Progressive Librarians Guild: UA Chapter!

Wrap up and thank yous

2008-12-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

Originally sent as an email:

Hi Everyone,

First, you will see this in the minutes, but to let you know officially, we voted last night that our new meeting time for Spring semester will be every other Wednesday from 5:15-6pm in the SIRLS multipurpose room, starting with January 14th. There are no classes on Wednesdays in spring, so there shouldn't be any conflicts! These dates have been noted on our calendar (on the wiki) and per usual, you will receive meeting reminders as each meeting approaches.

Second, for an update on Spring events:

* Patricia Escarcega (also our new Fundraising Coordinator) has agreed to be Project Manager for the Google Books Project discussion event we are organizing with Professor Botticelli!
* We will be pursuing this, Steven's Intellectual Property Workshop for Progressive Librarians, and the Accessibility Workshop (on documents) with Dawn Hunziker. More ideas are welcome!
* We also have official liaisons to start talking with community groups we discussed working with or having dialogue with: Kristen and Brenda for Dry River, Rebecca for Read Between the Bars, and Steven for National Lawyers Guild.
* Finally, don't forget that newsletter submissions are due to Kristen (kkcure@email.arizona.edu) on December 13th! Email her with any questions or concerns, and if you're not already signed up to write something, you still can! We'd like to have the newsletters printed by Winter 504.

Last but not least (and sorry this is long, but I wanted to be thorough!)... a lot of thank-yous are well-deserved, so I'd like to go through and thank people individually here for all of their hard work.....

Rachel Cannady, who is graduating this semester, deserves a huge thanks for helping me to get our chapter of PLG going from the start... meeting with CSIL/ASUA for recognition, filing paperwork, opening the bank account, keeping accurate records, and being so flexible and willing to help out in any capacity possible! Rachel also organized our very very successful PLG Panel: What is a Progressive Librarian? -- she was our Vice President/Treasurer for the year!

Amy Chenail, Lisa Dillivan, Michelle Martin, Rebecca Blakiston, and Danielle Stanley were also all there in the beginning, helping to get PLG's mission statement, original constitution, brochures, and wiki together and written.

Rebecca Bliquez took on both Fundraising Coordinator AND Events Coordinator last semester when we needed an Events Coordinator in a pinch! Her grant-writing skillz helped us get the $462 club startup funding from GPSC that we sorely need, and she took the time to painstakingly hound them to get that money to us! Rebecca also has organized two fundraising events for us: yoga workshop fundraisers, where she has taught as a certified yoga instructor, helping to make PLG's events very unique and fit with our objectives. Rebecca will be our new Secretary in Spring!

Jacy Bell has been our reliable Secretary for the year, taking thorough minutes and posting them in a very timely manner. Jacy also took on organizing Lost Film Fest, which was no small feat. She was able to obtain all necessary funding and very successfully handled promotions. Jacy also organized two fundraisers, percentage days, with Jamba Juice over the summer. She connected us with having the Accessibility Workshop in the Spring, and also helped to create the membership form for our chapter.

Sho Ikeda was our Webmaster in Spring 2008, and he created information pages on the wiki for Breeze and listserv subscription, which have come in very handy. He also edited our first newsletter and designed our brochures.

Kristen Curé took over as Webmaster this semester, and deserves a big thanks for jumping right in and keeping the transition as seamless as possible. She got our website started and organized, and has been such a great addition to our group, especially for just starting SIRLS this past summer! Kristen was nominated and elected for Co-President in the Spring, which also means she will automatically become President for Fall 2009!

Finally, thanks to all of you for your help with participating in meetings, providing feedback, collaborating, bringing food to the PLG Panel, and for your motivation and friendliness. This has been a great semester, and I look forward to working with you again in Spring!

Congratulations to anyone graduating, and for everyone else, have a fantastic break (and don't forget to submit something for our newsletter) :)

Cheers!
Nicole

Panel on Progressive Librarianship

2008-09-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Join us for a panel on progressive librarianship: What is a progressive librarian? Find out for Free!

The panel will discuss progressive librarianship, including the PLG parent
organization, SRRT & Taskforce on the Environment, and the debate on
progressivism versus neutrality. This event will provide a better understanding
of what a progressive librarian does and the ideas behind the concept and
putting theory to practice.

