Last July, Nancy Kranich, Joanne Griffin and Holly Sorenson presented a program at ALA Annual for the Association of College & Research Libraries Division. Somehow we neglected to post the podcast of their presentation that is now available for those who were unable to attend. Below is the e-mail message from Chad Kahl with the access information.
Enjoy!
From: Kahl, Chad
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 10:41 AM
Subject: 2009 LPSS ALA Annual Conference program follow-up message
I would like to thank you again for attending the 2009 Law and Political
Science Section ALA Annual Conference program, “Political Engagement:
Facilitating Greater Participation in Civil Society” featuring Elizabeth
Hollander, Nancy Kranich, Joanne Griffin and Holly Sorensen.
I am pleased to let you know that the program podcast is now available,
thanks to the work of program planning committee member, Amalia Monroe,
and David Free, a Marketing and Communication Specialist for the
Association of College & Research Libraries. It can be accessed at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/podcasts/lpssac09.mp
3.
Based on feedback from your program evaluations, we revised the
bibliography/pathfinder so it now includes speaker biographies and a
number of resources recommended by the speakers. It is available
directly at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/about/sections/lpss/bibliography2
009.pdf, as well as the aforementioned web page.
Thank you,
Chad Kahl, on behalf of the LPSS 2009 ALA Annual Conference Program
Planning Committee
The Knight Commission released its report Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age on Friday, October 2, 2009. The Report and Discussion are available at: http://www.report.knightcomm.org/.Knight encourages participation in the national dialogue on the Commission’s recommendations by discussing the report and joining the Healthy Community Forum.
The Report includes three categories of findings and recommendations:
1.Maximizing the Availability of Relevant and Credible Information 2.Enhancing the Information Capacity of Individuals 3.Promoting Public Engagement
According to the Commission, “The questions America faces at this point in its information history, however, gobeyond questions of strategy to questions of values. The Knight Commission hasrecommended a series of strategies that, in various ways, exhort our major publicand nonprofit institutions to give new priority to values of openness, inclusion,and engagement. The values questions posed are equally profound, however, for individual citizens and for the institutions of the media.”
The commission’s recommendation regarding libraries, include:
America’s libraries need sufficient funding to serve as centers for information, training, and civic dialogue. Public libraries are located in nearly all communities in the United States. Most of them are wired for Internet service. Nearly all offer public Internet, and almost three quarters are the only providers of free public computer and Internet access in their communities.
Even if no one from this network won the video contest below, we’d still have some great content about how young people in our community are thinking about what democracy means to them, AND they would be participating in an international contest. I’d love to see libraries participating in this. I know that some of you out there have the resources and experience cultivating and encouraging young film-makers!
NEW YORK – September 15, 2009 – The Democracy Video Challenge, a global call to action celebrating democracy, launched its second annual competition today at the United Nations on International Democracy Day. Richard Engel, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent, served as Master of Ceremonies for the contest’s global launch. The Challenge again invites citizens from around the world to create video shorts (3minutes or less) that complete the phrase: “Democracy is…” in an effort to enhance the global dialogue on democracy.
“Art is meant to engage us, not merely distract us, and needs a robust democracy for it to thrive. Artists everywhere have a civic obligation to speak up fearlessly and courageously on issues, regardless of how difficult they might be,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, a partner in the Democracy Video Challenge.
The Democracy Video Challenge is a unique partnership comprising democracy, and youth organizations, the film and entertainment industry, academia, and the U.S. government. In its inaugural year, the Challenge attracted more than 900 videos from 95 countries around the world.
Obama Pledges Support for Social Innovation, Encourages
Public-Private Partnerships (7/02/09)
Foundation Center, Philanthropy News Digest, July 7, 2009
President Barack Obama has pledged that his administration will
do its part to support grassroots organizations that are suc-
cessful in their efforts to improve communities, the Associated
Press reports.
While announcing the launch of the Community Solutions Agenda at
a White House gathering last week, Obama issued a challenge to
government, business, foundations, and average citizens to come
together to identify and invest in promising solutions to the
nation’s toughest problems. The effort, which includes the White
House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation and a
$50 million Innovation Fund, is designed to help scale effective
nonprofit innovations and foster promising new ideas in educa-
tion, health care, energy, the economy, and other areas.
To that end, the Innovation Fund will work to leverage invest-
ments totaling $1 billion over five years in support of high-
impact social sector innovations. Administered by the Corporation
for National and Community Service, the fund will provide grants
to existing grantmaking institutions that in turn support inno-
vative, results-driven nonprofits. Grantmaking institutions and
their nonprofit grantees will be asked to match the fund’s
investments.
“Solutions to America’s challenges are being developed every day
at the grassroots,” Obama said during the White House gathering.
“Government shouldn’t be supplanting those efforts. It should be
supporting those efforts.”
“President Announces Community Solutions Agenda.” America Forward
Press Release 6/30/09.
