sandy berman

Sandy Berman's letter to Obama & Clinton, re: Egypt

Sandy Berman sent me a copy of a letter he mailed to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, dated January 30, 2011. I though others might enjoy reading it, too.

Egypt. So far you folks have been ludicrously tone deaf. People in the street are not demanding a new cabinet and "reforms." They are explicit: DOWN WITH MUBARAK! But you seem unable to understand, much less support, that unmistakable reality. Instead, you prattle about "national dialogue" and how everyone should behave with due decorum and that the President should engage with the rebels. Whoa! There's an honest-to-god revolution underway. Police have vanished. Protesters embrace the army, which refuses to enforce a curfew. There IS no Mubarak government any longer. And it's about time we recognized that elemental fact. The U.S. right now looks "out of it," like fools still committed to our 30-year-long buddy whose own people despise him. This week we're suddenly declaring that human rights should be respected, but for 30 years we've been subsidizing an oppressive, authoritarian regime with more than a billion dollars a year--without much insistence on democracy and free speech and fair elections (until this week).

Berman's personal LCSH scorecard

I'm really honored to be on the Sandy Berman distro list (for those that don't know Sandy, check out his Web site!) and get nuggets of Bermanabilia almost e

Sandy Berman's letters to LC

We're big fans of Sandy Berman. We were all very concerned when we learned a few months ago that Sandy was in a most painful car accident and faced months of painful recuperation. Well, the news got better with the recent package in my mailbox from Sandy. You see, Sandy has a long-standing old-fashioned listserv that is regularly distributed via snail mail. These packages include articles of interest as well as copies of letters that he regularly sends to Library of Congress suggesting new Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) along with support from the literature. So when that package showed up in my mailbox, I knew Sandy was well on his way to recovery!

Sandy Berman's Birthday

Sandy Berman, a man admired by many radical librarians, turns 75 on October 6. I know it's late notice, but if you can fire off a card or letter tomorrow, it might only get to him two days late. (Oops.) Backstory.

Library of Congress Subject Heading Suggestion Blog-a-Thon

Do subject headings still matter? We say they do.

Does the Library of Congress always identify accessible and appropriately named headings and implement them in a timely manner? We say not always. All you have to do is spend one day behind a reference desk to see examples of biased, non-inclusive, and counterintuitive classifications that slow down, misdirect, or even obscure information from library users. As librarians and library workers, providing access to information is important-and classifying it in ways that are inclusive and intuitive strengthens our egalitarian mission.

Between now and Sunday, April 27, Radical Reference invites you to suggest subject headings and/or cross-references which will then be compiled and sent to the Library of Congress. You can either choose one previously suggested by Sandy Berman (pdf or spreadsheet) or propose your own.

This is a chance to positively impact the catalog of the de facto national library of the United States, which also impacts cataloging all over the world! Here's how...

Progressive Library Skillshare Pittsburgh

Progressive Library Skillshare
September 7 & 8, 2007 - Pittsburgh, PA
completely FREE and open to everyone

This free two-day event will bring together library workers, library lovers, zine enthusiasts, book artists, publishers, and community members to explore the relationship between library work and social justice. We'll connect each other with alternative information resources while discussing socially responsible, creative ways to share information in our communities. This unconference will encourage us to think critically about information: how it's produced, distributed, and consumed.

Syndicate content