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QUESTION: what software to use to create catalog of zines for our infoshop?

Posted January 12th, 2010 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

Hello,
This is more of a library logistics type question, but I figured I'd try here because it seems some of yall would have experience with this sort of thing. We are looking to catalog our zine archive at our infoshop, which is quite large (25 years worth of zines). We'd like a program that: can be used on both macs and pcs, imported and exported between computers, can be eventually put online and linked from our website, and has fields that are flexible to accommodate the fact that these are zines and not books (slightly different information will be cataloged). Can you recommend a program that we use, given that we don't host our site and we don't have linux on our computers? We looked at Librarything but are wary about having it hosted by something big and unknown given the content of our zines (paranoid?). I've also looked at MS access but don't know too much about it (esp. about putting it online...?)
Thanks!

Answers

Answer posted by: jenna

Hi Long Haul,

This is a question we spent some time discussing at the Zine Libraries (un)Conference last spring in Seattle. Of the five we considered for a shared catalog, and given your constraints, <!--break-->I do think LibraryThing could be a good way to go, though I appreciate your concern. LibraryThing's librarian is a zine advocate. Having a member library to work with might help her efforts to make LT more zine friendly. She should also be able to respond appropriately to your content concerns.

Almost any solution will cost a little dough, so if you'd rather spend it on software than labor, you could look into Athaeneum. I believe it's more or less an adapted version of FileMaker Pro (which kicks MS Access's ass). Email the folks at QZAP to get their take on it. I do not recommend Microsoft Access.

A potentially free option would be a hosted WordPress or Blogger blog. Ms. Valerie Park is a zine distro that uses the latter.

If you can wait until they offer hosting, I recommend Omeka. It's an images/archives friendly catalog that I think is a little more 21st century and possibly more out of the box friendly than some of the other tools out there. The Barnard Center for Research on Women recently implemented Omeka for their print ephemera collection. They did have to pay a developer a couple hundred bucks (not sure of exact cost) to help them with their install.

You might want to join the Zine Librarians list to discuss this further, and you're welcome to contact me directly.

Jenna, Barnard Library Zine Librarian

QUESTION: Average American meal question

Posted January 9th, 2010 by jadecricket
question / pregunta: 

"It is estimated that the average American meal travels about 1500 miles to get from farm to plate." With the recent spate of books, films, web sites related to food activism, this phrase seems like it's commonly repeated, but where does it come from? I found it on the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture web site (http://www.cuesa.org/sustainable_ag/issues/foodtravel.php), was mentioned in the film "Food, Inc." and Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal Vegetable Miracle" but none of these sources provide further information. I'm presently taking a year away from graduate school to start a farm project with a few friends of mine, and i am writing a formal journal about the experience. A few of these entries will be specifically related to energy consumption, so it's important to me that i understand how the aforementioned statistics are figured...

Thanks so much...
quin

Answers

Answer posted by: shqippy

This article is widely cited on "eat local" websites, and is likely the source for the statement. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/files/food_travel072103.pdf

Answer posted by: jenna

Just to follow up on Shqippy's speedy reply...the article he links to cites

Hendrickson, John. 1996. "Energy use in the U.S. food system: A summary of existing research and analysis." Sustainable Farming-REAP-Canada. Ste. Anne-de'Bellevue, Quebec. Vol 7, No 4. Fall 1997.

as the original source of the data. Unfortunately the journal isn't held in libraries near you. <!--break-->You'll have to get it via Interlibrary Loan if you want to read the original study.

fyi, the journal title may also be listed as Sustainable farming : the quarterly magazine of resource efficient agricultural production.

QUESTION: where did the police term "no human involved" first originate?

Posted January 4th, 2010 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

Where did the police term "no human involved" first originate? And where would I find documentation of the history behind this term?

Answers

Answer posted by: jsavage16

I could not find any definitive answers, but the following articles offer some context on how the term might have started.

An essay called "The Endless Dream Game of Death", by Luis Rodriguez states that the LAPD began using the term during the 1980's, to dismiss victims of gang violence.

In "NHI-No Humans Involved," UCSD faculty member Elizabeth Sisco, traces the use of the term to the San Diego area during the 1980's and 1990's, by San Diego police, to address a series of murders and sexual assaults against women. Sisco wrote that the head of the task force assigned to investigate the murders claimed that the use of "NHI" is fictionalized by old detective novels, but another San Diego officer confirmed the use of the "NHI" term in a Sacramento Bee article to describe these murders.

