Israel’s National Library Reopens After Delay Caused by Hamas Attacks; The New York Times, December 26, 2023

Gal Koplewitz, The New York Times; Israel’s National Library Reopens After Delay Caused by Hamas Attacks

"“The library has been able to play a tremendously therapeutic role,” said Raquel Ukeles, head of collections at the library. She said that many visitors have been evacuees from the country’s borders with Gaza and Lebanon, where communities are regularly targeted with rockets and shells, or reservists on leave from the Israeli military.

The library has helped stock mobile libraries that travel the country. Its staff members have also assisted in setting up a “pop-up” school in the previous National Library building for roughly 100 children displaced from their homes by fighting along the Lebanese border.

In the library’s reading room stand scores of chairs, each one holding a book chosen to represent one of the hostages taken on Oct. 7...

The library also has found new ways to serve its core mission as a custodian of collective national memory — painful as this new chapter is.

Library workers are salvaging and digitizing local archives from the ravaged communities overrun on Oct. 7. And staffers like Ms. Cooper are gathering and archiving WhatsApp conversations, in recognition of their documentary value. In Kibbutz Be’eri, the site of some of the worst atrocities on Oct. 7, one the more reliable logs of the day’s events are the messages sent on the community’s group chat."

Voices of the People: The StoryCorps Archive; Library Journal, October 12, 2023

 Elisa Shoenberger , Library Journal; Voices of the People: The StoryCorps Archive 

"Since founder and president David Isay conceived of StoryCorps in 2003, the organization has recorded over 356,000 interviews with over 640,000 people in all 50 states, in over 50 languages, with the archive housed at the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress.

Over the past 20 years, the organization has worked tirelessly to collect and honor the oral histories of its participants while finding new ways of sharing their contributions to the world, including National Public Radio (NPR) broadcasts, animations, podcasts, and five bestselling books. According to StoryCorps’s most recent Annual Report, in 2021, the broadcasts featured on NPR Morning Edition reached 12 million listeners each week.

“We have a scale of recordings, stories, and first person accounts of historical events that is really unmatched,” said Virginia Millington, StoryCorps director of recording and archives. The archive contains stories recalling pivotal historical events that include World War II, the rise of Hip Hop, and 9/11, as well as personal stories of happiness and heartbreak.

In order to make sure that the diversity of experiences are represented, StoryCorps has developed several initiatives over the years to target particular parts of US society. For instance, there is the Military Voices Initiative, to collect interviews from veterans, military families, service members; another initiative works to honor the stories of LGBTQ+ in initiative StoryCorps OutLoud; while StoryCorps Griot collects the experiences of African Americans.

Other programs focus on Latinos, people working in the end of life care facilities (hospitals, palliative care), juvenile and adult justice system, refugees, immigrants and Muslim communities to name a few."

Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'; NPR, October 19, 2023

Chloe Veltman, NPR ; Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'

"Amy Kurzweil said the chatbot project and the book that came out of it underscored her somewhat positive feelings about AI.

"I feel like you need to imagine the robot you want to see in the world," she said. "We're not going to stop progress. But we can think about applications of AI that facilitate human connection.""

'Empty shelves with absolutely no books': Students, parents question school board's library weeding process; CBC, September 13, 2023

Nicole Brockbank, Angelina King , CBC; 'Empty shelves with absolutely no books': Students, parents question school board's library weeding process

"Weeding books by publication date raises concerns...

Libraries not Landfills, a group of parents, retired teachers and community members says it supports standard weeding, but shares Takata's concerns about both fiction and nonfiction books being removed based solely on their publication date.

The group is also concerned about how subjective criteria like inclusivity will be interpreted from school to school in the later stages of the equity-based weeding process."

Record Labels File $412 Million Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Internet Archive; Rolling Stone, August 12, 2023

  ALTHEA LEGASPI, Rolling Stone; Record Labels File $412 Million Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Internet Archive

"UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP, Sony Music Entertainment, Capitol, and other record labels filed a copyright lawsuit on Friday against Internet Archive, founder Brewster Kahle, and others over the organization’s “Great 78 Project,” accusing them of behaving as an “illegal record store.” The suit lists 2,749 pre-1972 musical works available via Internet Archive by late artists, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby, among others.

The suit, which was filed in federal court and reviewed by Rolling Stone, claims the Internet Archive’s “Great 78 Project” — launched by Internet Archive as a community project for “the preservation, research and discovery of 78rpm records,” according to its blog — has violated copyright laws. By “transferring copies of those files to members of the public, Internet Archive has reproduced and distributed without authorization Plaintiffs’ protected sound recordings,” the suit alleges.

