Reforming Digital Lending Libraries and the End of the Internet Archive; Jurist, July 20, 2020

Binit Agrawal, Jurist; Reforming Digital Lending Libraries and the End of the Internet Archive

"The lack of certainty relating to the legality of CDL as fair use is hampering its growth by creating a chilling effect. Libraries are under the fear of costly litigations. IA itself is under the risk of bankruptcy, as the publishers are not inclined to take back their suit, even after IA stopped ELP. This is the very problem section 108 intended to resolve. Hence, it is pertinent that the section is amended to meet the needs of the digital age and provide certainty in this regard. Some countries have already moved in this direction. While Canada has permitted a limited right to provide digitized copies to patrons of other libraries, the EU has been considering proposals to allow digitization of cultural heritage institutions, including libraries."

Twitter disables video retweeted by Donald Trump over copyright complaint; The Guardian, July 19, 2020

Reuters via The Guardian; Twitter disables video retweeted by Donald Trump over copyright complaint

"Twitter has disabled a campaign-style video retweeted by Donald Trump, citing a copyright complaint.

The video, which included music from the group Linkin Park, disappeared from the president’s Twitter feed late Saturday with the notification: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”

Twitter removed the video, which Trump had retweeted from the White House social media director, Dan Scavino, after it received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice from Machine Shop Entertainment, according to a notice posted on the Lumen Database which collects requests for removal of online materials."

How 'John Lewis: Good Trouble' serves as a warning; CNN, July 4, 2020

Brandon Tensley, CNN; How 'John Lewis: Good Trouble' serves as a warning

""I tell friends and family, colleagues and especially young people that when you see something that's not right or fair, you have to do something, you have to speak up, you have to get in the way," as Lewis put it in 2018."

If AI is going to help us in a crisis, we need a new kind of ethics; MIT Technology Review, June 24, 2020

Will Douglas Heaven, MIT Technology Review; If AI is going to help us in a crisis, we need a new kind of ethics

Ethics for urgency means making ethics a core part of AI rather than an afterthought, says Jess Whittlestone.

"What needs to change?

We need to think about ethics differently. It shouldn’t be something that happens on the side or afterwards—something that slows you down. It should simply be part of how we build these systems in the first place: ethics by design...

You’ve said that we need people with technical expertise at all levels of AI design and use. Why is that?

I’m not saying that technical expertise is the be-all and end-all of ethics, but it’s a perspective that needs to be represented. And I don’t want to sound like I’m saying all the responsibility is on researchers, because a lot of the important decisions about how AI gets used are made further up the chain, by industry or by governments.

But I worry that the people who are making those decisions don’t always fully understand the ways it might go wrong. So you need to involve people with technical expertise. Our intuitions about what AI can and can’t do are not very reliable.

What you need at all levels of AI development are people who really understand the details of machine learning to work with people who really understand ethics. Interdisciplinary collaboration is hard, however. People with different areas of expertise often talk about things in different ways. What a machine-learning researcher means by privacy may be very different from what a lawyer means by privacy, and you can end up with people talking past each other. That’s why it’s important for these different groups to get used to working together."

Complaint Faults Museum Director for Hanging His In-Law’s El Greco; The New York Times, July 15, 2020

Graham Bowley, The New York Times; Complaint Faults Museum Director for Hanging His In-Law’s El Greco 

A whistle-blower accusation argues that conflict-of-interest rules to prevent self-dealing have been skirted at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

"“It’s a common practice for American museums to engage collectors and patrons asking them to loan paintings,” he said in an interview.

But his answers have failed to satisfy the museum employees who filed the complaint at a time when other concerns, including ones about Mr. Salort-Pons’s management style and about DIA’s treatment of its Black employees, are roiling the institute.

They say that a lack of transparency surrounding the artwork cloaked a situation that could financially benefit the director and his family, since a painting’s exhibition in the institute could burnish its value. 

Some ethics experts, too, said he probably didn’t go far enough in disclosing his family’s interest.

“A museum official (or close relative) who loans an object to the museum for display then sells it after exhibition would likely earn an enhanced price for the object,” said Greg Stevens, director of the Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University. “And it would also cause the appearance of impropriety to arise — namely, that the museum used its prestige, resources, and reach to enrich the official.”"

