New & Novel @ Your Library

The Public Library ABQ-BernCo is always trying to meet the needs of a changing world. We're not just books - we're eBooks! We're a Seed Library! Check out cake pans, Kindle Fire Tablets, Kill-a-Watt Energy Detectors! Subscribe our our email book recommendation newsletters! Our databases and subject guides are open 24/7, with your valid library card - learn a new language with Pronunciator or look up the list of Caldecott winners. Are we missing something you need? Suggest a purchase or get it via interlibrary loan. Do you need to book a meeting or study room for your group? We've got those. And more! Here are some of the latest additions to our library offerings, as well as some older programs of which you might not be aware:

Freegal Music 
Freegal is a free music service which offers download or streaming access to more than 9 million songs and over 15,000 music videos, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. In total the collection is comprised of music from over 28,000 labels with music that originates in over 100 countries. Freegal works with almost all computers, players, tablets, and smartphones. No special software is needed, but there are Apple and Android apps available for a more mobile friendly experience. To access your Freegal benefits, your library account needs to be in good standing. You can download 3 songs per week and stream 3 hours per day using your library card number and PIN to log in.

Friends for the Public Library
For information about donating at library branches, book sales, and more.

Genealogy Center
The Genealogy Center is located at the Main Library. Contact the center to schedule a tour at the Genealogy Center or to come to you with a half hour presentation about the many resources available for free from the Public Library ABQ-BernCo and the Genealogy Center to support family history research. Or stop by for Research Day (last Tuesday of the month) or Military Research Day (first Tuesday of the month). The American Ancestors database is only accessible at this location.

Gizmo Garage
Want to meet eReaders and learn how to borrow eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines from the library? Visit our Gizmo Garage for hands-on experience with devices and in-person assistance with library downloads. 

Making Change   
A local history lecture series at Special Collections presented by The Public Library ABQ – BernCo, Historic Albuquerque, Inc., and Oasis Albuquerque.

Mergent Intellect Global
Access comprehensive information such as Company descriptions & history, Products & services, Structure & operations, Competitors, SEC filings, Annual reports with synopsis, and Business news & industry trends. Use company information to research companies and competitors in your industry, find new business opportunities. Find information on 245 million private/public & inactive global businesses companies. Also, access full family trees including domestic and international subsidiaries and branches.

Mobile Hotspot
Use your library card to check out a Hotspot providing you with free, and mobile, internet access! The Public Library ABQ-BernCo is very pleased to be working with T-Mobile to offer mobile Hotspots for check-out.

• The mobile Hotspots may be checked out at all ABQ-BernCo Library locations.
• Customers must have a valid ABQ-BernCo Library card.
• Hotspots may be checked out by adult cardholders with full access accounts, in good standing.
• Hotspots can be checked out for 3 weeks.
• Hotspots are not eligible for renewal.
• All components (Hotspot, charger, cord, and piece case) must be present upon return for the library to consider the item checked in.
• Instruction cards are included with the hotspots.
• Replacement for the Hotspot is $120.
• Hotspots must be returned to a staff member at the Circulation Desk.

Museum Discovery Pass Program 
Check the catalog (a keyword search of "family pass" will bring up all of them) or call a library branch and ask them to check the library catalog - the passes are first come, first served, and you cannot place holds. If the pass you're looking for is not currently available, keep checking the Museum Discovery Pass LibGuide for updates on new program dates!

• Albuquerque International Balloon Museum - Current program has ended, new program dates are pending.
• Albuquerque Museum of Art and History - Passes available through August 31, 2017.
• Explora! - Passes available through September 30, 2017.
• Indian Pueblo Cultural Center - Passes available through August 31, 2017.
• Maxwell Museum of Anthropology - Passes available through August 31, 2017.
• National Museum of Nuclear Science & History - Passes available through August 31, 2017.
• New Mexico Family Pass - Visit any of 15 state museums and historic sites throughout NM; Passes are active.
• ABQ BioPark - Passes for free admission up to 4 people to the BioPark will be available through December 31, 2016.

TREP Center
The TREP Center is Public Library ABQ-BernCo’s hub for small business owners, entrepreneurs, inventors and researchers. At the TREP Center, you'll find information resources curated with the startup community in mind. In addition to print and digital resources, the center is home to Book-a-Librarian. Make an appointment for a consultation with a librarian with special training in connecting citizens to innovation and planning resources throughout Albuquerque.

Upcoming Events
Programs and events at all branches of the Public Library ABQ-BernCo.


Photo credit: Library attendant. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 18 May 2016.http://quest.eb.com/search/108_1087746/1/108_1087746/cite

Big Brother is Watching You

The resources listed below aid in that cause in that they discuss a range of examples of mediated and restricted information exchange. They also reveal that the surveillance state is functioning internationally, as seen in recent revelations that malware is embedded into PC firmware and cell phone SIMs at the point of production and in the revelation of our country’s surveillance of leaders of even “friendly” nations. Most important, these resources show the overlapping uses of mass information collection for corporations and government.
~Jesse A. Lambertson, "Careful, You're Being Watched: Surveillance and Privacy"

Laura Poitras, director of the Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour, says "People are starting to understand that the devices we carry with us reveal our location, who we're talking to, and all kinds of other information." We already know that Google shows you ads, and that you can edit your settling to "control the ads that are delivered to you"; your Facebook NewsFeed also has ads targeted for your specific interests or demographic, and on January 26th Facebook announced that their Audience Network (FAN) would be expanding. Every time you download a new app for your phone, you give the app permission to access a lot of information from your device, and do you even know what the app is using the data for? Have you heard about the "Google Security Princess"? Her job is try to hack Google, to find flaws in the system before "blackhat" hackers do. There have been so many hacked sites in the last few years, from the Target fiasco of 2014 to the infamous Ashley Madison debacle last year - when you give sites your information, seems like you are always taking a risk.