The Blended Librarian (a community of librarians, faculty, instructional designers and technologists working to integrate the library into the teaching and learning process) is offering a free online discussion with Dr. David Lankes on December 11 from 3-4 EST. The event is free, but you must pre-register and become a member (also free) of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community so be sure to allow time to be approved. I applied to be a member last night and received my registration information this morning.
Dr. Lankes is a Fellow at ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy and is the creator of the Participatory Librarianship Starter Kit and he blogs here. Here is the information about the upcoming talk. I have watched some of David’s videos and recommend you consider attending. Even if you can’t attend, join the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community and you’ll be able to access the archive. Also, the technology they use is pretty cool to explore!
Participatory Librarianship and Change Agents Thursday, December 11, 2008
3-4pm EST
Event Description Knowledge is created through conversation. Libraries are in the knowledge business. Therefore libraries are in the conversation business. This seemingly simple set of statements has profound implications for how libraries are run, and how they measure success. For example, it casts library services as centered on learning, and not access. This presentation will cover the basics of participatory librarianship, and talk about the need for librarians to become change agents within their own libraries and the communities they serve. This is a great opportunity to hear Dr. Lankes discuss participatory librarianship, which has commonalities with blended librarianship, without having to travel to a national or state conference.
Guest Speaker Bio R. David Lankes is an Associate Professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, and Fellow at ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. http://www.DavidLankes.org
Registration Although this event is free, advance registration is required to reserve a virtual seat.
Click on the “Join” button on the home page of Blendedlibrarian.org and follow the instructions.
After you receive confirmation of your Learning Times account you can return to this email message and use the link above for registered members of Learning Times. Click on the link, and then register on the next page (you may need to scroll down to see the register button).
We recommend that those participating in the webcast obtain a microphone or headset in order to make use of the VoIP technology that allows conversation between the speakers and participants. A microphone or headset is not required to participate.
Please plan on allowing yourself sufficient time to log in to the webcast on December 11, 2008. If it is the first time attending a Learning Times event it may take a few extra minutes to log on to their Elluminate webcasting software. Once you have registered for the event you may wish to try the “test room” to make sure your computer is set up and ready to go the day of the webcast.
New Gates Foundation Grants Seek Innovative Approaches to Using
Community Libraries
An initial study of ICMA members found some communities using their
public libraries for compelling new projects, like providing services
for teen and immigrant residents and supporting recycling and public
safety. Over the next two years, with the help of the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, ICMA intends to multiply those novel practices and
demonstrate the value of public libraries in supporting sustainable
communities.
In November 2008, local governments will be able to apply for an ICMA
Public Library Innovation Grant. Grants will be 18 months in length,
and will focus on using the public library to address community
priorities and issues. During the project, ICMA will provide a total of
$500,000 in Public Library Innovation Grants to cities, towns, and
counties. Individual grants will likely range from $25,000 to $75,000.
More than a year ago, ICMA began working with the Gates Foundation on
the Local Government and Public Libraries Initiative to engage local
government managers as leaders in support of public libraries. An ICMA
survey conducted in November 2007 indicated that less than half of the
responding local government managers reported that the chief
librarian/library director was a member of the local government
management team and only 41 percent reported weekly meetings with the
chief librarian/library director. These statistics suggested that for
many local government managers, libraries are not being used to
strategically address community needs. If local government managers
remain unaware of and uninvolved in the changing role of libraries,
these valuable community assets will be forced to tackle obstacles
alone and will struggle to meet broader community needs.
As a result, a 26-member ICMA advisory committee looked at a variety of
ways to strengthen the partnership between communities
and libraries. The committee identified areas where public libraries
could play a larger role in delivering services, including public
safety and disaster preparedness, sustainability, health, immigration,
civic engagement, and economic development. The advisory committee also
noted that a strong relationship between the library and the local
government manager is vital for the success of these services and
improves the overall health of the community.
All Innovation Grants will be anchored by a partnership between the
office of the chief administrative officer (city, county, and town
managers) and the public library, recognizing the importance of the
manager/librarian relationship to create and sustain change. The
grantees will be supported by a series of leadership workshops and
project coaching. The aim of the professional development component is
to solidify the partnership, ensure the short-term success of the
project, and secure new capacity for the awardees that will support the
long-term use of libraries in addressing community goals.
Applications for the Public Library Innovations Grants will be
available in November, and grants will be awarded in February
2009. ICMA members who would like to receive e-mail updates on the
program should contact Molly Donelan at mdonelan@icma.org.
For more information about ICMA’s Local Government and Public Libraries
Initiative, visit www.icma.org/public_libraries.
