and "unconstitutional." ...

Yeah - just interesting.

Coburn to increase library funding for 2010!

Ha ha! Made you look!

The real headline from FCW.com is Lawmakers want online census for 2010 (here's additional info as well)

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) can’t understand why the U.S. Census Bureau has decided not to use the Internet for at least some part of the 2010 census.
...
“They could do a pilot so by the 2020 census they are online,” Coburn said after a hearing where he lambasted the bureau's director, Louis Kincannon, about this issue. “I can’t think of a reason not to do the census on the Internet. I don’t think anyone else would disagree with me.”

During the hearing, Coburn pointed to the Internal Revenue Service’s success with accepting tax returns online as an example for Census. He also said if other private-sector financial institutions can operate securely online, there is no reason the census cannot.

“I’m appalled that you are not at least trying to do this on the Internet,” he said. “We don’t have a vision to get this done. I will do everything I can to force the Internet down your throat with amendments. You are living in the past, not the future. I recommend you get on board for 2010.”
...
After the hearing, Kincannon said the 2003 test offered paper and Internet options, while the 2005 test offered only an Internet option.

“Overall, our response rate in the 2005 test was 5.7 percentage points lower than with paper,” he said. ...

As one of the lucky people living in Oklahoma who have fast Internet access at home and work I love the option of being able to file my taxes, banking, and many other things online. Heck I would even complete an online census if given the chance -- but I am also well aware that I am a minority when it comes to embracing technology. Heck, most of my colleagues don't even utilize technology in the same way or to the extent that I do. So I have to say I disagree with the Honorable Mr. Coburn.

The past several weeks I have been traveling to various libraries in Oklahoma and talking with kids and adults who do not have (or have limited) Internet access at home. These folks are lucky enough to have a local library with computers and Internet access. Yet many still have problems printing their tax W2s off the Internet when their employer only makes them available that way. So how would those Oklahomans be expected to interact with an online census form? Or does Oklahoma have such an over whelming response rate it can afford to miss the not so tech savvy folks? Or what about the many in Oklahoma who do not have Internet access or a computer at home and also do not have a library with convenient hours or stable equipment near them? Is the area Coburn represents not rural at all? So they don't have to worry about missing out on the information that would be obtained from a census? Better yet, will he set up mobile computer census labs to enable seniors, the poor, and non-tech savvy to get census assistance needed? Or will this online census be achieved by sampling the urban wired areas and to hell with the rural?

My observation is -- as more government services move online or have options available for online completion the more libraries are required to fill the information gap. And this isn't just public libraries -- academic libraries also have to step in and help college students figure out federal student loan forms, tax filings, etc -- yet the libraries obtain no additional funding (and rarely free classes from federal agencies) to help educate or train the public or staff on these online government endeavors. Before any significant part of the census is moved online the people need to be assured that everything and more is being done to insure an accurate census for all demographics.

Many of our elected officials are demanding agencies cut spending by moving information retrieval and dissemination online -- yet they don't understand (nor care to) what it entails or who it impacts. Many are focusing so hard on their political legacy they forget what the world is like for those not so privileged. Heck they are even willing to force not well thought out change down our throats -- so open wide!

Government Documents - what would you teach?

Imagine if you would -- that you have the opportunity to teach a library school class on Government Publications. (I know hold back your excitement) The main focus is Federal information but State and Local will also be covered. What would you teach?

Would you focus on the branches of government and the type of publications they produce? Start from the top down and explain the "types" of information produced? Or perhaps -- instead you would look at the history behind the need for a government office dedicated to printing and disseminating information to the masses -- and how the online environment has changed the scope of material produced? Would it be better to do a practical hands on course or one that looks at the ethics and democratic obligations behind such a system? Can you teach both in the same course? Would you look at how the government uses said publications to push particular foreign policy agendas? Or how change in administrations change the structure of the system over time?

I remember when I took the class in grad school it all kind of blurred together. But I really liked the instructor. None of it was real though until I got my first job as a documents librarian. I felt completely lost. Nothing I had learned in class prepared me for the actualities of government documents and the FDLP. Yeah sure I could whip up a mean bibliography on a given topic at the drop of the hat -- and even find the really freaky morbidity and mortality items out for you -- but I didn't really understand the importance of government documents for the masses.