What are you doing to protect your privacy and secure your information online? How is your password strength? PC World recommends controlling your digital footprint by checking your settings on social media and being careful about what you post; using different identities on different sites; and browsing privately. Also, the library has many items of interest, whether you want to know what the issues are right now or want to find out more about the history of surveillance.

Current titles

I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy by Lori Andrews

Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance by Julia Angwin

Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single Superpower World by Tom Engelhardt

Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Capture Your Data and Control Your World by Bruce Schneier

Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection by Jacob Silverman

The Rise of the American Corporate Security State: Six Reasons to Be Afraid by Beatrice Edwards 

Privacy in the Age of Big Data: Recognizing Threats, Defending Your Rights, and Protecting Your Family by Theresa M. Payton and Theodore Claypoole  

Inside the NSA: America's Cyber Secrets [DVD]

Terms and Conditions May Apply [DVD] 
 

History of surveillance

The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency by Matthew M. Aid

The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? by David Brin

The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State by Shane Harris

Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin

The End of Privacy: How Total Surveillance is Becoming a Reality by Reg Whitaker

More Awesome Than Money: Four Boys and Their Heroic Quest to Save Your Privacy from Facebook by Jim Dwyer 

 

How do you feel about surveillance, be it done in the interests of national security or by a corporation? Laura Poitras also says, "There are people who are always going to try to engage in activity that is illegal and they're going to try to subvert surveillance. But everyone should not give up their liberties and rights to privacy because some people are going to [do that]. We shouldn't stop or limit our basic liberties because some people are going to engage in criminal activities." The Pew Research Center has done a study that found "that there are a variety of circumstances under which many Americans would share personal information or permit surveillance in return for getting something of perceived value." Let us know your opinions in the comments.

For more books on this topic, try a subject search of "Privacy, Right of" and "Electronic Surveillance".

Links
Recommended by Library Journal

TorProject—Anonymity Online

Aside from listing several technological open-sourced projects built with privacy and anonymity at the core, this site is also a reference for research related to Internet freedom.

Apps/Technology 

ChatSecure

DuckDuckGo

Enigmail

OTR (Off-the-Record) Chat

RedPhone and TextSecure

Online Privacy

Last week, an essay by young adult author Kathleen Hale was published in The Guardian, detailing a time when Hale stalked a woman who had posted a negative review of Hale's book on Goodreads. Since then, there has been much discussion online about what this means for book bloggers and privacy, so I thought I'd share some useful tips I've found about online privacy.

But first, let's talk about why it's important.

As evidenced by Kathleen Hale's situation, people can find out a lot about other people online. Once you have someone's address, it's really easy to plug that address in to something like Google Maps, and not only see where on the map that person is, but you can also see satellite pictures of the house. Now, there might not be much you can do about that, but this isn't the only reason online privacy matters.

It matters because any information you put online will never go away. You can delete a photo you posted to Facebook, remove a blog post you wrote, or delete something you Tweeted about, but that doesn't mean it's gone. Why? Because people can save things you post online. Pictures you post can be downloaded and saved. Things you Tweet can be saved as screenshots. And, as the website iKeepSafe points out, you never know what search engines have crawled your information and stored it.

And all of that matters because the details you share online can reveal information about you that you wouldn't otherwise want people to have: where you work, your habits, the places to which you travel.

So, what can you do?

Use a pseudonym

Many of the things I've been reading strongly recommend not using your real name, and instead using pseudonyms online. While this might work for you on Twitter or a blog, it might not work as well on Facebook. It's entirely a personal preference, but be aware that if you use your real name on your social networking sites, it makes it just a little easier to find you. Do a Google search for your name, putting your name in quotes (e.g., "John Doe"). You'd be surprised at what you might find.

Get a post office box

Depending on how you use social media, you might also want to get a post office box. For most of us, this probably isn't a concern, as we typically don't post our addresses online; however, as the Kathleen Hale situation shows us, it's sometimes beneficial to have a post office box that you can use online instead of your address, if you need to do online shopping, if you review products online that have to be mailed to you, etc.

Don't talk about where you are

Many of us love to talk about what we're doing. We use Facebook's check in feature, we post photos of our vacations, and we love to tell our social media followers what we're up to at any given time. And while this is okay for some things--say, if you're want to tell your followers about the amazing book you're reading--it's not as okay for other things.

If you want to talk about your amazing vacation or the day you had at the zoo, that's awesome; however, it might be best to not use Facebook's check in feature and to not post about where you are until you get home. While I've known that not posting online about being on vacation is a good idea, I had never considered not posting about being at the zoo while I'm actually at the zoo. It makes sense, though. If you're posting about your day at the zoo while you're there, guess what? It's now easier to find you. It also means people know you aren't home, so you've made your home vulnerable to break ins.

Disable your mobile device's geotagging feature

Here's another big one that I hadn't thought about before. If you use a smartphone or a tablet to take photos and upload them to social networking websites, make sure the geotagging is turned off. Geotagging embeds the location of where you took a photo into the photo itself, and people who view your photo can also view the embedded location information. Tech-Recipes has a great article on how to turn geotagging off of Androids, iPhones, and Blackberries.

I think, though, that most important thing about online privacy is talking about it: what it is, why it's important, and why it's a good idea to not reveal more information about yourself than you would if you were in a roomful of strangers.

If you have any other ideas on how to protect your online privacy, let us know in the comments!