Z682.4 G39 Boston Pride

Members of Boston Rad Ref participated in the Boston Pride Parade in June 2006 with other members of the local Sassy Librarians Guild.

Radical queer librarians in Boston Pride Parade, 2006.

January 26 meeting update!

The Greater Los Angeles Collective met this past weekend, after a lull of many, many months. Five of us from Los Angeles and one from Santa Ana discussed possible projects:

1) Working with a charter school in South Los Angeles that teaches 16-24 year olds who are working towards their high-school diplomas or GED. This school also has social justice curriculum and is run out of a building that houses Critical Resistance, among other projects. They are in need of library supplies, and some ideas on appropriate materials for their students.

2) Those of us with archivist skills have decided to hold workshops on archiving at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. These workshops will be open to local library/archives students as well as community members who are interested in working with the materials because they relate to their activist work. Getting library students exposed to this library is also a way to broaden the view of what kinds of institutions can exist

Given the geography of Southern California, meeting up with folks from outside Los Angeles is proving to be difficult. Our member from Santa Ana means to keep in contact with us, and us with her, but her own activism is more local to her, and the drive in either direction is not fun. DESPITE THAT, we hope to figure out what we might set up for the RadReffers when they get to Southern California for this year's ALA annual conference. Folks from San Diego have also expressed interested in working on this.

Looking forward to seeing you folks this summer!

Copyright / Fair Use Salon

Copyright paranoia is infecting us all these days. The concepts of "fair use," "first sale," other free expression and library-friendly defenses are how we keep that paranoia in check. Come learn from each other's questions, confusions, and strategies in a discussion moderated by Laura Quilter (information law attorney and former librarian). As library activists, how can we protect the public's rights, educate ourselves, and meaningfully effect change?

80A Fourth Avenue, b/t St. Marks & Bergen Sts. Take the 2,3,4,5,Q,B,D,M,N,R train to Pacific or Atlantic. Beware of weekend subway disruptions.

The discussion is free and open to all. However we will solicit small donations for NYCAHN to thank them for hosting us. The fair use salon will be preceded by a short Radical Reference meeting.

E-mail us for more info.

Copyright Salon Notes

Copyright discussion notes, Radical Reference Salon 4/29/07

Laura Quilter conducted a discussion of copyright. We went around the table and people brought up copyright interests, concerns, and questions.

A few key issues were discussed, with elaboration below: Copyright paranoia; struggles to get permissions; concerns regarding electronic reserves; contract vs. copyright law; definitions of 'good faith belief'; works-for-hire; use fees.

Laura expressed concern that copyright paranoia hampers librarians and patrons even more than the law itself, and offered her motto: "It is better to do and ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission."

One librarian described the current climate as McCarthyite, with the RIAA threatening lawsuits against students and campuses for downloading music. She also discussed the Brooklyn College efforts to develop a campus-wide policy regarding e-reserve. She expressed a need for clear guidelines to aid paraprofessionals, and noted the increasing complexity of copyright running parallel to the de-professionalization of the library.

Another librarian expressed concern for 'the little guy.' How do we balance copyright protections for producers of small creative works? She also expressed frustration with librarians being put in the position of defenders and police officers for corporate content producers.

Another librarian related the struggle to get copyright permission to use four lines of a Wallace Stegner poem on a bookmark for a reading program at Brooklyn Public Library. After securing permission from the rights-holder, she later received a letter demanding a $75 payment from the publishing house. The man who had first granted permission had died, the office could not find the paperwork granting free use of the content, so demanded payment.

Another librarian discussed copyright in relation to the library model of accessing databases. If we look at the library as a repository of information, we pay for access to copyrighted material. This generated a discussion of database contracts that heavily restrict use of licensed content. We discussed the difference between contract and copyright law in relation to database content. Contract law does not necessarily supplant copyright law.

Another librarian discussed the policy at her school that the burden of copyright falls on the professor, a model that limits librarian participation in copyright decisions.