Rodriguez, Luis J. and D. Cesare (1995). Endless Dream Game of Death. Grand Street, No. 52, Games. pp. 61-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25007852. Access December 6, 2009 from Jstor database through San Jose State University.

Sisco, Elizabeth. (1993) NHI-No Humans Involved. NHI-No Humans Involved. Accessed December 6, 2009.

Answer posted by: jim miller

This is a good example of how tricky it is to pin down just when a "code word", epithet; or indeed ANY quotation first came into use. Even with huge full text databases such as Google Books or commercial full text such as Ebsco databases, JSTOR, and Project Muse; or Factiva, Lexis Nexis Academic, Proquest, and other newspaper full text databases, we are generally depending on fairly unreliable Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searches. We very likely will miss many words that simply don't get picked up by the search software. If you are near a large academic library where you can try them out, you will notice striking differences in search results for EQUIVALENT searches of the same newspaper (same date range) in Factiva, Lexis, or Proquest, for example.

Factiva (a larger newspaper database than Lexis Academic, a journalism librarian colleague informs me) gets 38 hits in "all dates" for the search: "no human involved". The oldest one related to criminology is no. 37; "PROSECUTOR BLASTS MENENDEZES AS 'VICIOUS BRATS'. Linda Deutsch Associated Press. 669 words 12 December 1993 Los Angeles Daily News. This has a quote from Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich: "While admitting that the Menendez family was "not an Ozzie and Harriet family where everyone was happy," she said the parents gave them the privileges of wealth. "The parents were willing to support them while they were spoiled, vicious brats," she said. She accused defense attorneys of using a tactic called NHI, a homicide detectives' sarcastic shorthand for worthless victims meaning "No human involved." "It is a sick kind of joke and that's what the defense is in this case. What the defense is saying is that Jose and Mary Louise Menendez were such horrible people, it's OK. Who cares if they are dead? The world is probably a better place without them."

Lexis Academic/ Legal/ Law Reviews, US and Canada gets 11 hits (all dates) for the search: "no human involved". The oldest is: Wisconsin Law Review, 1995, 1995 Wis. L. Rev. 1003. 19859 words. "ARTICLES: MULES, MADONNAS, BABIES, BATHWATER, RACIAL IMAGERY AND STEREOTYPES: THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN AND THE BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME." Linda L. Ammons. It has a quote in footnote 168:

"n168 See John C. Brigham, Racial Stereotypes, Measurement Variables and the Stereotype-Attitude Relationship, 2 J. Applied Soc. Psychol. 63 (1972). Los Angeles police are not the only law enforcement officers known for their racist epithets. In an interview with CBS news, Miami attorney H.T. Smith decoded "NHI," a reference to African-Americans by Miami police. NHI meant "no human involved." See Itabari Njeri, Words to Live or Die By: Mapping the Psychological Landscape of a Scarred Los Angeles, L.A. Times, May 31, 1992, at 23. Racist "cop talk" is a national problem. See Don't Tolerate Police Racism, S.F. Chron., Nov. 11, 1991, at 20A; Karen Fernan, Police Attempt to Curb Racist "Cop Talk," Phoenix Gazette, June 30, 1993, at B5; NAACP Charges Police Racism, Evidence Shows Growing Brutality Against Minorities, Report Says, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Apr. 1, 1993, at 10A."

Many of the other 10 Law Review articles have very good links to other sources of the term – not only as a racist "code word", but also in reference to any people not regarded as worthy of "personhood" – prostitute rape victims, extremely violent criminals in prisons, etc.; clearly some uses of the term may seem less forgivable or understandable than others.

Academic Search Premier (Ebsco, available at virtually all academic and some public libraries) gets 5 hits for the search: "no human involved" if you select a field TX-all text, in Advanced Search. Several mention Barbara Seranella's first novel, "No Human Involved," set in Los Angeles in the 1970s. See short review in Publishers Weekly; 06/16/97, Vol. 244 Issue 24, p49, 1/5p "Forecasts: Fiction". Brainard, Dulcy and
Steinberg, Sybil S.

