Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-12-02 Thread Wilhelmina Randtke
" it may help to pick a random sample of the incidents and consider
whether the anti-harassment policy for code4lib would deal with it."

This is a good idea.  Often, short policies will have the short formal
language up front, and then a comments section which isn't part of the
policy, but explains how to apply it.  The comments section will have
examples and explanations, which helps go check check check and apply the
policy.

Also, running use cases against a policy will show if the policy does
what's intended without doing unintended harm.

-Wilhelmina Randtke


On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 7:06 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:

> Wilhelmina Randtke 
> > I think maybe in librarianship in general, there is some trying to turn
> > this around and use the same sexist advertising, but marginalize men
> > instead.
>
> I think this is a problem in society in general, not just
> librarianship or technologists: aiming for some improbable perfect
> balance of discrimination in all directions and misunderstanding that
> as equality.  Such false friends are often uncovered when they suggest
> that if anyone doesn't like their Gay/Black/whatever Scholarship or
> Mentorship or whatever restorative scheme, those people should start
> or make another scheme for Non-gays/Non-blacks/Non-whatevers.
>
> So I'm disappointed but unsurprised to hear of male strippers at
> events.  Like Karen Coyle, I'd love to know if anyone objected and
> what happened next.
>
> > On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 8:54 AM, James Stuart  >wrote:
> > > This list is imperfect (I know several public incidents that aren't on
> here
> > > (recent DEFCON years aren't listed, The Amazing Meeting/ElevatorGate
> and
> > > various other skeptic convention incidents aren't on (possibly by
> > > design))), but it's at least a start, and hopefully a picture that
> sexism
> > > is an endemic, systematic problem right now in the geek convention
> world.
> > > http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents
>
> Quite right it's imperfect!  It's correlated with time, money and
> maybe an increasing number of smaller conferences with new,
> inexperienced organisers...  I don't think the number of incidents
> is particularly informative, either: we'd be unhappy with one, no?
> So it may help to pick a random sample of the incidents and consider
> whether the anti-harassment policy for code4lib would deal with it.
>
> Moreover, I reject that we should place too much weight on that
> "resource for and about women".  It has some interesting links, but a
> site with a "Resources for men" ghetto is not promoting equality well.
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-12-02 Thread MJ Ray
Erik Hetzner 
> MJ Ray wrote:
> > However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
> > hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
> > paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
> > drunk or being idiots than from being men. […]
> 
> Starting from this incorrect position will lead to the wrong
> harassment guidelines being drawn up. Obviously the goal is equal
> respect, but you don’t get there by pretending that the root problem
> is drunkenness, or that men and women treat one another with
> disrespect in equal amounts. It’s not hand-waving to say that sexual
> harassment happens, and that (with negligible exceptions) it is is men
> who are the perpetrators. To pretend otherwise will not produce an
> effective anti-harassment policy.

Equally, we won't get an effective anti-harassment policy by making
incorrect assumptions (like it's negligible if the perpetrators are
not men) and ignoring the exceptional cases that don't fit those
assumptions.  I feel that no serious harassment should be neglected by
a true anti-harassment policy as suggested above.

It's difficult to say what the root problem is when talking in
abstract like the above, but if we believe equality is ever possible,
merely being men cannot be the root cause.  I feel that those who
suggest it is are just a different type of sexist who we must guard
against.

There are, of course, reasons why men perpetrate more in most
communities I interact with, many of which are to do with history and
where we're starting from, but things can and do change, both in
general and in small subcommunities, and we should be ready.

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-12-02 Thread MJ Ray
Wilhelmina Randtke 
> I think maybe in librarianship in general, there is some trying to turn
> this around and use the same sexist advertising, but marginalize men
> instead.

I think this is a problem in society in general, not just
librarianship or technologists: aiming for some improbable perfect
balance of discrimination in all directions and misunderstanding that
as equality.  Such false friends are often uncovered when they suggest
that if anyone doesn't like their Gay/Black/whatever Scholarship or
Mentorship or whatever restorative scheme, those people should start
or make another scheme for Non-gays/Non-blacks/Non-whatevers.

So I'm disappointed but unsurprised to hear of male strippers at
events.  Like Karen Coyle, I'd love to know if anyone objected and
what happened next.

> On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 8:54 AM, James Stuart wrote:
> > This list is imperfect (I know several public incidents that aren't on here
> > (recent DEFCON years aren't listed, The Amazing Meeting/ElevatorGate and
> > various other skeptic convention incidents aren't on (possibly by
> > design))), but it's at least a start, and hopefully a picture that sexism
> > is an endemic, systematic problem right now in the geek convention world.
> > http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents

Quite right it's imperfect!  It's correlated with time, money and
maybe an increasing number of smaller conferences with new,
inexperienced organisers...  I don't think the number of incidents
is particularly informative, either: we'd be unhappy with one, no?
So it may help to pick a random sample of the incidents and consider
whether the anti-harassment policy for code4lib would deal with it.

Moreover, I reject that we should place too much weight on that
"resource for and about women".  It has some interesting links, but a
site with a "Resources for men" ghetto is not promoting equality well.

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Erik Hetzner
At Fri, 30 Nov 2012 11:34:41 +,
MJ Ray wrote:
> 
> Esmé Cowles 
> > Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women
> > who were harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken
> > together, they paint a picture of men (particularly drunken men)
> > creating an atmosphere that makes a lot of people feel excluded and
> > worry about being harassed or worse.  So I think a positive
> > statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness of
> > these issues, is a good thing.
> 
> I'm a member of software.coop, which helps write library software,
> including Koha - we co-hosted KohaCon12 this summer.  Like all co-ops,
> our core values include equality.  I would like to see an
> anti-harassment policy for code4lib.
> 
> However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
> hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
> paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
> drunk or being idiots than from being men. […]

Hi MJ,

Starting from this incorrect position will lead to the wrong
harassment guidelines being drawn up. Obviously the goal is equal
respect, but you don’t get there by pretending that the root problem
is drunkenness, or that men and women treat one another with
disrespect in equal amounts. It’s not hand-waving to say that sexual
harassment happens, and that (with negligible exceptions) it is is men
who are the perpetrators. To pretend otherwise will not produce an
effective anti-harassment policy.

best, Erik
Sent from my free software system .


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Mark A. Matienzo
On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 12:07 PM, Karen Coyle  wrote:
> Wow. We could not have gotten a better follow-up to our long thread about
> coders and non-coders.
>
> I don't git. I've used it to read code, but never contributed. I even
> downloaded a gui with a cute icon that is supposed to make it easy, and it
> still is going to take some learning.
>
> So I'm afraid that it either needs to be on a different platform for
> editing, OR someone (you know, the famed "someone") is going to have to do
> updates for us non-gitters.

Karen, I've added instructions about how to add contributions without
knowing Git to the README file:
https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/README.md

If you'd like, I'm happy to have feedback as to changes here. A small
handful of people have also asked if we could move this to another
platform such as the Code4lib wiki. I'd be happy to get feedback if
that would be a preferable option.

Mark


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Karen Coyle
Wow. We could not have gotten a better follow-up to our long thread 
about coders and non-coders.


I don't git. I've used it to read code, but never contributed. I even 
downloaded a gui with a cute icon that is supposed to make it easy, and 
it still is going to take some learning.


So I'm afraid that it either needs to be on a different platform for 
editing, OR someone (you know, the famed "someone") is going to have to 
do updates for us non-gitters.


kc

On 11/30/12 7:36 AM, Michael J. Giarlo wrote:

All,

Please feel free to make the changes you'd like to see and then submit a
pull request.  I have added instructions for how to do this in the README:

https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy

I say this not to shame anyone in the jerky "patches welcome!" sense, but
as an acknowledgement that the way shiz gets done in code4lib is for each
of us to take individual initiative.  You're all empowered to do so.  I
look forward to seeing your changes in the repo.

-Mike



On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 10:19 AM, Tim Spalding  wrote:


I'd support removing or somehow couching language about any organizer,
including any volunteer, immediately ending a talk.

All the other sanctions seem to involve the likelihood of deliberation
involving some time and multiple people, and some possibility of a
misunderstanding being cleared up. I don't think a single volunteer—who, in
theory, is granted the power to ban someone for life!—is going to ban
someone or refuse to post a talk online without thinking about it for a
while and involving other organizers.

By their nature, however, something said in the middle of a talk doesn't
admit of much in the way of deliberation between organizers, or time to
deliberate, and you can't really finish a talk ended by someone if other
organizers persuade the volunteer that they made a mistake. The action has
to be taken quickly, by someone who hasn't talked it through with others
and is largely irreversible. It's a recipe for controversy and
disagreement, and potential unfairness.

I propose that the right reaction to an offensive talk is for people to
walk out of it while it's going on, and to deal with any sanctions required
AFTER the talk is over, when there's time and space to get the decision
right.

Sincerely,

Tim Spalding
LibraryThing



--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Mark A. Matienzo
On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 10:19 AM, Tim Spalding  wrote:
> I'd support removing or somehow couching language about any organizer,
> including any volunteer, immediately ending a talk.
>
> All the other sanctions seem to involve the likelihood of deliberation
> involving some time and multiple people, and some possibility of a
> misunderstanding being cleared up. I don't think a single volunteer—who, in
> theory, is granted the power to ban someone for life!—is going to ban
> someone or refuse to post a talk online without thinking about it for a
> while and involving other organizers.

