The Politics of Information Access - Readings

Honors College
HON 201 (Section 53330)
Thursday, 4:00-4:50, 117 Lincoln Hall

http://www.uic.edu/classes/hon/hon201/

Laura Quilter | lauramd@uic.edu
Veronda Pitchford | vjpitch@uic.edu

About the Readings

Texts will include a wide variety of formats and a wide array of topics. When possible, journal articles, book chapters, pamphlets & other short printed materials will be placed on Reserve at the Main Library. Many materials will be available on the Internet, and will be linked from the reading list. Books may be checked out via InterLibrary Loan, or purchased from a number of venues. Video materials may be checked out from the Architecture and Art Library or from Facets Video (1550 W Fullerton Avenue). At least one source for material will be listed where possible.

You should read at least two new pieces from the appropriate section each week. Each section has a list of readings, plus links for more information. You are welcome to read other materials in addition to the minimum two pieces.

You must write a very short summary of each reading (2 sentences is good) plus a slightly longer (3 sentences minimum) critical appraisal of the piece. These short reviews must be submitted to the listserve before the next class. Include the full citation at the top, the summary & your review, and be sure to sign the review. These reviews & commentary will be archived in the class web space.

Students should read each other's reviews and be prepared to respond to comments and questions raised.

If you find any other readings, or viewings, or listenings - let us know.

Critical Analysis

Factors to consider and discuss where relevant:

• What is this article saying?
• Is the article internally consistent?
• Is the article externally consistent (i.e., it reflects reality as you know it, and it doesn't contradict things you know to be true)? Be careful; if it seems to contradict something you know, examine your own beliefs and assumptions, too. We all make assumptions, and how often do we verify our own "knowledge"?
• Did you learn something new?
• Was the piece written by someone reputable?
• What were the author's sources of information? Are they reputable?
• Can facts & assertions be verified (footnoted, sources identified)?
• What assumptions was the author making?
  * Logical assumptions ("x is true, therefore y must be true" -- even if the article is all about "y being true" the assumption that "x is true" is still there)
  * Assumptions about the Audience Is the author making assumptions about the reader? The reader's opinions or knowledge?
• Do you share the author's basic beliefs, as manifested in his/her logical assumptions? (i.e., there is or is not a god, there are or are not absolute standards of morality, sex is or is not good)
• What is the intended audience for the piece?
• Everyone has a politics - what is the author's? (Stated or not, they will be revealed in their work.)
• Is there money or power at stake?
• Does the author have conflicts of interest that might prevent utter objectivity? (Family ties, business interests, research funding.)
• Anything that had human input will be flavored by that human's opinions. Including newspapers, computer programs, radio shows, and interviews.
• Asking particular questions frames the debate.
• What's left out is often as important as what's included.
• The English language has many words that mean almost the same thing but imply very different things. "He said" vs. "He alleged" vs. "He claimed" vs. "He told." Look at how language is used in the piece -- its use by good writers is very deliberate to frame something in a particular way. Its use also reveals much about the beliefs of the writer. Emotionally-laden language reveals passion and is usually quite apparent -- lots of adjectives, adverbs, etc. But simple verb or noun substitutions (as in the example above) go a long way to shaping a text.

Final words of advice:

• Examine all your assumptions, and all the author's assumptions.
• Contextualize everything you encounter.

Access for All

Readings

• Phil Agre. "The End of Information and the Future of Libraries." Progressive Librarian #12/13 (Spring/Summer 1997): pp. 1-6.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Kenneth B. Allen. "Access to Government Information." Government Information Quarterly v. 9. no. 1 1992 pp. 67-80.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• American Library Association. Report on Universal Service.
  - http://www.ala.org/oitp/univserv.html
• Robert H. Anderson et al. Universal Access to Email: Feasibility and Social Implications (Rand study sponsored by Markle Foundation)
  - http://www.rand.org:80/publications/MR/MR650/
• Nancy Andes. "The Commodification of Government Information: A Summary and Analysis of the Reagan Administration's Restrictions on Federal Information." Government Publications Review v. 15 pp. 451-461, 1988.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Jon Bekken. "The Information Railroad." Libertarian Labor Review #17 Summer 1994 pp. 27-34
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Benton Foundation. Buildings, Books & Bytes - Libraries in the Future.
  - http://www.benton.org/Library/Kellogg/buildings.html
• Bradley S. Chilton. "Managing Information Services in the Public Interest Ethic." Journal of Information Ethics v. 2 n. 2 Fall 1993 pp. 44-52
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Elizabeth Eisenstein. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980.
  - Main Library Stacks Z124 .E37
• FCC. Report & Order on Universal Service (with 6/4/97 errata)
  - http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/fcc97157/
• Dee Garrison. Apostles of Culture: The Public Librarian and American Society, 1876-1920. New York: Free Press, 1979.
  - Main Library Stacks Z731 .G38 1979
• Al Gore et al. "Computers, Networks and Public Policy" Scientific American September 1991. Includes "Infrastructure for the Global Village" Al Gore; "Common Law for the Electronic Frontier" Anne W. Branscomb; "Civil Liberties in Cyberspace" Mitchell Kapor; "Communications, Computers and Networks" Michael L. Dertouzos; "Networks" Vinton G. Cerf; "Computers, Networks and Work" Lee Sproull and Sara Kiesler.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Michael D. Kirby. "Access to Information and Privacy: The Ten Information Commandments." Government Information Quarterly v. 3 no. 4 1986. pp. 333-344.
  - Main Reserves
• Nancy C. Kranich. "Staking a Claim in Cyberspace: Ensuring Public Places on the Info Highway" 1996; Open Magazine Pamphlet Series: Westfield, New Jersey.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
  - $4 at New World Resource Center or the Autonomous Zone
• Melvin E. Levison. "Needed: A New Literacy." The Humanist May/June 1994 pp. 3-5,34.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Libraries for the Future. Library Advocate's Guide to Telecommunications.
  - http://www.lff.org/technology/telecomguide.html
• Evan St. Life & Andrew Blau. "Libraries' Crucial Role in the 1996 Telecomm Act." Library Journal 3/15/96, pp. 30-31.
• David Mattison. "Librarians and the Free-Net Movement." Internet Librarian May 1994 pp. 46-48.
  - Main Reserves
• Jim Naureckas. "Info-Bandits." In These Times 3/4/96 pp. 14-17.
• Paper Tiger TV. "Staking a Claim in Cyberspace: An Information Policy for the People" (1993); video documentary from Paper Tiger TV - Facets
• Sandra Schickele. "The Economic Case for Public Subsidy of the Internet"
  - http://www.eff.org/pub/GII_NII/net_subsidy_schickele.paper
• Andrew L. Shapiro et al. "Whose Net Is It?" The Nation 7/3/95 v. 261 n. 1. Includes "Street Corners in Cyberspace" Andrew L Shapiro; "Shaping a New Media Policy" Leo Bogart; "The Internet: The Whole World Is Talking" Kevin Cooke and Dan Lehrer; "The `Information Highway': Public Way or Private Road?" Herbert I. Schiller
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Clay Shirky. "Universal Electronic Access (Opinion Piece)." Computers in Libraries April 1994 v. 14 no. 4 pp. 11-13.
  - Main Reserves
• Bruce A. Shuman. "The Experience Parlour: The Next Evolutionary Step for the American Public Library?" Public Library Quarterly v. 12 no. 2 1992 pp. 35 - 51.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Eldred Smith "The Print Prison" Library Journal February 1, 1992. pp. 48-51
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Charles Willett. "Politically Controversial Monographs." Progressive Librarian no. 4 Winter 91/92, pp. 28-37. (reprinted from: Building the First Century: Proceedings of ACRL 5, Cincinnati, OH, 4/5-8/89)
  - Main Library Reserve Room Do academic libraries have collection biases?
  