The nonprofit Internet Archive began in 1996, stating its mission is to “provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.” It purports to be a digital library that provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public. Its “Great 78 Project” follows suit; the community project dedicates itself to “the preservation, research and discovery of 78rpm records” per a post about the project. It provides free access to “over 400,000 recordings” as Internet Archive estimates in its post."

‘Our mission is crucial’: meet the warrior librarians of Ukraine; The Guardian, December 4, 2022

Stephen Marche, The Guardian; ‘Our mission is crucial’: meet the warrior librarians of Ukraine

"The work of the state archivists during the course of the Ukrainian war is simple – to keep what they have out of Russian hands and in existence. “Our mission is crucial because the destruction of archives can be seen as part of cultural genocide,” Khromov says. Russians have destroyed more than 300 state and university libraries since the start of the war. In May, the National Library conducted an online survey on the state of its system. By then, 19 libraries were already completely destroyed, 115 partially destroyed and 124 permanently damaged. The Russians have destroyed libraries in Mariupol, Volnovakha, Chernihiv, Sievierodonetsk, Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin and Borodianka, along with the cities they served. They have destroyed several thousand school libraries at least."

Inside Trump’s war on the National Archives; The Washington Post, August 27, 2022

 

Jacqueline Alemany

, 

Isaac Arnsdorf

 and 

Josh Dawsey

, The Washington Post; Inside Trump’s war on the National Archives

“Without the preservation of the records of government, and without access to them, you can’t have an informed population, and without an informed population, you lack one of the basic tools to preserving democracy,” said former acting archivist Trudy Peterson, who expressed concern that Trump’s rhetoric is damaging the public perception of the Archives. “The system won’t work if the neutrality of the National Archives is not protected.”

This portrait of an agency under siege by a former president and his supporters is based on interviews with 14 current and former Archives employees, Trump advisers, historians and others familiar with the escalating dispute, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions."

Call Number Podcast: Support for Ukraine; American Libraries, August 12, 2022

American Libraries; Call Number Podcast: Support for Ukraine

Episode 74 highlights efforts to preserve information, raise funds, and help refugees

"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dominated headlines this year. The ongoing war has affected people globally, including American librarians and their work. In Episode 74, the Call Number podcast team looks at the ways the profession is supporting Ukraine.

First, Call Number host Diana Panuncial speaks with Kristin Parker, lead curator and manager of the arts at Boston Public Library. Parker is part of a network of first responders working against the clock to preserve Ukraine’s cultural history and provide preservation advice to library workers on the ground.

Next, American Libraries Editor and Publisher Sanhita SinhaRoy speaks with Michael Dowling, director of ALA’s International and Chapter Relations Office, about the Association’s Ukraine Library Relief Fund and how donations are being used.

Finally, Panuncial talks to Millicent Mabi, director of community engagement and programming at Regina Public Library in Saskatchewan, about how her institution is helping Ukrainian refugees—from teaching them English to improving their literacy to connecting them with community resources." 

Meet the 1,300 librarians racing to back up Ukraine’s digital archives; The Washington Post, April 8, 2022

Pranshu Verma, The Washington Post; Meet the 1,300 librarians racing to back up Ukraine’s digital archives

"Buildings, bridges, and monuments aren’t the only cultural landmarks vulnerable to war. With the violence well into its second month, the country’s digital history — its poems, archives, and pictures — are at risk of being erased as cyberattacks and bombs erode the nation’s servers.

Over the past month, a motley group of more than 1,300 librarians, historians, teachers and young children have banded together to save Ukraine’s Internet archives, using technology to back up everything from census data to children’s poems and Ukrainian basket weaving techniques.

The efforts, dubbed Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online, have resulted in over 2,500 of the country’s museums, libraries, and archives being preserved on servers they’ve rented, eliminating the risk they’ll be lost forever. Now, an all-volunteer effort has become a lifeline for cultural officials in Ukraine, who are working with the group to digitize their collections in the event their facilities get destroyed in the war.""

15 boxes of White House records have been recovered at Trump's Mar-a-Lago; NPR, February 7, 2022

Jonathan Franklin , NPR; 15 boxes of White House records have been recovered at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said it retrieved 15 boxes of White House records and other items last month that were stored at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property instead of at the National Archives.

As first reported by The Washington Post, the documents retrieved from the Florida property contained important records of communication along with Trump's self-described "love letters" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as a letter addressed to Trump from his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

According to the newspaper, the boxes of records at Mar-A-Lago violated the Presidential Records Act (PRA) — which requires the keeping of all forms of documents and communications related to a president's or vice president's official duties.

As required by the Presidential Records Act (PRA), the records discovered at Mar-a-Lago should have been transferred to NARA from the White House at the end of the Trump administration in January 2021.

"The Presidential Records Act mandates that all Presidential records must be properly preserved by each Administration so that a complete set of Presidential records is transferred to the National Archives at the end of the Administration," said David S. Ferriero, archivist of the United States.""

