why don’t we say more about Bush’s information ethics?

Posted on by jessamyn

Also from Library Juice, why isn’t ALA or any other large organization taking on some of the more egregious affronts to free access to information perpetuated by the Bush Administration? My guess? ALAs non-profit status and their fear of protecting it are going to make it difficult for them to challenge the administration’s policies even when these policies run counter to the continued operation of our profession. That’s a real drag.

Secrecy, propaganda and disinformation represent three core evils in government from an information ethics point of view. As such, they are the aspects of Bush administration policy and practice that ALA is eminently justified in publicly addressing.

the web for the blind, or the clueless

Posted on by jessamyn

I spent some time today with three novice computer users. Two were fairly bright people who were challenged but ultimately victorious in their struggles with the mouse and with Windows. One had a lot of trouble scanning a web page to look for whatever the “action item” was that she had to click on. So, finding the “send” button on her email, finding the “attach file” button after browsing for a file, or finding the “log off” button were very frustrating and took minutes for her each time.

This corroborates what we know about novice users, or users with cognitive impairments: they read every word on a web page and have a hard time getting the hang of cues that are communicated with colors or other subtle indicators. For them, web-based email like Yahoo [with its enormous ads and complicated interface] is more of a punishment than a pleasure. No wonder people still use AOL. This is just really a roundabout way of passing on a few links about accessibility:

Thank you Bernie Sanders

Posted on by jessamyn

I try to explain to people why I stay in a state with difficult technology access and a lot of teeny tiny libraries that don’t pay very well [and only a few that do]. One of the main reasons is that all three of my national-level representatives are not disagreeable to me. Today Bernie Sanders managed to pass legislation in the House which would amend section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and prohibit government agents from using FISA warrants to obtain records from libraries and bookstores. My two senators are trying to pass similar legislation in the Senate. Of course keep in mind that one of the reasons, according to Alberto Gonzales, that the Department of Justice hasn’t had to use the USAPA more is because they have been getting “voluntary co-operation from librarians” which is a different sort of problem. [liblaw]