Lisa, I hadn't know about this so I just spend some time reading the 
items you list below. I was primarily motivated to do so because I had 
never heard of this "famous" librarian, Joe Murphy. (I must be in a 
different conference circuit than he is.)

I also was interested because I've recently joined the hardworking group 
of Wikipedians who work to distinguish between notable persons and able 
self-promoters. In doing so, I've learned a lot about how self-promotion 
works, especially in social media. In Wikipedia, to be considered 
notable, there needs to be some reliable proof - that is, third-party 
references, not provided by the individual in question. In terms of 
accomplishments, for example for academics, there is a list of 
"measures", albeit not measurable in the scientific sense. [1]

Just for a lark, look at the Google scholar profiles for Joe Murphy, 
RoyT, and for myself:

http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zW1lb04AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LJw73cAAAAAJ&hl=en
http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=m4Tx73QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

The "h-index", while imprecise, is about as close as you get to 
something one can cite as a measure. It's not a decision, but it is an 
indication.

I put this forward not as proof of anything, but to offer that 
reputation is extremely hard to quantify, but should be looked at with a 
critical eye and not taken for granted. It also fits in with what we 
already know, which is that men promote themselves in the workplace more 
aggressively than women do. In fact, in the Wikipedia group, we mainly 
find articles about men whose notability is over-stated. (You can see my 
blog post on the problems of notability for women. [2])

I greatly admire your stand for free speech. Beyond this, I will contact 
you offline with other thoughts.

kc
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability_%28academics%29
[2] http://kcoyle.blogspot.com/2014/09/wpnotability-and-women.html

On 9/20/14, 9:16 AM, Lisa Rabey wrote:
> Friends:
>
>
> I know many of you have already been boosting the signal, and we thank
> you profusely for the help.
>
> For those who do not know, Joe Murphy is currently suing nina and I in
> $1.25M defamation case because
>
>  From our official statement
> (http://teamharpy.wordpress.com/why-are-we-being-sued/)
>
> "Mr. Murphy claims that Ms. Rabey “posted the following false,
> libelous and highly damaging tweet accusing the plaintiff of being a
> ‘sexual predator'”3. He further claims that Ms. de jesus wrote a blog
> post that “makes additional false, libelous, highly damaging,
> outrageous, malicious statements against the plaintiff alleging the
> commission of sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women and other
> forms of criminal and unlawful behaviour”4.
>
> Both Ms. Rabey and Ms. de jesus maintain that our comments are fair
> and are truthful, which we intend to establish in our defense. Neither
> of us made the claims maliciously nor with any intent to damage Mr.
> Murphy’s reputation."
>
> Right now we need the following most importantly:
>
> 1. We have a call out for additional witnesses
> (http://teamharpy.wordpress.com/call-for-witnesses/), which have
> started to filter in more accounts of harrassment. Please, PLEASE, if
> you know/seen/heard anything about the plaintiff, or know someone who
> might -- please have them get in touch.
>
> 2. Share our site (http://teamharpy.wordpress.com) which includes
> details of the case and updates. Please help us get the word out to as
> many people as possible about the plaintiff's attempt to silence those
> speaking up against sexual harassment and why you won't stand for it.
>
> 3.
> onations: Many, many of you have asked to help donate to fund our
> mounting legal costs. We will have a donation page up soon. Even if
> you cannot help financially, please share across your social networks.
>
> We will not be silenced. We will not be shamed.
>
> Thank you again. The outpouring of support that has been happening has
> made this all very much worth while.
>
> Best,
> Lisa
>
>
>
>
>
>

-- 
Karen Coyle
[log in to unmask] http://kcoyle.net
m: +1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet/+1-510-984-3600