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Daily Archives: October 3, 2019

Why did librarians remove Dewey’s name from one of their most prestigious awards?

Slate – “…In June, the American Library Association stripped a familiar name from one of its top leadership honors: the Melvil Dewey Medal. As you may recall from grade school, Dewey was the man behind the Dewey Decimal Classification system, the schema of numbers and subject areas used at libraries around the world to categorize books. Founder of the nation’s first library school, co-founder of the ALA itself, and onetime director of the New York State Library, he’s usually revered as a library icon, his name perhaps the one most strongly associated with the institution. So what drove librarians to erase it from their own award? As it turns out, despite the wholesome associations Dewey has accrued in the public imagination since his death in 1931, the man was no saint…What does this shift portend for Dewey’s intellectual contributions? The DDC might be the world’s most widely used library classification system, but like the man himself, it’s not without controversy. Critics say the subjects are heavily Eurocentric and favorable to Christianity. The 200s of the DDC, for example, are devoted to the subject of religion. But the subcategories are nearly all focused on Christianity, with one section for “other religions.”

Trump’s impeachment process will keep U.S fact-checkers busy

Poynter: “For the fourth time in history, a  United States president faces an impeachment. But this marks the first time an investigation like this will take place amid a tsunami of false news on social media. Fact-checkers have built creative strategies to surf this wave. On Sept. 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced… Continue Reading

Proposals for Reform Volume II: National Task Force on Rule of Law & Democracy

The second National Task Force report on the Rule of Law & Democracy outlines how to curb political interference in government science and fix a broken appointments process. “In recent years, the norms and expectations that once ensured that our government was guided primarily by the public interest rather than by individual or partisan interest… Continue Reading

Where do the tech giants send your data?

ZDNet – “…Recent changes to the law made user data a hot topic. New data protection laws like GDPR have forced technology companies to become much more transparent about the ways they use your data and how they are sharing it with global governments. Tech companies publish transparency reports that show where they send their… Continue Reading

GAO launches New Science & Tech Spotlights

GAO WatchBlog: “GAO has launched a new line of science and tech quick reads, 2-pagers providing brief overviews of key topics in the field. To complement our more in-depth evaluations and assessments, these “Science & Tech Spotlights” summarize emerging innovations and the relevant policy context. In today’s WatchBlog we provide a thumbnail sketch of the… Continue Reading