I disagree with this proposal. Code4lib by its nature has backchannels
in which collective deliberation and decision can happen somewhat
instantaneously. If a talk is deeply offensive, in, say, the first two
minutes, I would want to put a stop to it.

> I propose that the right reaction to an offensive talk is for people to
> walk out of it while it's going on, and to deal with any sanctions required
> AFTER the talk is over, when there's time and space to get the decision
> right.

This presumes those offended are uncomfortable enough to walk out. I
find this assumption deeply problematic.

Mark


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Karen Coyle

On 11/30/12 8:12 AM, Wilhelmina Randtke wrote:

This is interesting.  They actually had a male entertainer on stage in
velcro pants, then speedo and boots, at the WestLaw reception at
the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting this year.


OMG, really?! Did anyone mention to them that not only was that sexist 
but in notably poor taste? Who does their marketing? Sometimes, no, many 
times, I wonder if there is any sign of intelligence at all on this planet.


kc


Apparently that's not uncommon for the WestLaw reception.  At the North
American Serials Interest Group meeting, the mens room in the conference
area was closed and converted to a women's room for the duration of the
conference.  So that's three national library conferences I went to this
past year, and two of them had a major anti-male sexist event.  (ALA did
not have strippers, and provided male restrooms.  Kudos!)

I think maybe in librarianship in general, there is some trying to turn
this around and use the same sexist advertising, but marginalize men
instead.

(Of course, if the crowd being boozed with male stripper on stage makes
significantly less money than the crowd accepting fliers from college girls
in skimpy clothes, then this may not be a loss for men.  Fake poor people
culture is popular now with the hipsters, but no one wants poor people
culture, if it involves actually having less money.)

When you strike langauge about sexual imagery, you might should rethink
that.  I get enough spam male ads about male genital enlargement, that I
suspect men would tend to be intimidated and feel excluded when male 6
packs are prominently displayed in areas where men are outnumbered.
Whether it's young women in underwear, or athletic men in underwear, could
we agree that it's inappropriate?

-Wilhelmina Randtke


On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 8:54 AM, James Stuart wrote:


As a preface, I fully support both of these changes in language.

That said, I think it's both important to balance the idea that sure,
sometimes people are idiots, with that sexism is a prevalent problem right
now at geek conventions, and that it's more than a 'bad and/or drunk
apples' problem.

This list is imperfect (I know several public incidents that aren't on here
(recent DEFCON years aren't listed, The Amazing Meeting/ElevatorGate and
various other skeptic convention incidents aren't on (possibly by
design))), but it's at least a start, and hopefully a picture that sexism
is an endemic, systematic problem right now in the geek convention world.

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents

--James

PS: I don't know what they are, but I kinda made myself hungry for some
drunk apples right now.


On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 6:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:

  > Esmé Cowles 

Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women
who were harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken
together, they paint a picture of men (particularly drunken men)
creating an atmosphere that makes a lot of people feel excluded and
worry about being harassed or worse.  So I think a positive
statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness of
these issues, is a good thing.

I'm a member of software.coop, which helps write library software,
including Koha - we co-hosted KohaCon12 this summer.  Like all co-ops,
our core values include equality.  I would like to see an
anti-harassment policy for code4lib.

However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
drunk or being idiots than from being men.  Please, let's treat all
groups with equal respect and reserve our ire for particular members
when they give us reason to do otherwise.

The anti-harassment policy should not be developed from a "we need to
kick men into line" standpoint.  As such, I suggest



https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md

should say "Discriminatory language and imagery (including sexual)"
rather than leading with a special case of "Sexual".

I also suggest generalising "religion" to "religious beliefs" to avoid
predictable attempts to insult some minorities and claim it's allowed
because they're not formal, organised or state-approved religions.

Regards,
--
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit

co-op.

http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/



--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Wilhelmina Randtke
This is interesting.  They actually had a male entertainer on stage in
velcro pants, then speedo and boots, at the WestLaw reception at
the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting this year.
Apparently that's not uncommon for the WestLaw reception.  At the North
American Serials Interest Group meeting, the mens room in the conference
area was closed and converted to a women's room for the duration of the
conference.  So that's three national library conferences I went to this
past year, and two of them had a major anti-male sexist event.  (ALA did
not have strippers, and provided male restrooms.  Kudos!)

I think maybe in librarianship in general, there is some trying to turn
this around and use the same sexist advertising, but marginalize men
instead.

(Of course, if the crowd being boozed with male stripper on stage makes
significantly less money than the crowd accepting fliers from college girls
in skimpy clothes, then this may not be a loss for men.  Fake poor people
culture is popular now with the hipsters, but no one wants poor people
culture, if it involves actually having less money.)

When you strike langauge about sexual imagery, you might should rethink
that.  I get enough spam male ads about male genital enlargement, that I
suspect men would tend to be intimidated and feel excluded when male 6
packs are prominently displayed in areas where men are outnumbered.
Whether it's young women in underwear, or athletic men in underwear, could
we agree that it's inappropriate?

-Wilhelmina Randtke


On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 8:54 AM, James Stuart wrote:

> As a preface, I fully support both of these changes in language.
>
> That said, I think it's both important to balance the idea that sure,
> sometimes people are idiots, with that sexism is a prevalent problem right
> now at geek conventions, and that it's more than a 'bad and/or drunk
> apples' problem.
>
> This list is imperfect (I know several public incidents that aren't on here
> (recent DEFCON years aren't listed, The Amazing Meeting/ElevatorGate and
> various other skeptic convention incidents aren't on (possibly by
> design))), but it's at least a start, and hopefully a picture that sexism
> is an endemic, systematic problem right now in the geek convention world.
>
> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents
>
> --James
>
> PS: I don't know what they are, but I kinda made myself hungry for some
> drunk apples right now.
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 6:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:
>
>  > Esmé Cowles 
> > > Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women
> > > who were harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken
> > > together, they paint a picture of men (particularly drunken men)
> > > creating an atmosphere that makes a lot of people feel excluded and
> > > worry about being harassed or worse.  So I think a positive
> > > statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness of
> > > these issues, is a good thing.
> >
> > I'm a member of software.coop, which helps write library software,
> > including Koha - we co-hosted KohaCon12 this summer.  Like all co-ops,
> > our core values include equality.  I would like to see an
> > anti-harassment policy for code4lib.
> >
> > However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
> > hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
> > paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
> > drunk or being idiots than from being men.  Please, let's treat all
> > groups with equal respect and reserve our ire for particular members
> > when they give us reason to do otherwise.
> >
> > The anti-harassment policy should not be developed from a "we need to
> > kick men into line" standpoint.  As such, I suggest
> >
> >
> https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md
> > should say "Discriminatory language and imagery (including sexual)"
> > rather than leading with a special case of "Sexual".
> >
> > I also suggest generalising "religion" to "religious beliefs" to avoid
> > predictable attempts to insult some minorities and claim it's allowed
> > because they're not formal, organised or state-approved religions.
> >
> > Regards,
> > --
> > MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit
> co-op.
> > http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> > In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> > Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
> >
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Michael J. Giarlo
All,

Please feel free to make the changes you'd like to see and then submit a
pull request.  I have added instructions for how to do this in the README:

https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy

I say this not to shame anyone in the jerky "patches welcome!" sense, but
as an acknowledgement that the way shiz gets done in code4lib is for each
of us to take individual initiative.  You're all empowered to do so.  I
look forward to seeing your changes in the repo.

-Mike



On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 10:19 AM, Tim Spalding  wrote:

> I'd support removing or somehow couching language about any organizer,
> including any volunteer, immediately ending a talk.
>
> All the other sanctions seem to involve the likelihood of deliberation
> involving some time and multiple people, and some possibility of a
> misunderstanding being cleared up. I don't think a single volunteer—who, in
> theory, is granted the power to ban someone for life!—is going to ban
> someone or refuse to post a talk online without thinking about it for a
> while and involving other organizers.
>
> By their nature, however, something said in the middle of a talk doesn't
> admit of much in the way of deliberation between organizers, or time to
> deliberate, and you can't really finish a talk ended by someone if other
> organizers persuade the volunteer that they made a mistake. The action has
> to be taken quickly, by someone who hasn't talked it through with others
> and is largely irreversible. It's a recipe for controversy and
> disagreement, and potential unfairness.
>
> I propose that the right reaction to an offensive talk is for people to
> walk out of it while it's going on, and to deal with any sanctions required
> AFTER the talk is over, when there's time and space to get the decision
> right.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Tim Spalding
> LibraryThing
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Tim Spalding
I'd support removing or somehow couching language about any organizer,
including any volunteer, immediately ending a talk.

All the other sanctions seem to involve the likelihood of deliberation
involving some time and multiple people, and some possibility of a
misunderstanding being cleared up. I don't think a single volunteer—who, in
theory, is granted the power to ban someone for life!—is going to ban
someone or refuse to post a talk online without thinking about it for a
while and involving other organizers.

By their nature, however, something said in the middle of a talk doesn't
admit of much in the way of deliberation between organizers, or time to
deliberate, and you can't really finish a talk ended by someone if other
organizers persuade the volunteer that they made a mistake. The action has
to be taken quickly, by someone who hasn't talked it through with others
and is largely irreversible. It's a recipe for controversy and
disagreement, and potential unfairness.

I propose that the right reaction to an offensive talk is for people to
walk out of it while it's going on, and to deal with any sanctions required
AFTER the talk is over, when there's time and space to get the decision
right.