Course Development Institute for Courses Using Student-Centered Discussion
The Interactivity Foundation is accepting applications from college faculty interested in exploring its approach to student-centered discussion and civically engaged education. The Foundation is a non-partisan non-profit devoted to greater citizen discussion and participation in the exploration and development of contrasting possibilities for future public policy. We are seeking 10-12 faculty to attend our 2009 Summer Institute to be held August 1-9, 2009, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Participants will learn, practice, and help to refine the discussion process we are developing for use in college classrooms and in broader public discussions. Faculty will receive a $5,000 honorarium for their participation, and the Foundation will cover the costs of travel, meals, and lodging.
Following the Summer Institute, faculty will be invited to submit proposals for courses to be taught in the spring of 2010 at the participants’ home institutions. Courses selected for funding will employ a student-centered discussion process to explore a range of perspectives on the course subject matter and its connection to civic life and public policy. When the courses begin, faculty will receive an additional $5,000 honoraria.
We are seeking faculty who are experimental and interdisciplinary and who wish to explore and develop different approaches to student-centered classroom discussion. We especially welcome faculty who view higher education within the context of active citizenship and who see deliberative discussion as a way to enhance student learning and connect the classroom to public life.
Interested faculty should submit a CV and a letter of interest which describes their experience and interest in student discussion, their approach to teaching, and which addresses our interest in developing innovative and collaborative discussion partners that can make creative contributions in developing courses and methods for student-centered discussion. Please email these application materials to the Interactivity Foundation at shively@interactivityfoundation.org by 10/24/08. Notifications of selections will be made by 1/9/08. For additional information, including a list of faculty and their funded courses from our prior Summer Institute, visit our website at http://www.interactivityfoundation.org/2009si.html.
Earlier this week I wrote to the Deliberate discussion list and asked where the librarians were in the work being done by the Knight Commission on the information needs of communities in a democracy. I was happily proven wrong. Libraries are represented by TWO outstanding individuals. YEAH!
The commission met at Google earlier this week and a couple of people I know or follow on Twitter attended. Chris O’Brien, technology writer for the San Jose Mercury News attended and posted a blog about the meeting. He writes about how the constant onslaught of information makes it difficult to determine the accuracy of information. How do communities decide what information and what sources to trust? (hmm, sounds like an information literacy issue.) He poses two possible solutions.
One is to tap into the power of crowds to evaluate and rate the sources. He cites NewsTrust.net where news stories are evaluate by people who, over time build up a reputation and become trusted sources. In other words individuals rate news articles and other individuals rate the rating. Stories are rated based on: Recommendations, accuracy, balance, context, evidence, fairness, importance, information, sources, style, and trust.
The other possible solution he cites is to form intermediaries or editors that can establish themselves as “trust advisers” to people online. Hey, that sounds like a job for an information professional (i.e., librarian!) I told Chris that I was posting his story to the students in my UIUC Library and Info Sciences class, Community Engagement.
I’d love to see some librarians comment on his blog. See link to article below.
Contact: Angela Thullen
Program Officer, Communications, PPO
(312) 280-5286 athullen@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
June 17, 2008
FRONTLINE/World, ALA announce new grant opportunity for libraries
CHICAGO – In celebration of their groundbreaking Social Entrepreneurs Series, FRONTLINE/World, in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, will award grants of $500 plus supporting program materials to 40 public and academic libraries. The grant funds will promote the screening and discussion of one the series’ short documentary films on innovative social entrepreneurs around the world.
To be eligible, libraries must:
Host a screening and discussion of a FRONTLINE/World Series film, and
In partnership with a local or regional organization engaged in issues of social entrepreneurship, host at least one related program (panel, lecture, forum or other format).
In addition to the $500 grant, selected libraries will receive a DVD containing the FRONTLINE/World series compilation, a facilitator’s guide containing promotional material templates, recommended additional resources and reference materials and a supply of FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs series bookmarks. For an application, visit www.pbs.org/frontlineworld or www.ala.org/socialentrepreneurs. Applications must be submitted electronically to libraries@flworld.org by August 1.
FRONTLINE/World is the award-winning PBS international news magazine that turns its lens on the global community, covering countries and cultures rarely seen on American television. The Social Entrepreneurs Series features the stories of people whose ideas and organizations create new and sustainable markets and services that benefit underserved communities everywhere in the developing world. This pilot library program seeks to connect communities to the concept of social entrepreneurship and to promote dialogue on a local level. Funding for the library program is provided by the PBS Foundation through a grant from the Skoll Foundation.
Established in 1992, the ALA Public Programs Office has an exemplary track record of developing library programming initiatives, including the acclaimed reading and discussion series “Let’s Talk About It,” film discussion programs on humanities themes, traveling exhibitions, LIVE! @ your library® and other programs. Recently, it has established the Cultural Communities Fund, an endowment created to help all types of libraries across the country bring communities together through cultural programming (www.ala.org/ccf). More than 10,000 libraries and at least 10 million individuals have participated in library programming initiatives supported by the Public Programs Office. For more information about the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.
