“p.s. To any non-librarian readers: Libraries complete destroy your check-out records on purpose so that the government can’t ask us for it. Just FYI.”

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, the NSA, and the value of metadata | Pegasus Librarian

This last line isn’t directed at librarians, but it is a key fact. But the idea that metadata isn’t private, and as such libraries should get better metadata from publishers is interesting (and should be given a try).

(via chrischelberg)

Let me tell you a story:

About six months after 50 Shades of Grey came out, I was manning the circ desk at work (a smallish public library). The book was at the top of its hype, and the wait lists were a mile long. A regular came in. He was absolutely fuming. He marched up to the desk, slammed the book down in front of me and said, “I would like return this book. Then, I’d like to have it removed from my wife’s record, immediately!”

I took the book, discharged it, and thought it prudent to explain to him that once we discharge a book it is automatically removed from all patron records. Obviously, he wasn’t aware, and I think that this is something all of our patrons should be aware of. I was very clear, but the concept was clearly beyond anything he was willing grasp in his current state. Suddenly, one of my co-workers snatched the book from me, ran it under the barcode scanner of a neighboring computer, clicked the mouse a few times at random (our circulation program wasn’t even running on that computer, this was just for show) and informed the gentleman that she’d removed the book from his wife’s record. The gentleman stormed out immediately.

Can I tell you how angry I was? That was a teachable moment, and my coworker blatantly decided to perpetuate—and even encourage—ignorance. Granted, it was a tricky interaction. She was obviously only trying to diffuse the situation. However, I repeat,I think that this is something all of our patrons should be aware of. Was it worth the quick fix to let this patron believe that we normally keep records? I don’t think so.

Patrons should be taught that library ethics demand user privacy. We should emphasize this constantly, not only in our professional circles, but also to the public. There should be signs in the library, and posts on social media. It should be prominent in the welcome literature that comes with every new library card. We should sing it from the mountaintops.

(via missrumphiusproject)

It’s this last sentence that really gets at the heart of this. Not just for library advocacy (of which this is a prime moment to go out and use this for) but also to serve as a wider example of an institution that’s really up with the times and technology that refuses to collect and retain user/patron information beyond that data’s actual use. I mean, we’re going to know who you are so we can get the book back, but after that? No one needs to know. Not us, not the government, not anyone. (If you check out the book again and realize that you’ve already read it, you can take it back and get a new book free of charge)

We’ve managed to utilize an amazing amount of bountiful data about how our collections are used, and all of it while protecting patron privacy. More institutions/businesses can do this too if we (even we!) can do it.

Wider text

Man that just looks better. I noticed that the really nested reblog chains had stopped looking any good on my tumblr, due to how narrow it was. I only noticed it today because I spend most of my time in the dashboard. It was a simple task to go and change the CSS width tag from 500px to 700px, and now everything looks glorious! I can get away with this due to having no sidebar things to squish. If people notice anything breaking, let me know!

As a wider lesson, if you don’t check how your site looks outside of the dashboard, or even review it periodically, something’s going to break or just look ugly over time.

laura-in-libraryland:

aotus:

Founders Online

This afternoon, the National Archives launched Founders Online—a tool for seamless searching across the Papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.

Through Founders Online you can now trace the shaping of the nation, the extraordinary clash of ideas, the debates and discussions carried out through drafts and final versions of public documents as well as the evolving thoughts and principles shared in personal correspondence, diaries, and journals. This beta version of Founders Online was funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and contains over 119,000 documents. New documents will be added to the site on a continual basis.

Read the full post on the AOTUS blog.

<drools>

so. awesome.

</wipes drool from keyboard>

I wonder how well you could data mine it to pick out new links that we didn’t know about. Anyone want to take a crack at this? Anyone?

NSA

“p.s. To any non-librarian readers: Libraries complete destroy your check-out records on purpose so that the government can’t ask us for it. Just FYI.”

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, the NSA, and the value of metadata | Pegasus Librarian

(via chrischelberg)

I never expected this post to get this big (see what small tea cups I’m used to), but thanks for picking this up LJ!

On another note, does anyone know of any visualization software that shows how tumblr posts are reblogged/networked? Or would I have to plop down some analytics on my site?

