September 30th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This post ended up being much longer than I expected, so I added subheads in bold. I ask librarians to read and comment on the first part, and the rest of the post is background information.
When Does A Library Become Biased?
Last week on my library’s blog, I posted information about the three questions on Massachusetts’ statewide ballot in November. One of them, Question 1, calls for doing away with personal income tax in Massachusetts.
I feel the duty of libraries is to present unbiased, timely and reliable information. However, Question 1 potentially has a huge impact on Massachusetts libraries, and I’m really torn on where to draw the line on this one.
In the post, I include summaries of each question, and what a Yes or No vote would mean. However, for Question 1, we also decided to include a link to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ stance. We did this because, since so many library services are funded by the state, if this initiative passes, library services may revert to the way things were in 1889 - yes, 1889 (read the MBLC stance to find out why).
It doesn’t feel like biased information, because it is timely and from a reliable source. However, since there is such a self-interest involved, it feels kind of unseemly. Does including the link to MBLC overstep the library’s role? Are libraries allowed to present the case for their own existence?
Question 1, and Why I Don’t Like It
First, I have to say a few things:
- A similar issue was narrowly defeated in 2002
- New Hampshire doesn’t have income tax, or sales tax, and they seem to do fine
- It appears my job could very well be on the line because of this initiative
In a broad sense, I can agree with parts of the initiative - Massachusetts’ state government does seemed to be wasteful, and I do feel over-taxed. But this initiative seems, I don’t know, kind of myopic and not realistic.
In the Information for Voters booklet [pdf] from the MA Elections Division, Carla Howell, Chair of The Committee For Small Government lists points in support of doing away with income tax:
- Your “Yes” vote will create hundreds of thousands of new Massachusetts jobs
- Your “Yes” vote will NOT raise your property taxes NOR any other taxes
- Your “Yes” vote will NOT cut, NOR require cuts, of any essential government services
I haven’t completly researched this issue, but I see no facts or logical basis that support the first point, and the last two seem mutually-exclusive. By taking away a major source of revenue and not replacing it, they are essentially forcing the government to cut services, many of which will be essential services.
The actual text [pdf] of the question itself also seems, I don’t know, less-than-professional. The biggest goal seems to be to label Massachusetts state government as “Big Government,” and repeat that phrase as many times in the question as possible, as if just by establishing that label they are assured victory.
Question 1’s Impact on Patrons and Libraries
And this issue seems especially poorly-timed, too. In times of economic troubles, the idea of not having to pay income tax certainly appeals to a base sense of self-preservation. But it is precisely in times of economic troubles that the use of libraries increases.
It seems to me that, especially in times of trouble, a community is better served by comprehensive services provided by a stable government, rather than by self-interest.
Tags: 2008, income, libraries, Library, ma, mass, massachusetts, Personal, public, question 1, question1, tax, vote, voting See Also
Posted under Library, Personal | 8 Comments »
September 18th, 2008 Brian Herzog
In my last post, I mentioned that at this year’s NELA annual conference, I will be part of a panel called “Library 2.0 For You.” A few people asked me about it, so here’s what it is and how it came to be:
The description from the NELA conference program [pdf]:
Flickr isn’t just a bird, delicious isn’t just your NELA luncheon, and WordPress isn’t a new kitchen gadget. Find out what these things are and how these popular Web 2.0 applications (and more!) are being used in real-world libraries. L24U offers a panel of three experienced Massachusetts librarians: Paige Eaton Davis from the Minuteman Library Network, Brian Herzog from the Chelmsford Public Library, and Elizabeth Thomsen of NOBLE. They share their expertise with applying Web 2.0 technologies to help promote your library’s resources, programs, and materials. The program sponsor is ITS whose business meeting is included in the program.
Sounds great, huh? This program came about because there seemed to be a need for almost a how-to session for Library 2.0 tools. Lots of programs at past conferences and seminars were either general overviews of this technology, or very rah-rah Library 2.0 cheerleading. Which were great, because they raised awareness and interest, and got people excited about exploring these tools.
However, when people left the conference, they knew they were interested but didn’t know where to begin. So in L24U, we’re hoping to show a few examples of what can be done with a few Library 2.0 tools (using actual working examples from libraries), and explain what the steps were to implement these tools.
It won’t be hands-on training, but attendees will hopefully leave the session with an understanding of how to put these tools to work for them as soon as they get back to their libraries.