Opinion: Putin is trying to wipe out the work of his strongest opponent. He won’t succeed.; The Washington Post, February 2, 2022

Editorial Board, The Washington Post; Opinion: Putin is trying to wipe out the work of his strongest opponent. He won’t succeed.

"Dictatorship has a body language, a way of conveying grievance, grudge and vulnerability. Mr. Putin has once again revealed his acute anxiety about Mr. Navalny and all that he stands for. On Tuesday, the Russian censor, Roskomnadzor, instructed five Russian news media outlets — television, radio and online — to remove articles and broadcasts based on Mr. Navalny’s investigations of Mr. Putin and his inner circle within 24 hours — just in time for the anniversary of his sentencing. The radio station Echo of Moscow was ordered to delete 34 items; television channel TV Rain six items; the news websites Znak, 13 items, Meduza, 17 items and Svobodnye Novosti, nine. Some of them said they would comply.

What’s so offensive? Svobodnye Novosti was ordered to remove material about “Putin’s Palace,” the sprawling Black Sea pleasure palace that Mr. Navalny exposed as having been secretly constructed for Mr. Putin. The other eight items, published between 2018 and 2021, all stemmed from Mr. Navalny’s anti-corruption probes, including revelations about how Mr. Putin’s coterie accumulated expensive real estate, fancy cars and lavish clothing. The television channel said it was ordered to remove reports about an investigation of secret residences held by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin among other items."

‘Everyone was freaking out’: Navalny novichok film made in secret premieres at Sundance; The Guardian, January 26, 2022

Shaun Walker, The Guardian; ‘Everyone was freaking out’: Navalny novichok film made in secret premieres at Sundance 

Director Daniel Roher tells of panic after team  recorded Alexei Navalny pranking one of his Russian poisoners into confessing

"At the end of the film, Navalny answers a request from the director to record a message for the eventuality that he were killed on his return. “I’ve got something very obvious to tell you: don’t give up, you’re not allowed. If they decided to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong, and we need to use this power,” he said."

‘Inconceivable’: why has Australia’s history been left to rot?; The Guardian, May 22, 2021

Elias Visontay The Guardian; ‘Inconceivable’: why has Australia’s history been left to rot?

Historians are aghast that the National Archives have had to resort to crowdfunding to protect irreplaceable historical records

[Kip Currier: This report on the deplorable state of archival management and preservation by Australia's National Archives is a call-to-arms case study exemplar of abject information preservation dereliction of duty and responsibility. Kudos to those who are mobilizing to endeavor to avert this archival dis-management catastrophe.]

"The Guardian requested an interview with director-general David Fricker or another member of the National Archives. A spokeswoman said no one was available."

Our greatest libraries are melting away; The Washington Post, April 7, 2021

David Farrier , The Washington Post; Our greatest libraries are melting away

 

"Spending time in the library of ice reminds us that our history is bound up with that of the planet. As that library comes under ever increasing risk, we should remember the fate of another great library. Legend tells that the Library of Alexandria burned to the ground, but the truth is less spectacular. As the Roman Empire fell into decline, people simply neglected to protect and preserve the fragile papyrus manuscripts that were stored in the Library of Alexandria. Gone with it were the greatest treasures of the ancient world: hundreds of years of civilizations’ stories, memories, knowledge and wisdom.

The greatest library in history was lost to neglect. Unless we act now, the library of ice will meet the same fate."

Library seeks community's help to document COVID-19 changes to daily life; University of North Georgia, May 21, 2020

Clark Leonard, University of North Georgia; Library seeks community's help to document COVID-19 changes to daily life

"Joy Bolt, dean of libraries at UNG, said part of the impetus for the project came when she and Allison Galloup, special collection and digital initiatives librarian, sought documents related to the 1918 flu pandemic.

"We were both somewhat surprised to find little in our collection on the subject," Bolt said. "This is one reason why we thought it was important for us to collect information about the experiences of our Northeast Georgia community for future scholars and researchers. It will be there when people want to look back on this time and see how things were for so many of us."

To submit your story, use the library's collection form and upload your file or email it to archives@ung.edu.

Galloup knows many people will wonder if their items are needed or worth sending. She has a simple message.

"Nothing is too mundane to share. We cannot do this without the community's help. While there may be similarities in all of our stories, each person's experience and perspective is unique," Galloup said. "We're asking you to share whatever you'd like, in whatever format you'd like. Those who would like to participate can submit videos, voice recordings, scans, photographs, or text documents.""

It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.; The Washington Post, January 31, 2020

Joe Heim , The Washington Post; It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.

 

"The Library of Congress abandoned plans last year to showcase a mural-size photograph of demonstrators at the 2017 Women’s March in Washington because of concerns it would be perceived as critical of President Trump, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post...