Sincerely,

Tim Spalding
LibraryThing


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread James Stuart
As a preface, I fully support both of these changes in language.

That said, I think it's both important to balance the idea that sure,
sometimes people are idiots, with that sexism is a prevalent problem right
now at geek conventions, and that it's more than a 'bad and/or drunk
apples' problem.

This list is imperfect (I know several public incidents that aren't on here
(recent DEFCON years aren't listed, The Amazing Meeting/ElevatorGate and
various other skeptic convention incidents aren't on (possibly by
design))), but it's at least a start, and hopefully a picture that sexism
is an endemic, systematic problem right now in the geek convention world.

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents

--James

PS: I don't know what they are, but I kinda made myself hungry for some
drunk apples right now.


On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 6:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:

> Esmé Cowles 
> > Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women
> > who were harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken
> > together, they paint a picture of men (particularly drunken men)
> > creating an atmosphere that makes a lot of people feel excluded and
> > worry about being harassed or worse.  So I think a positive
> > statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness of
> > these issues, is a good thing.
>
> I'm a member of software.coop, which helps write library software,
> including Koha - we co-hosted KohaCon12 this summer.  Like all co-ops,
> our core values include equality.  I would like to see an
> anti-harassment policy for code4lib.
>
> However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
> hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
> paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
> drunk or being idiots than from being men.  Please, let's treat all
> groups with equal respect and reserve our ire for particular members
> when they give us reason to do otherwise.
>
> The anti-harassment policy should not be developed from a "we need to
> kick men into line" standpoint.  As such, I suggest
>
> https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md
> should say "Discriminatory language and imagery (including sexual)"
> rather than leading with a special case of "Sexual".
>
> I also suggest generalising "religion" to "religious beliefs" to avoid
> predictable attempts to insult some minorities and claim it's allowed
> because they're not formal, organised or state-approved religions.
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread Michael J. Giarlo
Thanks, MJ.  Done:
https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/commit/14c4e12023639200dea85de5db2a314ac305387a


On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 6:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:

> Esmé Cowles 
> > Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women
> > who were harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken
> > together, they paint a picture of men (particularly drunken men)
> > creating an atmosphere that makes a lot of people feel excluded and
> > worry about being harassed or worse.  So I think a positive
> > statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness of
> > these issues, is a good thing.
>
> I'm a member of software.coop, which helps write library software,
> including Koha - we co-hosted KohaCon12 this summer.  Like all co-ops,
> our core values include equality.  I would like to see an
> anti-harassment policy for code4lib.
>
> However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
> hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
> paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
> drunk or being idiots than from being men.  Please, let's treat all
> groups with equal respect and reserve our ire for particular members
> when they give us reason to do otherwise.
>
> The anti-harassment policy should not be developed from a "we need to
> kick men into line" standpoint.  As such, I suggest
>
> https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md
> should say "Discriminatory language and imagery (including sexual)"
> rather than leading with a special case of "Sexual".
>
> I also suggest generalising "religion" to "religious beliefs" to avoid
> predictable attempts to insult some minorities and claim it's allowed
> because they're not formal, organised or state-approved religions.
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-30 Thread MJ Ray
Esmé Cowles 
> Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women
> who were harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken
> together, they paint a picture of men (particularly drunken men)
> creating an atmosphere that makes a lot of people feel excluded and
> worry about being harassed or worse.  So I think a positive
> statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness of
> these issues, is a good thing.

I'm a member of software.coop, which helps write library software,
including Koha - we co-hosted KohaCon12 this summer.  Like all co-ops,
our core values include equality.  I would like to see an
anti-harassment policy for code4lib.

However, I'm saddened that I seem to be the first to object to the
hand-waving ("number of reports") and prejudice in the above
paragraph.  The above problems seem more likely to arise from being
drunk or being idiots than from being men.  Please, let's treat all
groups with equal respect and reserve our ire for particular members
when they give us reason to do otherwise.

The anti-harassment policy should not be developed from a "we need to
kick men into line" standpoint.  As such, I suggest
https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md
should say "Discriminatory language and imagery (including sexual)"
rather than leading with a special case of "Sexual".

I also suggest generalising "religion" to "religious beliefs" to avoid
predictable attempts to insult some minorities and claim it's allowed
because they're not formal, organised or state-approved religions.

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Shearer, Timothy J
>It should be low barrier and low risk for individuals to tell
>"us"/"someone" when they feel uncomfortable.   Hopefully with enough
>detail to allow for remediation/change.

Riffing from Naomi, and others, about the worry that people might be both
upset and not know how to proceed:

We have enough clearly lovely people in the community that I wonder if we
couldn't find a couple or more that could be identified as
"ombudspersonesque" types on a per-conference basis.  A person or persons,
identified several times during the conference ,and with other directory
information (email) one could go to with the guarantee of anonymity who
could at a minimum listen and if desired try to constructively deal with
the situation.  

I'll say that at my first conference I was somewhat startled by the back
channel chatter.  It took me a while to understand, parse, and not worry
so much about it...and then to take some gems from it.

-t


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Cary Gordon
The problem with "Try not to be an asshole." is that it is open to
interpretation. Someone might try not to be an asshole and fail
miserably. Google is more definite with "don't be evil", but opinion
varies as to whether they are much good at not being evil.

I think that it is difficult to have a non-organization, and sometimes
it takes more work than having actual governance.

Cary

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:06 AM, Tom Keays  wrote:
> I think a good code is "Try not to be an asshole."  You can but try.
> Never-the-less, I feel it mitigates the need for an angry god and makes the
> 10 commandments redundant.
>
> Anyway, thanks to Bess for raising the issue. I think all of you have made
> a great start. I think there are more than enough volunteers already, but I
> would contribute if you need me. Using Github seems like a good way to
> garner support and endorsement of the final policy. I've added it to my
> "starred" list to show my support.
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:48 PM, Karen Coyle  wrote:
>
>> On 11/26/12 4:37 PM, Joe Hourcle wrote:
>>
>>> Don't be an asshole.
>>>
>>
>> Could that become the 11th commandment, and could we get a really really
>> angry god to enforce it? Everywhere, all of the time?
>>
>> kc
>>
>>
>>  I think there was a second line of it, about how we had the right to
>>> remove people who refused to follow that advice and no refunds would be
>>> given. I might be wrong on the exact language. The e-mail I found
>>> referenced 'Don't be a dick', in an attempt to paraphrase the legalese of
>>> the Code of Conduct for our venue ... but the reference to gender-specific
>>> anatomy would be kinda sexist in itself. -Joe
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Karen Coyle
>> kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
>> ph: 1-510-540-7596
>> m: 1-510-435-8234
>> skype: kcoylenet
>>



-- 
Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://chillco.com


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Tom Keays
I think a good code is "Try not to be an asshole."  You can but try.
Never-the-less, I feel it mitigates the need for an angry god and makes the
10 commandments redundant.

Anyway, thanks to Bess for raising the issue. I think all of you have made
a great start. I think there are more than enough volunteers already, but I
would contribute if you need me. Using Github seems like a good way to
garner support and endorsement of the final policy. I've added it to my
"starred" list to show my support.


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:48 PM, Karen Coyle  wrote:

> On 11/26/12 4:37 PM, Joe Hourcle wrote:
>
>> Don't be an asshole.
>>
>
> Could that become the 11th commandment, and could we get a really really
> angry god to enforce it? Everywhere, all of the time?
>
> kc
>
>
>  I think there was a second line of it, about how we had the right to
>> remove people who refused to follow that advice and no refunds would be
>> given. I might be wrong on the exact language. The e-mail I found
>> referenced 'Don't be a dick', in an attempt to paraphrase the legalese of
>> the Code of Conduct for our venue ... but the reference to gender-specific
>> anatomy would be kinda sexist in itself. -Joe
>>
>
> --
> Karen Coyle
> kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
> ph: 1-510-540-7596
> m: 1-510-435-8234
> skype: kcoylenet
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Sarah Wiebe
Bess, 

Same for me - can't go to the conference, but definitely willing to help. 

What a great idea!