• David L. Williams. "The Fate of the Book at the Chicago Public Library." Chicago Ink April 1997 pp. 4-5
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Brian Winston and Paul Walton. "Netscape: Virtually Free." Index on Censorship v. 25 no. 1 (issue 168) Jan-Feb 1996. pp. 78-83.

  For More Info

• Community Computing Bookmarks
  - http://www.uic.edu/classes/hon/hon201/commcomp.html
• Communications, Policy & Practice - Communications in the Public Interest. Benton Foundation.
  - http://www.benton.org/cpphome.html
• FCC's Universal Service Web Site
  - http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/welcome.html
  Full of links to official FCC documents & press releases etc.
• Michael H. Harris & Donald G. Davis, Jr. American Library History: A Bibliography. University of Texas Press, 1978.
  - Main Stacks Z731 .H28

Media Concentration, Public Relations & Advertising

Readings

• Don Adams et al. "Rethinking TV." Utne Reader July/August 1990 pp. 66-89. Includes "Steal This TV: How Media Literacy Can Change the World" by Don Adams & Arlene Goldbard; "TV+Telephone=Electronic Democracy" by Duane Elgin; "How Media Literacy Is Taught" by Wendy Carson; "Talk Back To Your TV" Sally Steenland; "Watch Local, See Global" Danny Schechter; "Homegrown TV in Austin, Texas" Cindy Mitlo-Shartel; "TV Listings: 16 Reasons to Turn on the Tube" Phil Anderson; "Global Media Corporations Control What We Watch (and Read)" Ben Bagdikian; "TV's Fascinating, Frightening Future" Erik Davis.
  - Main Reserves
• Daina Augaitis & Dan Lander, eds. Radio Rethink: Art, Sound & Transmission. Banff: Walter Philips Gallery, 1994.
• Ben Bagdikian. The Media Monopoly. 5th Edition. Boston: Beacon Press, 1997.
  - Main Stacks P96.E252 U625 1997
• Howard Besser. "Use of Non-Broadcast Channels to Communicate Information in Social Change Situations"
  - http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~howard/Papers/Poland-berkeley/
• Howard Besser. The Information Superhighway: Social and Cultural Impact"
  - http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~howard/Papers/brook-book.html
• Howard Besser. "The Information Highway Must be a Two-Way Street"
  - http://www.si.umich.edu/impact/students/howard/arts_and_humanities.html
  this paper seems to be down - i'll keep looking ...
• Jeffrey A. Chester and Anthony Wright. "A Twelve-Step Program for Media Democracy." The Nation 6/3/96, page 21.
  - Main Reserves
• Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.
• Jeff Cohen & Norman Solomon. "The Suburban Times (Why the Media Ignore City Dwellers)." Utne Reader # 67, January-February 95. pp. 44-45. Originally in MediaCulture Review Summer 1994.
  - Main Library Reserve Room (turned in 8/26)
• Andrew Crisell. Understanding Radio. London: Methuen, 1986.
• Ross Crockford. "Media Carta." Adbusters (Spring 1996) pp. 47-51.
  - Main Library Reserves
• Mark Dery. "Culture Jamming." 1993. Open Magazine Pamphlet Series.
  - Main Library Reserve Room (turned in 8/26)
  - $4 or so at the Autonomous Zone
  
