John Sulston has died at the age of 75; I worked with him through the Wellcome Sanger institute, where he undertook the Human Genome Project, where a fully sequenced human genome was decoded and published as open-access science that anyone could study and use. Read the rest

Please join me, Brewster Kahle and our special guests for a big Access To Knowledge event about India on June 14th at the Internet Archive. Here's why you should come if you're in town: Read the rest

Our next guestblogger is the incomparable activist geek librarian Jessamyn West, who, along with other library-hackers like Jenny Levine are part of a movement to redefine librarianship in the information age. I've been enjoying Jessamyn's projects and thoughts for years and it's a delight to have her here. Here's her official bio:

I'm a library technologist working in rural Vermont teaching people on the back end of the digital divide how to use computers.

I also help run MetaFilter.com, especially Ask MetaFilter and travel around the world talking about library technology issues. My blog, librarian.net talks a lot about the intersection of libraries, technology and politics.

I'm grumpy about the USA PATRIOT Act, threats to open access and bad laws shaping bad culture.

I like moss, snowshoeing, old books and the color orange.

Not only that, but she co-edited Revolting Librarians Redux, one of the most exciting books I've read in the past ten years.

Welcome, Jessamyn! Read the rest