1+

Cheers, 
Sarah

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Carol 
Bean
Sent: November-26-12 5:55 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

Bess++

Not going to the conf this year, but very willing to pitch in on this

Carol

On Nov 26, 2012, at 5:46 PM, "Michael J. Giarlo"  
wrote:

> bess++
> 
> Let's do this.
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:44 PM, Timothy A. Lepczyk 
> wrote:
> 
>> Thanks for bringing this up, Bess.
>> 
>> +1
>> 
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> 
>> Timothy A. Lepczyk*
>> Digital Humanities & Pedagogy Fellow
>> Hendrix College
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Mark A. Matienzo
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> OK - to start, I've created a Github repo to help with drafting a
>>> policy: https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy
>>> 
>>> There's just a README there now with a bunch of resources. I'll try 
>>> to add more content there later this evening.
>>> 
>>> Mark
>>> 
>> 


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Michael J. Giarlo
A+ would fork again
On Nov 27, 2012 7:47 AM, "Peter Murray"  wrote:

> +1 to Bess for raising the topic -- I'm onboard.
>
> Jon's point is an important one.  Code4Lib does not have a formal
> structure, owner, or convening body.  Any power in the Code4Lib community
> is directly proportional to the collective will of the members of this
> community.  Therefore I think it is important to have a way for community
> members to register an endorsement of the policy/code-of-conduct.  That
> will be how the local meeting hosts and the IRC channel ops and the mailing
> list owners (all volunteers) are empowered to take action.
>
> Here are a couple of ways to do it, along with some advantages and
> disadvantages:
>
>  * Registering names on a wiki page:
>+ Low overhead, account infrastructure not required
>- Subject to vandalism and false signatures
>
>  * Sign by forking the GitHub repo:
>+ Good for version control (a particular version is signed)
>+ Fork appearing on GitHub repo list keeps commitment in the forefront
> of signer's mind
>- Requiring signers to have a GitHub account may not be realistic
>
>  * Create a lightweight signing app on Code4Lib.org
>+ Lighter weight account registration requirement than GitHub
>- Requires someone to create app
>- Signers must sign up for a code4lib.org account; overhead for
> code4lib.org administrators
>
>
> Peter
>
>
> On Nov 26, 2012, at 7:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
> > The responses to the list in the past couple of hours alone suggest that
> > this is something much of the community would want to get behind. To
> > that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool our
> > community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
> > whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
> > personal names. I don't know how that would work exactly...maybe via the
> > wiki (where it seems to me a lot of good info goes to die) or the
> > code4lib Github (slightly better since you could link to your
> > credentials in a an environment much larger than our own, and everyone
> > could have a copy), but something along those lines. I'm happy to help
> > if I can.
>
>
>
> --
> Peter Murray
> Assistant Director, Technology Services Development
> LYRASIS
> peter.mur...@lyrasis.org
> +1 678-235-2955
>
> 1438 West Peachtree Street NW
> Suite 200
> Atlanta, GA 30309
> Toll Free: 800.999.8558
> Fax: 404.892.7879
> www.lyrasis.org
>
> LYRASIS: Great Libraries. Strong Communities. Innovative Answers.
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Cary Gordon
This is now SOP for open-source software events and organizations. I
don't seem to do anything except go to open-source software events, so
I can't speak to any other type of event or group.

Cary

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:47 PM, Michael J. Giarlo
 wrote:
> Hi Kyle,
>
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.
>
> -Mike
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:
>
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>>
>> > It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
>> > anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
>> > anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
>> >
>>
>> This.
>>
>>
>> > To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
>> > our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
>> > whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
>> > personal names
>> >
>>
>> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
>> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>>
>> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
>> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
>> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
>> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
>> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>>
>> kyle
>>



-- 
Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://chillco.com


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Karen Coyle

On 11/26/12 4:37 PM, Joe Hourcle wrote:

Don't be an asshole.


Could that become the 11th commandment, and could we get a really really 
angry god to enforce it? Everywhere, all of the time?


kc

I think there was a second line of it, about how we had the right to 
remove people who refused to follow that advice and no refunds would 
be given. I might be wrong on the exact language. The e-mail I found 
referenced 'Don't be a dick', in an attempt to paraphrase the legalese 
of the Code of Conduct for our venue ... but the reference to 
gender-specific anatomy would be kinda sexist in itself. -Joe 


--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Naomi Dushay
bess++
giarlo++
matienzo++
tennant++
all who have agreed to volunteer++

I think there are plenty of volunteers, so I'll gladly defer to others.  (If 
you do need more, you know where to find me.)   I trust you guys to make it 
sensible, not too formal, blah blah.   As for signing personal names -- I hate 
that we have such a litigious society, but we do.  I would certainly sign my 
support for a motion, but I would not want any of us to be individually 
responsible in a legal sense for some else's behavior.   So please be careful!

I'm pondering if a "code of conduct" (the positive things we want) would be a 
nice counterpart to explicitly stating what we don't condone ("anti-harrassment 
policy").  

It should be low barrier and low risk for individuals to tell "us"/"someone" 
when they feel uncomfortable.   Hopefully with enough detail to allow for 
remediation/change.

Lastly, I'd like to hang on to the sense that an individual who has been called 
out in a transgression has an opportunity to make amends, to avoid future 
incidents and to remain in the community.  I commit so many social blunders 
that it scares me to think I could be excluded from this great community from 
an unintentional consequence of a poorly filtered action. 

- Naomi
who is understanding why legal code gets so frickin' complicated!

On Nov 26, 2012, at 4:47 PM, Michael J. Giarlo wrote:

> Hi Kyle,
> 
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.
> 
> -Mike
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>> 
>>> It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
>>> anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
>>> anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
>>> 
>> 
>> This.
>> 
>> 
>>> To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
>>> our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
>>> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
>>> personal names
>>> 
>> 
>> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
>> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>> 
>> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
>> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
>> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
>> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
>> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>> 
>> kyle
>> 


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Ross Singer
+1 - unfortunately, without a set policy, any infractions have to be treated 
arbitrarily by... well, by whom?

Having a policy eases the burden of the organizers who don't have to be forced 
into making one on the spot in reaction to an incident. 

-Ross. 

On Nov 26, 2012, at 7:47 PM, "Michael J. Giarlo"  
wrote:

> Hi Kyle,
> 
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.
> 
> -Mike
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>> 
>>> It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
>>> anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
>>> anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
>> 
>> This.
>> 
>> 
>>> To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
>>> our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
>>> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
>>> personal names
>> 
>> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
>> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>> 
>> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
>> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
>> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
>> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
>> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>> 
>> kyle
>> 


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Joe Hourcle
On Nov 26, 2012, at 7:47 PM, Michael J. Giarlo wrote:

> Hi Kyle,
> 
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.

That was the reasoning for the DCBPW code of conduct ... covering ourselves
if we had to eject someone.

And it's not just a diversity thing -- 

One of the concerns for the DCBPW one was that there had been a guy at
some previous Perl workshop who seemed to think that the presentations
were personal conversations between him and the speaker, and kept
interjecting.

The sad reality is, there seem to be an abnormally high number of
people in the technology fields who have gotten as far as they have
with little to no understanding of social etiquette.

(I've been told that I can cite myself as an example ... if you
don't believe me, do a `whois annoying.org`)

-Joe


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Salazar, Christina
And also a policy could be support for an offendee to speak up that what 
happened to her/him was wrong.

Sorry to call her out, but Bess DID say that conferences "have also been 
problematic for me a couple of times" ALREADY, but she didn't know how to talk 
about it. A policy would hopefully give someone who also didn't know how to 
talk about such things some courage and some words to use.

And no, when there is even the perception of power imbalance as can happen when 
someone has a minority status (whether gender or culture or otherwise) it isn't 
so simple to just speak up and fix the problem. Sometimes you have to bend over 
backwards just to level the field a bit.

(Just sayin')

Christina Salazar
Systems Librarian
John Spoor Broome Library
California State University, Channel Islands
805/437-3198




-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael 
J. Giarlo
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 4:47 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

Hi Kyle,

IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an 
instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an 
offender.

-Mike



On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>
> > It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l 
> > gets anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and 
> > mjgiarlo++,
> > anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
> >
>
> This.
>
>
> > To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how 
> > cool our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a 
> > way to make whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; 
> > i.e. attach our personal names
> >
>
> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and 
> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>
> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality 
> necessary and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just 
> talk about it so things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm 
> all for it. But it's truly a sad day if policy rather than just being 
> motivated to do the right thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>
> kyle
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Peter Murray
+1 to Bess for raising the topic -- I'm onboard. 

Jon's point is an important one.  Code4Lib does not have a formal structure, 
owner, or convening body.  Any power in the Code4Lib community is directly 
proportional to the collective will of the members of this community.  
Therefore I think it is important to have a way for community members to 
register an endorsement of the policy/code-of-conduct.  That will be how the 
local meeting hosts and the IRC channel ops and the mailing list owners (all 
volunteers) are empowered to take action.

Here are a couple of ways to do it, along with some advantages and 
disadvantages:

 * Registering names on a wiki page:
   + Low overhead, account infrastructure not required
   - Subject to vandalism and false signatures

 * Sign by forking the GitHub repo:
   + Good for version control (a particular version is signed)
   + Fork appearing on GitHub repo list keeps commitment in the forefront of 
signer's mind
   - Requiring signers to have a GitHub account may not be realistic

 * Create a lightweight signing app on Code4Lib.org
   + Lighter weight account registration requirement than GitHub
   - Requires someone to create app
   - Signers must sign up for a code4lib.org account; overhead for code4lib.org 
administrators


Peter


On Nov 26, 2012, at 7:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
> The responses to the list in the past couple of hours alone suggest that
> this is something much of the community would want to get behind. To
> that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool our
> community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
> personal names. I don't know how that would work exactly...maybe via the
> wiki (where it seems to me a lot of good info goes to die) or the
> code4lib Github (slightly better since you could link to your
> credentials in a an environment much larger than our own, and everyone
> could have a copy), but something along those lines. I'm happy to help
> if I can.



-- 
Peter Murray
Assistant Director, Technology Services Development
LYRASIS
peter.mur...@lyrasis.org
+1 678-235-2955
 
1438 West Peachtree Street NW
Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
Toll Free: 800.999.8558
Fax: 404.892.7879 
www.lyrasis.org
 
LYRASIS: Great Libraries. Strong Communities. Innovative Answers.


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Esmé Cowles
Also, I've seen a number of reports over the last few years of women who were 
harassed at predominately-male tech conferences.  Taken together, they paint a 
picture of men (particularly drunken men) creating an atmosphere that makes a 
lot of people feel excluded and worry about being harassed or worse.  So I 
think a positive statement of values, and the general raising of consciousness 
of these issues, is a good thing.