That’s the plan, at any rate. Even if we just end up answering peoples’ questions, it should still be interesting (that is, once I get past my fear of public speaking). So if you’re going to NELA 2008, look for this program on Monday at 1pm.
Tags: 2.0, 2008, conference, l2, l24u, libraries, Library, library 2.0, nela, public, web 2.0 See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Technology | No Comments »
July 26th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This reference question is just funny. A coworker and I were sitting at the desk when the phone rang. She answered it, so I only heard her half of the conversation:
My coworker: Reference desk.
[a few seconds of silence]
My coworker: No, I’m not.
[a few seconds of silence]
My coworker: Sorry, no, I don’t.
[a long time of silence]
My coworker: Well, I’m not sure. I don’t think there is actually a list, that anybody keeps. Maybe you could put an ad in the paper?
[a few seconds, then the patron hangs up]
After the call, my coworker turns to me, smiling, to fill me in. Apparently, the patron first asked if she, my coworker, was going to the Olympics in China later this year. When she said no, the patron asked if she knew of anyone who was going.
With my coworker answering no to that as well, the patron explained her question. Apparently China is issuing special postage stamps for the Olympic summer games. The patron’s grandson collects stamps, so the patron was looking for someone who was going to Beijing for the games and could mail him a postcard with one of the special Olympic stamps affixed.
Which is a very nice thing to do, but I’m not sure why she thought the library maintained a list of people going to the Olympics. I thought the suggestion of putting an ad in the newspaper was a pretty good one - you never know who responds to newspaper ads, but it just might work.
In looking for a picture of the stamp in question, I found a few websites that might interest philatelists:
Tags: 2008, beijing, china, games, libraries, Library, olympics, postage, public, Reference Question, stamp, stamps, summer See Also
Posted under Library, Reference Question | 2 Comments »
January 26th, 2008 Brian Herzog
A patron came up to the desk and said:
I keep hearing on the news about other states’ primaries and caucuses. I know it’s for the President, but what’s the big deal? We don’t vote until November, right? What’s the difference between a caucus and a primary? What happens if you don’t win them? Does Massachusetts have one? And I keep hearing good and bad things about all the candidates - who is winning?
I love easy questions like this.
I knew the Massachusetts primary is coming up, so the first thing I wanted to do is search the state’s website for information on that. While doing that, I tried to give a brief description of the whole primary/caucus system: candidates win delegates in each state, who then cast votes in the party conventions to decide who actually runs for President…
By this time I had found a few Massachusetts resources:
- MA Elections Division, which listed the primary’s date (Feb. 5th), as well as lots of information on both state- and national-level elections
- The Voting Process website, which explained how to register, how to apply for an absentee ballot, what do to and where to go on election day, and more
At this point, the patron confessed that she was far more interested in who was winning than in how the process itself worked. A website I found a few weeks ago is perfect to answer this: CNN Election Center 2008.
I like this website for the same reason I don’t like USAToday - it breaks everything down into easy to understand chunks, and does so with lots of colors and graphs. It lists who has won each primary/caucus so far, and how many delegates each candidate has earned.
It also explains the major issues and where each candidate stands, has an easy-to-use calendar for upcoming primaries and caucuses, shows which candidates have dropped out, how much money each candidate has raised and spent, and more.
All in all, it seems like a fairly complete election coverage source. And it satisfied the patron (actually, it outright delighted her to see Ron Paul has won more delegates than Rudy Giuliani even though Giuliani has spent $30.6 million to Paul’s $2.8 million). She wrote down the url and promised to read more about the issues before Feb. 5th.
I was curious, though - even though I think CNN is a reliable source, I also wanted to see what other election coverage and resources were available. I spent some time searching, and here’s what I came up with, broken down by type:
Election News Coverage:
Campaign Finances:
Election/Voting Resources:
Political Parties and National Conventions:
I didn’t bother linking directly to each candidates’ website, because many of the sites above do that. In fact, since they’re all reporting on the same thing, most of the information on these sites is duplicated. I guess the point is to pick at least one resource you trust and stay informed.
2008, campaign, candidates, election, elections, libraries, library, politics, president, presidential, public, question, reference, reference question
Tags: 2008, campaign, candidates, election, elections, libraries, Library, politics, president, presidential, public, question, reference, Reference Question See Also
Posted under Library, Reference Question, Resources | 1 Comment »
