Saturday, December 9, 2023

Universal Declaration of Human Rights- 75th Anniversary

 



On 10December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UDHR was a milestone in the history of human rights; it was the first time that the international community agreed on a set of common values and recognized that human rights are inherent to everyone, everywhere.

Human Rights Day 2023 | OHCHR

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Social impact museums have on visitors - Toolkit






The Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) addresses the critical need of establishing best practices for measuring social impact within the museum field. It advances museum practice by measuring the social impact museums have on visitors and developing a tool for museums to better understand their social impact on individuals and communities. MOMSI will test the scalabaility of a tool developed in Utah nationwide to provide museums of all sizes the opportunity to measure their own social impact. 


Toolkit | Museum Impact Study (museumsocialimpact.org)

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Aaron Swartz Remembered- 10 Years

ALA Memorial Resolution from January 29, 2013



 A Memorial Resolution Honoring Aaron Swartz Whereas the American Library Association (ALA) and the broader community of those who support open access to published materials lost a valued colleague on January 11, 2013, with the tragic death of 26- year-old Aaron Swartz

Whereas Aaron Swartz was a tireless and outspoken advocate of intellectual freedom and the rights of individuals to freely access information; 

 Whereas he was a team member of Creative Commons, a group that simplifies access to free copyright licenses for authors; 

 Whereas Aaron Swartz founded the organization Demand Progress, which campaigned against the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act, thus contributing to the failure of the legislation; 

 Whereas the international library community lost a leader who was the chief architect of Open Library.org – an online project that fostered collaboration with librarians and intended to “…build the world’s greatest library, then put it up on the Internet free for all to use...” according to Swartz in a 2007 announcement of the project; 

 Whereas Aaron Swartz was a member of a group that co-authored RSS 1.0 (also known as Really Simple Syndication) – a widely used Internet-based tool that enables publishers and users the ability to syndicate and/or manage digital data from multiple source points;

 Whereas he helped to create Reddit, Inc – a social news and entertainment site which holds the distinction of being the first social media site to be used by a sitting United States President (President Barack Obama) to engage with voters in a live online question and answer session; 

 Whereas Aaron Swartz was dedicated to the exploration and understanding of ethics, political action, and how to apply knowledge to improving people's lives, as demonstrated by his 2010-2011 tenure as a fellow at the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics ; 

Whereas Aaron Swartz was loved and respected by his family, friends, co-workers, and many individuals, both in the United States and around the world; 

and Whereas his true legacy lies in the profound effect that he had on countless individuals and institutions to engage in critical conversations regarding the importance of open access and the dissolving of internet censorship; 

now therefore, be it A Memorial Resolution Honoring Aaron Swartz


Resolved, that the American Library Association (ALA) on behalf of its members; 1. recognizes the significant contributions of Aaron Swartz over the course of his distinguished career and mourns his death; 2. expresses its sincere sympathy to his family, loved ones, and colleagues throughout the country, and his many friends and admirers both within and outside of the library community; and 3. encourages libraries and librarians to remain vigilant in protecting and extending the public domain, and to promoting and developing new means of providing access to and openly disseminating information. 


Adopted by the Council of the American Library Association Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Human Rights Library-Office of the High Commissioner


 


The overall goal of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) Library is to provide quality information and knowledge services on human rights in support of OHCHR work and to serve as an information and knowledge gateway for the public at large.


Library catalogue

Access the OHCHR Library catalogue to search through all the collections available in the Library, including books, reports, periodicals, videos, DVDs on human rights and Human Rights Training and Education publications.


Research guides

The OHCHR Library has developed research guides to provide direct and easy access to specific resources available on various topics, such as

Thursday, July 7, 2022

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals -Book Club

 State College of Florida-Sarasota Manatee 

LibGuide Sustainable Development Goals

Book Club




United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Reading Challenge!


On 25 September 2015, countries adopted a set of 17 goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda to be achieved by 2030. For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society and people like you.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Librarians' Cultural Heritages are Shifting in the U.S.

 Diversity of LIS School Students: Trends over the Past 30 Years

Yoon, JungWon; McCook, Kathleen de la Peña
Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, v62 n2 p109-118 2021
Using the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) 2018 statistical reports, this study reports the current diversity status of LIS students. The findings are as follows: (1) overall LIS graduates' diversity has improved from 6.79% to 17.47% over the past 30 years, and particularly, the increase in the number of Hispanic graduates is noticeable; (2) however, LIS graduates' diversity does not follow the trends of the US population diversity: whereas 37% of the US population is minority, 17.43% of LIS graduates are minority students; (3) the ratio of LIS minority graduates (17.43%) is lower than the ratio of LIS minority students (20.70%); (4) larger disparities among LIS students are noticed in the most ethnically diverse states; and (5) the rate of minority students among the top ten LIS schools is lower than those of overall LIS schools, except the Asian group.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Geraldine Vaucresson in 1961 integrated the staff at the New Orleans Public Library

The New Orleans Public Library officially desegregated in 1954, making it one of the first institutions in the city to reject Jim Crow laws. However, while the move integrated libraries on paper, it took many years of strategic initiatives to truly desegregate the system. Geraldine Vaucresson became an important player in that process when she was hired to work at the Napoleon Branch in 1961. Geraldine was a Black woman, and the Napoleon Branch –– now called the Children’s Resource Center Library –– was not a Black library. By integrating their staff, Library officials hoped Black residents would be empowered to go into Library locations where they had previously been unwelcomed, including the one where Geraldine was employed. Geraldine was the first hire in this plan, cementing her as a key figure on the road to true integration. Her son, Vance Vaucresson, was born after Geraldine left the Library, but he said she was always very proud of her work there. He grew up hearing stories about his mother’s time at the Napoleon Branch, including the backlash she faced early on.
“Today, we look back at it, and see it as this huge thing. My mother integrated the New Orleans Public Library. That’s amazing, and it’s a story that I am happy to tell, and I’m proud that it’s part of my family history,” Vance explains. “But, she just kind of took as is what she was supposed to do, as a Black person and as a Black librarian during the civil rights movement.”