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Post by Tricia on Oct 31, 2006 23:48:46 GMT -5
Gosh, Diane ... what did we do? Here at this little board? Kindly spill the gossip ... if it's interesting--and I'm sure it is ...
Regards,
LMC
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 1, 2006 0:09:54 GMT -5
A frequent poster, who shall remain nameless to protect her but you'll figure it out, e-mailed me today to say that she was totally frustrated because the NPS has blocked access to the Message Boards. She can get everywhere else on the website but, when she clicks the Message Boards link while at work, she gets a message saying that the boards “may be inappropriate.” She can get into the CBHMA boards, which were once plagued by porn spam, but we are inappropriate! All access to Yahoo Groups has been banned as well. I belong to several non-prof and educational organizations that use Yahoo Groups to distribute info. Amazing . . . .
It's a pain for her but kind of funny, really. Think of how many times we have given tips to people about visiting NPS properties. There isn't any profanity or (since the Evil Twins have left) assaults on ethnic groups, so I cannot imagine what prompted this action. It sounds as if some NPS IT guy has too much time on his hands.
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Post by Tricia on Nov 1, 2006 1:17:50 GMT -5
Gosh, Diane. How very strange! I went to the www.libi.gov site--or whatever its address is, but saw no links to any message boards. Perhaps I am going to the wrong site. Do you think our "inappropriateness" has been caused by Melani, Elisabeth, and I breaching the subject of--gulp--GAC's possible adulterous relationships from 1866 onwards? Frankly, I'm not surprised that the CBHMA remains in good stead, despite the problem they've had with spam. But my current impression of the group--and its intentions--make me wonder if they're preparing to elevate the fellow to Sainthood! I'm never quite sure, but it is abundantly clear--to me at least--the beloved Autie of good memory was hardly saintly ... maybe it's his death--oh, pardon me, his martyrdom--eh? We are sooo naughty, ain't we? I think I've used the word "damn" one durn time. And now, lookout for the gub'ment message board police! Frankly, we should do as you have done so succinctly. Wear the banning with pride, just like Custer's Tuebor medallion! Since I know I didn't raise the issue, the poster in question seems to have been whittled down to two other females ... but we girls have got to stay together! Regards, LMC |
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Post by Melani on Nov 1, 2006 1:57:11 GMT -5
Actually, said the Nameless One, it has nothing to do with the site itself, much as we would like to have that honor.  They have employed a private contractor to block various types of sites, and it is proceeding apace. Last week they blocked ALL Yahoo groups, leaving me unable to moderate the Library Friends group, which is part of my job, and which we use to notify members about Park events. Last week I could still access the forum; they just hadn't gotten to it yet. This week they have probably blocked ALL proboards. Next week it will be all of something else. They have also blocked all blogs. They will certainly get around to CBHMA at some point. Two weeks ago they blocked the Mudcat Cafe, a folk music forum and data base which the Chanteyranger and I use for sea chantey research for Park programs. The cataloging librarian also uses it to catalog CD's for the Library collection. We requested that it be unblocked, and it was. The way to get this forum unblocked is to get an NPS staff person who can claim some kind of legitimate research need to request it. I couldn't convince our IT guy that it has maritime content, though I actually just thought of using the Far West as an excuse. So if any of you guys know an NPS staffer who meets those qualifications, hit 'em up for help. An IT support guy has to request it; there is a link on the "inappropriate content" page to ask for a review, but our guy told me they would ignore any request that did not come from him. If enough people raise heck about this, it may have some effect. By the way, I am not NPS staff. I am an independent contractor working for a private non-profit NPS cooperating association. So they can't fire me, but they can get really mad. It's not like I don't get my work done because I'm carousing on this forum--I get an hour for lunch, after all. The