Expect Resistance & Library Autonomous Zone

International Communication Association conference is under way in San Francisco. I attended several sessions; like any other conference, some are interesting and some are dull like hell. One session that was worth noting was the presentation by “Digital Underground Story Telling For Youth (DUSTY). DUSTY is a collaborative program between the UC Berkeley’s UC Links Program, UCB Graduate School of Education, and the Joseph-Prescott Center for Community Enhancement. The program teaches multimedia production to allow youth to be empowered by self-expression.

In the presentation, members of DUSTY showed their works - films, music, video etc. The topics of their works ranged from neighborhood violence, Iraq war, etc. One audience member asked them how they picked their topics and their common answer was their everyday life.

It’s wonderful to see the youth, who are often demonized by mainstream media, express their understanding of world and educate us. At the same time, I was a little afraid that they would become the object of researchers. The room was full of scholars. I hope this is just my paranoia. At any rate, here’s my flickr set of photos of their presentation.

I am tired of hearing people use the term “participatory media” without questioning who participates or who’s able to participate. Every tech group/meeting that I attend is largely white and male dominant. Maybe I have been in the wrong places, but I don’t think my experience is far from reality. One day I asked people in a meeting where are the people of color, some just laughed (uncomfortably) and some pretended they didn’t hear me.

No doubt new media have been changing the way we communicate, create culture, and knowledge but I am afraid that people who have been historically marginalized will be left behind again rather than participating in these changes and have to deal with those consequences generation after generation.

I am not just talking about learning how to use blog or wiki as technology consumer –which is no doubt important. But we need to participate in the process of technology creation. I am not sure where we can start this, but rather than keep asking to include people of color and women it is wise just to start one and create our own community. If it takes a blog to create the community then I can blog, if it takes wiki then I will use wiki. No time to wait!

The End of the Internet?

Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, wrote this article back in February. In fact, we probably blogged about it right here because net neutrality is a HUGE issue for libraries. And if you didn’t get a chance to read the article the first time around, Amy Goodman has a very good interview with Chester on today’s Democracy Now. Give it a listen. It’s incredibly pertinent. (This is part one with part 2 being broadcast tomorrow).

And for those of you in the bay area, be sure to go to the EFF fundraiser next thursday April 20th. There’s to be a panel discussion about pay email and net neutrality between Esther Dyson, editor of Release 1.0, CNET’s quarterly technology-industry newsletter, Danny O’Brien, Activist coordinator for EFF, and Mitch Kapor, President and Chair of the Open Source Applications Foundation. T

The nation’s largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.
–Jeff Chester, “The End of the Internet?”

Center for Democracy and Technology promotes democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy etc.

The Triangle unwired by Fiona Morgan, Independent Weekly. The article describes the Internet access is not a luxury but a public utility and the need of WiFi. It provides various examples of WiFi programs around the country.

“In 2003, abortion opponents took a calculated gamble and pushed through the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, a federal law very similar to a state law ruled unconstitutional just three years before. Critics asserted they were defying the court and doomed to fail in any legal challenge.” New York Times (WASHINGTON, July 9) (Register required).

Global Health Watch, an alternative World Health Report, highlights a people-centred approach to health and social justice.

We haven’t been posting lately but will begin again now. One reason
we haven’t been posting here to LAZ is that we have been focusing on
two other blogs and have been posting some things that would have once
gone here to those other blogs. We invite you to visit:

• diglet
• FreeGovInfo

We will put postings that deal with digital library issues, broadly
construed, on diglet. This includes postings that we formerly kept in
the categories Copyright, Digital Library Issues, Fair Use, Open Access,
and “Reports, Documents, Glossaries” here on LAZ.

We will put postings about government information on FreeGovInfo.
This will include topics Civil Liberties, Digital Divide, E-voting,
Fugitives, Government Info, and the Patriot Act and much more.

Now that we have those set up the way we want, we are changing the focus
of LAZ slightly.

We will continue to post items here on LAZ on general library
technology issues that don’t fit well in the “digital library” (diglet)
or “government information” (FreeGovInfo) scope. This will include
Blog of the Month, For Techies, Media Regulation, Quotes, RSS & blogs,
Technology & Society, Watchdogs, and news. LAZ will evolve. Stay
with us!

James and Jim

A bill, Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005 (HR 2726) , is introduced byTexas Republican Pete Sessions prohibits state and local governments from offering any public telecom or networking services in competition with private companies. More detail

It’s interesting this bill is called “Preserving Innovation In Telecom Act.” Should it be called “Destroying Innovationin Telecom Act”?

Opensourcecms.com. provides a comparision tool which helps you
to narrow down your search for content management system for your need.