Federal officials caution employers on using AI in hiring; FCW, May 12, 2022

Natalie Alms, FCW; Federal officials caution employers on using AI in hiring

"The growing use of artificial intelligence and other software tools for hiring, performance monitoring and pay determination in the workplace is compounding discriminiation against people with disabilities, federal civil rights officials say.

Artificial intelligence can be deployed to target job ads to certain potential applicants, hold online job interviews, assess the skills of job applicants and even decide if an applicant meets job requirements. But the technology can discriminate against applicants and employees with disabilities.

On Thursday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice put employers on alert that they're responsible for not using AI tools in ways that discriminate and inform employees of their rights, agency officials told reporters."

“Keep on Pushing” Celebrating the life and career of E. J. Josey; American Libraries, June 27, 2020

Phil Morehart , American Libraries; “Keep on Pushing”

Celebrating the life and career of E. J. Josey

[Kip Currier: Uplifting article about the late E.J. Josey, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences and indefatigable champion for full inclusion of Black Americans during the tumultuous 1960's Civil Rights era and beyond. Dr. Josey was a consummate challenger of barriers to equality. His life and this article inform one of several capstone essays that graduate students in my inaugural LIS 2040: The Information Professional in Communities course are writing this month:

Reflection Essay 1: Breaking Down Barriers to Access by Communities

1. Barriers to information and resources are prevalent and persistent for many kinds of analog and digital communities. Read this 6/27/20 American Libraries article, “Keep On Pushing”: Celebrating the life and career of E.J. Josey. (see https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/keep-on-pushing/). The late E.J. Josey was a professor at Pitt’s School of Library and Information Sciences and was a “transformative force and leader” whose entire life was about breaking down barriers:

At the 1964 ALA Annual Conference in St. Louis, Josey “did something extraordinary” by putting forth a resolution to prevent the Association from working with Southern state library chapters that refused membership to Black librarians. “All hell broke loose,” said [Prof. Renate] Chancellor, quoting Josey, but the resolution passed.” https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/keep-on-pushing/

In a 750 – 1,000 word essay, identify and discuss at least one barrier that information professionals face in promoting access to information and resources for at least one specific community. Talk about at least one tangible strategy that you, as an information professional, can use to help to break down barriers and promote more access to information and resources for the community you identify. Cite at least one scholarly source in your essay.

Kip Currier (c) 2020]

[Excerpt]

"The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) honored the legacy of a trailblazing librarian—and celebrated its own 50th anniversary—at a live-streamed event at ALA Virtual June 26.

“E. J. Josey’s 1964 Charge: ‘Keep on Pushing’” charted the life of E. J. Josey (1924–2009), librarian, educator, author, activist, founding member of BCALA, and 1984–1985 American Library Association (ALA) president...

The session was moderated by Anthony Dunbar, librarian, sociology professor, and equity-diversity-inclusion consultant at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. He began by asking speaker Renate Chancellor—associate professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and author of E. J. Josey: Transformational Leader of the Modern Library Profession (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020)—to briefly encapsulate Josey before they moved into the breadth of his work.

“He was a transformative force and leader,” Chancellor said. “A lot of younger librarians may not be aware of his contributions to the profession.”...

1964 was a pivotal year for Josey, Black librarians, and civil rights, Chancellor said. At the 1964 ALA Annual Conference in St. Louis, Josey “did something extraordinary” by putting forth a resolution to prevent the Association from working with Southern state library chapters that refused membership to Black librarians. “All hell broke loose,” said Chancellor, quoting Josey, but the resolution passed.

“Josey was so passionate about equal rights and equality,” Chancellor said, describing how those issues drove much of his life’s work, from working with the student chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People while employed at Savannah (Ga.) State College; cofounding BCALA in 1970; and eventually becoming ALA president in 1983. One of Josey’s strengths, Chancellor said, was his ability to see the bigger picture."

Son Of Immigrants Is First Openly Gay Man Elected To Georgia Legislature; Huffington Post, 11/10/16

Kimberly Yam, Huffington Post; Son Of Immigrants Is First Openly Gay Man Elected To Georgia Legislature:

"“The election of an openly gay man to the Georgia General Assembly represents just one more step on the road to full equality for LGBT people in Georgia,” Jeff Graham, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy organization Georgia Equality, said in a statement about the historic win...

The 31-year-old, whose campaign focused on economic growth and security, healthcare, and civil rights, explained that it was his mother’s cancer diagnosis in 2014 that impacted his decision to run for office.

“As I take my mom to her chemo appointment every two weeks, I am constantly reminded of the importance of health insurance. Access to healthcare is a matter of life or death,” Park wrote on his website. “Knowing this, based on my experiences and faith, I am compelled to run for public office to ensure all Georgians have access to healthcare by expanding Medicaid in Georgia.”"

Internet Access Is Not a Human Right; New York Times, 1/4/12

Vincent G. Cerf, New York Times; Internet Access Is Not a Human Right:

"Over the past few years, courts and parliaments in countries like France and Estonia have pronounced Internet access a human right.

But that argument, however well meaning, misses a larger point: technology is an enabler of rights, not a right itself. There is a high bar for something to be considered a human right. Loosely put, it must be among the things we as humans need in order to lead healthy, meaningful lives, like freedom from torture or freedom of conscience. It is a mistake to place any particular technology in this exalted category, since over time we will end up valuing the wrong things."