non-message parts of the website do contain some content that is useful to researchers, but we all know the good stuff is here. The true usefulness of a message board like this one is to ask an open question in a thread, and somebody who is an expert on that particular thing will probably answer, or be able to direct the questioner to appropriate  resources. Usually questions like that are pretty specific and not likely to be found in the basic info provided for the general public. This whole thing is simply ludicrous; they are totally crippling the Park Service's ability to do online research. This is of special interest to us at the SF Maritime Library--the superintendent, to save money, has just decreed that our Library will not longer have any open public hours, but will only admit researchers by appointment, Monday-Friday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., which totally lets out anybody with a job. The idea is to provide "better service" by using email and online resources. Except, of course, we have no idea what we will be able to access online in a week or so. I don't think they care about Custer's extra-marital activity. They have not blocked many commercial sites as yet (or at least not the ones I visit), but there is one--jockey.com, apparently because they sell underwear! Outerwear is still okay. |
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Post by markland on Nov 1, 2006 7:20:58 GMT -5
Without going too deeply into current events, I suspect that an alternate reason for the cut in hours is economic fall-out from the Iraqi situation. The local NARA has given up its Wednesday evening and third Saturday openings and is now open only 7-4 for walk-in research. The official line is "lack of participation." However, while speaking to one of the archivists about it, she related an ongoing "joke" in NARA circles, to paraphrase, "that the Army spends more in one day than the entire yearly budget for NARA." Also, I am getting the suspicion that NARA is attempting to monetize many of their holdings (and save money) by letting private companies digitalize certain holdings and sell access to them. Think Ancestry.com and Pro-Quest as prime examples.
Just my black-helicoptor thoughts for today.
Billy
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 1, 2006 10:15:59 GMT -5
When we were sitting around shooting the breeze with some LBHA members in Ohio last week, we were told that the battlefield is going to CLOSE its archives to the public. You will only be able to do research using Freedom of Information requests. I was hoping that it was just a rumor, but it sounds like that's the way things are going.
I wouldn't blame it on the war, Billy. There are BILLIONS of discretionary funds being spent every year on stupid stuff like the Alaskan bridge that goes nowhere and the rain forest in Iowa. Our troops deserve every dime we give them, and there's plenty available to keep the NPS libraries open to the public. It's a matter of priorities and, as America continues to get dummied-down, history and libraries aren't important. We need to be very vocal and let our congressmen and senators know that we want full access to NPS facilities and records.
I'm glad this is in the campfire thread because I'm breaking my own rule about contemporary politics, but the shutdown, if true, infuriates me!
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Post by Melani on Nov 1, 2006 10:46:23 GMT -5
The idea in the NPS seems to be that if they cut enough services, the public will scream loud enough to get more money. Here at SF Maritime, they are closing the public restrooms in Aquatic Park--to save money. I can hardly wait to hear about that!
Meanwhile, I am praying for Nancy Pelosi--she has been very kind to us--got the money for the rebuild of the C.A. Thayer, among other things.
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Post by Tricia on Nov 1, 2006 18:26:59 GMT -5
Melani--
No worries ... my comments--about the inappropriate content of this forum--were meant to be facetious. On a baseball board I belong to (and to which I occasionally contribute), one of the long-standing jokes is how separate fonts are needed for sarcasm, irony, and facetiousness, because they are often impossible to detect on the black and white of a webblog. So now we go around setting off comments with: <joke>, <irony>, or <sarcasm> ...
It is really too bad regarding the LBH archive, however. Nothing like killing a little casual research <sorrow>. Sigh.
