Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous; Washington Post, 3/29/15

Tim Cook, Washington Post; Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous:

"These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear. They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality...

I have great reverence for religious freedom. As a child, I was baptized in a Baptist church, and faith has always been an important part of my life. I was never taught, nor do I believe, that religion should be used as an excuse to discriminate.

I remember what it was like to grow up in the South in the 1960s and 1970s. Discrimination isn’t something that’s easy to oppose. It doesn’t always stare you in the face. It moves in the shadows. And sometimes it shrouds itself within the very laws meant to protect us.

Our message, to people around the country and around the world, is this: Apple is open. Open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. Regardless of what the law might allow in Indiana or Arkansas, we will never tolerate discrimination...

This isn’t a political issue. It isn’t a religious issue. This is about how we treat each other as human beings. Opposing discrimination takes courage. With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it’s time for all of us to be courageous."

The White House’s first chief data scientist is no stranger to Washington; Washington Post, 3/29/15

Amrita Jayakumar, Washington Post; The White House’s first chief data scientist is no stranger to Washington:

"DJ Patil, who was named the nation’s first chief data scientist last month, shares credit for coining the term “data science.” He is the latest Silicon Valley transplant to join the Obama administration, working under former Google executive Megan Smith, the White House’s chief technology officer...

Q. What does the first chief data scientist do?

A. To me, the government says, “Okay, we have data, but how do we use that responsibly to create efficiencies, to create transparency, to unlock economic potential? How do we get that data to preserve American competitiveness and advance innovation?”

The mission of this role is an amplification of things that have been happening.

How will you achieve those goals?

There are three areas where we have the biggest chance to succeed in our mission...

The next one is open data. We’ve got data.gov [a Web site that features machine-readable government data], which has really changed the game. Think about the billions of dollars that rest on open data infrastructure. People do research on that data, that research turns into insight, that insight turns into wisdom and that wisdom is put back into models and scientific results. The foundation of all this is open data. How do we enhance that across-the-board?"

Public Libraries and Hispanics Pew Report Shows Library Gap Between U.S.-Born and Immigrants; Library Journal, 3/30/15

Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Public Libraries and Hispanics Pew Report Shows Library Gap Between U.S.-Born and Immigrants:

"The Pew Research Center’s latest report taken from its 2013 Library Services Survey focuses on Public Libraries and Hispanics, examining usage patterns and attitudes among the United States Hispanic population age 16 and older. While the findings identify some differences between Latinos and their White [non-Hispanic] and African American counterparts, the greatest discrepancies lie between native-born Hispanics—those born within the 50 states or Puerto Rico—and immigrants.

Perhaps most notably, non-native Hispanics were far less likely to have ever visited a U.S. public library or bookmobile in person than Latinos born in this country. However, those immigrants who have used the library identified as the most appreciative segment of the surveyed population, consistently rating library services highest of any other group. The report introduces as many questions as it answers. But it could serve as an opportunity for discussion in libraries across the country about how to better serve a rapidly growing Hispanic population—more than 54 million living in the United States today, making up 17 percent of the population.

The data used was taken from research conducted in 2013 as part of the Pew Internet public library research initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

ALA President responds to House proposal to eliminate IMLS; American Library Association (ALA) News, 3/25/15

Jazzy Wright, American Library Association (ALA)News; ALA President responds to House proposal to eliminate IMLS:

"The budget resolution released this week by the U.S. House Budget Committee proposes to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the agency that administers federal funding support for more than 123,000 libraries in virtually every community in the nation. American Library Association (ALA) President Courtney Young today released the following statement in response:

"We are shocked and appalled that the U.S. House Budget Committee would call for the elimination of federal support for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the agency that administers federal funding to libraries. Our nation’s public libraries receive more than 1.5 billion in-person visitors(pdf) each year from students, parents, job-seekers and seniors alike. Through grant-making and federal funding, IMLS aids libraries in supporting lifelong learning and equitable access for all. Since its founding, IMLS has provided invaluable leadership and expert oversight to libraries and supported libraries in providing dynamic services to their patrons, such as workforce training, maker spaces, coding classes and entrepreneurship resources.