We discussed college and university libraries' favored status for fair use in an educational context, which actually gives us a lot of leeway if we have a 'good faith' belief that we are in compliance. This led to a discussion of what constitutes good faith belief, including a discussion of current Orphan Works legislation.

We discussed use fees for archives and historical collections, including the need to track down copyright ownership for photos. How do we handle works-for hire?

We discussed the ways copyright and fair use are left intentionally vague, so that we are left to work in the murky area of principle. Most copyright talk comes from the enforcement perspective, but that doesn’t mean We should be careful about making ourselves the police for industry.

The focus on copyright has been to the exclusion of discussion about other important rights in libraries, including the right to privacy.

submitted by Emily

July 2007 meeting minutes

Sunday, July 29, 2007 5pm. NYCAHN office, Brooklyn.

In attendance: Emily, Jenna, Jonathan, Melissa
Regrets due to traffic or weather: Alycia, John, Susie

Informal Overview
Since we had a new guy, we chatted a bit about what we do--the local collective and the main group.

Volunteer Projects
A member wrote to Jenna asking about library friendly volunteer opportunities, like Books Through Bars or teaching information literacy skills at a Y or somewhere. That got us to thinking we should make a list of such ideas for the local site. Also that we might contact local groups, especially unions, that might be interested in the kind of training sessions we could offer. Jenna will see if she can get a contact at the Lower East Side Girls Club and SEIU, Emily with another union(?), and Melissa will check with NYCAHN.

While we were on the topics of creating a web resource for volunteer opportunities and resources for unions and nonprofits, we figured we should update and expand our statistics pathfinder.

We also have one more immediate volunteer opportunity, the 100 Question Challenge Science-A-Thon, which is partially just a fun favor to do for a local science teacher. Once Jenna gets the questions from Sarah, she will email the list and see if she can find 9 other volunteers to take 10 questions each to fact check. We may also have stuff to do the day of. The organizers thought it might be fun to have librarians "judging" the contest, which is Saturday, September 15 from 10-2:30 in Union Square Park.

USSF Report Back
Melissa brought materials from the event to show: the program, info about the Media Center, and a newspaper that promoted the open source/tech events, one of which was ours.

The Rad Ref/Interactivist talk went well, and there should be a video of it floating around somewhere.

Mel also did some work and a training at the Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center, which was meant to equalize the various presses and their relationship with their subjects (e.g. "poverty scholars," per Poor magazine, people who have expertise in the area of poverty because unlike those reporting it, they have lived it).

We would like to put the survey up on the web, at least to tabulate the results, but perhaps also to get more responses. Some discussion of removing demographic questions.

Next Meeting
We'll talk about the September meeting, which will be open. One proposed topic for the open meeting is books to prisoners projects. (BTB, PREP, Fordham law students, etc.)

Perhaps we'll meet in the garden near Gretchen in August?

NYC Collective February 2008 Meeting Notes

February 15, 2008
Alycia's House
Present: Jenna, Melissa M., Jonathan, John W.B., Lisa, Matt, Laena, Holly, Alycia

1. Indymedia Help: Mel M. mentioned that there was a call for research help on an upcoming anti-war issue of the Indypendent. Mel will follow up with them to see if there are specific questions we can help answer.

2. RNC Welcoming Committee Event report back: Jenna and Jonathan W.B. went to the event at Bluestockings and reported what plans there are for the RNC protests

3. Web Design Task Force: Talked a bit about what has and has not happened, and discussed the best ways to proceed next. Alycia will poll the list of volunteers and we hope to have a group chat session soon to figure out our next steps remotely.

4. Grassroots Media Conference (March 2):
Discussed tabling (Jenna will coordinate, but will we have wireless?)
Our Sessions:
-Web 2.0 session (Mel and Alycia) will happen in the afternoon (2:45-4:15)
-Election Information (Jonny and Gretchen) will happen in the morning (10:30-12)
Opening remarks at 9:45am, John W.B. will represent RR (Jenna suggests starting out by saying that we represent "300 radical librarians...")