-Esme
--
Esme Cowles 

"Men feared witches and burnt women."
 -- Louis Brandeis, Whitney v.  California, concurring

On 11/26/2012, at 7:47 PM, Michael J. Giarlo  
wrote:

> Hi Kyle,
> 
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.
> 
> -Mike
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>> 
>>> It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
>>> anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
>>> anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
>>> 
>> 
>> This.
>> 
>> 
>>> To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
>>> our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
>>> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
>>> personal names
>>> 
>> 
>> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
>> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>> 
>> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
>> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
>> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
>> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
>> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>> 
>> kyle
>> 


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread James Stuart
Also, one of the advantages for most anti-harassment policies is that they
define the behavior in terms of the recipient feeling
uncomfortable/threatened. You'd be surprised how many of the recent ugly
con situations in the geek communities had people whose defense was: "But I
wasn't being an asshole!" or "How could I know?"


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:47 PM, Michael J. Giarlo <
leftw...@alumni.rutgers.edu> wrote:

> Hi Kyle,
>
> IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
> instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
> offender.
>
> -Mike
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee  >wrote:
>
> > On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop 
> wrote:
> >
> > > It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
> > > anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
> > > anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
> > >
> >
> > This.
> >
> >
> > > To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
> > > our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to
> make
> > > whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
> > > personal names
> > >
> >
> > Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
> > collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
> >
> > I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality
> necessary
> > and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
> > things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
> > truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the
> right
> > thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
> >
> > kyle
> >
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-27 Thread Peter Murray
On Nov 26, 2012, at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee  wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>> To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
>> our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
>> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
>> personal names
> 
> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
> 
> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.


I agree that it is preferred if one can just assume, if I can restate, that 
some flavor of The Golden Rule [0] is in force in all interactions.  
Unfortunately, if reports from past Code4Lib events (mentioned by Bess in her 
initial note, are these collected somewhere?) and actions at peer events are 
any guide, it is unsafe to make that assumption.  The policy/code-of-conduct, 
then, becomes the proactive, affirmative statement of the community.  I don't 
think we should wait for a reactive stance to try to make things right.  We can 
(re)set the expectation for anything now going forward.


Peter


[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule
-- 
Peter Murray
Assistant Director, Technology Services Development
LYRASIS
peter.mur...@lyrasis.org
+1 678-235-2955
 
1438 West Peachtree Street NW
Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
Toll Free: 800.999.8558
Fax: 404.892.7879 
www.lyrasis.org
 
LYRASIS: Great Libraries. Strong Communities. Innovative Answers.


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Michael J. Giarlo
Hi Kyle,

IMO, this is less an instrument to keep people playing nice and more an
instrument to point to in the event that we have to take action against an
offender.

-Mike



On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:42 PM, Kyle Banerjee wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:
>
> > It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
> > anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
> > anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
> >
>
> This.
>
>
> > To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
> > our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
> > whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
> > personal names
> >
>
> Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
> collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.
>
> I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
> and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
> things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
> truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
> thing is what's keeping people playing nice.
>
> kyle
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Kyle Banerjee
On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM, Jon Stroop  wrote:

> It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets
> anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++,
> anarchivist++ for the quick assist.
>

This.


> To that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool
> our community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make
> whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our
> personal names
>

Diversity and inclusiveness is a state of mind, and our individual and
collective actions exert that force than any policy or pledge ever could.

I'm hoping that things can be handled with the minimum formality necessary
and that if something needs to be fixed, people can just talk about it so
things can be made right. If we need a policy, I'm all for it. But it's
truly a sad day if policy rather than just being motivated to do the right
thing is what's keeping people playing nice.

kyle


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Joe Hourcle
On Nov 26, 2012, at 5:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:

>> Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference? First, it 
>> is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is incredibly common 
>> - for example, see this timeline 
>> (http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents) of 
>> sexist incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations for 
>> behavior at the conference. Simply having an anti-harassment policy can 
>> prevent harassment all by itself. Third, it encourages people to attend who 
>> have had bad experiences at other conferences. Finally, it gives conference 
>> staff instructions on how to handle harassment quickly, with the minimum 
>> amount of disruption or bad press for your conference.
> 
> If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm just 
> uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job publicizing it. 
> 
> Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual code4lib 
> answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to make that 
> happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the Anti-Harrassment 
> Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference. Would anyone else like 
> to join me? 

We had no Anti-Harassment Policy for the DC-Baltimore Perl Workshop as it was 
all covered under our general Code of Conduct:

Don't be an asshole.

I think there was a second line of it, about how we had the right to remove 
people who refused to follow that advice and no refunds would be given.

I might be wrong on the exact language.  The e-mail I found referenced 'Don't 
be a dick', in an attempt to paraphrase the legalese of the Code of Conduct for 
our venue ... but the reference to gender-specific anatomy would be kinda 
sexist in itself.

-Joe


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Jon Stroop
It's sad that we have to address this formally (as formal as c4l gets 
anyway), but that's reality, so yes, bess++ indeed, and mjgiarlo++, 
anarchivist++ for the quick assist.


The responses to the list in the past couple of hours alone suggest that 
this is something much of the community would want to get behind. To 
that end, and as a show of (positive) force--not to mention how cool our 
community is--I think it might be neat if we could find a way to make 
whatever winds up being drafted something we can sign; i.e. attach our 
personal names. I don't know how that would work exactly...maybe via the 
wiki (where it seems to me a lot of good info goes to die) or the 
code4lib Github (slightly better since you could link to your 
credentials in a an environment much larger than our own, and everyone 
could have a copy), but something along those lines. I'm happy to help 
if I can.


Anyway, just a thought.
-Jon

--
Jon Stroop
Digital Initiatives Programmer/Analyst
Princeton University Library

jstr...@princeton.edu

http://pudl.princeton.edu
http://findingaids.princeton.edu


On 11/26/12 6:33 PM, Michael J. Giarlo wrote:

All,

Building on what Bess and others have written, and on the GitHub repo that
anarchivist set up, I've contributed a rough draft of a Code4Lib code of
conduct:

https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md

This strawperson code of conduct is based on DLF Forum's, which is based on
the Ada Initiative's sample policy. It is modified slightly to reflect a
broader scope of the conference, conference social events, the IRC channel,
and the mailing list.

Throw darts, rinse, repeat.

-Mike


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 6:10 PM, Robert Sanderson wrote:


+1, of course :)

You might wish to consider some further derivatives/related pages:
 http://www.diglib.org/about/code-of-conduct/
 http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy
 https://thestrangeloop.com/about/policies
 http://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/anti-harassment.html

Rob



On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Mariner, Matthew <
matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu> wrote:


+1 for all of the below

Matthew C. Mariner
Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives
Assistant Professor
Auraria Library
1100 Lawrence StreetDenver, CO 80204-2041
matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu
http://library.auraria.edu :: http://archives.auraria.edu





On 11/26/12 3:51 PM, "Tom Cramer"  wrote:


+1 for Bess's motion
+1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to

face

+1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play


For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.


It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having

1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and
fair play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid
uncomfortable or inappropriate situations before they occur.

2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in
the case of this community I would imagine would revolve around
reporting, communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than
adjudication by a standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this
crowd). I know several high schools have adopted peer arbitration
networks for conflict resolution rather than referring incidents to the
Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a model for us for any

incidents

that may not be resolved simply through dialogue.

- Tom



On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:


Bess and Code4libbers,

I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive
experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a
community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some
unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I
would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its
consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about

sexual

harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair
play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment
that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.

For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.

kc


On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:

Dear Fellow Cod

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Michael B. Klein
bess++
anarchivist++
mjgiarlo++
community++

I look forward to following and participating in this process, as long as the 
fact that my iPhone just tried to autocorrect "bess" to "beds" doesn't torpedo 
my credibility in this area. 

Michael 

On Nov 26, 2012, at 5:33 PM, "Michael J. Giarlo"  
wrote:

> All,
> 
> Building on what Bess and others have written, and on the GitHub repo that
> anarchivist set up, I've contributed a rough draft of a Code4Lib code of
> conduct:
> 
> https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md
> 
> This strawperson code of conduct is based on DLF Forum's, which is based on
> the Ada Initiative's sample policy. It is modified slightly to reflect a
> broader scope of the conference, conference social events, the IRC channel,
> and the mailing list.
> 
> Throw darts, rinse, repeat.
> 
> -Mike
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 6:10 PM, Robert Sanderson wrote:
> 
>> +1, of course :)
>> 
>> You might wish to consider some further derivatives/related pages:
>>http://www.diglib.org/about/code-of-conduct/
>>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy
>>https://thestrangeloop.com/about/policies
>>http://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/anti-harassment.html
>> 
>> Rob
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Mariner, Matthew <
>> matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu> wrote:
>> 
>>> +1 for all of the below
>>> 
>>> Matthew C. Mariner
>>> Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives
>>> Assistant Professor
>>> Auraria Library
>>> 1100 Lawrence StreetDenver, CO 80204-2041
>>> matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu
>>> http://library.auraria.edu :: http://archives.auraria.edu
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 11/26/12 3:51 PM, "Tom Cramer"  wrote:
>>> 
 +1 for Bess's motion
 +1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to
>> face
 +1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play
 
> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
 
 
 It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having
 
 1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and
 fair play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid
 uncomfortable or inappropriate situations before they occur.
 
