EBSCO Industries: Difference between revisions
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Ebsco's business activities include information services ([[EBSCO Information Services]]), outdoor products, manufacturing, general services, publishing services, and real estate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebscoind.com |title=EBSCO Industries, Inc |publisher=Ebscoind.com |date= |accessdate=February 17, 2015}}</ref> |
Ebsco's business activities include information services ([[EBSCO Information Services]]), outdoor products, manufacturing, general services, publishing services, and real estate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebscoind.com |title=EBSCO Industries, Inc |publisher=Ebscoind.com |date= |accessdate=February 17, 2015}}</ref> |
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== Controversy == |
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In 2016, a group out of Colorado located obscene and pornographic material embedded in the results of scholastic searches in EBSCO databases in public middle schools. This group, which had located obscene material embedded into a benign search on "grade 7 biology", contacted EBSCO executives and was told that the obscene material streaming into K-12 digital "homework" products was protected by contractual arrangement with EBSCO's publishing partners <ref>http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen3/17a/CO-middle-school-x-rated/school-lies-about-it.html</ref>. In Colorado, Concerned Citizens for School Databases located hundreds of advertisements for "sex toy" shops, articles with obscene, sexually graphic text, images and live links to hard core pornography sites <ref>http://ccsdconversations.org/2017/10/22/205/</ref>. This group has also reported on the partnership between Hearst Publishing and EBSCO to distribute Cosmopolitan magazine into school homework databases <ref>http://ccsdconversations.org/2017/11/04/ebsco-and-cosmopolitan-join-forces-to-target-middle-schoolers-with-sex-ads/</ref>. Cosmopolitan has come under fire repeatedly for targeting minors with sexually graphic material <ref>https://www.cosmohurtskids.com/welcome/</ref>. As reported by CBS, in 2017 two school districts in Colorado, the Cherry Creek School District and Adams 12, demanded an "exclusion" list from EBSCO to protect K-12 students from obscenity <ref>http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/06/29/school-district-database-objectionable-material/</ref>. |
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In February of 2017, EBSCO was named to the Dirty Dozen List by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) <ref>https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/case-naming-ebsco-information-services-2017-dirty-dozen-list/</ref> (formerly "Morality in Media"),for its role as a major facilitator of the sexual exploitation of children. In an interview with Education Week, the NCOSE Executive Director, Dawn Hawkins, said she was shocked to find that EBSCO databases could be used to search for information about sexual terms. Some articles found in the databases, including those in publications like Men's Health, included articles with sexual, but not pornographic, content; others included active links to websites that included pornography, she said. <ref> http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2017/07/EBSCO_online_databases_filter_inappropriate_material.html</ref> Hawkins went on to say "Schools have no idea this is happening," and pointed out that administrators who sign up for EBSCO's products assume they are fully vetted and age-appropriate. She said students who see such material might assume it is school-approved and not report it to administrators or parents. In response to these charges, EBSCO attorney, Kathleen McEvoy, said "EBSCO had identified some issues after hearing of NCOSE's concerns and made changes to their processes and programs—including removing active links in some articles in the database, such as those NCOSE found linking to pornography sites". McEvoy indicated that EBSCO took the complaint seriously, but said that, "EBSCO was not aware of any instances of students using its databases to access pornography or other explicit materials" and that she believed the searches NCOSE was concerned about had been conducted by adults actively searching for graphic materials, often on home computers that don't have the kinds of controls and filters common on school computers."<ref> http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2017/07/EBSCO_online_databases_filter_inappropriate_material.html</ref>. |
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In an interview in its home town of Birmingham <ref>http://www.wbrc.com/story/35775174/could-your-kids-find-pornographic-articles-on-school-computers</ref>, EBSCO referenced changes in its corporate policies that would permit school customers to remove certain publications deemed objectionable for minors <ref>http://www.wbrc.com/story/35775174/could-your-kids-find-pornographic-articles-on-school-computers</ref>. EBSCO provided a link to assist schools with creating age appropriate database collections for K-12 grade levels, but the link was later disabled <ref>http://www.wbrc.com/story/35775174/could-your-kids-find-pornographic-articles-on-school-computers</ref> <ref>https://help.ebsco.com/interfaces/Explora/Admin_Guide/Choosing_the_Right_Databases_for_Your_School</ref>. Concerned Citizens for School Databases noted ongoing problems and that EBSCO appeared to falsely market many of its database products as age appropriate for K-12 schools and rely on the ignorance of its school customers to avoid accountability <ref>http://ccsdconversations.org/2017/12/</ref>. |