• Michael Dolny. "New Survey on Think Tanks: Media Favored Conservative Institutions in 1996." EXTRA! July/August 1997 v. 10 no. 4 p. 24.
• John Downing. Radical Media: The Political Experience of Alternative Communication. Boston: South End Press, 1984.
• Stephen Duncombe. Notes from underground: zines and the politics of alternative culture. Verso.
• David Edwards. "The Democracy Illusion: Chomsky vs. the Mainstream Media." Z Magazine Sept. 96 pp. 42-46.
  - Main Reserves
• Robert Elias. "Official Stories: Media Coverage of American Crime Policy." The Humanist Jan / Feb 94. pp. 3-8.
  - Main Reserves
• James M. Fallow. Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. New York: Pantheon Books, 1996.
  - Main Library Book Stacks PN 4888.O25 F35 1995
• Susan Faludi. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. New York: Crown, 1991.
• Bruce Girard. A Passion for Radio: Radio Waves and Community. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1992.
• Paul Goodman. Edited by Taylor Stoehr. Format & Anxiety: Paul Goodman Critiques the Media. Brooklyn: Autonomedia, 1995.
• Edward S. Herman and Mark McChesney. The Global Media (Cassell)
• Edward S. Herman. "The Media Mega-Mergers." Dollars and Sense. May/June 1996, pp. 8-13.
• Mark Hertsgaard. On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1988.
  - Main Library Stacks E876 .H46 1988
• Chris Hill. Interview with TV Judit Kopper and Video Andras Solyom. The Humanist v. 54 no. 3 May/June 94 pp. 9-14.
  - Main Reserves
  "An award-winning Hungarian TV producer and video director discuss how camcorders and TVs helped bring about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, and also describe the increasingly fierce political struggles being waged in Hungary over ownership & control of the media."
• Steven Hill. "Speech May Be Free, But It Sure Isn't Cheap." The Humanist May/June 94 v. 54 no. 3 May/June 94 pp. 6-8.
  - Main Reserves
  "In First Amendment theory, all speech is created equal; but that hasn't stopped the Supreme Court, over the last 25 years from pushing 'cheap' speech to the very margins of First Amendment protection. Is it finally time to protect and encourage 'cheap speech,' even at the expense of 'wealthy speech'?" (look at the decision, and also look at other supreme court decisions about 'cheap speech' including the Communications Decency Act, overturned, last year)
• bell hooks. Reel to Real: Race, Sex and Class at the Movies. New York: Routledge, 1996.
  - $16.95 paperback
• Janine Jaquet. "The Media Nation: Publishing." The Nation 3/17/97.
  - http://www.thenation.com/extra/publish/map1.htm
  Looking at corporate conglomerates of publishing houses.
• Douglas Kahn & Gregory Whitehead, eds. Wireless Imagination: Sound, Radio and the Avant-Garde. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992.
• Dan Lander & Micah Lexier, eds. Sound by Artists. Toronto: Art Metropole, 1990.
• Elizabeth Larsen. "Censoring Sex Information: The Story of Sassy." Utne Reader July/August 1990 pp. 96-97.
  -- Main Reserve
  Note: This article was written in 1990. Sassy has undergone further interesting editorial and ownership changes.
• Donald Lazere, editor. American Media and Mass Culture: Left Perspectives. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.
  - Main Stacks P92.U5 A48 1987
• Andrew Levison. "Who's Who on the Information Superhighway? A 'Quick Start' Guide." Online May/June 1995 pp. 97-105.
  - Main Reserves
• Peter M. Lewsi & Jery Booth. The Invisible Medium: Public, Commercial & Community Radio. Washington D.C.: Howard, 1990.
• Catherine Lo. "Get Wireless: Who Owns the Airwaves?" Wired April 1997 pp. 142-147.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
  
• Robert McChesney. Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy. Seven Stories Press: New York, 1997. Open Media Pamphlet Series.
  - $4.95 at New World Resource Center
• Robert McChesney. Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy: The Battle for the Control of U.S. Broadcasting, 1928-1935. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  - Main Book Stacks HE8698 .M34 1993
• Lorenzo Wilson Milam. The Radio Papers: From KRAB to KCHU: Essays on the Art and Practice of Radio Transmission. San Diego: MHO Works, 1986.
• Lorenzo Wilson Milam. The Original Sex and Broadcasting: A Handbook on Starting a Radio Station for the Community. San Diego: MHO Works, 1988.
• Mark Crispin Miller. "Special Issue: National Entertainment State." The Nation June 3, 1996. - http://www.thenation.com/issue/960603/960603.htm
  Articles and info about media conglomerates.
• Mark Crispin Miller. "Hollywood The Ad." The Atlantic Monthly v. 265 no. 4 (April 1990) pp. 41-54.
  - Main Reserves
  Advertising & product placement in movies etc.
• Laura Quilter & Sabrina Craig. The Chicago Media Map (1996)
  - http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/cpsr/other-chicago/mediamap/
  A beginning attempt to look at who owns the media in Chicago, and places you can go to support non-corporate (alternative, progressive, radical, free, underground) media. Done by, I must confess it, yours truly in conjunction with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Peace & Justice Radio Project.
• Elayne Rapping. Media-tions: Forays into the Culture and Gender Wars. Boston: South End Press, 1994.
  - Main Library PN1995.9.S47 R36 1994
• Brian Siano. "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed: Chasing the Monster of TV Violence." The Humanist Jan. Feb 1994 pp. 20-25.
  - Main Reserves
• Susan Smulyan. Selling Radio: The Commercialization of American Broadcasting, 1920-1934. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
  - Main Library HE8698 .S6 1994
• Lawrence Soley et al. "Special Section: TV News." EXTRA! v. 10 no. 4 July / August 1997 pp. 11-16. Includes: Lawrence Soley "The Power of the Press Has a Price: TV Reports Talk About Advertiser Pressures"; "Election Neglected on L.A.'s Local TV: Exploring an Empty News Hole" Barbara Bliss Osborn; "Off the Spectrum: Some Ideas for Broadcasting Reform That Aren't on the Beltway's Agenda (Yet)" Robert McChesney.
  - Main Reserves
• John C. Stauber & Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995.
  - Main Library HD59.6.U6 S72 1995
  - New World Resource Center
• Neil Strauss & David Mandl, eds. Radiotext(e) (A special edition of Semiotext(e)). New York: Columbia University, 1993.
• Rick Szykowny. "The Threat of Public Access: An Interview with Chris Hill and Brian Springer." The Humanist v. 54 no. 3 May/June 94. pp. 15-22.
  - Main Reserves
  "Since the early 1970s the mission of public-access activists has been to encourage the growth of 'community tv' by placing the technology of the mainstream media at the disposal of average citizens. With the dawn of the 'information superhighway' their mission has taken on a renewed urgency."
• Barry Truax. Acoustic Communication. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1984.
  - Main Reserves
• Lawrence Weschler. "The Other Democratic Revolution of 1989." Utne Reader July/August 1990 pp. 38-44. Excerpted from Columbia Journalism Review March/April 1990.
• Z Staff. "Media & Democracy Congress" Z Magazine April 1996 pp. 4-6.
  - Main Reserves
  a proposal for a federation of alternative media activists & supporters
• Brian Zero. "The Route to Corporate Media." Route 666 - Main Reserves

