June 2006

Federal authorities have dropped their demand for library patrons’ records after a judge lifted an earlier gag order on the Library Connection of CT. “First the government abandoned the gag order that would have silenced four librarians for the rest of their lives, and now they’ve abandoned their demand for library records entirely,” said Ann Beeson, associate legal director of the ACLU. “While the government’s real motives in this case have been questionable from the beginning, their decision to back down is a victory not just for librarians but for all Americans who value their privacy.”

An interesting artifact is this National Security Letter from the F.B.I., just revealed today by The Raw Story.

David Rothman writes “I’m curious if any libraries are using the Pepper Pad these days–you know, that funny-looking linux-based gizmo with the split keyboards on either side of the screen. The price is still high, some $650 even when steeply discounted, and I’d like to see the Pad smaller and lighter. But the screen is very good, and the scroll wheel is great for both e-books and Web browsing. Full review at TeleRead.”

Anonymous Patron writes “Green Bay folks apparently love Honest Abe.

About 60 residents showed up to a public hearing yesterday, most of them to criticize a plan to sell a rare signed photo of Abraham Lincoln. The Brown County Library has owned the photo for almost 100 years. It was donated by a former federal judge who served as an attorney in the Lincoln White House.WBAY-TV Has More“

Bill Johnson, the director of the storm-battered New Orleans library system, has announced his resignation because his wife has not been able to find work in New Orleans.

Even though Hurricane Katrina savaged eight of the city’s 13 libraries, Johnson said in an e-mail to library board members that it has been a rewarding experience to work with the staff in rising to the challenges in bringing New Orleans back. More from the Times Picayune.

The New York Times has a piece on the meeting over this past weekend of a broad range of artists to discuss the “Creative Commons” type of copyright. Lawrence Lessig , a Stanford University law professor and one of the originators of the concept said, “We want to move away from a maximalist position to create a future in which creativity can occur in a protected space without taking away anyone’s rights.”

Since the introduction of the Creative Commons concept in 2003, some 145 million “creations” (including LISNews.org) have been registered. More than 100 million of those licenses have been issued in the last six months. Mr. Lessig said that blogs accounted for the largest number, followed by images and then music, although the video sector is growing.

Search-Engines writes “As Seen On CNN: The world’s second richest man – who’s now worth $44 billion – tells editor-at-large Carol Loomis he will start giving away 85% of his wealth in July – most of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”

Anonymous Patron writes “I used to have a couple of cds, videos and dvds in my school library which i left them lying around on the shelf, but recently someone donated a large amount of these items to the library and frankly i don’t know what kind of classification to adopt

Can anyone help me?
(most of them are fiction)”

Megan K Fox, Web & Electronic Resources Librarian at Simmons College Libraries, has compiled an excellent list of ways in which several academic libraries are using handheld mobile technologies.
It also includes a recent presentation at the Computers in Libraries 2006, Washington DC, March 26, 2006 “Planning for a Handheld Mobile Future”.

Access this wonderful resource at: PDAs, Handhelds and Mobile Technologies in Libraries

While FGI (freegovinfo.info) BOTM Jessamyn West was busy elsewhere this week, the regular volunteers started a number of discussions this week:

• Pt. 9: Nonlawyer’s journey through Title 44: Appropriations restriction – Daniel
• Govt Documents Roundtable at ALA – James R.
• FOIA’s 40th anniversary, future and current uses – Daniel
• More on google govt search from LLRX – James R.
• Race with the Army via podcast and call for agency podcasts – Daniel
• Breaking news: SIPP funding passes HR appropriations committee! – James R.
• Secrecy News highlights – New FOIA plans and Net Neutrality – Daniel
• Electronic Government Information:The more things change… – Daniel
• PRIVACY: Key Challenges Facing Federal Agencies – Daniel

The FDSys Blog continues to keep its promise of more current content. In the past week there was a posting explaining the coming integration of the Future Digital System with GPO’s current Integrated Library System (ILS). There was also a new FDSYS update dated June 19, 2006 that included a web harvesting update.

No FDSys related activity has been observed at the main FDSys site in the past week.

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.

While FGI (freegovinfo.info) BOTM Jessamyn West was busy elsewhere this week, the regular volunteers started a number of discussions this week:

• Pt. 9: Nonlawyer’s journey through Title 44: Appropriations restriction – Daniel
• Govt Documents Roundtable at ALA – James R.
• FOIA’s 40th anniversary, future and current uses – Daniel
• More on google govt search from LLRX – James R.
• Race with the Army via podcast and call for agency podcasts – Daniel
• Breaking news: SIPP funding passes HR appropriations committee! – James R.
• Secrecy News highlights – New FOIA plans and Net Neutrality – Daniel
• Electronic Government Information:The more things change… – Daniel
• PRIVACY: Key Challenges Facing Federal Agencies – Daniel

The FDSys Blog continues to keep its promise of more current content. In the past week there was a posting explaining the coming integration of the Future Digital System with GPO’s current Integrated Library System (ILS). There was also a new FDSYS update dated June 19, 2006 that included a web harvesting update.

No FDSys related activity has been observed at the main FDSys site in the past week.

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.

Walter Skold writes “Madeleine Albright spoke of Communist and Nazi repression in her native Czechoslovakia and then, quoting Jose Marti, defended the right of Cubans to start and maintain libraries independent of State control. She reminded the ALA, which is considering the issue of Cuba in Council, that “Cuba is a country where basic freedoms are denied.”

The Times-Picayune covered the story in NOLA
Here“