4. NYC Anarchist Bookfair (April 12):
We will table with Books Through Bars, and Mel suggested having a raffle of sorts with questions put into a question box (for T-shirts? discarded books?). We were not sure that the proposed archives session will be held, but Mel suggested holding impromptu or on-the-spot reference and instruction sessions on things such as FOIA requests in the lobby areas on Sunday (is this the correct day Mel?)

5. The next Radical Reference Salon will be Sunday, March 9 at 8pm, and will deal with Reader Services to Prisoners. Mel will speak about Books through Bars, and will be joined by the NYPL Correctional Outreach liason, Jess, as well as another Jess who has worked with correctional outreach through Rykers. As always, the salon is meant to share information and promote discussion.

6. The proposal that Rad Reffers Melissa M, Lia, Shinjoung and James submitted for the upcoming IFLA conference in Canada was accepted. The next steps are to write a paper and to present at the conference about the paper. The theme of the proposal was submitted for the "virtual reference" track of the conference, with Radical Reference being an example of virtual reference in action.

7. Jonathan is attending PLA in Minneapolis and is hoping to spread RR literature there and/or have a meetup?

NYC Collective March 2008 Meeting and Salon Notes

Radical Reference, 2008-03-09, meeting held at New York City AIDS Housing Network office.

Rad Ref collective members Melissa, Julie, and Christy were joined by several organization/group representatives and about 15 other attendees.

Melissa offered an intro to Rad Ref.

Christy gave a report-back from the Grassroots Media Conference --
The GMC continued to attract independent journalists and media-makers, including many youth. Info from both RR workshops is now available online – media election guide and RSS feeds and organization. Visitors to RR table seemed familiar with RR and responded positively. Info about a mentorship project has been posted to the list.

Summary of discussion on library services to people who are incarcerated:
(Please note: out of necessity, this summary generalizes some of the discussion in order to avoid identifying specific individuals.)

- There are 3 main types of library service providers in correctional settings: units of the correctional institutions (“in-house” service, “prison librarians,” etc.); outside institutions like NYPL that provide service by working directly with the correctional institution; and providers like NY Books Through Bars that are independent of institutional frameworks (i.e., they provide service “from outside”).

- Points of clarification:
A “jail” is generally a county or municipal institution for shorter stays; although the average jail stay is 8 days, someone could stay as long as 3 years. Jail populations tend to be single gender but otherwise mixed.
“Prisons” are usually state or federal, generally involve longer stays, and are often divided by security level or other distinction (a prison may have a “gang unit,” for example).
Both prisons and jails may have libraries and/or library services, but libraries are more likely to follow more of a standard model in prisons, which may be obligated to follow statewide parameters. Prison libraries, including law libraries, are no longer federally mandated following a series of court decisions that terminated in 1996. They may be mandated in certain states’ state prisons, though.
Many providers of library services in these settings recognize a lack of necessary standards, even within a single state or other municipality. In New York State, however, every medium and maximum security correctional facility must have a library staffed by an MLS librarian and must have a book budget.

- Challenges are inherent for all library service in correctional institutions, and are difficult to describe to people on the outside. Correctional administrators prioritize security and safety. Library services require a physical presence – both of materials and staff – that might pose security risks from the POV of these administrators. Regardless of these perceived risks, research has shown that prison/jail violence drops as soon as reading material is introduced [participants did not cite specific studies – volunteers could check Reference Shelf and/or add sources?].

- Outside entities that partner with correctional institutions to provide service must find allies within the prison/jail administration. Aside from following administration rules, implementing services is often a wait and see proposition – try something, see if it works, document it and try the next thing.

- Because of the lack of standards, quality of service may depend on benevolence of individual administrators and/or geographic location. For example, prisons that are closer to a major urban center may benefit from proximity to progressive-minded organizations that sponsor in-house programs/collections. Prisons in rural areas are less likely to receive this kind of attention.