  For More Info

• Project Censored
  - http://zippy.sonoma.edu/ProjectCensored/
  They cover the top ten most under-reported stories each year. Letting you know the stories that mainstream media did not let you know about.
• FAIR
  - http://www.igc.apc.org/fair/
  There are lots more stories about media, media bias, media concentration, etc. on this web site. Many stories excerpted from their journal EXTRA! are available here, as well as some of their special reports. Excellent site.
• Media Links from IGC
  - http://www.igc.apc.org/igc/issues/media/
  IGC (Institute for Global Communications) is a non-profit Internet Service Provider. This is a page of links to great media stuff -- censorship, free speech, media literacy, etc.
• Media WatchDog
  - http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~mernst/media/
  A selection of annotated links to media-watch groups from across the political spectrum: radical, leftist, liberal, conservative, and right-wing.
• Yahoo: Media Literacy listings
  - http://www.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Communications/Media_Literacy/
  Yahoo's listing of media literacy links.
• Bibliography of Sources and Statistics for Chicago Media Map
  - http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/cpsr/other-chicago/mediamap/sources.html

Intellectual Freedom

Readings

• ACLU. Is Cyberspace Burning? ACLU Special Report on Internet Ratings and Free Speech
  - http://www.aclu.org/news/n080797a.html
• Robert Bork, Interviewed by Michael Cromartie. "Give Me Liberty, But Don't Give Me Filth." Christianity Today. v. 41 5/19/97, pp. 28+.
• Eve Pell. The Big Chill: How the Reagan Administration, Corporate America, and Religious Conseratives are Subverting Free Speech and the Public's Right to Know. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.
• Aric Press. "Tacking Toward Moderation (End of Term Decisions)." Newsweek v. 124 July 11 1994. pp. 58 ...
  Reviews several Supreme Court decisions relating to free speech, including buffer zones at abortion clinics and cable TV speech protection.
• Anna Quindlen. "Rust v. Sullivan." Columbia Journalism Review. v. 30 Nov. Dec / 91. pp. 52-53. (about the "gag rule" on family planning clinics accepting federal funding)
• Warren Stewart. "Conflict? Free Speech vs. Abortion Counseling." Human Rights. v. 18 Summer 91, p. 41.
• Jon Wiener. "Murdered Ink." The Nation 5/31/93 pp. 743-750.
  - Main Reserves
• Steve Silberman. "Fox Slams Bootleg Millennium Sites." HotWired
  Also check out the related Threads (comments by various people).
  - http://wwww.hotwired.com/special/millennium/
  - http://wwww.hotwired.com/cgi-bin/interact/replies_all?msg.29334
  

  Readings Organized By Case
  You would probably have to read at least a couple of different articles to get a good feel for any of these particular cases. Each article (or web site) can be reviewed separately.

• Madonna's Sex & libraries
  • readings to come (or find your own)
• McDonald's Libel Case.
  • Eric Smith. "McLibel." Z Magazine Sept. 96 pp. 20-21.
    - Main Library Reserve Room
  • Dan Mills. "Big Mac on Trial." Lumpen v. 5 no. 8/9 December 1996 / January 1997. pp. 16-20
    - Main Library Reserve Room
  • McSpotlight
    - http://www.mcspotlight.org/
    web site dedicated to the recent libel case in UK
    
• IAM Press' "Our Struggle Against Censorship of Books and the Internet: a message from the president."
  http://www.iam.com/censorship.html
• Oasis vs. the Internet. Censorship or Copyright? You decide.
  
  • Brief overview from Chumbawamba
    http://www.chumba.com/_blah.htm
    chumbawamba is a british band opposed to copyright.
    
  • Official Oasis Webmasters for Internet Freedom home page.
    http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jackm/OWIF.htm
    obviously this page is opposed to Oasis' actions.
    
  • Oasis Internet: The Official Oasis Home Page
    http://www.oasisinet.com/
    I think this is the official Oasis site but I couldn't find any of their comments about this little problem.
  • Still yet more Oasis web pages
    http://ubl.com/artists/002181.html
    If you're really into this, there are lots more Oasis web pages here. Look and try to find info about what's going on.
• Scientologists v. the Internet.
  • readings to come (or find your own)

  For More Info

• Banned Books Online
  - http://www.banned.books.com/
  See especially the Banned Books as Art multimedia exhibit by Sharon Wysocki, available on this site.
• Cosmic Ray Deflection Society Goes Beyond Free Speech
  - http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/1483/blue.html
• The Fileroom
  - http://fileroom.aa.uic.edu/fileroom.html
  an illustrated archive of censorship put together by Chicago's Randolph Street Gallery and the UIC Electronic Visualization Lab ... very cool
• Banned Books Online
  - http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/People/spok/banned-books.html
• Trademark Wars on the Net
  TradeMark Infringement, Copyright & Censorship on Web Sites