 2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in
 the case of this community I would imagine would revolve around
 reporting, communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than
 adjudication by a standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this
 crowd). I know several high schools have adopted peer arbitration
 networks for conflict resolution rather than referring incidents to the
 Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a model for us for any
>> incidents
 that may not be resolved simply through dialogue.
 
 - Tom
 
 
 
 On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:
 
> Bess and Code4libbers,
> 
> I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive
> experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a
> community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some
> unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I
> would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its
> consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about
>> sexual
> harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair
> play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment
> that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.
> 
> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> 
> kc
> 
> 
> On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
>> 
>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I
>> have been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have
>> contributed software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's
>> events. I have also attended the majority of code4lib conferences,
>> which have been amazing and life-changing, and have helped me

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Michael J. Giarlo
All,

Building on what Bess and others have written, and on the GitHub repo that
anarchivist set up, I've contributed a rough draft of a Code4Lib code of
conduct:

https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md

This strawperson code of conduct is based on DLF Forum's, which is based on
the Ada Initiative's sample policy. It is modified slightly to reflect a
broader scope of the conference, conference social events, the IRC channel,
and the mailing list.

Throw darts, rinse, repeat.

-Mike


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 6:10 PM, Robert Sanderson wrote:

> +1, of course :)
>
> You might wish to consider some further derivatives/related pages:
> http://www.diglib.org/about/code-of-conduct/
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy
> https://thestrangeloop.com/about/policies
> http://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/anti-harassment.html
>
> Rob
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Mariner, Matthew <
> matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu> wrote:
>
> > +1 for all of the below
> >
> > Matthew C. Mariner
> > Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives
> > Assistant Professor
> > Auraria Library
> > 1100 Lawrence StreetDenver, CO 80204-2041
> > matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu
> > http://library.auraria.edu :: http://archives.auraria.edu
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 11/26/12 3:51 PM, "Tom Cramer"  wrote:
> >
> > >+1 for Bess's motion
> > >+1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to
> face
> > >+1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play
> > >
> > >> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> > >>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> > >>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> > >>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> > >>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> > >>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> > >
> > >
> > >It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having
> > >
> > >1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and
> > >fair play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid
> > >uncomfortable or inappropriate situations before they occur.
> > >
> > >2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in
> > >the case of this community I would imagine would revolve around
> > >reporting, communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than
> > >adjudication by a standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this
> > >crowd). I know several high schools have adopted peer arbitration
> > >networks for conflict resolution rather than referring incidents to the
> > >Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a model for us for any
> incidents
> > >that may not be resolved simply through dialogue.
> > >
> > >- Tom
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:
> > >
> > >> Bess and Code4libbers,
> > >>
> > >> I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive
> > >>experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a
> > >>community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some
> > >>unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I
> > >>would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its
> > >>consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about
> sexual
> > >>harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair
> > >>play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment
> > >>that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.
> > >>
> > >> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> > >>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> > >>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> > >>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> > >>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> > >>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> > >>
> > >> kc
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
> > >>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
> > >>>
> > >>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I
> > >>>have been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have
> > >>>contributed software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's
> > >>>events. I have also attended the majority of code4lib conferences,
> > >>>which have been amazing and life-changing, and have helped me do my
> job
> > >>>a lot better. But, and I've never really known how to talk about this,
> > >>>those conferences have also been problematic for me a couple of times.
> > >>>Nothing like what happened to Noirin Shirley at ApacheCon (see
> > >>>http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incidentif
> > >>>you're unfamiliar with the incident I m

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Robert Sanderson
+1, of course :)

You might wish to consider some further derivatives/related pages:
http://www.diglib.org/about/code-of-conduct/
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy
https://thestrangeloop.com/about/policies
http://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/anti-harassment.html

Rob



On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Mariner, Matthew <
matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu> wrote:

> +1 for all of the below
>
> Matthew C. Mariner
> Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives
> Assistant Professor
> Auraria Library
> 1100 Lawrence StreetDenver, CO 80204-2041
> matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu
> http://library.auraria.edu :: http://archives.auraria.edu
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/26/12 3:51 PM, "Tom Cramer"  wrote:
>
> >+1 for Bess's motion
> >+1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to face
> >+1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play
> >
> >> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> >>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> >>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> >>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> >>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> >>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> >
> >
> >It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having
> >
> >1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and
> >fair play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid
> >uncomfortable or inappropriate situations before they occur.
> >
> >2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in
> >the case of this community I would imagine would revolve around
> >reporting, communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than
> >adjudication by a standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this
> >crowd). I know several high schools have adopted peer arbitration
> >networks for conflict resolution rather than referring incidents to the
> >Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a model for us for any incidents
> >that may not be resolved simply through dialogue.
> >
> >- Tom
> >
> >
> >
> >On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:
> >
> >> Bess and Code4libbers,
> >>
> >> I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive
> >>experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a
> >>community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some
> >>unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I
> >>would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its
> >>consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about sexual
> >>harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair
> >>play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment
> >>that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.
> >>
> >> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> >>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> >>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> >>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> >>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> >>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> >>
> >> kc
> >>
> >>
> >> On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
> >>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
> >>>
> >>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I
> >>>have been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have
> >>>contributed software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's
> >>>events. I have also attended the majority of code4lib conferences,
> >>>which have been amazing and life-changing, and have helped me do my job
> >>>a lot better. But, and I've never really known how to talk about this,
> >>>those conferences have also been problematic for me a couple of times.
> >>>Nothing like what happened to Noirin Shirley at ApacheCon (see
> >>>http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if
> >>>you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me
> >>>that even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same
> >>>values, not everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
> >>>
> >>> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference
> >>>cancellation with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference
> >>>cancelled" if you want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me
> >>>wondering what more we could be doing to promote diversity and
> >>>inclusiveness within code4lib. We have already had a couple of
> >>>harassment incidents over the years, which I won't rehash here, which
> >>>have driven away members of our community. We have also had other
> >>>incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes one can feel
> >>>that membership in a community i

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Mariner, Matthew
+1 for all of the below

Matthew C. Mariner
Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives
Assistant Professor
Auraria Library
1100 Lawrence StreetDenver, CO 80204-2041
matthew.mari...@ucdenver.edu
http://library.auraria.edu :: http://archives.auraria.edu





On 11/26/12 3:51 PM, "Tom Cramer"  wrote:

>+1 for Bess's motion
>+1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to face
>+1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play
>
>> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
>>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
>>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
>>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
>>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
>>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
>
>
>It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having
>
>1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and
>fair play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid
>uncomfortable or inappropriate situations before they occur.
>
>2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in
>the case of this community I would imagine would revolve around
>reporting, communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than
>adjudication by a standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this
>crowd). I know several high schools have adopted peer arbitration
>networks for conflict resolution rather than referring incidents to the
>Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a model for us for any incidents
>that may not be resolved simply through dialogue.
>
>- Tom
>
>
>
>On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:
>
>> Bess and Code4libbers,
>> 
>> I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive
>>experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a
>>community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some
>>unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I
>>would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its
>>consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about sexual
>>harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair
>>play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment
>>that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.
>> 
>> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
>>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
>>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
>>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
>>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
>>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
>> 
>> kc
>> 
>> 
>> On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
>>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
>>> 
>>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I
>>>have been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have
>>>contributed software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's
>>>events. I have also attended the majority of code4lib conferences,
>>>which have been amazing and life-changing, and have helped me do my job
>>>a lot better. But, and I've never really known how to talk about this,
>>>those conferences have also been problematic for me a couple of times.
>>>Nothing like what happened to Noirin Shirley at ApacheCon (see
>>>http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if
>>>you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me
>>>that even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same
>>>values, not everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
>>> 
>>> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference
>>>cancellation with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference
>>>cancelled" if you want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me
>>>wondering what more we could be doing to promote diversity and
>>>inclusiveness within code4lib. We have already had a couple of
>>>harassment incidents over the years, which I won't rehash here, which
>>>have driven away members of our community. We have also had other
>>>incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes one can feel
>>>that membership in a community is more important than one's personal
>>>boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where people
>>>have to make that choice.
>>> 
>>> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for
>>>code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the larger
>>>open source software community, and we would be joining the ranks of
>>>many other conferences:
>>>http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption.
>>>The Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an
>>>Anti-Harrassment policy is a good choice for a conf

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Carol Bean
Bess++

Not going to the conf this year, but very willing to pitch in on this

Carol

On Nov 26, 2012, at 5:46 PM, "Michael J. Giarlo"  
wrote:

> bess++
> 
> Let's do this.
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:44 PM, Timothy A. Lepczyk 
> wrote:
> 
>> Thanks for bringing this up, Bess.
>> 
>> +1
>> 
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> 
>> Timothy A. Lepczyk*
>> Digital Humanities & Pedagogy Fellow
>> Hendrix College
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Mark A. Matienzo
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> OK - to start, I've created a Github repo to help with drafting a
>>> policy: https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy
>>> 
>>> There's just a README there now with a bunch of resources. I'll try to
>>> add more content there later this evening.
>>> 
>>> Mark
>>> 
>> 


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Tom Cramer
+1 for Bess's motion
+1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to face
+1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play

> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that arise. 
> As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference organizers 
> become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's elsewhere (email, 
> IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's detailed guides should help, 
> but if there is a policy it seems that there necessarily has to be some 
> responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.