YouTube’s algorithms could be harming users looking for health information; Fast Company, July 15, 2020

ANJANA SUSARLA, Fast Company; 

YouTube’s algorithms could be harming users looking for health information

"A significant fraction of the U.S. population is estimated to have limited health literacy, or the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information, such as the ability to read and comprehend prescription bottles, appointment slips, or discharge instructions from health clinics.

Studies of health literacy, such as the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted in 2003, estimated that only 12% of adults had proficient health literacy skills. This has been corroborated in subsequent studies.

I’m a professor of information systems, and my own research has examined how social media platforms such as YouTube widen such health literacy disparities by steering users toward questionable content."

Vandals destroy Little Free Library inside children’s memorial garden in Hermitage; WKBN, July 10, 2020

Dave Sess, WKBN; Vandals destroy Little Free Library inside children’s memorial garden in Hermitage 

The Little Free Library was started to remember Danielle Greenburg, a children's librarian who was passionate about literacy

"The Butterfly Garden is dedicated to children who passed away. Greenburg was a children’s librarian, passionate about literacy. Team Danielle was started in her memory.

“As of this week, have donated over $300,000 to Sarcoma Research,” McIntire said.

And that work will continue.

The library was open to all. Take a book, read a book, put it back for the next person. The Little Free Library will definitely return.

“That’s something that will be a priority and putting back into place and refill it with some books,” said Ryan Voisey, with Buhl Park.

“So we’ll fix it and hope they’ve had enough of us and go somewhere else,” McIntire said.

There have been many promises of donations already to rebuild and restock the Little Free Library at Buhl Park. The children’s programs that are held there will continue as well."

AI gatekeepers are taking baby steps toward raising ethical standards; Quartz, June 26, 2020

Nicolás Rivero, Quartz; AI gatekeepers are taking baby steps toward raising ethical standards

"This year, for the first time, major AI conferences—the gatekeepers for publishing research—are forcing computer scientists to think about those consequences.

The Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems will require a “broader impact statement” addressing the effect a piece of research might have on society. The Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing will begin rejecting papers on ethical grounds. Others have emphasized their voluntary guidelines.

The new standards follow the publication of several ethically dubious papers. Microsoft collaborated with researchers at Beihang University to algorithmically generate fake comments on news stories. Harrisburg University researchers developed a tool to predict the likelihood someone will commit a crime based on their face. Researchers clashed on Twitter over the wisdom of publishing these and other papers.

“The research community is beginning to acknowledge that we have some level of responsibility for how these systems are used,” says Inioluwa Raji, a tech fellow at NYU’s AI Now Institute. Scientists have an obligation to think about applications and consider restricting research, she says, especially in fields like facial recognition with a high potential for misuse."

What ‘X-Men’ Pulled Off 20 Years Ago, According to Those Who Made It; Observer, July 14, 2020

Brandon Katz, Observer; What ‘X-Men’ Pulled Off 20 Years Ago, According to Those Who Made It

"Winter hasn’t watched the movie front-to-back in a long time, but has seen sections and clips. “I don’t know if it ages as well as it could. But I think the thematics—Is there a place for me? Will I be discarded?—make the movie relevant whether you’re 14 years old or 84 years old. I think that discussion is still going on today. How do we find a place?”

Donner believes the success of X-Men helped open the doors for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise, which laid the groundwork for Marvel’s eventual shared cinematic universe conquest. But, more importantly, she believes the message of X-Men remains its best contribution.

“The legacy is tolerance,” she said. “We’re all mutants in a way. All of us. Most of us feel like misfits, and this movie shows that we’re all good. We’re all equal in who we are and we should be proud of who we are. Intolerance should not be tolerated.”"

Digital tools against COVID-19: taxonomy, ethical challenges, and navigation aid; The Lancet, June 29, 2020

Urs Gasser, PhD, Marcello Ienca, PhD, James Scheibner, PhD, Joanna Sleigh, MA, Prof Effy Vayena, PhD, The Lancet; Digital tools against COVID-19: taxonomy, ethical challenges, and navigation aid

"Summary

Data collection and processing via digital public health technologies are being promoted worldwide by governments and private companies as strategic remedies for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic and loosening lockdown measures. However, the ethical and legal boundaries of deploying digital tools for disease surveillance and control purposes are unclear, and a rapidly evolving debate has emerged globally around the promises and risks of mobilising digital tools for public health. To help scientists and policy makers to navigate technological and ethical uncertainty, we present a typology of the primary digital public health applications that are in use. These include proximity and contact tracing, symptom monitoring, quarantine control, and flow modelling. For each, we discuss context-specific risks, cross-sectional issues, and ethical concerns. Finally, recognising the need for practical guidance, we propose a navigation aid for policy makers and other decision makers for the ethical development and use of digital public health tools."