"ALA calls on every member of the Budget Committee, and of Congress, to recognize the enormous benefits that IMLS creates for libraries and constituents in their own communities. In Chairman Tom Price’s (R-GA) own district, for example, IMLS helped establish and now helps fund a hugely efficient and successful statewide library catalog that gives millions of Georgians and every library in the state access to everything in every other library’s collection. The State Librarian of Georgia estimates that replacing this statewide PINES network with individual systems would cost over $100 million over the next ten years alone."

Richard Russo, Pulitzer Winner, Tells Gloversville Library Thanks for the Memories; New York Times, 3/24/15

Steven Greenhouse, New York Times; Richard Russo, Pulitzer Winner, Tells Gloversville Library Thanks for the Memories:

"Gloversville’s mayor, Dayton J. King, hopes that a library renovation might spur a hoped-for renaissance downtown.

“When people see the library is changing, it looking and feeling totally different, it will increase people’s confidence that this is not a bad place,” Mr. King said...

“One reason Mr. Russo is so interested in the renovation is there’s very little place for children these days outside of school,” said Elizabeth Batchelor, a chairwoman of the fund-raising campaign. “For many kids, a library can be a ladder out of poverty.”

Vincent DeSantis, a retired city court judge, said that back in Gloversville’s heyday, “the captains of industry lived in the community and supported the community.” But now, with so many factories abandoned and so many businesses run by distant executives, he said, “we have to do it ourselves.”"

Empathy Is Key to a Great Meeting; Harvard Business Review, 3/23/15

Annie McKee, Harvard Business Review; Empathy Is Key to a Great Meeting:

"So how do we fix meetings so they are more enjoyable and produce more positive feelings? Sure, invite the right people, create better agendas, and be better prepared. Those are baseline fixes. But if you really want to improve how people work together at meetings, you’ll need to rely on—and maybe develop—a couple of key emotional intelligence competencies: empathy and emotional self-management.

Why empathy? Empathy is a competency that allows you to read people. Who is supporting whom? Who is pissed off and who is coasting? Where is the resistance? This isn’t as easy as it seems. Sometimes, the smartest resisters often look like supporters, but they’re not supportive at all. They’re smart, sneaky idea-killers.

Carefully reading people will also help you understand the major, and often hidden conflicts in the group. Hint: These conflicts probably have nothing to do with the topics or decisions being made at the meeting. It is far more likely to be linked to very human dynamics like who is allowed to influence whom: headquarters vs. the field; expats vs. local nationals; and power dynamics between men and women, and among people of various races."

Starbucks Ends Conversation Starters on Race; New York Times, 3/22/15

Ravi Somaiya, New York Times; Starbucks Ends Conversation Starters on Race:

Howard D. Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, said in a letter to employees on Sunday that baristas would no longer be encouraged to write the phrase “Race Together” on customers’ coffee cups, drawing to a close a widely derided component of the company’s plan to promote a discussion on racial issues.

“While there has been criticism of the initiative — and I know this hasn’t been easy for any of you — let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise,” Mr. Schultz wrote.

Having baristas write on customers’ cups, Mr. Schultz wrote, “which was always just the catalyst for a much broader and longer-term conversation — will be completed as originally planned today, March 22.”

That end date had not previously been mentioned publicly, including during Mr. Schultz’s discussion of the initiative at the company’s annual shareholders meeting last week, but a company spokeswoman, Laurel Harper, said employees had been told about it.

Asked whether Starbucks was reacting to criticism, Ms. Harper said, “That is not true at all. When we initially began the Race Together initiative, what we wanted to do is spark the conversation, because we believe that is the first step in a complicated issue.”

She added, “Leading change isn’t an easy thing to accomplish.”"

Not to worry, the PSO is thriving; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/19/15

Micah Howard, Dick Simmons, and Jim Wilkinson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Not to worry, the PSO is thriving:

"A number of the survey’s more sweeping conclusions — “classical music is swiftly losing its audience” — simply cannot be credibly made based on the statistically and demographically limited group W-5 surveyed. In fact, a number of other studies from the past 10 years, including an extensive and highly regarded one done by the Knight Foundation, have noted a continued strong interest in classical music in today’s society, both here in Pittsburgh and nationally. This is borne out by the numerous orchestras in this region and nationwide that are enjoying great success in drawing larger (and newer) audiences to hear classical music. For example, symphony orchestras in Cincinnati (mentioned in the article), Indianapolis, Buffalo and Detroit all reported healthy gains in numbers of classical music attendees in 2014...