Panelists include:
- Mary Feeney, Associate Librarian for the University of Arizona's Main Library
- Kay Mathiesen, Senior Lecturer at SIRLS
- Tom Wilding, Professor of Practice at SIRLS

Free raffle for one membership to PLG-UA, plus free vegetarian refreshments!

Please register here: http://www.tinyurl.com/plgpanelreg-fall08

Listing of scheduled meetings for Fall Semester

2008-08-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

This list is subject to change, but the following will be when future PLG meetings will take place for the Fall Semester 2008.

Please take note that we have switched our meeting days to Wednesdays, and once classes begin, the time will be 6:15-7:00pm. Meetings will convene in the SIRLS Multipurpose room at 1515 E. 1st St., on Cherry & 1st.

September: 3rd, (17th - brief meeting before Panel event)
October: 1st, 15th, 29th
November: 12th, (26th - optional)
December: 3rd

Inaugural Issue of the PLG: UA Chapter Newsletter!

2008-08-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Our first issue of the PLG: UA Chapter Newsletter is available! See it on our wiki front page.

As a new semester is approaching, we are looking forward to meeting new potential members and hope you will join us at our meetings and/or upcoming events!

Updates and LCSH Blogging Party in Library Journal

2008-06-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting activities and events in the works for Fall....

bringing Lost Film Fest to Tucson
organizing a web and pdf-accessibility workshop to learn how to make websites and pdf's more accessible to those with disabilities
working with Read Between the Bars to bring reading materials to local prisons
organizing a non-profit library
planning a panel discussing progressive librarianship
printing and distributing our newsletter
providing free workshops to the community

Library Journal wrote a very short blurb about the Radical Reference LCSH Blogging Party we participated in! Our suggestions of Bollywood Films and Freeganism are on the brief list of examples.

Hope you will join us at our next meeting: Wednesday, July 3rd at 5:15pm in the SIRLS multipurpose room. The following meeting will be at the regular day and time--Tuesday, July 15th, 5:15pm in the SIRLS multipurpose room.

Rad Ref's LCSH Blogging Party!

2008-04-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Library of Congress,

Progressive Librarians Guild: UA Chapter would like you to please add both Bollywood Films (proposed by Sanford Berman 14 August 2007) and Freeganism (also proposed by Sanford Berman, 28 June 2007).

This post is part of the Radical Reference Library of Congress Subject Heading Suggestion Blog-a-Thon.

1. Bollywood Films
When searching LC's online catalog, you have 103 entries for the keyword "Bollywood". According to Wikipedia, it is one of the biggest film producers in the world. Many of your collected materials even have the term Bollywood in the title, such as Bollywood: the Indian cinema story by Nasreen Munni Kabir.

From the publisher's description, "Culture and Global Change presents a comprehensive introduction to the cultural aspects of third world development. It contains 25 chapters from leading writers in the field which each offer their own particular take on 'culture' and explore the significance and meaning of cultural issues for different people in different parts of the contemporary world... this book considers the relationship between culture and development within a truly global context." This describes Culture and Global Change edited by Tracey Skelton and Tim Allen. If Bollywood is an important cultural issue and has had a part in influencing development in the Indian subcontinent, it should be substantial enough to warrant a subject heading.

2. Freeganism
Although a neologism, it still is not too new of a term to include; it began, officially, in the mid 1990's. This not only describes a movement, but an important extension of veganism, which "although the term "vegan" started in the United Kingdom about 50 years ago with the formation of the Vegan Society, the practice of not eating animal products actually began long ago." (from VeganNet)

There are 124 entries in the LC online catalog for the keyword "vegan", and 212,000 entries on Google for "freeganism". The site, Freegan.info explains the movement as,

"Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system where the profit motive has eclipsed ethical considerations and where massively complex systems of productions ensure that all the products we buy will have detrimental impacts most of which we may never even consider. Thus, instead of avoiding the purchase of products from one bad company only to support another, we avoid buying anything to the greatest degree we are able."

Considering the increase of people interested in socially responsible, green living, it would be an important topic to be able to research. Even Oprah had a segment on Freegans!

Most of the publications about the topic seem to be blogging and articles, yet not many books, but hopefully that will change in the near future. Having a subject heading for it might influence more non-electronic-only publications.

