Category: access

Here’s a summary of events surrounding the Department of Justice’s order to destroy government repository documents, and their subsequent rescinding of that order. I’m happy to note that my Senator who is the ranking Senator on the Judiciary Committee is one of the co-signers on a letter [pdf] asking Ashcroft exactly what the DoJ was up to.

Cardiff libraries [in Wales, in the UK] finds that patrons can not get to the web page for the city’s Mardi Gras event because SmartFilter — the same filter mandated in all of Georgia’s schools and libraries — thinks that the site is pornography. The site URL does have the word “gay” in it, though the page itself is completely family friendly. Librarian.net is characterized as “politics/opinion” by the newer SmartFilter and “politics/religion” by the older version. Check your own URL. [infothought]

Please read what the LibraryLaw Blog has to say about being in compliance with some arcane copyright law requirements. Does your library have someone designated to receive copyright complaints?

If you were a government depository library that destroyed those DoJ documents when they asked you to, and then they changed their mind, and now you’d like fresh copies, there’s a page up on the DoJ web site where you can order them. In case you were wondering what all the hubbub is about forfeiture lately, this site will give you an activist overview of the controversy.

Is removing a stacks wing to make a public library more accessible the same as turning a church into condos? A storm is brewing over the Amesbury Public Library in Massachusetts.