 

Slayton said the decision to remove the photograph was made by leadership of the library’s Center for Exhibits and Interpretation. “No outside entities reviewed this exhibition’s content before it opened or opined on its content,” the spokeswoman wrote.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was informed of the decision soon after and supported it, Slayton said. Hayden, who is in the fourth year of her 10-year term, was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016 and confirmed by the Senate."

 

The Washington Post; National Archives says it was wrong to alter images; The Washington Post, January 18, 2020

Steve Thompson and Joe Heim , The Washington Post; National Archives says it was wrong to alter images

 

"Officials at the National Archives on Saturday said they had removed from display an altered photo from the 2017 Women’s March in which signs held by marchers critical of President Trump had been blurred.

 

In tweets on Saturday, the museum apologized and said: “We made a mistake.”

“As the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without alteration,” one of the tweets said.

“This photo is not an archival record held by the @usnatarchives, but one we licensed to use as a promotional graphic,” it said in another tweet. “Nonetheless, we were wrong to alter the image.”...

Marchers in the 2017 photograph by Mario Tama of Getty Images were shown carrying a variety of signs, at least four of which were altered by the museum. A placard that proclaimed “God Hates Trump” had Trump blotted out so that it read “God Hates.” A sign that read “Trump & GOP — Hands Off Women” had the word Trump blurred. Signs with messages that referenced women’s anatomy were also digitally altered."

National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump; The Washington Post, January 17, 2020

Joe Heim , The Washington Post; National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump

 

""There's no reason for the National Archives to ever digitally alter a historic photograph," Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said. "If they don't want to use a specific image, then don't use it. But to confuse the public is reprehensible. The head of the Archives has to very quickly fix this damage. A lot of history is messy, and there's zero reason why the Archives can't be upfront about a photo from a women's march."...

 

Karin Wulf, a history professor at the College of William & Mary and executive director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, said that to ensure transparency, the Archives at the very least should have noted prominently that the photo had been altered.

"The Archives has always been self-conscious about its responsibility to educate about source material, and in this case they could have said, or should have said, 'We edited this image in the following way for the following reasons,' " she said. "If you don't have transparency and integrity in government documents, democracy doesn't function.""

 

China Didn’t Want Us to Know. Now Its Own Files Are Doing the Talking.; The New York Times, November 24, 2019

Adrian Zenz, The New York Times;

China Didn’t Want Us to Know. Now Its Own Files Are Doing the Talking.

More disclosures reveal the full impact of the government’s repression of ethnic minorities — well beyond re-education camps.

"This Sunday, the contents of two more sets of documents — all of which I have reviewed — are being disclosed. Among the first batch, also leaked, is a confidential telegram signed by Zhu Hailun, Xinjiang’s deputy party secretary, which details how local authorities should manage and operate the “vocational skills training centers” — a euphemism for the internment camps. (All translations here are mine.) The second set of documents, a large cache of files and spreadsheets from local governments, reveals the internment campaign’s devastating economic and social impact on the families and communities it targets...

Thanks to these new document disclosures, we now have hard evidence — and the government’s own evidence — that in addition to implementing a vast internment program in Xinjiang, the Chinese Communist Party is deliberately breaking up families and forcing them into poverty and a form of indentured labor. For all its efforts at secrecy, the Chinese government can no longer hide the extent, and the reach, of its campaign of repression in Xinjiang.

Some important elements are still unknown. The total internment figure remains a well-guarded secret. (Based on the new evidence, I have revised my own estimate: I think that between 900,000 and 1.8 million people have been detained in Xinjiang since the spring of 2017.) Also missing from the official documents that have surfaced so far are precise records of how the detainees are treated and how, exactly, the process of re-education works. (About those things, however, we have witness accounts.) The confidential telegram and local files do not mention the use of physical violence — but for one notable exception. The telegram states that people who resist brainwashing must be singled out for “assault-style re-education.” Yet another sinister understatement, and it suggests that force and torture may, in fact, be widely used."

Myspace loses all content uploaded before 2016; The Guardian, March 18, 2019

Alex Hern, The Guardian; Myspace loses all content uploaded before 2016 

Faulty server migration blamed for mass deletion of songs, photos and video

"Myspace, the once mighty social network, has lost every single piece of content uploaded to its site before 2016, including millions of songs, photos and videos with no other home on the internet.
 

The company is blaming a faulty server migration for the mass deletion, which appears to have happened more than a year ago, when the first reports appeared of users unable to access older content. The company has confirmed to online archivists that music has been lost permanently, dashing hopes that a backup could be used to permanently protect the collection for future generations...

Some have questioned how the embattled company, which was purchased by Time Inc in 2016, could make such a blunder."