- Funding for library services comes from a variety of sources – often a combination of funding from the city/municipality/state that runs the prison/jail and the entity that provides the service. An NYC jail, for instance, might follow this over-generalized model: city funds facilities and personnel, NYS funds collections, and NYS Department of Education funds specific projects/outreach.

- Types of direct service may include: a bookcart that travels from area to area or a standing library. Resource guides for formerly incarcerated people returning to life outside – help connect returnees with services to counteract how likely they are to fail (guides include Connections from NY Public Library-- see site for links to similar guides). Baby lapsit programs for incarcerated parents. YA booktalks. Poetry workshops. Author visits. Reading groups. Literacy programs or other instruction.

- Example of an outside organization working with in-house providers: PREP, Prisoners’ Reading Encouragement Project
Organization began in 2003.
Works with NYS prison librarians to build prison library collections by collecting books and sending inventories to prison librarians for selection. Entirely volunteer-run.
Encounters technological issues – can’t get inventories to prison library staff electronically, because prison libraries usually lack computer access – and selection issues – relies on librarians' assessment of user needs to place titles.
Also hosts a conference on prison/literacy issues.

- Example of completely outside organization providing direct service: NY Books Through Bars
A books to prisoners program that responds to direct requests for books, usually from prisoners who have limited or complete lack of library services.
Restrictions on the kind of materials and content that can be sent vary from state to state and facility to facility.
Only authorized vendors (bookstore, publisher, amazon.com) can send books.

- Other points from discussion/question & answer: there was interest in the room in seeking an ALA resolution that would support library service and standards in every place of detention/incarceration.
Many incarcerated people didn’t start reading until they were locked up.
For-profit prisons: goal is to house more people to make more profit. Any room for services is sacrificed to make more room for more beds.

NYC Collective Meeting February 2007

Radical Reference NYC Collective Meeting

Feb. 16th, 2007

Present: Melissa, Gretchen, Nicole, Blair, Jenna, John, Julie, Jonny (others were present for the US Social Forum discussion).

Agenda:
I. Anarchist Book Fair
II. Grassroots Media Conference
III. Anarchist Book Fair
IV. Lighting Bug/Vetting

I. Anarchist Book Fair
a. April 14th 2007 at Judson Memorial Church
b. Deadline for tables and proposals Feb. 15th
c. Possible Radical Reference role
-Help with the content of the wiki (especially the NYC guide section)
- Help table at the event
- Create t-shits, hats or pins to sell at the book fair
d. Should Radical Reference provide reference service at the event?
- Is wireless available at the book fair location?
e. Radical Reference should help with publicity for the book fair

II. Radical Reference support at anti-war demo on March 17th
a. The suggestion was made that training could be provided for those who want
it in preparation for Radical Reference street support at March 17th anti-war
b. It was agreed to post to list to organize street support

III. Grassroots Media Conference Workshop
a. Radical Reference (Gretchen and Melissa) will conduct a workshop at the
Grassroots Media Conference Sat. Feb. 24th “Beyond Googling It: News and Government Information ‘Web 2.0’ style”

IV. Lighting Bug/Vetting
a. Discussion of the reoccurring problems with Lighting Bug
b. It was determined that working out the difficulties with Lighting Bug and the vetting process is a long term project

NYC Collective November 2006 Meeting Minutes

Radical Reference NYC Collective meeting 11/17/2006

present: Julie, Jenna, Tracy, Melissa, Gretchen, John (recording secretary pro tem)

• Item I: NCOR in DC, late March (?) – National Conference on Organized Resistance – last year RR did workshops on factchecking and FOIA and using the public library for activist research. It was agreed that it would be good to be involved again. Eric and Jenna may do a presentation on open source tools for websites, based on RR’s experience. Another idea would be a "reverse factchecking" presentation – how to establish credibility in a zine/website/newsletter. Carrie from DC has discussed this with Jenna; others are more than welcome to get involved.