“p.s. To any non-librarian readers: Libraries complete destroy your check-out records on purpose so that the government can’t ask us for it. Just FYI.”

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, the NSA, and the value of metadata | Pegasus Librarian

(via Toyota Designs A Car That You Can Build Yourself - DesignTAXI.com)

What? That’s got to be an expensive “toy”. Still, it looks cool and might promise a different method of constructing cars. That frame looks nothing like what other car frames looks like.

AAUP Sees MOOCs as Spawning New Threats to Professors' Intellectual Property

infoneer-pulse:

Colleges broadly threaten faculty members’ copyrights and academic freedom in claiming ownership of the massive open online courses their instructors have developed, Cary Nelson, a former president of the American Association of University Professors, argued here on Wednesday at the group’s annual conference.

In the meeting’s opening address, Mr. Nelson characterized the debate at colleges over who owns the rights to faculty members’ MOOCs as part of a broader battle over intellectual property that’s being waged on America’s campuses. At stake, he said, is not just the ability of faculty members to profit from their own writings or inventions, but the future of their profession.

“If we lose the battle over intellectual property, it’s over,” Mr. Nelson warned. “Being a professor will no longer be a professional career or a professional identity,” and faculty members will instead essentially find themselves working in “a service industry,” he said.

» via The Chronicle of Higher Education (Subscription may be required for some content)

I’ve talked to a couple professors about these issues. I do wonder how this works for programming that librarians come up with. Does a children’s librarian get the keep the rights to anything they make while working at a library? How about a college reference librarian who teaches an introductory information literacy course? And then to get back to the point of this article, what happens/changes if the university decides to put that info-lit course online (either fully, as part of a MOOC, or as a blended course)?

“Getting back to Costco: the abstract theorizing that MBA students learn in microeconomics courses often has little relevance to practical business situations. The simplified textbook models do teach the lesson that policies like unions and the minimum wage are wrong — that message comes through loud and clear. Economics as it’s taught in most American colleges today encourages poor labor practices. No wonder why Costco prefers its own cart-pushers to fancy MBA bean counters. Costco’s business model relies on investing in its workers. It’s one you won’t find in a standard MBA textbook, and yet it is paying off in spades for stockholders, employees, and customers alike. Maybe they know something that the management consultant class doesn’t. And maybe it’s about time the rest of corporate America start paying attention.”

The secret of Costco’s success revealed! (hint: no MBAs need apply) | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (via infoneer-pulse) Another interesting look at a cool-seeming company. I just wish that I had access to more storage space to make buying from a Costco feasible.

“Rest assured that we only collected metadata on these people, and no actual conversations were recorded or meetings transcribed. All I know is whether someone was a member of an organization or not. Surely this is but a small encroachment on the freedom of the Crown’s subjects. I have been asked, on the basis of this poor information, to present some names for our field agents in the Colonies to work with. It seems an unlikely task.”

Sociology professor Kieran Healy in “Using Metadata To Find Paul Revere.” If you think metadata collected from social networks (Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, etc.) cannot be used to deduce anything about your private activities, you are extremely self-deluded. Read this illumination of a buzzword that no one believes applies to their lives, just BOOKS! (via cloudunbound)

This should really get picked up more. This is simple stuff, with simple metadata. Imagine what can be done now. We have a lot more math, metadata, and computing power now, so we can crunch through a lot more. Patterns are the key.

Library Babel Fish: Ordinary Americans

When I hear someone say (and I’ve heard it a lot in the past week) “I don’t have anything to hide” I want to say “that’s not the point. This isn’t about me. It isn’t about you. It’s about us.” We can’t be a free people if we are constantly watched by the state. It’s as simple as that. (That’s apart from the fact that most people who use these technologies are not US citizens and are presumed to have no rights. That doesn’t seem right.)
Librarians were vocally opposed to provisions of the PATRIOT Act when it was hastily passed and public officials made fun of us for it. “Why would we care if people are reading James Patterson?” I recall someone high up in the Bush administration saying. They didn’t want to acknowledge the issue at stake, so made light of libraries and those who use them. (Also: women with buns and glasses! Ridiculous!) That didn’t stop them from wanting to seize records from libraries… .

So much this. We know that we behave differently when we know people are watching us. Why should we let this happen?