Dan “I don’t play gotcha” Kleinman

Dan Kleinman, the man behind the curtain in Ginny Maziarka’s Oz in the West Bend Library book challenge (update and info), does not (according to his SafeLibraries blog) “play gotcha.” As he astutely notes, “…nobody is a computer and is expected to remember everything they ever said.” This is certainly a fair and diplomatic assertion.

The politics of “gotcha” journalism or “gotcha” blogging are indeed crude and ineffective. They strip statements of the context that is vital for their understanding. Too often they don’t acheive ther intended goal, which is to expose hypocrisy. Rather, they twist and coerce statements into a black or white mold that is tailor-made to fit this polarized argument or that polarized argument.

On this note, I’m not sure Dan Kleinman understands what he is saying when he claims he does not “play gotcha.”

UWM School of Information Studies Statement of Support for the West Bend Library

Proud to be a UWM-SOIS student today:

UW-M School of Information Studies Statement of Support for the West Bend Library
April 14, 2009

In recent weeks, two citizens of West Bend, Wisconsin have petitioned the West Bend Community Memorial Library to remove gay-themed books from a section designated “Young Adults,” arguing the books should be reclassified and placed in a restricted area requiring parental approval prior to being released to a minor. They further demand that the books be labeled with a warning about their content, arguing that they are obscene and pornographic.

The books in question include:

• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, a division of Simon & Schuster)
• “The Geography Club” by Brent Hartinger (HarperTeen, a division of HarperCollins)
• “Deal With It! a whole new approach to your body, brain and life as a gURL” by Esther Drill (Pocket, a division of Simon & Schuster)

The books are from major publishers, sold in general bookstores, and are available in public and high school libraries throughout the state.

Throughout the history of the American public library, special interest groups have attempted to exert a disproportionate degree of influence on the development of a community wide resource.  Whatever the intentions of any of these groups, the public library is required to maintain a standard of intellectual integrity within a sometimes-volatile situation.

The public library was developed to be the anchor of free inquiry in our democracy.  We believe that mission is still relevant today.  Over 15,000 public library branches throughout the United States maintain access to quality materials collected and arranged according to national standards developed by thoughtful and committed information professionals.  The administration and staff of the West Bend Community Library are among those professionals and public scholars dedicated to principles of open access, inclusive collections, and community service. The education of these professionals is rigorous and expansive, demanding sophisticated skills in assessment, development and leadership; it ensures their preparedness to take the lead in developing and delivering information resources to their communities.

We, the faculty and teaching academic staff at the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, along with the SOIS Graduate Student Organization, commend the West Bend Community Memorial Library Board of Trustees, administration, and staff for their support of the principle of intellectual freedom in the face of pressure to abandon their professional and communal commitments.

[via, full PDF here]

To Catch a Misconception—Online Sexual Predation

From Ars Techinca (which, sadly, looks to have been hit hard with layoffs recently): A newly released report demonstrates that online sexual predation doesn’t look like what everyone thinks it looks like.

The most pronounced change the study found was in the profile of the adult offenders. The proportion of younger adult offenders, aged 18-25, rose from 23 percent to 40 percent of arrests in cases with actual underage victims, and from 7 percent to 34 percent in undercover police stings. In the former type of case, the authors note, the increase in the absolute number of arrests of young-adult offenders appears to account for the entire increase in that category—no other age group saw similar growth. At the same time, while 40 percent of offenders in 2000 possessed child pornography, only 21 percent did in 2006.

…[The] overarching finding is that neither the Internet nor social networking sites pose unusual dangers for minors. As has always been the case, the underaged are most likely to be the victims of sex crimes perpetrated by acquaintances and family members, even if such cases are seldom featured on To Catch a Predator.