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In 2018, EBSCO was renamed, for the second year, to the Dirty Dozen List by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation following demonstrations that the steps taken by EBSCO to remove sexually explicit material and links to pornographic websites from school homework databases were inadequate. NCOSE reported locating 50 obscene articles in 50 minutes in elementary school databases <ref>https://endsexualexploitation.org/ebsco/</ref> NCOSE posted video "proof" that EBSCO K-12 homework databases contained material that was obscene for minors, and contained embedded live links to 3rd party pornography sites <ref>https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/school-resource-provides-shocking-graphic-material-children-ebsco-scandal/ </ref>. The controversy surrounding EBSCO's K-12 digital products have drawn serious attention <ref>https://protectyoungminds.org/2017/02/23/educational-library-portal-porn/</ref> <ref>http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2017/07/EBSCO_online_databases_filter_inappropriate_material.html</ref><ref>http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/23/school-library-resource-filled-with-links-to-porn-sexual-violence/</ref><ref>https://www.onenewsnow.com/education/2017/07/31/porn-found-on-educational-school-database</ref><ref>https://activistmommy.com/join-fight-get-ebsco-porn-sexually-graphic-material-schools/</ref><ref>https://https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/these-porn-peddling-mainstream-companies-are-facilitating-sexual-exploitati</ref><ref>http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen3/17d/MR-CO-confronting-porn-agenda/index.html</ref><ref>http://mobile.wnd.com/2017/02/hardcore-porn-found-at-online-library-for-schools/EBSCO</ref><ref>https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/are-school-libraries-unintentionally-providing-middle_us_597f2541e4b0c69ef705298d</ref><ref>http://ccsdconversations.org/2018/01/29/our-schools-and-ebsco-the-sexual-grooming-of-our-children/</ref><ref>http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/february/lsquo-dirty-dozen-rsquo-list-sheds-light-on-sexualized-corporate-culture</ref>. |
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James LaRue of the American Library Association, which has an ongoing relationship with EBSCO <ref>http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/ebsco-ala-annual-conference-sponsorship</ref>, has defended EBSCO, citing its K-12 database content as something that "most parents and most mental health clinicians would [not] consider harmful to children", also commenting that "...pornography has no legal definition" <ref>https://www.facebook.com/pg/clicweb/reviews/?ref=page_internal</ref>. James Duncan of the The Colorado Library Consortium, which sells EBSCO products to schools and libraries across Colorado, has responded to requests for filtering of EBSCO's school products with charges of "censorship", labeling parents and teachers raising content concerns for minors as "book burners" <ref>https://www.clicweb.org/libraries-under-attack/</ref>. |
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Citing ongoing problems with EBSCO's school products, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation has offered assistance to parents and educators wishing to confront the problem <ref>http://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/SSSL-booklet-revised-6-27-17-3.pdf</ref>. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 17:14, 16 May 2018
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama, USA |
Key people | Bryson Stephens (Chairman) David Walker (CEO) |
| Products | EBSCOhost NetLibrary |
| Revenue |  US$2.5 billion (2015) |
Number of employees | 5,000 (2006) |
| Website | www |
EBSCO Industries is an American company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. It was founded in 1944 by Elton Bryson Stephens Sr. (hence the EBSCO acronym based on Elton Bryson Stephens Company). EBSCO is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama, and one of the top 200 in the nation, based on revenues and employee numbers, according to Forbes Magazine.[1]
Overview
EBSCO was co-founded by Elton Bryson Stephens, Sr. and his wife Alys Robinson Stephens in 1944 to sell magazine subscriptions, personalized binders and magazine racks to the U.S. Armed Forces.[2] They named this "Military Service Company", and over the next decade acquired several other companies that were eventually combined to form EBSCO Industries Inc.
In 2011, EBSCO Publishing took over H. W. Wilson Company.[3][4][5]
Ebsco's business activities include information services (EBSCO Information Services), outdoor products, manufacturing, general services, publishing services, and real estate.[6]
References
- ^ "The largest private companies". Forbes. November 9, 2006.
- ^ "EBSCO Industries, Inc. - History". Ebscoind.com. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
- ^ "EBSCO Publishing and The H.W. Wilson Company Make Joint Announcement of Merger Agreement". hwwilson.com (Press release). June 1, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ^ Barrett, William P. (December 29, 1997). "Mousetrapped". Forbes.
- ^ "H.W. Wilson Company". The New York Times.
- ^ "EBSCO Industries, Inc". Ebscoind.com. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
External links
- Official website
- EBSCO Industries at Funding Universe