Intellectual Property

Readings
• The Copyright Act of 1976
  - http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17
• Cyberspace Law for Non-Lawyers
  - http://www.counsel.com/cyberspace
• Copyright Law and the Internet
  - http://Clair.ce.psu.edu/de/ide/Colyer.html
• Steve Arbus. "Free Expression, Copyright and Democracy". Notes from "Ethics and the Internet," Conference: Berkeley, California, 11/95.
  - http://www.paranoia.com/~ebola/berkeley.html
• John Perry Barlow. "Let Our Music Go!" Yahoo Internet Life v. 3 no. 10 October 1997, pp. 77-78.
  - Main Reserves
  "The author of the Net Declaration of Independence and the former lyricist for the Grateful Dead calls for a controversial new freedom." Reading about copyright, trademark, etc.
• Benton Foundation. Intellectual Property
  - http://www.benton.org/KickStart/kick.intellectualproperty.html
• James Love. "A Primer on WIPO" Progressive Librarian #12/13 (Spring/Summer 1997) pp. 18-31. Originally published in Info-Policy Notes (electronic journal).
  - Main Library Reserve Room (turned in 8/26)
• Oasis vs. the Internet. Censorship or Copyright? You decide.
  
  • Brief overview from Chumbawamba
    http://www.chumba.com/_blah.htm
    chumbawamba is a british band opposed to copyright.
    
  • Official Oasis Webmasters for Internet Freedom home page.
    http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jackm/OWIF.htm
    obviously this page is opposed to Oasis' actions.
    
  • Oasis Internet: The Official Oasis Home Page
    http://www.oasisinet.com/
    I think this is the official Oasis site but I couldn't find any of their comments about this little problem.
  • Still yet more Oasis web pages
    http://ubl.com/artists/002181.html
    If you're really into this, there are lots more Oasis web pages here. Look and try to find info about what's going on.
• Web4Lib listserve discussion / flame-war from 1/23-1/31/97 on copyright
  The complete Web4Lib archives are at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/
  The January 97 Archive of Web4Lib are at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/archive/9701/
  Look in the January 1997 archives for messages titled "Head of S.F.'s Library Resigns Under Pressure," posted by Marc Salomon, and then read through the ensuing discussion. (All the postings that begin with "Re: Head of S.F.'s Library Resigns Under Pressure"; other postings on the topic are "Copy and reuse," "Copyright & liability," "Latest Copyright FlameFest," "Yo ho ho (this isn't even about copyright any more ...)", "Copyrights (was: Head of S.F.'s Library Resigns ..."; "Web links and the law", "'Fair Use' and Questions of Copyright", "Information does not want to be free", "Little Copyright Notices," "Copyright discussion," "More copyright," "gadzooks! mor ecopyright!" etc. ) Basically, one person posted the full text of a copyrighted article that would be of interest to others on the listserve, and then librarians from various sides weighed on with opinions about the appropriateness of that posting, and the discussion became a full-scale flame-war on copyright, intellectual property. Reading through the various postings gives you a good feel for the general tenor of opinions on this issue -- sort of like watching a recording of a bunch of people arguing passionately about a particular topic. There are some good arguments on both sides and also it's fun to analyze people's argumentation style, and it's also even more fun to watch people getting really irritated with each other. (If you're reading this for class, don't just read some of the postings, follow most or all the discussion.) Searching listserve archives like this is also a good way to find people who have opinions about particular issues; you can then send them a polite note and ask them for further elaboration (which they may or may not do of course).

  For More Info

• Utopia-l archives from same period
• liblicense-l
  - http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml This listserve consists of librarians and lawyers discussing the mechanisms of acquiring information. Is information leased, or purchased? What are the rights and obligations on both sides? The archive can be searched by keyword or just read chronologically or by subject through the postings to find interesting ones.
• BioEthicsLine - searchable via Grateful Med (DOS & Mac versions, available at Main Library, Reference; Science Library; & LHS - not available via the Internet version of Grateful Med yet. For more info see http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/sysdocs/gm/)
• Trademark Wars on the Net
  TradeMark Infringement, Copyright & Censorship on Web Sites

Privacy & Human Rights

Readings
• Phil Agre. "Looking Down the Road: Transport Informatics and the New Landscape of Privacy Issues." CPSR Newsletter v. 13 no. 3 Fall 1995 pp. 15-20.
  - Main Reserves
• David Banisar. "Big Brother Goes High-Tech." Covert Action Quarterly #56 (Spring 1996).
  - http://www.caq.com/CAQ56brother.html
• David Brin speech. article in ITL from LITA / Imagineers, ALA Annual, New Orleans, Summer 1993
• Mary M. Connors. "'Public' Records in the Electronic Age." CPSR Newsletter Fall 1995 v. 13 no. 3 pp. 13-14, 20.
  - Main Reserves
• Steve Dever. "Privacy Threats from Genetic Research." The CPSR Newsletter Fall 1995 v. 13 no. 3 pp. 6-7.
  - Main Reserves
• David Edwards. Burning All Illusions: A Guide to Personal & Political Freedom (South End Press)
• Nicky Hagar. "Exposing the Global Surveillance System." Covert Action Quarterly Winter 1997 #59.
  - http://www.caq.com/CAQ/CAQ59GlobalSnoop.html
• H. N. Foerstel. Surveillance in the Stacks: The FBI's Library Awareness Program. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991.
  - Main Book Stacks Z678.2.F64 1991
  About FBI Library Awareness Campaign - an attack on patron privacy and information providers.
  
