Ok, this is interesting. This link to the ALA news item omits the final paragraph that appears on page 14 of American Libraries, which reads:

"Radical Reference's (www.radicalreference.info) website launched July 31st using volunteer librarians to answer questions related to the political season and to assist protesters who planned to demonstrate during the convention"

That's a pretty important paragraph, in my opinion. Otherwise, Radical Ref just looks like "another protest group," only making the news in terms of its run-ins with police or the signs they happen to be holding, not with any explanation of its purpose and what it actually does.

Was this a paragraph added later to the print magazine, or omitted from the online version? A link to the radical reference website would have been good up on the ALA website.