David Burnett: An Open Letter to the NPPA on Ethics; PetaPixel, July 7, 2020

David Burnett, PetaPixel; David Burnett: An Open Letter to the NPPA on Ethics

"World-renowned photojournalist David Burnett recently published an open letter to the National Press Photographers Association in response to the recent debates surrounding photojournalistic ethics and the controversial new Photo Bill of Rights that calls for, among other things, consent from subjects in public spaces. 

We first spotted his letter on the Photoshelter blog, and are republishing it here with Mr. Burnett’s permission."

“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."

LSU Renames Library; Schools Across the Nation Take Similar Steps To Address Racist Past; Library Journal, July 2, 2020

Lisa Peet , Library Journal; LSU Renames Library; Schools Across the Nation Take Similar Steps To Address Racist Past

"As calls for accountability are amplified across the country, many institutions are starting by addressing their racist history—many of which involved naming rights for funders or founders. Recently the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University (LSU) unanimously voted to remove the name of former university president Troy H. Middleton, whose 1961 correspondence stated his wish to keep the school segregated, from the LSU Library.

Members of the LSU community—particularly Black students—have long taken issue with the fact that their library was named for a man who would have preferred to exclude Black students from sports and school functions, Dean of Libraries Stanley Wilder told LJ. “This is not simply a knee-jerk reaction to the recent troubled times that we've been going through,” he noted. But “this time it happened in the context of a cultural moment where the LSU community was able to listen and act.”

Middleton’s papers are preserved in the LSU archives—among them, a letter he wrote to former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Ransom. At the time, the University of Texas was facing widespread legal and internal pressure to desegregate its dormitories, and Ransom had written to leaders at several other Southern schools to ask them how they handled integration.

Middleton wrote back: “Though we did not like it, we accepted Negroes as students.” But LSU did not allow Black and white students to room together, he said. “We keep them in a given area and do not permit indiscriminate occupancy.”

He went on to write, “Our Negro students have made no attempt to attend social functions, participate in athletic contests, go in the swimming pool, etc. If they did, we would, for example, discontinue the operation of the swimming pool.” If a Black student asked to participate in school athletics, Middleton concluded, “I think I could find a good excuse why he would not participate. To be specific—L.S.U. does not favor whites and Negroes participating together on athletic teams.” LSU’s varsity football team did not have a Black member until the early 1970s.

The library, which opened in fall 1959, was named for Middleton after his death in 1979."

I study the Internet’s flaws. The pandemic reminded me of its joys.; The Washington Post, May 14, 2020

Josephine Wolff, The Washington Post; I study the Internet’s flaws. The pandemic reminded me of its joys.

"I feel unexpectedly affectionate toward the Internet, almost weepy at times about the sheer accomplishment of the people who designed and built it — an accomplishment that’s more valuable than ever right now.

Technology, in short, is a source of tremendous solace at the moment, and not just because it’s my only line of communication to my parents, my grandparents, the brother whose Netflix account I’m using on a daily basis, my friends and my students — not to mention every company I’ve ever bought a pair of shoes from that suddenly feels the need to inform me via email, at some length, about its response to the coronavirus. Yes, part of what makes me emotional about the Internet is that it connects me to the people I’m feeling emotional about right now. But it’s also my awe about the technological resilience and range of systems that make those connections possible."

I was wrongfully arrested because of facial recognition. Why are police allowed to use it?; The Washington Post, June 24, 2020

Robert Williams, The Washington Post; I was wrongfully arrested because of facial recognition. Why are police allowed to use it?

"Federal studies have shown that facial-recognition systems misidentify Asian and black people up to 100 times more often than white people. Why is law enforcement even allowed to use such technology when it obviously doesn’t work?...

Even if this technology does become accurate (at the expense of people like me), I don’t want my daughters’ faces to be part of some government database. I don’t want cops showing up at their door because they were recorded at a protest the government didn’t like. I don’t want this technology automating and worsening the racist policies we’re protesting. I don’t want them to have a police record for something they didn’t do — like I now do."

Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm; The New York Times, June 24, 2020

Kashmir Hill, The New York Times; Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm

In what may be the first known case of its kind, a faulty facial recognition match led to a Michigan man’s arrest for a crime he did not commit.

"Clare Garvie, a lawyer at Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology, has written about problems with the government’s use of facial recognition. She argues that low-quality search images — such as a still image from a grainy surveillance video — should be banned, and that the systems currently in use should be tested rigorously for accuracy and bias.

“There are mediocre algorithms and there are good ones, and law enforcement should only buy the good ones,” Ms. Garvie said.

About Mr. Williams’s experience in Michigan, she added: “I strongly suspect this is not the first case to misidentify someone to arrest them for a crime they didn’t commit. This is just the first time we know about it.”"

Targeting intellectual theft; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 11, 2020

The Editorial Board;

Targeting intellectual theft

A new bipartisan bill will help the U.S. clamp down on the theft of American innovations

"Many American innovations and technological advancements originate with the work of academics and researchers at U.S. colleges and universities. This, unfortunately, has made those university-backed research projects a target for foreign operatives seeking to steal American intellectual property in recent decades."

Democracy activists' books unavailable in Hong Kong libraries after new law; Reuters, July 5, 2020

Reuters; Democracy activists' books unavailable in Hong Kong libraries after new law

"Books by prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures have become unavailable in the Chinese-ruled city’s public libraries as they are being reviewed to see whether they violate a new national security law, a government department said on Sunday. 

The sweeping legislation, which came into force on Tuesday night at the same time its contents were published, punishes crimes related to secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with punishments of up to life in prison.

Hong Kong public libraries “will review whether certain books violate the stipulations of the National Security Law,” the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which runs the libraries, said in a statement.

“While legal advice will be sought in the process of the review, the books will not be available for borrowing and reference in libraries.""

China's Great Firewall descends on Hong Kong internet users; The Guardian, July 8, 2020

Lily Kuo, The Guardian; China's Great Firewall descends on Hong Kong internet users

Residents rush to erase digital footprints as law gives police powers over online activity

"But Hongkongers, accustomed to decades of unrestricted access to information, may not be so easily deterred. Since Beijing announced its plan in late May to enforce the security law, searches and purchases of virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxies to hide IP addresses have soared.

Many have migrated from Telegram to the encrypted messaging app Signal, and some residents have turned to sim cards from providers in other countries. Kwong says it is not just young protesters who are taking action – her parents recently moved their family group chat to Signal.

“People are indeed kind of panicked and trying to install VPNs and have no idea what it can and cannot help,” said Low, noting that volunteers have been holding workshops to teach residents how to use such tools and how to better protect themselves.

“I have faith in Hong Kong people. They will not forget about the freedom we once had.”"

At least 238 writers and intellectuals were detained for their work last year, advocacy group says; The Washington Post, May 19, 2020

Siobhán O'Grady, The Washington Post; At least 238 writers and intellectuals were detained for their work last year, advocacy group says

"At least 238 writers, academics and intellectuals around the world were detained in connection to their work last year, according to a report released Tuesday by PEN America, a freedom of expression advocacy group.

The imprisonments and detentions occurred in 34 countries, although the majority took place in just three — China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Those same countries are also among the top jailers of journalists worldwide, according to the 2019 Committee to Protect Journalists prison census.

The data published Tuesday as part of PEN America’s inaugural Freedom to Write Index accounts for poets, scholars, songwriters and translators, among other intellectuals the group described as unjustly detained last year around the world. It does not include journalists unless they also belong to one of the categories in question. Some detained individuals were excluded from the report at the request of family members who feared that public attention could worsen their situations."

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.""

America’s digital divide is an emergency; The Washington Post, June 23, 2020

Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Washington Post; America’s digital divide is an emergency

 

"The Internet was founded to connect. As access to America’s fundamental systems and basic rights moves online, now is the time to bridge the divide. As the events of 2020 have made clear, a quality Internet connection isn’t optional. Providing one to all Americans is a necessity."

American Girl Walks Back Threat to Sue 'Karen' Doll Parody Meme; Comic Book Resources, July 8, 2020

Kelvin Childs, Comic Book Resources; American Girl Walks Back Threat to Sue 'Karen' Doll Parody Meme

"American Girl has walked back its previous assertion that it would take legal action against a spoof ad for a "Karen 2020 Girl of the Year" doll.