• Jonathan King. "The Future Before Us." from Job?Tech: The Technological Revolution and Its Impact on Society. (edited by Abdul Alkalimat, Douglas Gills and Kate Williams; Twenty-First Century: Chicago, 1995)., pp. 52-58.
  - Main Library Reserves
  About genetics, biology, patenting of medical info.
• Wayne Madsen. "The Battle for Cyberspace: Spooks v. Civil Liberties and Social Unrest." Covert Action Quarterly Winter 1997 #59.
• Frances M. McDonald. "Technology, Privacy, and Electronic Freedom of Speech." Library Trends v. 35 no. 1 Summer 1986 pp. 83-104.
  - Main Reserves
• Ellen Messmer. "Clinton Security Plan Hints of Big Brother: Clipper Chip would let government eavesdrop on encrypted voice and data communications." Network World April 19, 1993. pp. 1,62.
  - Main Reserves
• Joshua Quittner. "The Death of Privacy" Time August 25, 1997, v. 150, no. 8, pp. 28-35. Includes: "Invasion of Privacy" by Joshua Quittner; "Character Assassination at Warp Speed" Joshua Quittner; "How You're Spied On"; "Online Browser Tricks"; "Protect Yourself."
  - Main Reserves
• Mitzi Waltz. "Policing Activists: Think Global, Spy Local." Covert Action Quarterly. Summer 1997.
  - http://www.caq.com/CAQ/caq61/caq61spylocal.html

  For More Info

• ACLU Cyber-Rights
  - http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/hmcl.html

Technology & Employment

Readings

• Abdul Alkalimat, Douglas Gills, and Kate Williams. Job-Tech: The Technological Revolution and Its Impact on Society. Midwest Conference on Technology, Employment and Community (Chicago, IL 1995). Chicago: Twenty-First Century Books and Publications, 1995.
  - New World Resource Center
  - Main Library T14.5 .M43 1995
• Jeremy Rifkin The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1995.
  - Main Library HD6331.R533 1995
• Jeremy Rifkin et al. "After Work" section in Utne Reader #69 May-June 95, pp. 53-67. Includes "After Work" by Jeremy Rifkin, "A New Vision of Livelihood" Matthew Fox, "African-Americans and Automation: How Technology Created the Urban Underclass" by Jeremy Rifkin, "Less is More" Edward Dolnick, and "It's Just a Matter of Time" Helen Wilkinson.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• Shoshana Zuboff In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
  - Main Library HD45.2 .Z83 1988
• Temp Slave (a zine)
  - Qimby's Queer Store

  For More Info

• Technology, Employment & Community: Conference. Chicago, Illinois, March 1995.
  - http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/cpsr/jobtech/
  

Related General Readings, Links

Organizations

• The Benton Foundation
  - http://www.benton.org/
  This not-for-profit does great work in many areas of information access projects.

• Chicago Coalition for Information Access
  - http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/cpsr/ccia/
  Local Chicago-area not-for-profit agitates for public Internet access, library advocacy, etc.

• Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
  - http://www.cpsr.org/dox/home.html
  Not-for-profit begun during Reagan era to look at issues relating to information technology and Star Wars. Now an advocate for privacy, cyber-rights, information access.

• Council for Public Media
  - http://www.utexas.edu/depts/output/www/cpm.html
  Organized to help the public effectively use print, broadcast, cable, telecomm & alternative media.

• Electronic Frontier Foundation
  - http://www.eff.org/
  One of the premiere organizations looking at issues of electronic information.
  

• Federal Communications Commission
  - http://www.fcc.gov/
  The U.S. agency responsible for implementing the 1996 Telecommunications Act, overseeing broadcast licenses, on-air "decency" standards, and hordes of other things. *Lots* of good stuff here (all very orthodox and mainstream, of course; you won't find dissent on the web site of the agency most responsible for communications in this country).

• Libraries for the Future
  - http://www.lff.org/
  Library advocacy group. Does good work regarding telecommunications and libraries.
  

Journals & Mailing Lists

General News & Magazines:

• Newsweek
• Time
• New York Times
• Wall Street Journal
• Utne Reader
• Chicago Sun-Times (current day available online at http://www.suntimes.com/)
• Chicago Tribune (current day available online at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/)

  Media Related

• AdBusters
  - http://www.adbusters.org/
  Awesome site, and an awesome publication. Pick it up at venues that carry some alternative publications, like Tower Records.
• Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
  - http://www.igc.apc.org/fair/
  Publishes EXTRA! which reports on bias in the media.
  
• Index on Censorship
  - http://www.oneworld.org/index_oc/
• Journal of Radio Studies (Washburn University)

  Technology Oriented

• WIRED
• Red Rock Eater
  - http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/archive_help.html
  If you're interested in these issues at all, subscribe to the Red Rock Eater list. You get several messages a week selected by Phil Agre (editor of The Network Observer, above). They may be on a variety of topics but all of them are somehow related to information access, privacy, etc., etc. The archives are searchable at:
• CyRev
  - http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/E-journals/CyRev/
  A journal of Cybernetic Revolution. Looks at how technology affects our lives. Unfortunately, it's in ASCII & therefore not very easy to read, but every issue is jam-packed with thought-provoking articles.
• The Network Observer
  - http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/tno.html
  A free online newsletter about networks & democracy - great. There are a million articles here that just seethe with relevancy to our topic(s).

  Others

• Journal of Information Ethics
  Print publication for librarians and other information professionals. Articles are often scholarly in nature.
• The Futurist
• Taxpayers Assets Project - Readings
  - http://www.cpsr.org/pub/taxpayer_assets
  This project, primarily organized by Jamie Love, seeks to make government information publicly accessible.
• Privacy Journal
  - available at various newsstands, $3 / issue.
  "an independent monthly on privacy in a computer age"

Journal Issues

• Columbia Journalism Review v. 30 November / December 1991. Special Issue: Freedom of the Press.
• Information Technology and Libraries v. 14 n. 4 December 1995. Special Issue: The Information Future
• WIRED Fall 1995 issue on "Scenarios: The Future of the Future"
• Extra! Volume 8 number 6 (November / December 95) all about media mergers & media concentration.

Other Courses

• "Impact of New Technologies"
  - http://sims.berkeley.edu/impact/
  Course materials at UC Berkeley / U Michigan library schools, for three years. Materials from students and the professor, Howard Besser. Howard Besser is a professor at UC Berkeley library school (now absorbed into the school of business) who has long been interested in these issues. Students write papers, put them up as web pages, on these issues, and it's wonderful for browsing.

