ALA participation

[Burt, David]

KAREN SCHNEIDER wrote:

>I would like to remind Web4Lib members who are also ALA
>members (or were, or could be) that participation in ALA is not
>something handed to us on a platter.  It requires work,
>participation, team-playing, effort, and time.  The only people
>who are "excluded" from ALA participation are those who
>choose not to contribute the elbow grease required to make ALA
>happen.

For someone who seems to pride herself on her "I call 'em like I see
'em" attitude, I find Karen's tactic of criticizing an individual by
making a generalized statement about "certain people" odd. Since Karen
does not mention anyone by name, I can only conclude that Karen's
complaint about people who claim to be excluded is a reference to my
comment "Our point of view was excluded at ALA conferences".  Are you
defending IFRT's actions?  There seemed to be quite a few people at the
panel discussion who agreed with me.  Mr. Stiedlow, who organized the
panel, seems to have made a conscious, deliberate choice to exclude
pro-filterers.  I seriously doubt that more aggressive lobbying of Mr.
Stiedlow would have changed that.

As for implying that I "choose not to contribute", I beg to differ.  I
have been an ALA member since 1992.  From 1995-1996, I served on the
LITA Research Committee as an Intern.  This experience of "contributing
elbow grease " did not particularly impress me as a means of brining
about global change within ALA.  The important committees usually take
years to get on, and then, you only represent one single voice.

I don't have years to spare to work my way up the ALA pecking order.
The filtering controversy is happening now, not slowly developing over
years.  Sitting in a hotel conference room with 12 other people and
complaining about filters does not strike me as an effective way to
promote my agenda.

>In the old days, some of us would say, "if you aren't part of the
>solution, you're part of the problem."    I'll add that it is
>inexcusable to begin a sentence with "ALA does [or doesn't]..."
>or to charge ALA with excluding you when you haven't made the
>first leap to participate.

You are certainly not the first ALA anti-filterer to call my conduct
"inexcusable", and I'm certain you  won't be the last.  I've been
subjected to so much of that sort of thing for my unpopular stance that
at this point  ad hominum like that just rolls off my back like so much
water.  That's a pretty sad comment for a profession that champions free
expression.


David Burt