• Item II: Park Slope Food Co-op as a venue for RR presentations – Co-op member Melissa discussed the feasibility/potential draw for this with the responsible party there. "Internet for activists" was mentioned as a topic that would be of interest. The co-op needs two months or more lead time for booking; they would do a flyer to promote the presentation. There is no Internet/wireless access subscribed to by the co-op, so we should plan on using slides – though it seems likely that there might be some signal up for grabs in the area.

• Item III: Anarchist Book Fair/NYC – RRers Jenna, Melissa and Gretchen have been attending meetings. A date/venue is close to getting set – possibly April 14 at Judson Church, or possibly another Sat. in April at St. Marks on the Bowery and/or Theater for the New City. Ideally rooms are needed for exhibition space, presentations and child care – none of the above mentioned spaces are ideal. We discussed RR’s role in support: doing outreach to vendors and/or presenters. There is a sense that some of the people behind this event are coming from a more "theoretical" perspective than groups RR has worked with in the past. The possibility of doing a more research-based presentation to suit that perspective was raised – perhaps alternative resources in social academics, or an overview of gov doc resources. The latter idea, using the government’s publications/resources for anarchist purposes, seemed to strike most of us positively. If the amount of time or number of sessions we can do is limited more activist-oriented presentations we have done in the past such as legal resources, FOIA and factchecking should not be shortchanged. Also on the praxis side were suggestions for presentations on social networking tools such as RSS and del.icio.us, and/or "managing information" for the Grassroots Media Conference. Using "scenarios" to set up how to use information.

• Item IV: AskMetaFilter model as replacement for Lightning Bug – consensus seems strong that LB is far from ideal for our purposes. Ask MetaFilter is a collaborative website which is a forum for questions; the software underlying it could be adapted for RR. Jessamyn West has a piece on MetaFilter in the Oct. 15, 2006 Library Journal (131 no17 p.88: "MetaFilter: Going Your Way"). The MetaFilter model, as noted in Jessamyn’s article, uses a moderator. Perhaps RR could have a few committed people who could serve as moderators one day a week each (for example). Hopefully either through this or another means we can lead to greater involvement and collaboration.

• Item V: US Social Forum – to be held July 27-August 1, 2007 in Atlanta. It would seem like a good idea to have a librarian presence there, perhaps in collaboration with other progressive librarian groups such as PLG, SRRT, etc. Also, the NY radical tech group (?) could use help with website content.

• Item VI: ALA Midwinter: no one in attendance was planning on going, so there wasn’t much to discuss.

• Item VII: Website content – Green Scare page. In response to criticisms from some of those involved, the list of names of those arrested now notes who are cooperating with the prosecution. We discussed the need to support activists while at the same time providing accurate information. It was decided that a more detailed explanation of what "cooperating" means would serve both ends.

• Item VIII: UMich Drupal projects – Students in the tech program at University of Michigan will be acting a consultants for some projects using Drupal (such as we use on the RR site). RR has responded with our willingness to be involved in this program, but have yet to hear back.

The meeting then changed gears and we had our salon discussion on race and privilege, and our responsibilities (both as activists and as library workers) to anti-racist work. There was even a handout.

Minutes submitted by John, posted and edited ever so slightly by Jenna.

NYC Local Collective Meeting Notes October 2007

Attendance: Alycia, Jenna, Melissa G, Melissa M (facilitator)

Agenda
Tenants Resources Skillshare
Grassroots Media Conference
Republican National Convention
October 27 anti-war demo

1. Tenants' Resources Skillshare
   We checked in about Sunday's skillshare, discussing whether or not we should have publicized it more widely. Melissa G forwarded the info to the Palmer school list and got some positive responses. Alycia offered to forward it to Pratt. We'll see how it goes and perhaps in the future post to METRO. A potential problem is having more participants that ABC No Rio can accommodate.
   We also talked of the importance of limiting these events to library practitioners.
   In sort of a sidebar we got to thinking how some of the skillshares might be work parties instead, (e.g. a collaboration with Books Through Bars, writing letters to the Library of Congress Subject Heading Division, writing letters to politicians about Net Neutrality, making "Ask Me, Radical Reference" patches, etc.

