Friday, August 31, 2012

Introducing the Armacost Library Intellectual Freedom (ALIF) Blogathon

Image icon of person with open book. Text reads Intellectual Freedom.
Image courtesy of Melanie Cardenas
From September 1, 2012 to October 31, 2012, Armacost Library will be celebrating the cornerstone concept of Intellectual Freedom. This is our way of  observing a significant theme that runs through many of our events this fall semester: Constitution Day (September 17), Banned Books Week (September 30-October 6), National Information Literacy Awareness Month (October), and International Open Access Week (October 22-28).

We are opening up our weblog space to writers from the University of Redlands community. Students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are welcome to submit posts with the general theme of "intellectual freedom." Comments are also welcome.


What do I send? What do I write about?
Overall, the topic of the post needs to be about matters concerning intellectual freedom, a wide, multi-sided subject. The writer point-of-view can be personal and subjective or academic and objective.

Some guidelines:
  • Must meet the overarching topic of intellectual freedom. See the topic suggestions below.
  • 200-1000 words, please.
  • We prefer prose, but poetry is also welcome. For this campaign, we want to limit things to written words.
  • Send along an accompanying emblematic image. Just make sure you send along a caption too. We’ll put up your text and image in the same post.
  • Ensure accuracy of your factual assertions. Make references to resources (online or otherwise). If your post has been adapted from a previous work you’ve done, please let us know this too, so we can make note of it on your post.
  • Have a title and tags for your post.
  • Consider the venue (a blog) and your audience (who’s going to read your post). Blog posts are often written in an informal yet engaging voice, so writing in a conversational way is acceptable. If you’re more comfortable writing with a more academic, technical, or formal style, that will also be acceptable. Structure and grammar help writers convey their thoughts to their readers in a more meaningful way. Please use them!
  • Do you want to submit your post anonymously? We can accommodate that. We’ll just say “a UofR student,”  “a UofR administrator,” or whatever is appropriate. Just let us know. If you do want to be identified, please include your major and your class year (i.e., 2012, 2013, 2014, etc.) with your name, if you are a student. If you are a faculty, staff or administration member, please include your department and title with your name. By default, we’ll assume you want to be identified, so please be sure to say if this is not the case.

Some topic ideas:

  • Censorship of scientific research results.
  • I love <insert banned book, film title here> because….
  • A particular instance of censorship or intellectual freedom challenge, current or otherwise.
  • I value my freedom to read and view as a <insert role here; i.e., parent, instructor, student, etc.> because….
  • Value of reading literature.
  • Connection of freedom to read/view with other freedoms (i.e., freedom of speech, freedom to express, freedom to congregate, freedom to demonstrate, etc.).
  • Connection of freedoms (see above and below) to matters of equity, social justice, advocacy and diversity.
  • This list is not comprehensive.


What do I need to do to participate?
Send a copy of your post to any of Armacost Library’s faculty, following the above guidelines. Email is the best method to send your post submission. Put ALIF in the subject line. This will help us field your submission faster. 

We will contact you about your submission to let you know when it will be posted. Be sure to return to Armacost Library News to see new comments and posts.

How has a particular work of science, literature, film, theater, or art affected you? We welcome your thoughts.


Image icon of person with open book. Text reads I FREE.
Image courtesy of Melanie Cardenas


Melissa Cardenas-Dow
Outreach/Behavioral Sciences Librarian
Armacost Library, University of Redlands
melissa_cardenasdow (a) redlands (dot) edu
909.748.8089

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