June 2004

Northeast OHIO Library 24 hours daily Reference

Search Guy spotted a Cleveland.com Piece on Ieleene’s ol’ stompin’ grounds.

“In Northeast Ohio, the public library never closes. They say the Clevenet library consortium’s KnowItNow24x7 service has a reference librarian always standing by, ready to answer your online question.

That doesn’t mean you can bring a blanket, snuggle up on one of those comfy chairs and read Dr. Phil books till sunrise.

The buildings need to close (after all, the FBI needs that time to search our library-checkout records).

Library Book Thief Heading to Prison

This should serve as an example to would-be book thieves…

“A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to six years in prison for stealing library books from the University of Oregon and selling them on eBay.” The bad part about it is, in some instances of other thefts, his mother was his accomplice… Read More.

SOFA, so good with the First Amendment

Fang-Face writes The First Amendment Center, with American Journalism Review magazine, did the 2004 national State of the First Amendment survey. One thousand two respondents were contacted by telephone between 06 May and 06 Jun 2004. The sampling error is plus-or-minus 3%. Among key findings in the 2004 survey:

  • In response to a general question, 58% say current government regulation on broadcast television with regard to references to sexual activity is about right, with 16% saying there is too much and 21% saying there is too little regulation.
  • But when asked more specific questions, 49% would extend that authority beyond the existing 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. time frame to also include late-night and overnight programs. And even though cable programming today is exempt from FCC standards applied to broadcasters, 54%, would support permitting the same 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. regulations to apply to cable television, with 45% in favor of applying such regulation around-the-clock.
  • Parents, by wide majority — from 71% to 87% — are seen as having the main responsibility to keep children from seeing “inappropriate material” on television, radio, movies or printed material. Survey respondents ranked the content providers — programmers, movie producers or theater owners and publishers — as the second-most-responsible group, with government running a distant third or fourth choice.
  • Even as 67% of those responding to the survey said that the nation’s educational system does a fair-to-poor job of teaching students about the First Amendment, 72% disagreed that a high school student should be allowed to wear a T-shirt with a message or picture that might be offensive to others.

You can see the Foreword to the 2004 report by Gene Policinski; or this analysis of the survey report by Paul K. McMasters; or the Associated Press article all of which are minor variations on a theme. The Report itself, in .PDF can be found here.

Fang-Face writes The First Amendment Center, with American Journalism Review magazine, did the 2004 national State of the First Amendment survey. One thousand two respondents were contacted by telephone between 06 May and 06 Jun 2004. The sampling error is plus-or-minus 3%. Among key findings in the 2004 survey:

  • In response to a general question, 58% say current government regulation on broadcast television with regard to references to sexual activity is about right, with 16% saying there is too much and 21% saying there is too little regulation.
  • But when asked more specific questions, 49% would extend that authority beyond the existing 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. time frame to also include late-night and overnight programs. And even though cable programming today is exempt from FCC standards applied to broadcasters, 54%, would support permitting the same 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. regulations to apply to cable television, with 45% in favor of applying such regulation around-the-clock.
  • Parents, by wide majority — from 71% to 87% — are seen as having the main responsibility to keep children from seeing “inappropriate material” on television, radio, movies or printed material. Survey respondents ranked the content providers — programmers, movie producers or theater owners and publishers — as the second-most-responsible group, with government running a distant third or fourth choice.
  • Even as 67% of those responding to the survey said that the nation’s educational system does a fair-to-poor job of teaching students about the First Amendment, 72% disagreed that a high school student should be allowed to wear a T-shirt with a message or picture that might be offensive to others.

You can see the Foreword to the 2004 report by Gene Policinski; or this analysis of the survey report by Paul K. McMasters; or the Associated Press article all of which are minor variations on a theme. The Report itself, in .PDF can be found here.

High Court ruling boosts Internet filters

conservator writes “An Associated Press article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer states that the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion striking down the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) is simultaneously a fairly strong endorsement of the effectiveness of filtering software. The Court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, provides ample evidence for this assertion.”

Although filtering software is not a perfect solution because it may block some materials not harmful to minors and fail to catch some that are, the Government has not satisfied its burden to intro-duce specific evidence proving that filters are less effective.

Nicholson Baker moves from taking on libraries to taking on Bush

ffirehorse writes “According to an article in the British newspaper The Independent, Nicholson Baker, who spent much of the 1990s railing against libraries and librarians for real or imagined offenses against old-fashioned card catalogs, old runs of original-edition newspapers, and weeded books, has written a new novel consisting of two characters talking for 115 pages about ways to assassinate George W. Bush.”

Clinton Nears 1 Million Book Mark

According to Bill Clinton’s publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Clinton’s memoir book, “My Life,” has sold over 900,000 copies in the US and sales are expected to reach the 1 million mark by the week’s end. The number doesn’t include international sales. The book is in its third printing. Read More.