Friday, September 08, 2006

645-- Banned Book Week Assignment--Celebrated in September

See August 11th posting for instructions. Assignment Due October 8th.
Also look for celebrations in your local area.

645-- Why is Intellectual Freedom so important today?

645: Reading Reflection 1
Why is Intellectual Freedom so important today?

This is the topic for our first reading reflection. If you don't have access to the Intellectual Freedom Manual yet, please feel free to use the resources on the ALA, OIF site. http://www.ala.org Also, look at the news, at newspapers, and magazines. What are the intellectual freedom topics in the news? What values are at stake? As people devoted to encouraging free and wide access to information, what are the possible roles for us to take in public discourse as well as in our professional work? Think also of other historical periods and the many conflicts about who owns and who may have access to information, to books, to movies, to health information. When in Western history did ordinary people start learning to read? Needing to read? What about women? Slaves? What about the use of Latin in the Catholic Church until recently? Other examples? What about other countries today? Think, for example, of China and Internet access. This week we will be doing a lot of brainstorming about the scope and shape of the subject of our concern this semester. Think about the issues that interest you most. Throughout the term we will use small discussion group in our discussion forum area to share ideas. With five or six people in your groups, you will be able to share in a more meaningful way. Take a look at the Discussion Forums for additional instructions.

645: Due Dates

Just in case you are looking here for Due Dates. Due Dates will be at the end of the weeks.

Reading Reflection 1- Due 9/17 (midnight)
Reading Reflection 2- Due 9/24
Reading Reflection 3- Due 10/1
Banned Book Assignment- Due 10/8
etc.

Monday, September 04, 2006

645--Let's Go Live!

Time for the Fall Semester to begin. I look forward to seeing you all on the course site. For anyone not in the class, please continue to hang out on the blog. I welcome comments and will enable comments for the next few weeks. If there are commercial or inappropriate comments, I will disable comments.

645: Intellectual Freedom and Libraries: I'm learning how to use the course site, so please feel free to email me if you are having trouble finding what you need. I prefer to be called Dr. Marti or Dean Smith (depending upon the setting). I'll comment more on forms of address soon. MMS