We value our subscribers and donors, taking time and care with them to ensure they are appreciated. We are constantly reviewing our strategies to increase sales: customized promotional plans for every concert; new website and social media approaches; new ways of connecting with our audience, such as our recent media-day recordings which will air in the months ahead.

We also are building new relationships with our audiences through new ventures such as our Sensory Friendly concert, and enhancing the profile of our orchestra through new audience/​musician experiences — for example, the Classical BBQs in the summer.

We are not “stuffy.” We are diverse and open: from Mason Bates to Igudesman & Joo, from Emmanuel Ax to Randy Newman, from Beethoven symphony cycles to concerts out and about in the heart of our community in August and September."

In the Age of Information, Specializing to Survive; New York Times, 3/19/15

J. Peder Zane, New York Times; In the Age of Information, Specializing to Survive:

"Of course, not all information is equal. Those exabytes do include a few great novels, stirring films and groundbreaking scientific discoveries. Most are flotsam wrapped in jetsam: insipid blog posts and text messages, YouTube videos of cuddly cats and pornographic acts, ignorance that poses as knowledge.

“We are overloaded with junk,” said Daniel Levitin, a professor of psychology and behavioral neuroscience at McGill University whose books include “The Organized Mind.” “It’s becoming harder and harder to separate the wheat from the digital chaff. The problem with the Internet is anyone can post, so it’s hard to know whether you are looking at a fact or pseudofact, science or pseudoscience.”...

If the information age makes knowledge seem like a straitjacket, David Galenson, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, notes that progress often hinges on those rare individuals who have escaped its bonds. Artists from Picasso to Bob Dylan and entrepreneurs including Bill Gates and Steve Jobs changed the world by finding “radically new ways of looking at old problems,” Mr. Galenson said. “They cut through all the accumulated stuff — forget what’s been done — to see something special, something new.”...

For many who don’t share that kind of vision, the response to information overload is simple: Just search and forget (repeat as necessary). Even more ambitious absorbers of knowledge like Jonathan Haber will most likely find that the key to lifelong learning is a human mediator, someone who has engaged in the ancient task of searching and sorting through knowledge.

Until, of course, a modern-day Leonardo invents a machine that can do that too."

Healthful alliance: UPMC, Pitt and CMU join forces in a big way; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/19/15

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Healthful alliance: UPMC, Pitt and CMU join forces in a big way:

"The announcement Monday by the heads of UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University that they were forming the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance was the unveiling of no mere partnership or collaboration. The alliance aims to marshal the strengths of all three institutions on behalf of the public’s health and well-being.

The initiative, which will be funded largely by UPMC to the tune of $10 million to $20 million a year, will process massive amounts of electronic health data — from insurance records, patient information, genomic profiles, wearable sensors and other sources — to help guide an individual’s medical treatment. This “big data” could also help physicians detect when a new outbreak in a personal ailment might occur and respond more rapidly, before a health problem grows larger.

Success of the alliance will hinge on UPMC’s vast patient data, Pitt’s health science research capabilities and CMU’s leadership in computer science and machine learning. Beyond the real-world diagnosis and care benefits for individual patients, the effort also seeks to spin off commercial businesses and create jobs."

PSO challenge: It’s not easy building the audience of the future; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/18/15

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; PSO challenge: It’s not easy building the audience of the future:

"While the PSO has not suffered the catastrophic decline that forced orchestras in Philadelphia, Syracuse and Louisville to declare bankruptcy, attendance has plunged since the 1970s, when it sold more than 200,000 tickets to its classical-concert series, compared with 96,610 last year. Last season, just 57 percent of seats at Heinz Hall were sold; the rest were given away or unfilled.

To learn why, the PSO hired a North Carolina firm to interview people who are typical of symphony goers (white, married, middle-aged and middle- to upper-income) but who don’t attend. Their responses may be useful in attracting that demographic, but the symphony also needs to get answers from minorities and millennials if it wants an audience for the future.

In 1937, the median age of audience members at classical concerts across the nation was 28. By 2008, it had risen to 49."

