Abstract: After retiring in 1967, Louis Shores, founder of the Journal of Library History, regularly attended editorial board meetings until the end of 1971 and then sporadically through the summer of 1973. During those years, the new dean of library sciences at Florida State University (FSU), Harold Goldstein, became ex officio editor for the Journal. During the latter phases of Goldstein's recruitment to FSU as dean, Shores had written to him presenting the Journal as one of the cornerstones of the library school's distinction.1 But Shores had pushed back FSU presidents' concerns about programmatic developments for so long that curricular overhaul, a new building for the school, and establishment of a doctoral program had ... Read More PubDate: 2018-04-17T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: The late 1960s witnessed massive student unrest on college and university campuses across the United States. These were the result of multiple factors, including the escalation of the war in Vietnam, demands for civil rights and gender and sexual equality, and calls for more student involvement in governance and decision making. Events came to a head in 1968, "the year of the barricades," during which widespread protests broke out in Europe and the United States.1 Throughout 1968 American university students protested in almost every part of the country. In March students at New York University demonstrated against the presence on campus of recruiters from Dow Chemical, the company that manufactured napalm. One ... Read More PubDate: 2018-04-17T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: In 2012 the American Medical Association (AMA) published a major report titled "Light Pollution: Adverse Health Effects of Nighttime Lighting," detailing the many health consequences and correlated problems of untimely light exposure. According to the AMA, these health effects may include, among other risks, accelerated tumor growth, reduced anticancer signals, increased rates of diabetes, a range of mood disorders, and depression.1 Over the past thirty-plus years, untimely light exposure has taken on new prominence as a potential cause of harm through the loss and disruption of sleep. The world that the AMA portrays in its report is worth highlighting. The report begins by arguing that artificial light is a fact ... Read More PubDate: 2018-04-17T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: The history of the failed proposal for a national data center in the mid-1960s has usually been framed as a public debate between privacy advocates and federal bodies and other statistical agencies wanting to implement a centralized data bank under federal control.1 It is a David versus Goliath dynamic that those advocating against a national data center were indeed keen to fix in the minds of the public, using congressional hearings and the popular press to sway the court of opinion with newspaper headlines such as "Big Brother Never Rests" (Indianapolis Star, August 15, 1966), "Big Brother Wants You" (Arizona Republic, August 7, 1966), and "Computer as Big Brother" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 8, 1966).2 ... Read More PubDate: 2018-04-17T00:00:00-05:00