The library school class I took prepared me for the day to day reference duties of working in government documents -- but didn't really create a passion for free access to government information. Touching the documents and my history degree brought the other aspect alive and made me look at the democratic principles involved in the depository system.



But not all librarians get that opportunity in the workplace and so they are always a stranger to the real need for government documents (beyond tax forms). Truth be told -- many times documents librarianship is viewed as some strange sub genre for the ultra odd -- those too weird to even be catalogers go into the field (and don't even mention those who catalog documents). Which is a shame that image exists -- IMHO documents librarians are perhaps the most patriotic individuals in the field and care deeply for the user's right to know -- and the need to preserve such information for future generations. Simply put - they are a wonderful group of people.

So seriously -- if you had the opportunity to teach a library school government documents class what would you do?

Law Librarian Blog tells OSU good job!

Many years ago, in an other life, I was a Government Documents librarian. I never felt prouder of my country than seeing the wonderful free information standards our government had put in place. Oklahoma State University's FDLP Documents Collection works on a special project for GPO that Law Librarian Blog highlights today.

Remember GPO's Subject Bibliographies Index? Browse Topics, an online finding tool, organizes US government websites using the index headings from the Subject Bibliographies Index as the basis for the site's main topic list. Browse Topics is managed by Oklahoma State University Edmon Low Library. Great job!

The best part about this resource is it accepts contributors to topics - so if you have an expertise in a topic you can help develop the webliography on the subject!

ZDNet | Judge rules COPA unconstitutional

ZDNet | Judge rules COPA unconstitutional

A federal judge has ruled that the Child Online Protection Act, which would have criminalized much of the sexual content on the Internet, violates First and Fifth Amendment rights.

The 1998 U.S. law included both civil and criminal penalties for those who make sexually explicit materials freely available on the Web.

U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over the trial involving several online publications and the American Civil Liberties Union, ruled that COPA is "impermissibly vague and overbroad" to be constitutional, and that there are other less-restrictive means available for protecting children from content deemed inappropriate.

In addition, Reed said, the law would "undoubtably chill a substantial amount of constitutionally protected speech for adults."

"As a result, I will issue a permanent injunction against the enforcement of COPA," said Reed in his ruling (PDF: Final adjudication on COPA)...

LC Hit By $47 Million Cut in Digital Preservation Funds

Found this via LISnews -- LJ reports:

It sneaked under a lot of people's radar, but the Library of Congress (LC) has lost $47 million in promised federal funds for digital preservation efforts, and it's unclear how many projects and programs will be affected. After the February 15 passage of P.L. 110-5, $47 million "of the unobligated balances available for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program" (NDIIPP) was rescinded. "The Library of Congress is in the early stages of evaluating the impact of this rescission, and no decisions have been made on the future of the program, which continues to operate," LC spokesman Matt Raymond told LJ. "We are hopeful that funds may be restored in fiscal year 2008.

"The issue for us, and what we're working on, is getting that money put in for '08," said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington Office. She said she'd learned that LC had decided not to fight the decision, since it would've been a losing effort. The practical impact is yet unclear, but NDIIPP derives from a law passed in December 2000 that appropriated $100 million to LC. "Increasingly, digital content embodies much of the nation's intellectual, social, and cultural history," LC said in its announcement of the program, noting that it "will seek to provide a national focus on important policy, standards and technical components necessary to preserve digital content."

Of the initial funding, according to LC's summary, "Congress specified that $5 million of the appropriation may be spent during the initial phase for planning as well as the acquisition and preservation of digital information that may otherwise vanish." Also, the legislation authorized "as much as $75 million of federal funding to be made available as this amount is matched by nonfederal donations, including in-kind contributions." It's yet unconfirmed that the $47 million came from this total. Librarian and blogger Karen Schneider, who wrote with dismay about the cuts last month, commented that she had been to an NDIIPP partners meeting and was impressed by the "many successful projects designed to protect our digital brain trust for many generations ahead."

Wired News | Open Access Launches Journal Wars

The $10 billion science publishing industry hasn't heard the last of a bill that would make publicly funded studies available for free.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has pledged this year to resurrect the Federal Research Public Access Act (S.2695), which would require federally funded research to become publicly available online within six months of being published.

