It's Academic

“Thinking accomplishes the relation of being to the essence of the human being.” M. Heidegger, Letter on “Humanism” in Pathmarks (Cambridge, 1998) 239.

A library is not a static environment into which the user enters like an explorer imbued with a sense of entitlement to master whatever or whosoever is “discovered.” That mode of thinking is a response to the challenge of enframed existence which conceals as much as, if not more than, it reveals. It makes the library a place where resources including the librarians are simply a standing reserve “inventory to be ordered and conscripted” by tools that are ready-to-hand (See: Mark Blitz, “Understanding Heidegger on Technology,” The New Atlantis, Winter 2014, 68). Something electronic communication, data provision and digital technology all do very well in cyberspace, and the world of “our library” should not be a dehumanizing video game simulation. Futurists at library conferences pronounced a decade ago, libraries should not try to compete with Google because they will lose. “Our library” must not care to even try. Not because it is a fool’s errand, or folly for a library to be thought of differently, counter-culturally or even perhaps anarchically. It is because human interactions with ideas, histories, arts, sciences, cultures, technologies, other realities and other people dissolve the false dichotomy of a subject to objects relationship. A library ought to be a shared environment of “others” where this freely occurs. A library certainly can be a place for exploration and discovery. Stewardship of a world, however, means empowering each human being in it to realize all the “things” and everybody there, including themselves, are indigenous. This is significant for determining: “What kind of “world” is a library?”

“All ways of thinking, more or less perceptively, lead through language in a manner that is extraordinary.” M. Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, in The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (Garland, 1977) 3.

Since world-forming our library must be real and not just a theoretical mental exercise, and administrators are often far too risk averse to shepherd an open and candid “blue-sky” discussion, librarians need to foment the dialogue about how our library admits the essence of the human being, i.e., ek-sistence. “World-forming” because human beings have a creative ek-sistence, within which each one dwells poetically. “Real” in the sense that we can inhabit ek-sistence not just fantasize about it. “Ek-sistence,” to use Heidegger’s neologism, because human beings do not merely exist. They are “destined to think” what it means ‘to be’ (Heidegger, Letter on Humanism, Pathmarks, 247). Libraries are relevant, not when they do reactive technology-chasing or even proactive agenda-setting, but when librarians cultivate thinking, provide paths for creative interactions, and make clearings for language. This last statement is offered as a step toward answering: “What kind of “world” is a library?”

All our heart’s courage is the
echoing response to the
first call of Being which
gathers our thinking into the
play of the world.

In thinking all things
become solitary and slow.

Patience nurtures magnanimity.

He who thinks greatly must
err greatly.

M. Heidegger, The Thinker as Poet, in Poetry, Language, Thought (Harper, 1971) 9.

First off, complements to Plagiarism Today which reminded everyone to renew the DMCA registration which expired end of December. (https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2017/12/21/reminder-reregister-dmca-agents-december-31st/?utm_source=newsletter-31&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Email+Newsletter).  They also had an annual summary of notable activities which I am taking a liberty to summarize and comment by Jonathan Bailey.

1. 2017 was a constant stream of plagiarism stories, mostly accusations of plagiarism against prominent figures. They included Neil Gorsuch, David Clarke, Marine Le Pen, Rev. Bill Shillady and the Trump administration. What they all had in common is they were allegations from political opponents attempting to discredit their foes. Some of the allegations had weight, most did not.
2. PETA attempting (and failing) to convince a court a monkey can hold a copyright. Despite some great litigation taking place, copyright litigation news was, on the whole, cringe-worthy in 2017.
3. Despite the cries of “alt facts” and “fake news” most mainstream publications, large and small, strive every day to report accurately and fairly. The New York Times (and many other publications) eliminated the public editor position due to financial pressure. Once the representative for the public in the newsroom and the defender of ethics, the position is waning at a time where journalism’s credibility is under attack.
4. Piracy has never been a static thing and 2017 highlighted streaming services have been slowly taking the spotlight. Shift in piracy means methods for fighting infringement have to change as well.
5. Essay mills, sites creating school assignments for pay, were in the forefront. The essay mills have also worked hard to make themselves known, turning to Twitter bot armies to peddle their wares and the war between school and essay mill has ramped up. However, studies show the majority of students who pay for a written paper don’t do so through a website, but through a friend or classmate.

So, while 2018 promises to be another wild ride, there are a few things that we can probably expect to happen.

1. AI has been a tech buzzword, finally starting to see the fruits. Bots already control much of what you see and do online and, soon, they may control much of how you create and how you plagiarize. This came into the spotlight some in 2017 due to a paper published on automated paraphrasing and an article about students using Wolfram Alpha to “cheat” in math class.
2. Plagiarism hunters to be aggressively looking at nearly every candidate in hopes of finding something to make a story.

3.Ad Blocking has never really left the spotlight. 2017 was the year of the ad blocking DMCA debacle which saw an anti-ad blocking firm file a DMCA takedown notice against an ad blocking list. With visitors feeling further encroached and creators feeling their backs are to a wall, the stage is set for another round in this fight.

4.Legislative Uncertainty: Despite an early push to pass a bill allowing the President to appoint the Register of Copyrights, the bill has since stalled in the Senate. With 2018 being an election year and Congresspersons taking time away to campaign, we’re unlikely to see significant forward momentum on copyright issues. This is despite the fact there are key issues to consider, such as modernization of the copyright office and streamlining music licensing.

5.DMCA The U.S. Copyright Office is slated to take up two separate DMCA-related issues in 2018. The first being a much-anticipated report on the effectiveness of the DMCA safe harbor provisions and the second it’s triennial rulemaking on exemptions to the DMCA provisions against circumventing technological measures to control access to copyrighted works (DRM). Both are likely to spur heated debates about the DMCA. No matter what comes out of these processes they will be controversial and they will be deeply contested so expect a lot of discussion about the DMCA in 2018.

6. Fair Trade – NAFTA, TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP and others include copyright provisions in their dealings. As long as Congress is as deadlocked as it is, it’s unlikely that anything legislative will come from those conversations.

Do you have experience negotiating vendor contracts for your library or district? Do you want to share your experience with other librarians? In a joint sponsored program, the College and Research Division and the Public Library Division are looking for a few savvy negotiators to discuss their experiences working with vendors for their institution.

We are planning a virtual panel session for the end of March that will give some insight to librarians that would like to learn more about the process. We would like to have representatives from a variety of different types of libraries – academic, public, school, or special, as well as a district level negotiator. The panel will include a vendor representative that will give some perspective from the other side of the table. Some questions for discussion:

• How do you prepare for the negotiation?
• What do you consider standard practice?
• What parts of an agreement are vendors most willing to negotiate beyond price (duration, support, payment options, etc.)?
• How do you close the gap between what you want and what is offered?
• What pitfalls have you come across in the process?
• With ever shrinking budgets, do you see vendors being more flexible?
• Do vendors try to impose non-disclosure agreements?
• What advice would you give a first time negotiator?

If you are interested in being a panelist, please send a letter of interest to CRDPALA@gmail.com by February 16th, 2018 and attach your CV. If you have any questions please contact, Betsy Reichart at betsy.reichart@pennfoster.edu.