2. Grassroots Media Conference
   The organizers have agreed that Radical Reference might partner with them in organizing a research track for the event. We will try to send a member of our working group to their next meeting (Monday 10/15).

3. Republican National Convention 2008, Twin Cities, Minnesota
   Since Radical Reference was founded in order to support the demonstrations against the RNC in 2004, there is some interest in having a presence again. In addition to providing street reference, we discussed plugging in with other groups as needed (e.g. helping staff an IMC switchboard, uploading web documents and media if groups need help with that, etc.).
   K.R. in Denver recently inquired on the list about operations at the Democratic National Convention, as well.
   We agreed that RNC protest plans should be discussed on the main list for the time being.
   Alycia and Jenna will reach out to twin cities contacts, including the library school.

4. October 27 protests, NYC
   Anyone interested in doing street reference, or marching together in a radical librarians contingent? Alycia will survey the group.

NYC Radical Reference Meeting 06-16-06

NYC Radical Reference Meeting 06-16-06

Members Present: Melissa, Julie, Dena

Agenda

1. ALA Annual
2. Lightningbug and Radref website
3. Directory of NYC orgs
4. Reference Shelf page for Green Scare, etc.
5. Library student publication opportunities

1. ALA
- Madeline Albright
* flyering happening? Members will look at old emails and figure out various groups' plans [update -- see the flyer from Kevin announced in more recent email; members plan to print up copies to hand out prior to her talk]

- Tabling/discussions at SRRT booth seem to be arranging themselves; great

- Radref meetup
* to take place Saturday, June 24, from 6:30-8:30 at The Iron Rail Bookstore and Lending Library (511 Marigny Street, 504-944-0366)
* requested agenda item: come up with list of Radref priorities/things to do (to be distributed to all members)

- In addition to meeting at Iron Rail, Radical Reference members will also be discussing and getting involved in projects with Iron Rail collective members, esp. cataloging their collections

2. Lightningbug/Radref website

- Lightningbug questions (more like requests for updates):
* is it still the case that questions are not being escalated?
* how are answers being posted?

- Website
* discussion focused on how to allow greatest access to depth of information on site, which seems somewhat obscured by current layout and includes other areas of site in addition to answered questions
* ideas:
- once "subject headings" are assigned to answers, these could be grouped (linking to answers) and listed in righthand column on page in place of current "recently answered questions" boxes
- subject headings should also be assigned to reference shelf, blogs, etc.
- any search method for answers should also apply to reference shelf, blogs, etc.
- subject headings should be drawn from a controlled vocabulary

3. Directory of NYC orgs (being compiled with/for NLG) -- is underway; question of whether or not to alert included orgs to be left to NLG

4. Reference Shelf page for Green Scare

* page was seen on several general and support lists and was much admired
* possible role for Radref in supporting research needs of support groups (aside from legal research) to be explored

5. Library student publication opportunities

* one possibility is "Library Student Journal," which apparently is now accepting submissions

NYC Ready Reference

[This guide is under construction]

• Wi-Fi hotspots in NYC parks
• Privately Owned Public Space

Living

• New York City Tenant Resources

Spaces

• ABC No Rio
• May Day Books and Infoshop

US Social Forum Salon hosted by Radical Reference NYC

Radical Reference NYC invites you to attend a discussion of the upcoming US Social Forum in Atlanta and if/how librarians should participate. We will also have a short business meeting.

• ABC No Rio
  
• ABC No Rio map & subway locations
  
• Radical Reference NYC
  
• US Social Forum

Radical Reference is a collective of volunteer library workers who believe in social justice and equality. We support activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists by providing professional research support, education and access to information. We work in a collaborative virtual setting and are dedicated to information activism to foster a more egalitarian society.