"When it's the taxpayers that are underwriting projects in the federal government, they deserve to access the very things they're paying for," said Cornyn spokesman Brian Walsh. "This research is funded by American taxpayers and conducted by researchers funded by public institutions. But it's not widely available."

The largest journals can rake in tens of millions of dollars a year in subscriptions and advertising. Mandatory open access could kill off traditional journals if readers decide they don't want to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually for material that's eventually available for free.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Connecticut) was first introduced last year, but it never went to a vote. Cornyn plans to reintroduce it later this year, Walsh said.

Groups including the Alliance for Taxpayer Access are rallying behind the bill. And the student organization FreeCulture.org has declared February 15 National Day for Open Access in support of the bill.

In response, publishers have hired Dezenhall Resources, a public relations firm famous for its aggressive tactics in high-profile cases, to disparage aspects of open source publishing....

Database of US Congress votes

Found this via the Law Librarian Blog

"This site, washingtonpost.com's U.S. Congress Votes Database, is a deep database of every vote in the United States Congress since the 102nd Congress (1991). It lets you browse votes in a variety of ways -- both in aggregate and for individual members of Congress.

Browse the database by drilling down to a particular Congress (e.g. 109th Congress) or particular member (e.g. 109th Congress senators).

This site publishes an RSS feed of recent votes by each member of Congress, and a feed of the most recent votes in both chambers. See the RSS page for full details."

Job Posting | OKC

Programs Manager

Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Salary: $25,000 - $49,999
Status: Full-time
Posted: 02/20/07
Deadline: 03/09/07


Programs Manager
The Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services is seeking a full-time Programs Manager, H10B, with duties of an administrative librarian for the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. For further information regarding qualifications, salary, and benefit package please contact Kim Hudson at 405-951-3454 or email kkhudson@drs.state.ok.us.

Learning.now | A closer look at DOPA Jr.

Learning.now | Lifting the Hood on DOPA Jr.

Let’s take a look under the hood and see what’s going on with DOPA Jr., and how it may affect every educator who uses blogs and other Web 2.0 tools in their teaching.
...
DOPA Jr. goes beyond the scope of the 2006 bill by covering a broader range of changes in the law. It contains three sections, or titles: Protecting Children, Deleting Online Predators and Children’s Listbroker Privacy.
...
The title also adds an exception “during use by an adult or by minors with adult supervision to enable access for educational purposes.” Supporters of DOPA have argued that this exception would mean that interactive tools wouldn’t be banned outright, and would allow teachers to use them in supervised activities. Critics, however, reply by noting that many school districts do not give individual educators the ability to de-activate filters as needed, either preventing them outright or setting up so much red tape that teachers just don’t bother. Assuming this is the case, even if the bill contains this exception, in practice, many educators won’t have the ability to use interactive sites in their teaching. And there’s nothing stopping schools from ignoring the exception and blocking any site that whiffs of Web 2.0itude, perhaps in the fear that it’s better to be safe than sorry in today’s litigious environment.
...
From an educator’s perspective, there’s no doubt the focus of discussion will be on Title II of the bill. Very little has changed since the original DOPA language was introduced in May 2007. I’m sure that the anti-cyberbullying aspects of the bill will be seen as a step in the right direction, though its lack of clarity on the subject may raise some eyebrows....

More DOPA n ur internetz tubes

From ZDnet.com | Congress off to slow start with tech

Reining in social-networking sites: Last summer, over the objections of civil libertarians, librarians and educators, the House overwhelmingly approved the Deleting Online Predators Act, which would restrict ambiguously defined social-networking sites in schools and libraries that receive federal funding. The proposal ultimately died last year, but on the first day of the 110th Congress, Sen. Ted Stevens, a veteran Alaska Republican, reintroduced identical language in what he portrayed as a renewed effort to protect children online.

Law librarian blog | Web chat now available on FirstGov.gov

From Law Librarian Blog
Visitors to FirstGov.gov can now use Web Chat for live online help in answering government-related questions. During its six-month pilot phase, Web Chat will be available Monday through Friday from 12:00 noon until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.