On Twitter, the company said, "American Girl has no intention of censoring this parody meme and anything shared to the contrary was in error. We apologize for any misunderstanding.""

2 Sentenced to House Arrest in Long-Running Scheme to Steal Rare Books; The New York Times, June 20, 2020

Michael Levenson, The New York Times; 2 Sentenced to House Arrest in Long-Running Scheme to Steal Rare Books

[Kip Currier: We've been exploring this egregious breach of public trust and abject dereliction of institutional leadership as a case study in the new The Information Professional in the Community graduate course I launched this term.

Glaring and appallingly negligent instances of organizational malfeasance and breach of fiduciary responsibility -- over the course of more than 20 years -- are replete throughout this sordid saga. Much, if not all, of what was perpetrated by the morally-deficient defendants, archivist Gregory Priore and local bookshop owner John Schulman, was foreseeable and preventable by those charged with the duties of safeguarding and shepherding our cultural heritage and scientific treasure. Organizational leaders and Boards should also be held accountable for these kinds of ethical lapses and fiduciary failures that occur on their watches.]

"Patrick Dowd, board chair of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, said the thefts “will forever raise doubts about the security of all future charitable donations, particularly to the Carnegie Library.”"

Supreme Court Delivers Major Victory To LGBTQ Employees; NPR, June 15, 2020

Nina Totenberg , NPR; Supreme Court Delivers Major Victory To LGBTQ Employees

"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that the 1964 Civil Rights Act barring sex discrimination in the workplace protects LGBTQ employees from being fired because of their sexual orientation. 

The vote was 6-3 with conservatives Chief Justice John Roberts and Neil Gorsuch joining the court's four liberal justices in the majority. 

The opinion is available here."

Sentencing Thursday for two accused in Carnegie Library rare book theft; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 14, 2020

Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Sentencing Thursday for two accused in Carnegie Library rare book theft

"It doesn’t matter that the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was insured by Traveler’s Insurance, and has received, to date, $6.5 million paid in three separate installments.

“The library will need to work to build its reputation and standing within the community and gain the trust of collectors and patrons,” wrote the appraisal group, Pall Mall Art Advisors. “The long-term effect is actually far greater than the value they may have lost in the tangible assets.”...

In asking for an aggravated sentence, Deputy District Attorney Brian Catanzarite wrote, “The scope, breadth and impact of the crimes perpetrated by John Schulman and Gregory Priore cannot be overstated.

“The devastating financial loss to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh pales in comparison to the irreparable damage that the defendants caused the community.”...

Kornelia Tancheva, Hillman University librarian and director at the University of Pittsburgh, urged Judge Bicket to sentence the men to prison to send a message that a crime like theirs has consequences.

“The theft of special collections from any library, but especially from a public library, is an egregious crime against the integrity of the cultural record and against the public good,” she wrote. “It compromises the public trust in cultural institutions and sets a precedent that goes against everything that libraries stand for — unfettered access to information for all, curation and preservation of materials important not just now but for the whole future of humanity, as well as public support for cultural institutions.”"

With an Internet of Animals, Scientists Aim to Track and Save Wildlife; The New York Times, June 9, 2020

Jim Robbins, The New York Times; With an Internet of Animals, Scientists Aim to Track and Save Wildlife

Using tiny sensors and equipment aboard the space station, a project called ICARUS seeks to revolutionize animal tracking.

"The International Space Station, orbiting some 240 miles above the planet, is about to join the effort to monitor the world’s wildlife — and to revolutionize the science of animal tracking.

A large antenna and other equipment aboard the orbiting outpost, installed by spacewalking Russian astronauts in 2018, are being tested and will become fully operational this summer. The system will relay a much wider range of data than previous tracking technologies, logging not just an animal’s location but also its physiology and environment. This will assist scientists, conservationists and others whose work requires close monitoring of wildlife on the move, and provide much more detailed information on the health of the world’s ecosystems.

The new approach, known as ICARUS — short for International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space — will also be able to track animals across far larger areas than other technologies. At the same time, ICARUS has shrunk the size of the transmitters that the animals wear and made them far cheaper to boot...

The science of wildlife tracking, known as bio-logging, has come a long way in recent years."

What Do I Do if My Employer Does Something I Can’t Abide?; The New York Times, June 12, 2020

Roxane Gay, The New York Times; What Do I Do if My Employer Does Something I Can’t Abide?