It is customary for participants to donate $1-2 per person to the space when meeting at ABC No Rio.

Interested parties may wish to go afterward to see the High Strung, a library supporting rock band, at the Mercury Lounge a few blocks away from ABC No Rio.

Questions or comments to nyc at radicalreference dot info.

NYC Collective April 2007 Meeting Minutes

Sunday, April 29
New York City AIDS Housing Network office, Brooklyn

In attendance: Jonny, Becca, Melissa, Jenna, John, Emily, Dena, Gretchen, Judy, Laura

1. Melissa gave an update on RadRef plans for the US Social Forum. She is still interested in going, but emails to other people in the group who have expressed interest have gone unanswered. Susie, a librarian from Boston, is interested in setting up a 'reference desk'-style station at the media center. John suggested doing an outreach effort asking activists "What can Radical Reference do for you?" It was suggested that participants hand out flyers pointing people to a survey on the website. Melissa is planning to go and urges other RadReffers to contact her to firm up planning.

2. John Tarleton from The Indypendent seeks RadRef help in fact-checking a special issue about climate change due out in June. Melissa has sent the document to the list and gotten no feedback. She will re-send, and urges members to do what they can. The new Bloomberg climate change planning document may help in this regard. The full text can be found here.

3. Jenna reported that we sold all but four of the t-shirts at the Anarchist Book Fair. They were designed and printed by Lia in San Diego, and sold for $8 each. If others are willing to go to thrift stores to get t-shirts, Jenna can facilitate local screenprinting at ABC No Rio. Johnny volunteered to go t-shirt shopping.

Notes taken by Emily. E-mail nyc at radicalreference dot info with corrections.

NYC Anarchist Book Fair 2008 Table Schedule

NYC Anarchist Book Fair

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Judson Memorial Church

This schedule has different length shifts so that it matches up with the presentations. That's why it's weird.

10:30-12:30 (includes set-up) (spans RR session)
1. Jenna

12:30-2:15
1. Gretchen

2:15-3:45
1. Heather and Lana will split/share this slot

3:45-5:15
1. Julie

5:15-7:15 (includes break-down)
1. Christy (I will get there as soon as I can, but i may around 5:30)
2. John B (around 5:30ish)

Events/Demos in Philadelphia

Events and Demonstrations going on in Philadelphia will be posted here:

First Meeting

We had our first meeting of the Philadelphia Collective on November 3, 2005. In attendance were Karen Kohn, John Iliff, another Karen, and Tracey Maleef. We discussed what the collective could do. The main idea that we came away with was offering to lead workshops for various groups. I (Karen) know someone from the Philly IMC, whom I will contact with a list of topics that we could do workshops on. John is very technologically knowledgeable, and he has also spoken about the Patriot Act.

Here are the topics:
fact-checking
RSS feeds (setting them up and subscribing to them)
podcasting
PATRIOT Act

If anyone else has Philadelphia connections or ideas on how we should proceed with outreach, suggestions are welcome.

General Information

We are currently meeting sporadically at LAVA in West Philadelphia. This is a meeting space for various activist groups, with whom we hope to develop connections.

You can contact us at radrefphilly @ gmail.com.

We also have a mailing list that can be reached at phillyrr@ccwpsandiego.org. To join, send an email to phillyrr-subscribe@ccwpsandiego.org.

Meeting with IMC

John Iliff and I (Karen Kohn) attended a meeting of the Independent Media Center on November 30, 2005. The Philly IMC is in a cool building that volunteers have significantly renovated (as in, adding a roof), and which houses a radio station, public computer lab, and newspaper.

John told group members that he could give trainings on setting up RSS feeds and podcasts. As the IMC is about to form a podcast collective, they were excited about this idea. We also discussed that I could help them find background information for their news stories (John could do this too, but I'd be the first one to ask since he is contributing in other ways).

That's about it. We're hoping something comes out of this meeting.