Sincerely,
PLG: UA Chapter

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Earth Day, aside from continuing to be environmentally responsible as always (we should try to be every day of the year, not just on Earth Day), consider joining the Task Force On the Environment, of ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT). It is free to join SRRT when you join ALA; if you don't want to join ALA, you can still take a look at what the task force is up to. \

Here are their objectives:

Promote awareness of environmental issues within ALA
Unite librarians and information professionals for mutual benefit and support
Provide TFOE members with opportunities for career development, skills enhancement, and leadership experiences
Facilitate networking among peers and professional associates
Provide services, programs, and publications that assist TFOE members and others in their careers, work places, homes, and in their communities

"Of Friends and Whirlwinds: Inquiry, Movements and 'Constituent Imagination' "

2008-04-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

Progressive Librarians Guild will be speaking at "Of Friends and Whirlwinds: Inquiry, Movements and 'Constituent Imagination'", on research and radical politics.

The event is Saturday, April 26th from 4-6pm at Dry River, and has been organized by the collective, Team Colors. (Map embedded below)

Donations will be taken for the space and speakers who have traveled.

PLG: UA will be talking about what librarians do and why libraries are political spaces; we will explain what a Progressive Librarian is, discuss our parent organization and other progressive LIS groups, such as Radical Reference and ALA's SRRT. We will also delineate our statement of purpose, what our plans are for the future, and how we hope to collaborate with community groups. We will provide brochures with this information as well as some useful resources, and also will be bringing information about the UA program for library science: the School for Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS).

More information follows....

"A series of talks on inquiry and movements from the upcoming journal "In the Middle of a Whirlwind: 2008 Convention Protests, Movement and Movements" and in celebration of the AK Press collection Constituent Imagination: Militant Investigations / Collective Theorization.

From the ivory tower to the barricades! Radical intellectuals explore the relationship between research and resistance. - from Constituent Imagination

With Conor & Craig of Team Colors, Jeff Juris (Assistant Professor of Anthropology at ASU West, member of CAROB [Central Arizona Radicals Opposing Borders] and the ASU West Border Justice Group), and a presentation from the Progressive Librarians Guild: UA Chapter.

Talks include:

Team Colors
Conor Cash - "In the Middle of a Whirlwind: 2008 Convention Protests, Movement, and Movements
Craig Hughes - "DIY and the Movement Beyond Capitalism in the United States"
(An expansion on his article in Constituent Imagination)

Jeff Juris
"Bridging the Divide between Activism and Research: Militant Ethnography as a tool for social transformation" (An expansion of his article in Constituent Imagination)

Progressive Librarians Guild: UA Chapter
An introduction to the group and brief talk about the national organizations Radical Reference and Progressive Library Guild, of which the UA Chapter is part.

Constituent Imagination: www.akpress.org
In the Middle of a Whirlwind: www.inthemiddleofawhirlwind.info

For more information: kevin@warmachines.info"

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Subpoena for TXTmob

2008-04-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

A little dated, but MIT Student Fights to Protect Activists' Privacy was recently put out in The Tech, MIT's newspaper. Edward A. Hirsch has been subpoenaed for archived text messages "in his TXTmob system, which he had developed to help protesters communicate during the 2004 Republican National Convention". "It was designed to help activists spread information among themselves and to journalists, legal observers, and medical help by sending text messages to many cell phones at once." This could set a precedent for other similar cases with First Amendment rights involving "Internet speech" and also dealing with the 1986 Stored Communication Act, part of the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act. (This article was found through Radical Reference)

PLG Yoga Fundraiser!

2008-04-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

PLG: UA will hold our first fundraising event on Saturday, May 10th. It will be a yoga class with Rebecca Bliquez, our Events Coordinator and Fundraising Coordinator, who is also a certified yoga instructor! It will be from 10:30am-12:00pm, in room A313 (3rd floor of the Main Library); all are welcome to attend. We will send out a formal announcement along with entry fee/suggested donation soon!

Bike Fest 2008/Clean Air Days

2008-04-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

This month is Bike Fest 2008. Get helpful bike information on safety, legal issues, and interesting news at the Tucson Bike Lawyer Blog. And check out BICAS (Bicycle Inter-Community Action & Salvage, cooperatively-run non-profit).

Wikileaks

2008-04-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Wikileaks restored? Law Librarian Blog comments further. Check out the actual Wikileaks site.

Piestewa Peak

2008-04-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

*Update: The peak has been renamed to Piestewa Peak!

We stand in solidarity with Arizona Tribes working to re-name Piestewa Peak in Phoenix, getting rid of the current derogatory name. Learn more and take action!