You have to calibrate the difference between dumb and unacceptable, what you can live with and what you cannot.

"You have to pick your battles. You have to calibrate the difference between stupid and unacceptable, what you can live with and what you cannot. Because you work for a newspaper that will always publish a range of content, some of which you agree with and some of which you do not, you also have to calibrate the difference between disagreement and disgust.

That’s the tidy answer that doesn’t really force you to make the difficult decision. But now, more than ever, with so much at stake, we have to be willing to make difficult decisions. We have to be willing to make ourselves uncomfortable in service of what’s right. When the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, three of his co-workers stood by and did nothing. When a police officer in Buffalo shoved a 75-year-old man to the ground, dozens of his co-workers walked past that fallen man, bleeding from his ear. They did nothing.

Most situations in which you object to your employer’s conduct won’t be so extreme. But something terrible happened in this country, something that has happened with horrifying frequency. Each time we think maybe this time, something will change. For a few days or even a few weeks, change seems possible — and then we all get comfortable again. We forget about whatever terrible thing once held our attention. A new terrible thing happens. We get outraged. It’s a vicious cycle, but it is one we can break. When your employer does something that violates your ethical code, when it does something that endangers employees or the greater community, you have to ask yourself if you are going to do nothing — or get angry, vent and hold your employer accountable in whatever ways you can. I am, perhaps, simplifying the choices you can make, but maybe doing the right thing is far simpler than we allow ourselves to believe."

AI, Robots, and Ethics in the Age of COVID-19; MIT Sloan Management Review, May 12, 2020

Ayanna Howard and Jason Borenstein; AI, Robots, and Ethics in the Age of COVID-19

"There are many critical considerations we have to make before we become more reliant on AI and robots during the pandemic."

Proposals for Copyright Law and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic; infojustice, June 9, 2020

Emily Hudson and Paul Wragg, infojustice; Proposals for Copyright Law and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

"Abstract: This article asks whether the catastrophic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic justifies new limitations or interventions in copyright law so that UK educational institutions can continue to serve the needs of their students. It describes the existing copyright landscape and suggests ways in which institutions can rely on exceptions in the CDPA, including fair dealing and the exemption for lending by educational establishments. It then considers the viability of other solutions. It argues that issues caused by the pandemic would not enliven a public interest defence to copyright infringement (to the extent this still exists in UK law) but may be relevant to remedies. It also argues that compulsory licensing, while permissible under international copyright law, would not be a desirable intervention, but that legislative expansion to the existing exceptions, in order to encourage voluntary collective licensing, has a number of attractions. It concludes by observing that the pandemic highlights issues with the prevailing model for academic publishing, and asks whether COVID may encourage universities to embrace in-house and open access publishing more swiftly and for an even greater body of material."

Internet Archive ends “emergency library” early to appease publishers; Ars Technica, June 11, 2020

Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica; Internet Archive ends “emergency library” early to appease publishers

Online library asks publishers to “call off their costly assault.”

 

"The Internet Archive has ended its National Emergency Library programs two weeks earlier than originally scheduled, the organization announced in a Wednesday blog post. 

"We moved up our schedule because, last Monday, four commercial publishers chose to sue Internet Archive during a global pandemic," the group wrote. The online library called on publishers to "call off their costly assault."

But that doesn't seem very likely. The Internet Archive isn't ending its online book lending program altogether. Instead, the group is returning to a "controlled digital lending" (CDL) model that it had followed for almost a decade prior to March. Under that model, the group allows only one patron to digitally "check out" a book for each physical copy the library has in stock. If more people want to read a book than are physically available, patrons are added to a waiting list until someone checks the book back in...

Experts have told Ars that the CDL concept has a better chance of winning approval from the courts than the "emergency library" idea with unlimited downloads. But the legality of CDL is far from clear. Some libraries have been practicing it for several years without legal problems. But publishers and authors' rights groups have never conceded its legality, and the issue hasn't been tested in court."

Imagine weathering this without Internet. Many are — and Congress should help.; The Washington Post, May 27, 2020

Editorial Board , The Washington Post; Imagine weathering this without Internet. Many are — and Congress should help.

"The digital divide was a problem before the pandemic. Now it’s an existential problem for students who can’t access live-streamed classes, for the ill who can’t virtually consult with a doctor, for isolated individuals who can’t find human connection on their laptop screens. The burden, as ever, disproportionately falls on the low-income, rural and nonwhite. There’s more the government can do today, and there’s an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the days to come."

