Tracking the Challenges Made to Canadian Library Books

Sometimes we see headlines in the news about a book being challenged at a library. People from different perspectives might see the content of the book or other aspects of it as threatening or inappropriate. Understanding these challenges and forming responses is essential to our work as librarians in advocating and supporting intellectual freedom. Now, the work to track this information will receive more coordinated support. Both the Canadian Federation of Library Associations and the Centre for Free Expression announced that they would work together to maintain a joint library challenges database.

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Talk about the Broad Value of Open Access

As a librarian, I talk with other faculty and students about their academic work and the life-cycle of the research process. I’ve always stressed that open access is important for many reasons, including toward making research outputs available to people that otherwise wouldn’t be able to get them. This post provides some background about the Concordia Library’s new interactive open access display, Seer. You can also learn about it in this video recorded for the Open for Climate Justice: An Across-Disciplines Fair at 4TH SPACE.

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E-books: New Experiences and Problems with Access

I first read an e-book a few years ago when I decided to see how War and Peace felt on my phone. Engrossing. And probably no less so than it is on paper. Now I like both paper books and e-books but the spread of e-books is about more than just enjoying them or not. The introduction of e-books (among other digital content) changed the interactions and responsibilities of publishers, authors, academics, librarians, government policy-makers, and of course readers (or users). These changes come with both social and technical issues and challenges, particularly in the vein of access. Continue reading “E-books: New Experiences and Problems with Access”

First Take on the Public Domain Manifesto

Communia published its Public Domain Manifesto. The manifesto identifies the public domain concept with respect to historical development and more urgently, its relevance to culture today.

I think it makes an important statement, in terms of offering a level, common understanding that could be used widely across society, government, and business. Early in the manifesto, it says the public domain Continue reading “First Take on the Public Domain Manifesto”