The Next Level: Library leadership starts here; Library Journal, 3/16/15

Rebecca T. Miller, Library Journal; The Next Level: Library leadership starts here:

"To that end, it seems fitting that the reveal of the newest class of Movers & Shakers coincides with the launch of a new professional development platform from LJ. This platform expands on the work of our Lead the Change (LTC) live events to support better leadership development in libraries. LJ has always been about professional development, sometimes formally, sometimes quite informally. More recently, however, we have taken another look at that role and examined what more we can do to help you build the talent we know is at work at every level in your libraries.

Lead the Change, now entering its fourth year, has illustrated to us just how deep the need is for leadership development. A 2014 survey of 550-plus Movers & Shakers stressed the need for the entire staff to be up to speed on innovations in libraries and personal leadership. This inspired a new live event program from LTC cofounder David Bendekovic: Professional Development for Library Staff—full-day, interactive workshops designed to help the whole staff develop together. Another new workshop is from branding expert David Vinjamuri: Transform Your Stacks To Drive Circulation shares insights into collection trends and out-of-the-box marketing and merchandising tactics.

The live events will be complemented by the new LTC Leadership Academy–Online, a series of intensive digital courses; our inaugural course, Create Your Career Road Map, starts on April 22. These are designed for deep, instructor-led learning, complete with homework on targeted projects and coaching. Also in the mix, more LTC webcasts, including six on-demand sessions moderated by Sandra Hirsh, director of the School of Information at California’s San José State University."

The Reveal: Announcing LJ’s 2015 Movers & Shakers; Library Journal, 3/9/15

Library Journal; The Reveal: Announcing LJ’s 2015 Movers & Shakers:

"Passion. Vision. Mission. These are just a few of the words that characterize the 50 individuals—and one organization—named 2015 Movers & Shakers. They are passionate about what they do, whether it is advocating for literacy and diversity, serving the underserved, spreading and sharing technology, and much more. Chosen from more than 300 nominations, the Movers see the future and bring it to life.

And they are committed to the mission of the library as an engine of democracy.

This year’s Movers & Shakers are profiled in the March 15 issue of Library Journal, and those profiles will be posted in an online version, sponsored by OCLC and Boopsie, rolling out next week, one group at a time. However, so as not to prolong the suspense, the complete class of 2015 is listed below. Join us in congratulating them.

—Francine Fialkoff, Project Manager, Movers & Shakers

The profiles of Change Agents will go live on Monday, March 16; Innovators, Tuesday March 17; Advocates and Educators, Wednesday, March 18; Digital Developers, Thursday, March 19; and Community Builders, Friday, March 20. A special edition of LJXpress featuring all the categories of 2015 Movers will follow on Friday, March 20."

CIA to Make Sweeping Changes, Focus More on Cyber Ops-Agency Chief; Reuters via New York Times, 3/6/15

Reuters via New York Times; CIA to Make Sweeping Changes, Focus More on Cyber Ops-Agency Chief:

"The Central Intelligence Agency will make one of the biggest overhauls in its nearly 70-year history, aimed in part at sharpening its focus on cyber operations and incorporating digital innovations, CIA director John Brennan said...

The 10 new "mission centres" will bring together CIA officers with expertise from across the agency's range of disciplines to concentrate on specific intelligence target areas or subject matter, Brennan said.

Competition between spy agencies and between units within agencies has led to "stove piping" of information that should have been widely shared and to critical information falling through bureaucratic cracks, Brennan and other U.S. intelligence officials said."

Pitt seeking input on new strategic planning initiative; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/27/15

Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pitt seeking input on new strategic planning initiative:

"The University of Pittsburgh on Friday said it has launched an ambitious strategic planning initiative, looking at every level of the institution to identify both opportunities to continue to flourish as well as threats to its stability and standing.

The university has scheduled a series of campus town hall sessions for next month to solicit input, officials said at Friday’s board of trustees meeting. But already, groundwork has been laid by approaching a wide swath of constituencies for their views, among them school trustees, faculty, staff and student leaders.

The effort will be informed in part by previous initiatives and documents, among them a 1995 mission statement and the Statement of Aspiration and Strategic Priorities, last updated in 2014."