LMC
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Post by Melani on Nov 2, 2006 0:01:11 GMT -5
I mentioned the closing of the LBH archives at a lunchtime meeting today, and everybody laughed and said that couldn't be true--even the administrators. I hope they're right. Like I said, the idea is to get the public to scream loudly--one of our guys said that as soon as Congressman So-and-So's little grandaughter wet her pants because the restrooms were closed, action would happen. So everybody start screaming. I also sent a very nicely-worded email to our IT guy, asking him again to request that the board be unblocked, and this time I did mention "the paddlewheel steamer Far West," which I'm pretty sure he's never heard of. It's not his fault and he's a nice guy, so maybe that will give him the justification he needs to make the request. It would be even better if that request came from somebody at LBH. If our guy can't do it, maybe we should wait until they block ALL message boards (which I'm sure will happen), and then email John Doerner or somebody with that info. I pointed out that it was pretty odd for the NPS to say there was "inappropriate content" on a site devoted to discussing an NPS historic site, and that we can't adequately serve Library patrons if we can't access the information they need. If our guy can do it, it will happen in about 24 hours after the request. Wait a minute--"the rain forest in Iowa"  |
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 2, 2006 9:48:25 GMT -5
Yup, $280 million to create a 5-acre rainforest in Iowa: www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd010108.htmIn fairness, your tax dollars are only paying $50 million of it . . . so far. I think $50 million could buy a few more staff positions throughout the NPS, but what do I know? I'm only a lowly tax-paying citizen of this country. |
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Post by Tricia on Nov 2, 2006 11:04:19 GMT -5
This upcoming election might serve a purpose to this board, after all ... the Montana senate race is extremely tight--supposedly it's in the "toss up" category. Between current senator Conrad Burns and his opponent Jon Tester, maybe we have some sway! Perhaps a few letters expressing our deep concern to these fellows about the LBH archives? I mean, these guys are so desperate for support, they'd be well advised to bring our interests to Congress in 2007.
LMC
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Post by Melani on Nov 2, 2006 23:10:04 GMT -5
Good idea, Leyton. The cataloging librarian suggested going to doi.gov (provided they haven't blocked it!) and finding out who to write to. She says its the entire DOI, not just the NPS. That means the poor IT guys are going to be doing nothing but unblocking websites--they elected to block everything in certain categories, rather than specific sites. I came up against it today while discussing Civil War uniforms with our Living History costume mistress. I thought of an appropriate picture I had seen and did a google image search, found it, and couldn't access it, because it was posted on...this message board!  Then I tried to look up the schooner Bill of Rights, a tall ship I have sailed aboard (perfectly appropriate maritime research!), and couldn't access most of the references, because they are on a blog run by the crew, and all blogs have been blocked. Our historian suggested that any site devoted to history, and especially American history, is potentially useful to us as researchers at SF Maritime National HISTORICAL Park. On the bright side, the IT guy said he would ask to have this site unblocked--maybe the mention of the Far West did it--she is a boat, after all. If that works, I'd better leave him alone for a while--I don't want to get him mad. I figured out why the CBHMA message board is not blocked--they only went after sites with "board" in the URL. I don't know what they'll go after next, but this is really insane. |
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Post by elisabeth on Nov 3, 2006 6:15:06 GMT -5
Re the LBH archives: maybe both candidates would respond to the thought that the LBH industry must contribute a fair chunk to Montana's economy. The more LBH is talked and written about, the more tourists come into the state and spend money ... therefore, stifling research has to be A Bad Thing even in sordid financial terms ...?
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Post by Melani on Nov 3, 2006 19:18:23 GMT -5
Okay, Diane you can take the headline down now--the message board has been unblocked! But this is still a ridiculous process to have to go through. I can understand them blocking specific sites, but the idea of blocking everything and then unblocking one by one--it boggles the mind! I wonder if this is so the contractors will make more money on the deal?
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Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 5, 2006 23:24:02 GMT -5
Hooray for Melani!
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They have employed a private contractor to block various types of sites, and it is proceeding apace. Last week they blocked ALL Yahoo groups, leaving me unable to moderate the Library Friends group, which is part of my job, and which we use to notify members about Park events. Last week I could still access the forum; they just hadn't gotten to it yet. This week they have probably blocked ALL proboards. Next week it will be all of something else. They have also blocked all blogs. They will certainly get around to CBHMA at some point.
resources. Usually questions like that are pretty specific and not likely to be found in the basic info provided for the general public.
Then I tried to look up the schooner Bill of Rights, a tall ship I have sailed aboard (perfectly appropriate maritime research!), and couldn't access most of the references, because they are on a blog run by the crew, and all blogs have been blocked.