November 1999

madcow writes “The State department wants information to be free according to this article at ABC. “The State Department announced plans Tuesday to step up a campaign to combat efforts by foreign governments to restrict use of the Internet. At a news conference, Josette Shiner, a top State Department trade expert, called the Internet “the greatest purveyor of news and information in history” but said too often the flow is blocked by government censors.

Shiner announced the formation of a task force that will consider, among other issues, the foreign policy aspects of Internet freedom, including the use of technology to restrict access to political content. (…) Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky said a U.S. team was en route to China on Monday to discuss the issue with Chinese authorities. ”
Looks like John Battelle is getting his wish….”

Daniel writes “As we welcomed FGI’s first guest blogger, the volunteers at Free Government Information (http://freegovinfo.info/) began the discussions listed below. We hope you will join us and add to the conversation. Remember, you can always comment without registering.

• New Navy Web policy includes remarks on blogging – Daniel
  
• NSF understands what GPO doesn’t seem to – Daniel
• Michele McGinnis, FGI’s guest blogger for February – James R.
• Sprehe on FOIA Executive Order – James A.
• Keeping current on government secrecy – James R.
• Review of FirstGov’s new search engine & limits of search – Daniel
• Vinton Cerf on Google, Government Information, Metadata, and more – James A.

If you use Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) or some other RSS Reader, consider subscribing to the FGI Feed at http://freegovinfo.info/blog/feed to get FGI stories as they are posted.

No activity was observed this week at either the main FDSys web site or on the FDSys blog.”

Strong Words Of Praise for the Google library project from Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan. She says beyond the emerging legal challenges, we must not lose sight of the transformative nature of Google’s plan — or the good that can come from it. “Imagine what this means for scholars, school kids and you, who, until now, might have discovered only a fraction of the material written on any subject. Or picture a small, impoverished school — in America or anywhere in the world — that does not have access to a substantial library but does have an Internet connection.”

slashgirl writes “‘Rockbound, a 1928 novel by little-known author Frank Parker Day, has emerged victorious in CBC’s annual Canada Reads book battle.’

Rest of the story here.“

Anonymous Patron writes “Here’s A Good PR Lesson from a small town paper in the UP of MI. Puppets are helping Lakeview School third graders improve their reading skills.

Lakeview librarian Gina Sorensen, who came up with the puppet project, has assigned six groups of third graders to work together to put on a puppet show. Each show is based on various “fractured” fairy tales. The scripted puppet shows are derived from the classic fairy tales, but a twist has been added to each story.

Includes exciting action photo!”

Jay writes “‘Rebutting the newspaper’s anti-library campaign’ is a letter submitted in response to a recent editorial about furnishings for the new library. The article, entitled: “To sit or not to sit: The $329,000 question,” appeared in The Daily Dispatch on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005.

Jay writes “‘Rebutting the newspaper’s anti-library campaign’ is a letter submitted in response to a recent editorial about furnishings for the new library. The article, entitled: “To sit or not to sit: The $329,000 question,” appeared in The Daily Dispatch on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005.

(I also work at the Abington Township Public Library part-time, an extremely busy library with a variety of information needs such as research information for science projects , scholarly information for term paper projects by college students, health information needs by senior citizens and other community residents, Internet research help and various school related projects that the users have. The library has internet access for several years but still the reference desk is busy with questions. Users need expert help to use not only the library’s online catalog more efficiently to find the books on library shelves but also need help in searching the Internet more efficiently to locate the information they need from millions of web sites.
We must support our libraries in whatever way we can to show that they are being used heavily by the users.)

A man accused of exposing himself to two young girls at Fairfax County (VA) libraries this past week, has been arrested after one of the girls alerted library staff. More here at ABC7 news. Also of interest are the comments that accompany the story.

Because of cell phones, it may be harder for flashers to get away with public activity. This guy’s career is definitely over.

librarydragon1 writes “Just got this from our library system lisserve If your vendor is Ingram, and you’re expecting the new HP book to to be out for your patrons this Saturday, don’t hold your breath:
“Hi, all. I just had a disturbing conversation with Customer Service at
Ingram Books. Apparently, if you have pre-ordered less than 10 copies of
Harry Potter from them, they will not deliver on time for Saturday’s release
date. I was told that they will be shipped on Friday for Monday delivery.
When I mentioned that I have received every other title in the series
early, they said that “this is the way we’re doing it this time.” Needless
to say, I am quite vexed! I thought I would pass it along for you
information.””

Suzanne writes “A library trustee in Guilderland, NY, wants to put labels on YA novels that have “racy” content. He says he doesn’t object to the descriptions of sex, just that books containing the descriptions are available to young teens.
If all these attempts at library labeling and restrictions continue and are successful, I envision future libraries being made up of lots of little rooms, each with a bouncer at the door. More from the
Times Union. =366220&category=REGION&newsdate=6/2/2005″

Kathleen writes “Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, First Lady of Pennsylvania has stated, “The only way to hold on to our freedom is to give it away — and liberally — to those who come after us. In your own sphere of influence, in your own way, I invite you to join with me and give back meaning to the word “citizen.” Concerned by a recent study that demonstrates a decline in understandidng of the First Amendment, Judge Rendell advocates citizenship education.

“The Future of the First Amendment,â€? found that educators are failing to give high school students an appreciation of the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and a free press. The study by researchers from the University of Connecticut questioned more than 100,000 high school students, nearly 8,000 teachers, and more than 500 administrators and principals.”