Oxford English Dictionary (Advanced Search - full text) for "no human involved" gets us back to 1973 under the very long entry for N, which includes many acronyms beginning with N:

"NHI n. U.S. Police slang no humans involved, an informal classification assigned to a crime giving it low priority because its victim is regarded as having a low social status.

1973 J. WAMBAUGH Blue Knight ix. 124 Herb hated the drunk wagon. 'Niggers and white garbage,' he'd repeat over and over when something made him mad which was most of the time. And he called the wagon job 'the *N.H.I. detail'. When you asked him what that stood for he'd say 'No Humans Involved', and then he let out that donkey bray of his. 1989 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 14 May, Police expend little sympathy on criminal-to-criminal mayhem. An acronym drifts unwritten about the system; those are NHI crimes No Human Involved. 1992 Ms. Sept. 69/4 Five San Diego artists say 'NHI' is police jargon for crimes against 'inhuman' people: prostitutes, informants, and drug users. 2000 Irish Times (Nexis) 4 Mar., 'NHI', said the LA guy, 'means "no humans involved."' The term, he said, is accepted police and CP industry jargon for when one drug dealer kills another."

Also try the 97 unique hits (of 149) in Google Books; especially the 56 (of65) limited preview and full view ones, for the search: "no human involved". If you try the plural, "no humans involved" gets 154 (of 275) including 76(of 139) "limited or full view"

jim miller
jmiller2@umd.edu

Answer posted by: jbeek

A colleague found one more item, from 1992:
Wynter, S. (1992). “No humans involved”: An open letter to my colleagues. Voices of the African Diaspora, 8, 1–17.

This appears to be available in NYC at the Schomburg Center.

Gilding the lily, after the excellent research provided above, but since it was provided to me I thought I should pass it along.

QUESTION: Contacting Artists / Festival Models

Posted December 28th, 2009 by adriennewebb
question / pregunta: 

I am working with a group of students to plan a "Green Arts Festival" we have received funding from our college to plan a free, day long event open to students, faculty and staff. Currently we have been talking to some musicians about preforming preform and we are hoping to get artists to teach crafts that use recycled materials.

1.I would like to learn about some examples of successful past "Recycled Art" or "Environmentally Friendly" Art Festivals/Events. It would be particularly helpful if I could find examples of recycled art events that have happened in collaboration with colleges or universities.

2. It would be very helpful if I could get recommendations for how to find Philadelphia area teaching artists who specialize in working with recycled or "green" materials.

Thanks!

Answers

Answer posted by: jenna

Hi Adrienne,

I've contacted some Philadelphia artists and activists and am waiting for more suggestions, but in the meantime I suggest starting with Book Bombs. They do stuff like make books out of old clothes. <!--break-->Thanks to Katie Haegele for the link!

Answer posted by: gsf

You might try contacting Neighborhood Bike Works about their Bike Part Art Show, which often features reused and recycled materials. They may recommend artists who would be interested in your project.<!--break-->

QUESTION: Zine Festivals in Philadelphia

Posted December 28th, 2009 by adriennewebb
question / pregunta: 

Does anyone know of any zine festivals/events in Philadelphia from late January through mid May of 2010? I live in a housing cooperative in the Philly area that is looking for opportunities to expand our zine library. Any advice about purchasing zines in Philly would be helpful.

Answers

Answer posted by: jenna

Hi Adrienne,

The Philly Zine Fest unfortunately seems to be a fall event nowadays, but you could get in touch with the organizers and see what advice they have. I also recommend Wooden Shoe Books as a source of zines. They've recently moved into a new space, and the folks I've talked to there have been super nice and helpful. You can also buy zines online from distros and stores in other cities. <!--break-->

Feel free to contact me personally to follow up: zines@barnard.edu.

Jenna

QUESTION: southern US traditional artisan crafts

Posted December 19th, 2009 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

i would like to find out about historically regional crafts, specifically southern US, that have been lost post industrailization.

Answers

Answer posted by: Alycia

I did some poking around online and found the Southern Folklife Collection out of UNC: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/s/Southern_Highland_Handicraft_Guild.html
(if you scroll down and click on a subject heading you will be brought to a list of books on the subject which you could then look for in your local library)--this might be able to get you started looking for a particular craft that was phased out by the way of industrialization.