It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having 

1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and fair 
play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid uncomfortable or 
inappropriate situations before they occur.

2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in the 
case of this community I would imagine would revolve around reporting, 
communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than adjudication by a 
standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this crowd). I know several high 
schools have adopted peer arbitration networks for conflict resolution rather 
than referring incidents to the Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a 
model for us for any incidents that may not be resolved simply through 
dialogue. 

- Tom



On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:

> Bess and Code4libbers,
> 
> I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive experience 
> for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a community for us to 
> risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some unintended consequences or 
> a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I would support the adoption of an 
> anti-harassment policy in part for its consciousness-raising value. Ideally 
> this would be not only about sexual harassment but would include general 
> goals for inclusiveness and fair play within the community. And it would also 
> serve as an acknowledgment that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with 
> it.
> 
> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that arise. 
> As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference organizers 
> become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's elsewhere (email, 
> IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's detailed guides should help, 
> but if there is a policy it seems that there necessarily has to be some 
> responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> 
> kc
> 
> 
> On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
>> 
>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I have been 
>> a member of this community for almost a decade. I have contributed software, 
>> support, and volunteer labor to this community's events. I have also 
>> attended the majority of code4lib conferences, which have been amazing and 
>> life-changing, and have helped me do my job a lot better. But, and I've 
>> never really known how to talk about this, those conferences have also been 
>> problematic for me a couple of times. Nothing like what happened to Noirin 
>> Shirley at ApacheCon (see 
>> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if 
>> you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me that 
>> even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same values, not 
>> everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
>> 
>> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference cancellation 
>> with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference cancelled" if you 
>> want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me wondering what more we 
>> could be doing to promote diversity and inclusiveness within code4lib. We 
>> have already had a couple of harassment incidents over the years, which I 
>> won't rehash here, which have driven away members of our community. We have 
>> also had other incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes one 
>> can feel that membership in a community is more important than one's 
>> personal boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where 
>> people have to make that choice.
>> 
>> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for 
>> code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the larger open 
>> source software community, and we would be joining the ranks of many other 
>> conferences: 
>> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption. The 
>> Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an Anti-Harrassment 
>> policy is a good choice for a conference to make, as well as some example 
>> policy statements, here: 
>> http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here is a summary:
>> 
>>> Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference? First, it 
>>> is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is incred

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Michael J. Giarlo
bess++

Let's do this.


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:44 PM, Timothy A. Lepczyk wrote:

> Thanks for bringing this up, Bess.
>
> +1
>
> *
> *
> *
>
> Timothy A. Lepczyk*
> Digital Humanities & Pedagogy Fellow
> Hendrix College
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Mark A. Matienzo
> wrote:
>
> > OK - to start, I've created a Github repo to help with drafting a
> > policy: https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy
> >
> > There's just a README there now with a bunch of resources. I'll try to
> > add more content there later this evening.
> >
> > Mark
> >
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Adam Wead
Bess,

I couldn't agree more.  I'm a bit surprised that this has been a problem, 
because I think of code4lib being a very open, friendly-type environment.  
Apparently, I have not been paying attention!  We need to ensure that code4lib 
is always open and friendly.  Perhaps a neon sign somewhere?

Thanks for bringing this to my and everyone's attention!

...adam



On Nov 26, 2012, at 5:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
>
> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for 
> code4lib conferences.
This communication is a confidential and proprietary business communication. It 
is intended solely for the use of the designated recipient(s). If this 
communication is received in error, please contact the sender and delete this 
communication.


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Timothy A. Lepczyk
Thanks for bringing this up, Bess.

+1

*
*
*

Timothy A. Lepczyk*
Digital Humanities & Pedagogy Fellow
Hendrix College


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Mark A. Matienzo
wrote:

> OK - to start, I've created a Github repo to help with drafting a
> policy: https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy
>
> There's just a README there now with a bunch of resources. I'll try to
> add more content there later this evening.
>
> Mark
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Mark A. Matienzo
OK - to start, I've created a Github repo to help with drafting a
policy: https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy

There's just a README there now with a bunch of resources. I'll try to
add more content there later this evening.

Mark


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Johnston, Leslie
+1 - I totally agree on that.

> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Roy Tennant
> Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 5:27 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?
> 
> I'd be happy to join this effort, and would like to suggest a friendly
> amendment. We need, as a community, to have an anti-harassment policy
> that governs ALL of our collective interactions (e.g., the chatroom,
> for example), not just for the conference.
> Roy
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler 
> wrote:
> 
> > Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
> >
> > I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I
> > have been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have
> > contributed software, support, and volunteer labor to this
> community's
> > events. I have also attended the majority of code4lib conferences,
> > which have been amazing and life-changing, and have helped me do my
> > job a lot better. But, and I've never really known how to talk about
> > this, those conferences have also been problematic for me a couple of
> > times. Nothing like what happened to Noirin Shirley at ApacheCon (see
> > http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident
> > if you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern
> > me that even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same
> > values, not everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
> >
> > I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference
> > cancellation with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference
> > cancelled" if you want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me
> > wondering what more we could be doing to promote diversity and
> > inclusiveness within code4lib. We have already had a couple of
> > harassment incidents over the years, which I won't rehash here, which
> > have driven away members of our community. We have also had other
> > incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes one can feel
> > that membership in a community is more important than one's personal
> > boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where people
> have to make that choice.
> >
> > I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy
> for
> > code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the
> > larger open source software community, and we would be joining the
> > ranks of many other conferences:
> > http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-
> harassment/Adoption.
> > The Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an
> > Anti-Harrassment policy is a good choice for a conference to make, as
> > well as some example policy statements, here:
> > http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here is a
> > summary:
> >
> > > Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference?
> > > First,
> > it is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is
> > incredibly common - for example, see this timeline (
> > http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents)
> > of sexist incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations
> > for behavior at the conference. Simply having an anti-harassment
> > policy can prevent harassment all by itself. Third, it encourages
> > people to attend who have had bad experiences at other conferences.
> > Finally, it gives conference staff instructions on how to handle
> > harassment quickly, with the minimum amount of disruption or bad
> press for your conference.
> >
> > If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm
> > just uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job
> publicizing it.
> >
> > Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual
> > code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to
> > make that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the
> > Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib
> conference.
> > Would anyone else like to join me?
> >
> > Bess Sadler
> > b...@stanford.edu
> > Manager, Application Development
> > Digital Library Systems & Services
> > Stanford University Library
> >


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Karen Coyle

Bess and Code4libbers,

I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive 
experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a 
community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some 
unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I 
would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its 
consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about sexual 
harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair 
play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment 
that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.


For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that 
arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference 
organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's 
elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's 
detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that 
there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.


kc


On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:

Dear Fellow Code4libbers,

I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I have been a 
member of this community for almost a decade. I have contributed software, 
support, and volunteer labor to this community's events. I have also attended 
the majority of code4lib conferences, which have been amazing and 
life-changing, and have helped me do my job a lot better. But, and I've never 
really known how to talk about this, those conferences have also been 
problematic for me a couple of times. Nothing like what happened to Noirin 
Shirley at ApacheCon (see 
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if you're 
unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me that even in a 
wonderful community where we mostly share the same values, not everyone has the 
same definitions of acceptable behavior.

I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference cancellation with a heavy 
heart (go search for "britruby conference cancelled" if you want to catch up 
and/or get depressed). It has me wondering what more we could be doing to promote 
diversity and inclusiveness within code4lib. We have already had a couple of harassment 
incidents over the years, which I won't rehash here, which have driven away members of 
our community. We have also had other incidents that don't get talked about because 
sometimes one can feel that membership in a community is more important than one's 
personal boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where people have to 
make that choice.

I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for code4lib 
conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the larger open source 
software community, and we would be joining the ranks of many other 
conferences: 
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption. The Ada 
Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an Anti-Harrassment policy is 
a good choice for a conference to make, as well as some example policy 
statements, here: http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here 
is a summary:


Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference? First, it is 
necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is incredibly common - for 
example, see this timeline 
(http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents) of sexist 
incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations for behavior at the 
conference. Simply having an anti-harassment policy can prevent harassment all 
by itself. Third, it encourages people to attend who have had bad experiences 
at other conferences. Finally, it gives conference staff instructions on how to 
handle harassment quickly, with the minimum amount of disruption or bad press 
for your conference.

If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm just 
uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job publicizing it.

Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual code4lib answer (some 
variation on "Great idea! How are you going to make that happen?") then I 
hereby nominate myself as a member of the Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for 
the code4lib conference. Would anyone else like to join me?

Bess Sadler
b...@stanford.edu
Manager, Application Development
Digital Library Systems & Services
Stanford University Library


--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread James Stuart
+1 and willing to volunteer as well.