Books

• Daniel Bell. The Coming of the Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting. New York: Basic Books, 1973.
  - Main Library HN17.5 .B38
  - LHS HN17.5 B433c 1973
  
• Sven Birkerts. The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age. New York: Faber and Faber, 1994.
  - Main Library Z1003 .B57 1994
• J. David Bolter. Turing's Man Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.
  - Main Library QA76.9.C66 B64 1984
• Stewart Brand. The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT. New York: Viking, 1987; Penguin, 1988.
  - Main T171.M49 B73 1987
• Anne Branscomb. Who Owns Information? From Privacy to Public Access New York: Basic Books, 1994.
  - Main Library KF2979 .B67 1994
• Jim Brook and Iain Boal, editors. Resisting the Virtual Life: The Culture and Politics of Information. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1995.
  - Main HM221 .R47 1995
• Geoffrey Brown The Information Game: Ethical Issues in a Microchip World. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1990.
  - Main HC79.I55 B76 1990
• Chris Carlsson. Bad Attitude: The Processed World Anthology. New York: Verso, 1990.
• Christians et al. Media Ethics 2nd ed., 1987
• Critical Art Ensemble. Electronic Civil Disobedience and Other Unpopular Ideas. Autonomedia: 1996.
• Guy Debord. Society of the spectacle. Detroit: Black & Red, 1983.
• Donna Demac. Keeping America Uninformed: Government Secrecy in the 1980s. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1984.
• FAIR. Steven Rendall, Jim Naureckas, and Jeff Cohen. The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error.
  - $8.45 New World Resource Center
• Tom Forester, editor. The Information Technology Revolution. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.
  - Main QA76.9.C66 .I53 1985b
• Tom Forester & Perry Morrison. Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
  - Main QA76.9.M65 F67 1994
• Carol Gould, editor. The Web of Information: Ethical and Social Implications in Computing - networking ethics
• Pablo Iannone Contemporary Moral Controversies in Technology New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
  - Main BJ59 .C63 1987
• Deborah Johnson Computer Ethics Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985.
  - Main QA76.9.M65 J64 1985
• Jerry Mander Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. New York: Morrow, 1978.
  - Main HE8700.8 .M35
• Nicholas Negroponte. Being Digital New York: Knopf, 1995
• Anne P. Mintz, editor. Information Ethics: Concerns for Librarianship and the Information Industry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 1990.
  - Main Z682.35.P75 I53 1990
• Eve Pell. The Big Chill: How the Reagan Administration, Corporate America, and the Religious Conservatives are Subverting Free Speech and the Public's Right to Know. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.
• Ithiel de Sola Pool, editor. The Social Impact of the Telephone. Boston: MIT Press, 1981.
  - Main HE8735 .S65 1981
• Neil Postman Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Knopf, 1992.
  - Main T14.5 .P667 1992
• Theodore Rozsak The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking. 2d edition. University of California Press: Berkeley, 1994.
  - Main T58.5 .R67 1994
• Charlotte Ryan. Prime Time Activism: Media Strategies for Grassroots Organizing. Boston: South End Press, 1991.
  - New World Resource Center
• Russell Sadler. Rupert Murdoch, the Congress, and Public Broadcasting.
  - http://www.utopia.com/mailings/rre/Rupert.Murdoch.the.Congress.and.public.broadcasting.html
• Richard Sclove. Democracy and Technology. New York: Guilford Press, 1995.
• Bruce Sterling. Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier New York: Bantam, 1992.
  - Stars Our Destination
• Clifford Stohl. Silicon Snake Oil New York: Doubleday, 1995.
  - Main QA76.9.C66 S88 1995
• Alvin Toffler, editor. The Futurists New York: Random House, 1973.
  - Main CB161.T57
• Alvin Toffler Powershift 1990
• James B. Twitchell. Adcult USA: The Triumph of Advertising in American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.
  - Main HF5813.U6 T87 1996
• XFin. TV Times: A Seven Day Guide to Killing Your TV.
  - $1 at Autonomous Zone
• John Zerzan and Alice Carnes, editors. Questioning technology: tool, toy or tyrant?. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1991.

Reference Books

• Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media (available at many libraries)
• United States Statistical Abstract. Basic demographic & business information.
• Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook
• Bureau of the Census. Annual Survey of Communication Services (Current Business Reports). Statistics on revenue & operating costs by type of industry & subsector industry; SIC code etc. At UIC Docs Dept and Harold Washington Public Library.
• Directory of Corporate Affiliations ("who owns who")

Articles

• Howard Besser "Education as Marketplace" in Robert Muffoletto and Nancy Knupfer (eds.) Computers in Education: Social, Political and Historical Perspectives Cresskill, NY: Hampton Press, 1993, pp. 37-69.
• John Dillon. "Networking with Spooks." Covert Action Quarterly Winter 96/97 (#59).
  - http://www.caq.com/CAQ59NetSpooks.html
  "The Internet is changing from a public resource to a lucrative operation influenced by spooks and former Pentagon officials. Open access and information are increasingly controlled."
• Donna Haraway "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s." Socialist Review v. 15 part 80 (1985) pp. 65-107.
• bell hooks. "All Quiet on the Feminist Front (Review of 1996)." Artforum. v. 35, December 1996, pp. 39-40.
• Michael Harris. "State, Class, and Cultural Reproduction: Toward a Theory of Library Services in the United States." Advances in Librarianship v. 14 (1986), pp. 211-252. And the review of this article: Dan Bergen, "Editorial," Library and Information Science Research (LISR) volume 9, pp. 71-75 (1987).
• Mark Poster "CyberDemocracy: Internet and the Public Sphere." (1995)
  - http://www.hnet.uci.edu/mposter/writings/democ.html
• Ira Sager et al. "The Information Appliance": Annual Report on Information Technology. Business Week June 24, 1996. pp. 71-103.
  - Main Library Reserve Room
• M. B. Schnapper. "Discussion Forum: Copyright Cammouflage -- Its Role in Governmental Manipulation of Public Opinion." Government Information Quarterly v. 2 no. 2 1985. pp. 127-130.
  - Main Reserves
• Fred Woodworth. "The Computer: Dr. Frankenstein's Latest Monstor or Biggest Ripoff in History? (Or BOTH??)" The Match! #90 Summer 1995. pp. 7-19. Includes "Computers at Work -- What I've Seen" by June A., and a diatribe against bar-codes.
  - Main Reserve

