PBS' "NOW with Bill Moyers" to tackle public domain v. private control

"Pho list co-founder, meme-generator, and BoingBoing friend Jim Griffin appears on the PBS show NOW with Bill Moyers on January 17, 2002 at 9p.m. E.T./P.T. Check local listings here. This edition of Moyers' weekly program will tackle the digital future of intellectual property and the present debate pitting private control against public domain.

'Public libraries embody the American ideal that anybody can read, watch or listen to just about anything they want to. With publications and broadcasting delivered free by the Internet directly to homes, is the information revolution making libraries obsolete? As more people can access this content, the copyright owners -- in many cases large corporate publishing entities -- are looking for ways to charge fees. A growing chorus of lawyers, librarians, and educators fear the implications of losing free access to information for everyone. 'Our information and communication infrastructure is so central to everything we do,' says former American Library Association president Nancy Kranich. 'But what's really underlying that is the free flow of ideas which is essential to democracy.' Jim Griffin, president of the music company Cherry Lane Digital adds, '...Eleanor Roosevelt dreamed of a world of libraries where we could borrow any book we wanted to read, any movie we wanted to watch, any record we wanted to listen to..equalizing access to knowledge is one of the hallmarks of a civilized society.' " [Boing Boing Blog]

I can't find any details on the NOW site yet, but in the Chicagoland area, this show will air on Friday, January 17, at 10:00 p.m. Set your DVRs!

Library Link of the Day

"A daily link for the library profession." [via News Is Free: Recent Additions]

An interesting new service courtesy of John Hubbard. You can get the daily tip via email or RSS feed.

"The Library Link of the Day provides you a daily link for keeping up to date with the library profession. Destinations include the latest library news, good reads on the web, and other valuable resources that a library knowledge worker should know about. The link is presented without commentary.

If you already read ten library-related weblogs, subscribe to twenty discussion groups, and scan another thirty or so news sites, this service may not be for you. If you are involved with or interested in libraries but didn't know that there are over fifty library-related blogs on the web, this service is designed specifically for you. It is a way for busy librarians and library fans of all kinds to review items of interest that they may not have heard about otherwise."

Of course, if you're reading my site you probably know there are more than 50 library-related blogs, but this is still a helpful service.