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:28 PM, Frumkin, Jeremy <
frumk...@u.library.arizona.edu> wrote:

> Wholehearted support.
>
> -- jaf
>
> 
> Jeremy Frumkin
> Assistant Dean / Chief Technology Strategist
> University of Arizona Libraries
>
> +1 520.626.7296
> frumk...@u.library.arizona.edu
> 
> "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more
> complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in
> the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "To clarify, add detail. Imagine that, to clarify, add detail. Clutter
>  and overload are not attributes of information, they are failures of
> design. If the information is in chaos, don¹t start throwing out
> information, instead fix the design."
> ‹Edward Tufte
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/26/12 3:27 PM, "Roy Tennant"  wrote:
>
> >I'd be happy to join this effort, and would like to suggest a friendly
> >amendment. We need, as a community, to have an anti-harassment policy that
> >governs ALL of our collective interactions (e.g., the chatroom, for
> >example), not just for the conference.
> >Roy
> >
> >
> >On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler 
> >wrote:
> >
> >> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
> >>
> >> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I have
> >> been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have contributed
> >> software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's events. I
> >>have
> >> also attended the majority of code4lib conferences, which have been
> >>amazing
> >> and life-changing, and have helped me do my job a lot better. But, and
> >>I've
> >> never really known how to talk about this, those conferences have also
> >>been
> >> problematic for me a couple of times. Nothing like what happened to
> >>Noirin
> >> Shirley at ApacheCon (see
> >> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if
> >> you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me
> >>that
> >> even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same values, not
> >> everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
> >>
> >> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference
> >>cancellation
> >> with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference cancelled" if you
> >> want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me wondering what more we
> >> could be doing to promote diversity and inclusiveness within code4lib.
> >>We
> >> have already had a couple of harassment incidents over the years, which
> >>I
> >> won't rehash here, which have driven away members of our community. We
> >>have
> >> also had other incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes
> >>one
> >> can feel that membership in a community is more important than one's
> >> personal boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where
> >> people have to make that choice.
> >>
> >> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for
> >> code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the larger
> >> open source software community, and we would be joining the ranks of
> >>many
> >> other conferences:
> >> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption.
> >> The Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an
> >> Anti-Harrassment policy is a good choice for a conference to make, as
> >>well
> >> as some example policy statements, here:
> >> http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here is a
> >> summary:
> >>
> >> > Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference?
> >>First,
> >> it is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is incredibly
> >> common - for example, see this timeline (
> >> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents) of
> >> sexist incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations for
> >> behavior at the conference. Simply having an anti-harassment policy can
> >> prevent harassment all by itself. Third, it encourages people to attend
> >>who
> >> have had bad experiences at other conferences. Finally, it gives
> >>conference
> >> staff instructions on how to handle harassment quickly, with the minimum
> >> amount of disruption or bad press for your conference.
> >>
> >> If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm just
> >> uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job publicizing it.
> >>
> >> Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual
> >> code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to
> >>make
> >> that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the
> >> Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference.
> >> Would anyone else like to join me?
> >>
> >> Bess Sadler
> >> b...@stanford.edu
> >> Manager, Application Development
> >> Digital Library 

Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Frumkin, Jeremy
Wholehearted support.

-- jaf


Jeremy Frumkin
Assistant Dean / Chief Technology Strategist
University of Arizona Libraries

+1 520.626.7296
frumk...@u.library.arizona.edu

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more
complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in
the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein






"To clarify, add detail. Imagine that, to clarify, add detail. Clutter
 and overload are not attributes of information, they are failures of
design. If the information is in chaos, don¹t start throwing out
information, instead fix the design."
‹Edward Tufte







On 11/26/12 3:27 PM, "Roy Tennant"  wrote:

>I'd be happy to join this effort, and would like to suggest a friendly
>amendment. We need, as a community, to have an anti-harassment policy that
>governs ALL of our collective interactions (e.g., the chatroom, for
>example), not just for the conference.
>Roy
>
>
>On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler 
>wrote:
>
>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
>>
>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I have
>> been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have contributed
>> software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's events. I
>>have
>> also attended the majority of code4lib conferences, which have been
>>amazing
>> and life-changing, and have helped me do my job a lot better. But, and
>>I've
>> never really known how to talk about this, those conferences have also
>>been
>> problematic for me a couple of times. Nothing like what happened to
>>Noirin
>> Shirley at ApacheCon (see
>> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if
>> you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me
>>that
>> even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same values, not
>> everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
>>
>> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference
>>cancellation
>> with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference cancelled" if you
>> want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me wondering what more we
>> could be doing to promote diversity and inclusiveness within code4lib.
>>We
>> have already had a couple of harassment incidents over the years, which
>>I
>> won't rehash here, which have driven away members of our community. We
>>have
>> also had other incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes
>>one
>> can feel that membership in a community is more important than one's
>> personal boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where
>> people have to make that choice.
>>
>> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for
>> code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the larger
>> open source software community, and we would be joining the ranks of
>>many
>> other conferences:
>> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption.
>> The Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an
>> Anti-Harrassment policy is a good choice for a conference to make, as
>>well
>> as some example policy statements, here:
>> http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here is a
>> summary:
>>
>> > Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference?
>>First,
>> it is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is incredibly
>> common - for example, see this timeline (
>> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents) of
>> sexist incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations for
>> behavior at the conference. Simply having an anti-harassment policy can
>> prevent harassment all by itself. Third, it encourages people to attend
>>who
>> have had bad experiences at other conferences. Finally, it gives
>>conference
>> staff instructions on how to handle harassment quickly, with the minimum
>> amount of disruption or bad press for your conference.
>>
>> If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm just
>> uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job publicizing it.
>>
>> Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual
>> code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to
>>make
>> that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the
>> Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference.
>> Would anyone else like to join me?
>>
>> Bess Sadler
>> b...@stanford.edu
>> Manager, Application Development
>> Digital Library Systems & Services
>> Stanford University Library
>>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Becky Yoose
+1 and add my name to the list.

There's a seedling of a similar policy at
http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/How_to_hack_code4lib#Don.27t_be_sexist.2Fracist.2F.2Aist,
but I'd be more than happy to help grow it.

Thanks,
Becky

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 4:22 PM, Francis Kayiwa  wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 02:16:25PM -0800, Bess Sadler wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual
> code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to make
> that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the
> Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference.
> Would anyone else like to join me?
> >
> > Bess Sadler
> > b...@stanford.edu
> > Manager, Application Development
> > Digital Library Systems & Services
> > Stanford University Library
> >
>
> --
> A candidate is a person who gets money from the rich and votes from the
> poor to protect them from each other.
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Roy Tennant
I'd be happy to join this effort, and would like to suggest a friendly
amendment. We need, as a community, to have an anti-harassment policy that
governs ALL of our collective interactions (e.g., the chatroom, for
example), not just for the conference.
Roy


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler  wrote:

> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
>
> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I have
> been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have contributed
> software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's events. I have
> also attended the majority of code4lib conferences, which have been amazing
> and life-changing, and have helped me do my job a lot better. But, and I've
> never really known how to talk about this, those conferences have also been
> problematic for me a couple of times. Nothing like what happened to Noirin
> Shirley at ApacheCon (see
> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incident if
> you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me that
> even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same values, not
> everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
>
> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference cancellation
> with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference cancelled" if you
> want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me wondering what more we
> could be doing to promote diversity and inclusiveness within code4lib. We
> have already had a couple of harassment incidents over the years, which I
> won't rehash here, which have driven away members of our community. We have
> also had other incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes one
> can feel that membership in a community is more important than one's
> personal boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where
> people have to make that choice.
>
> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy for
> code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the larger
> open source software community, and we would be joining the ranks of many
> other conferences:
> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption.
> The Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an
> Anti-Harrassment policy is a good choice for a conference to make, as well
> as some example policy statements, here:
> http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here is a
> summary:
>
> > Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference? First,
> it is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is incredibly
> common - for example, see this timeline (
> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents) of
> sexist incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations for
> behavior at the conference. Simply having an anti-harassment policy can
> prevent harassment all by itself. Third, it encourages people to attend who
> have had bad experiences at other conferences. Finally, it gives conference
> staff instructions on how to handle harassment quickly, with the minimum
> amount of disruption or bad press for your conference.
>
> If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm just
> uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job publicizing it.
>
> Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual
> code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to make
> that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the
> Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference.
> Would anyone else like to join me?
>
> Bess Sadler
> b...@stanford.edu
> Manager, Application Development
> Digital Library Systems & Services
> Stanford University Library
>


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Francis Kayiwa
On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 02:16:25PM -0800, Bess Sadler wrote:
> 
> Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual code4lib 
> answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to make that 
> happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the Anti-Harrassment 
> Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference. Would anyone else like 
> to join me? 

I apologize that the registration noise will kill this signal! Sign me
up for this nonetheless. 

./fxk
> 
> Bess Sadler
> b...@stanford.edu
> Manager, Application Development
> Digital Library Systems & Services
> Stanford University Library
> 

-- 
A candidate is a person who gets money from the rich and votes from the
poor to protect them from each other.


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Nick Ruest

+1

Thanks for putting this forward Bess!

-nruest
On 12-11-26 05:19 PM, Mark A. Matienzo wrote:

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:16 PM, Bess Sadler  wrote:

If the answer is the usual code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are 
you going to make that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the 
Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib conference. Would anyone else 
like to join me?

Absolutely. bess++

Mark A. Matienzo 
Digital Archivist, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
Technical Architect, ArchivesSpace


Re: [CODE4LIB] anti-harassment policy for code4lib?

2012-11-26 Thread Mark A. Matienzo
On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:16 PM, Bess Sadler  wrote:
> If the answer is the usual code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! 
> How are you going to make that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a 
> member of the Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib 
> conference. Would anyone else like to join me?

Absolutely. bess++

Mark A. Matienzo 
Digital Archivist, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
Technical Architect, ArchivesSpace