Other Media

• Radio: NPR (91.5), Pacifica News (4:30-5:00 and 10:00-10:30 weekdays on 88.3), talk radio, commercial radio; am radio news shows
• Radio: "CounterSpin" - FAIR's Radio Program: WLUW 88.7 Wed. 10 a.m; WZRD 88.3 Tue 7:30 pm.
• TV: C-Span, CNN, MS-NBC, PBS, Cable-Access
• relevant CD-ROMs?
• Media Filter: Tactical Media In Perspective
  - http://mediafilter.org/

Manifestos & Pamphlets

• Institute of Media Deconstruction. "Smashing the Image Factory: A Complete Manual of Billboard Subversion & Destruction."
  - AZone
  This does contain a couple of very interesting rants about "Seizing the Media" and "A Manifesto: publish the method * generalise knowledge * increase self-activity" plus a funny anecdote "Aim High."
• Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade Collective. "Radio Sermonettes."
  - AZone
  Excellent little pamphlet about immediatism. For more in this vein try Hakim Bey's Temporary Autonomous Zone (available at Quimby's and the AZone - from which the AZone took its name).
• Unabomber Manifesto & Related Info
  - http://mouth.pathfinder.com/@@ZkIlV@GsQgEAQF1P/pathfinder/features/unabomber/manifesto.html

Novels - Visions of the Information Future

Unless otherwise noted, these should be available in the science-fiction sections of bookstores, or at Stars Our Destination.

• Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
  
• David Brin Earth
• Stephen Bury Interface
• Umberto Eco In the Name of the Rose (1983) (historical fiction, mystery)
• John Fowles. The Magus
• William Gibson Neuromancer (1984)
• William Gibson The Difference Engine (1991)
• Aldous Huxley Brave New World (1932)
• Ursula Le Guin Always Coming Home (1985)
• Stanislaw Lem Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age
• Fritz Leiber The Silver Eggheads
• Saab Lofton A.D.
• Walter Miller A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959)
• Alice Nunn Illicit Passage
• George Orwell 1984 (1949)
• Marge Piercy He She and It (1991)
• Melissa Scott Trouble and Her Friends
• Neal Stephenson Diamond Age
• Neal Stephenson Snow Crash
• Bruce Sterling Islands in the Net (1989)
• Whitley Streiber & James Kunetka Nature's End
• Caitlin Sullivan & Kate Bornstein. Nearly Roadkill: An Infobahn Erotic Adventure (1996)
• Kurt Vonnegut Player Piano
• Sage Walker Whiteout
• Yvgeny Zamiatin We

Film & Video

Fiction

• "1984" (1956 or 1984)
• "2001"
• "Bladerunner" (1982)
• "Born in Flames" (1982) (available at Facets)
• "Brazil" (1985)
• "DreamScape" (1984)
• "The Electric Grandmother" (1982) based on a story by Ray Bradbury; about technology & human values
• "Fantastic Planet" (?) award-winning animated film from around 1970.
• "Gattica" (1997 - should be released soon & looks relevant)
• "Metropolis" (1927 or 1980s version)
• "The Ugly Little Boy" (1977); based on a story by Isaac Asimov; about technology & human values
• "Star Trek" (the first movie)
• "Terminator" (1984)
• "Tron" (1982)

  Documentary

• "Manufacturing Consent" - documentary about media concentration & Noam Chomsky
  - Architecture & Art Library videocassett T-1698 (two tapes)

TV Series

• "Babylon 5"
• "Star Trek" (all the various episodes)
• "The X-Files"

Music

• "Triumph of the Swill" Dead Kennedys Bedtime for Democracy
• Consolidated "Infomodities" on Play More Music
• Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy "Television the Drug of a Nation"
• "Information Overload" Living Colour
• "Too Much Information" The Police
• "Satisfaction" Rolling Stones
• "Books Are Burning" XTC

Writers of Note

• Noam Chomsky - media concentration
• Edward Herman - media concentration
• bell hooks - media & cultural criticism
• Marshall McLuhan - media & information

Finding the Material

• UIC Main Library Reserve Room
• Alternative Press Index - Use at UIC Main Library Reference to find other information not listed here.
• UIC Library - borrow on InterLibrary Loan
• Chicago Public Library
• Tower Records Book Section
• New World Resource Center, about 2650 W Fullerton Avenue. For alternative media information.
• Autonomous Zone, about 2012 W Chicago Avenue. For alternative media information.
• Quimby's Queer Store, 1328 North Damen. For zines & alternative media.
• Stars Our Destination, 1021 W. Belmont. For science fiction, animation.
• Earwax. 1564 N Milwaukee. Food, but also records, videos & zines.
• Facets Multimedia, 1517 W Fullerton Avenue - 773-281-4114 - will loan and sell videos. The best video store in the country.
• Museum of Broadcast Communications
  http://www.neog.com/mbc/
  Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue at Washington St.
  312-629-6000
  Mon-Sat 10:00-4:30, Sun noon-5; free admission!; for old episodes of TV shows
• Mainstream bookstores & news stands.
• On the Internet
• Direct from publisher / distributor
• InfoChi: Chicago Media, Information & Library Links - http://www.uic.edu/classes/hon/hon201/infochi.html