You might also want to search your local catalog for the subjects that are listed on the link above, or for:
handicraft--united states
decorative arts--united states
folk art--united states

It also looks like there are more resources that may be of help on the Southern Highland Craft Guild website: http://www.southernhighlandguild.org/event.php?event_all=1&event_type_ID=7

Hope that this is helpful!

QUESTION: Service to Books to Prisoners Group

Posted December 13th, 2009 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

Hi,
I'm a member of a prisoner solidarity group here in Montreal called Open Door Books. We send books to prison libraries and we also get requests for information from individuals in prison (ex. questions about specific legislation in certain states, etc). We try to find the requested information to the best of our ability, but i was just wondering if this is the type of thing that we could send to you guys for help with.
Thanks, andrea

Answers

Answer posted by: MRM

Yes, absolutely, though we can't make any promises about getting answers posted within a tight time frame. Just use the same webform that you used to post this question.

Also, feel free to recruit local librarians and LIS students to help with Radical Reference (and the prisoners' questions might get answered faster)! We even have our flyer available in French.

(I worked with Open Door Books while I was in library school at McGill!)

QUESTION: Preserving cultural & community heritage by supporting libraries & museums in low income communities & poor countries

Posted December 4th, 2009 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

Hello!

Is there a progressive national or international organization that focuses on providing support and advocacy for libraries, museums and the preservation of community/cultural heritage in low income communities in the U.S. and poor countries in the world. Thanks!

Answers

Answer posted by: jcrawford

I haven't come across any organizations that exactly fit your scope, but here are some ideas.

1. You're probably already familiar with the advocacy initiatives of the major U.S. professional organizations for libraries and museums, respectively:

American Library Association's Office for Library Advocacy

and the

Speak up for Museums initiative from the American Association of Museums.

2. Cultural heritage is often embedded in the built environment. With that in mind, you might consider organizations that deal with historic preservation (which, in the U.S., usually refers to protecting "historic" buildings). Historic preservation advocates may not always consider themselves "progressive," but their principles tend to include things like opposing eminent domain and commercial development if built culture is at risk.

Some of the best places to look for historic preservation resources are sites for historic preservation graduate programs. To find lots of these programs, type this (including all punctuation) into a search engine: "historic preservation" site:.edu

Here are three other strong collections of links:

Historic Preservation resources from the National Agricultural Library's Rural Information Center

PreserveNet, from Cornell

Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation - not from an educational institution, but provides some links that are international in scope

3. There are also "centers for community development" (or some variation on that phrase) at other educational institutions that publish reports and, in turn, advocate for cultural institutions (often locally as opposed to nationally). Try:

Pratt Center for Community Development

Center for Creative Community Development at Williams, which seeks to analyze the economic impact of cultural organizations (nationwide) on their surrounding communities. Some interesting stuff.

QUESTION: child abusers

Posted November 24th, 2009 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

I was wondering what one can do to get the laws to toughen on children sexual predators and abusers, like how can I help?

Answers

Answer posted by: jbeek

A starting place might be the page of child abuse related resources from Medline.

Harvard Psychology professor Jim Hopper has an extensive page of Child Abuse Statistics, Research, and Resources to help you be as informed as possible on the subject.

You can find a local chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America and find other advocacy resources on their site.

Answer posted by: lia

In your area, a committee report was issued in 1999 detailing work that at that time was currently being done. Of note though is the Committee members and the organizations they were then a part of:

Adults Saving Kids
Breaking Free
PRIDE
Project Offstreets
Catholic Charities
Also of note:
The Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
and
Adults Saving Kids

Contacting one of these organizations might be a good first step to get involved with local work already being done, a quick Google search should get you current information. Let us know if you have a hard time finding contact info for any of these.
Thanks.

www.heart-intl.net/HEART/080105/JuvenileProstitutionMinn.pdf

QUESTION: how to find news stories about Daytona Beach serial killer and sex workers' response

Posted November 23rd, 2009 by Anonymousy
question / pregunta: 

In 2006, there was someone who was killing street prostitutes in Daytona Beach, Florida. In response, at least one of the prostitutes (Tanya Richardson) declared that the women on the avenue were arming themselves and were prepared to take care of the killer themselves since the police were doing nothing about the killings.

Where and how would I find news coverage both of the killings and of the sex workers' response (and the outcome, if there was one)?

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