Microaggressions Are A Big Deal: How To Talk Them Out And When To Walk Away; NPR, June 9, 2020

Andrew Limbong, NPR; Microaggressions Are A Big Deal: How To Talk Them Out And When To Walk Away

"Kevin Nadal, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has spent years researching and writing books on the effects of microaggressions. As these big structural issues play out, he says it's important to confront the small stuff...

So what would you say are three quick bits of advice on having these difficult dialogues?

Do your own work before you even get there. Read blogs and personal essays, understand the lived experiences of historically marginalized groups, watch documentaries and try to think outside of your own perspective.

Set realistic expectations of what you want from these conversations. Also think about, is this actually helping? Is this a conversation that I view as being helpful in any way, shape or form? It's important to acknowledge that no one is going to learn everything in one conversation overnight.

Always be aware of yourself and your mental health when having these conversations. In a world where we all fought for social justice all the time, we would be getting into productive arguments and fights and having protests every day and changing laws, but we don't and we can't because we're also human and we need to rest. 

But again, think about your role and your positionality, because if you're a person with privilege and you could fight a little bit longer, then do it. But if you're a person of a historically marginalized group, we want you to be alive and we want you to be healthy in order to continue this fight toward justice."

Narcan or No?; American Libraries, June 1, 2020

Anne Ford, American Libraries; Narcan or No?

Several years into the opioid crisis, public librarians reflect on whether to stock free naloxone

"“I think some libraries are concerned about liability, even though most states have Good Samaritan laws around naloxone,” Duddy says. “And I think some people feel there’s not an [opioid overdose] issue where their library is located.”

The libraries to which American Libraries spoke cited different reasons for not seeking the free Narcan."

Publishers Sue Internet Archive Over Free E-Books; The New York Times, June 1, 2020

Elizabeth A. Harris, The New York Times; Publishers Sue Internet Archive Over Free E-Books

Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette and Wiley accused the nonprofit of piracy for making over 1 million books free online.

"A group of publishers sued Internet Archive on Monday, saying that the nonprofit group’s trove of free electronic copies of books was robbing authors and publishers of revenue at a moment when it was desperately needed.

Internet Archive has made more than 1.3 million books available free online, which were scanned and available to one borrower at a time for a period of 14 days, according to the complaint. Then in March, the group said it would lift all restrictions on its book lending until the end of the public health crisis, creating what it called “a National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners.”

But many publishers and authors have called it something different: theft.

“There is nothing innovative or transformative about making complete copies of books to which you have no rights and giving them away for free,” said Maria A. Pallante, president of the Association of American Publishers, which is helping to coordinate the industry’s response. “They’ve stepped in downstream and taken the intellectual investment of authors and the financial investment of publishers, they’re interfering and giving this away.”"

These drones will plant 40,000 trees in a month. By 2028, they’ll have planted 1 billion; Fast Company, May 15, 2020

Adele Peters, Fast Company; These drones will plant 40,000 trees in a month. By 2028, they’ll have planted 1 billion

"Flash Forest, the Canadian startup behind the project, plans to use its technology to plant 40,000 trees in the area this month. By the end of the year, as it expands to other regions, it will plant hundreds of thousands of trees. By 2028, the startup aims to have planted a full 1 billion trees.

The company, like a handful of other startups that are also using tree-planting drones, believes that technology can help the world reach ambitious goals to restore forests to stem biodiversity loss and fight climate change."

The Drones Were Ready for This Moment; The New York Times, May 23, 2020

Alex Williams, The New York Times; The Drones Were Ready for This Moment

"Coronavirus has been devastating to humans, but may well prove a decisive step toward a long-prophesied Drone Age, when aerial robots begin to shed their Orwellian image as tools of war and surveillance and become a common feature of daily life, serving as helpers and, perhaps soon, companions.

“Robots are so often cast as the bad guys,” said Daniel H. Wilson, a former roboticist and the author of the 2011 science fiction novel “Robopocalypse.” “But what’s happening now is weirdly utopic, as opposed to dystopic. Robots are designed to solve problems that are dull, dirty and dangerous, and now we have a sudden global emergency in which the machines we’re used to fearing are uniquely well suited to swoop in and save the day.”"