Information Ethics Roundtable 2015 – CFP
Information Ethics Roundtable 2015 University of Wisconsin Madison April 9th & 10th Theme: Transparency and Secrecy Information and the CFP here…
Category: Government Information
U.S. sought to edit the historical record of a court proceeding
This news from the Electronic Freedom Foundation: UNSEALED: The US Sought Permission To Change The Historical Record Of A Public Court Proceeding A few weeks ago we fought a battle for transparency in our flagship NSA spying case, Jewel v. NSA. But, ironically, we weren’t able to tell you anything about it until now. On … Read more U.S. sought to edit the historical record of a court proceeding
Ryer Island Geographic Information Controversy
In the Sacramento River Delta, just a short drive to the south of where I live, there is an area with some confusion regarding the official geographic information that has been disseminated about it. There are two islands named Ryer Island, and because of some errors in the past, the one that is populated is … Read more Ryer Island Geographic Information Controversy
Important Petition for Access to Government Information
Message from Free Government Information: A convergence of several things — the White House’s new policy on Open Access to federally funded scientific information, the NAPA Report on the GPO, the CASSANDRA Letter to the Public Printer, Aaron Swartz’ long work with open govt and open access and his tragic suicide and Sunshine Week among … Read more Important Petition for Access to Government Information
ALEC Exposed, and some food for thought
I want to provide a link to some admirable and important work being done by the Center for Media and Democracy: ALEC Exposed. (ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that serves as a clearing house for model state government legislation written to further the interests of corporations.) The work of the Center … Read more ALEC Exposed, and some food for thought
An Illinois Man Is Facing 75 Years In Jail For Filming Police (video)
Not exactly a library issue, but one which rests on the same ideals. It seems urgent to me that we legalize making video recordings of on-duty police officers. (Only illegal in some states.)
Federal Depository Library Program in jeopardy
Citizens, though ye may be weary, please read this item from the ALA Washington Office: BATTLE FRONT: Federal Depository Library Program….
Daniel Ellsberg interviewed by ALA’s Leonard Kniffel
Daniel Ellsberg spoke at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans this summer, about the current world situation and libraries. ALA’s Leonard Kniffel followed up with this on-camera interview.
Turning the Reference Desk into a Reference Bureau
Librarians have responded to the internet and other technologies that have reduced people’s demand for our services in a couple of complementary ways over the past 20 years or so (or more). On the one hand, we have pointed out all of the reasons that libraries are still needed and still heavily used, and on … Read more Turning the Reference Desk into a Reference Bureau
Professors’ email may be public
No comment about this or predictions about where the case may be headed or whether there will be broader implications for privacy down the road, except to say to anyone out there who uses an email account set up by a public university: Best to keep as much as possible on your own private email … Read more Professors’ email may be public
A whole other basket of FOIA exceptions – statutes
Susan Maret sent an interesting link to the PLG listserv to an article about statutes that create new exemptions to FOIA. If you’re interested in access to government information, this is something you should be aware of.
Good summary of librarians’ discussion of Wikileaks to date
I recommend a post by James Jacobs on the freegovinfo.info site and the comments following it for a good summary of the debate over Wikileaks within the library community.
NYRB blog: WikiLeaks in the Moral Void
Christian Caryl has an insightful post on the NYRB blog, “WikiLeaks in the Moral Void.” As he astutely says about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, In practical terms it seems to boil down to a policy of disclosure for disclosure’s sake. This is what the technology allows, and Assange has merely followed its lead. I don’t … Read more NYRB blog: WikiLeaks in the Moral Void
Petition to support NARA’s investigation into CIA destruction of records pertaining to torture sites
Recently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) decided to not bring criminal charges against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the destruction of federal records: videotapes of the torture of detainees at CIA black sites. The destruction of these records is a clear violation of the Federal Records Act, which DOJ should have pursued. The decision … Read more Petition to support NARA’s investigation into CIA destruction of records pertaining to torture sites
Terrorists meeting at the Capitol Building today? Government information and alternative media
I was discussing the free press with a Russian friend once, and she told me that the main difference between Soviet Russia and the contemporary USA was that Russians knew they were being lied to, while Americans have naively believed that what the news says is the truth. Amusingly, right wing skeptics are presently doubting … Read more Terrorists meeting at the Capitol Building today? Government information and alternative media
Chris Hedges on Howard Zinn’s FBI file
By the end of the file one walks away with a profound respect for Zinn and a deep distaste for the buffoonish goons in the FBI who followed and monitored him. There is no reason, with the massive expansion of our internal security apparatus, to think that things have improved. There are today 1,271 government … Read more Chris Hedges on Howard Zinn’s FBI file
New Yorker article on WikiLeaks
There was a good article about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Paul Assange, by Raffi Khatchadourian, in the June 7 issue of the New Yorker.
C-SPAN puts entire video archive on the web
This is big news for anyone dealing with politics or gov docs collections. The New York Times is reporting today that C-SPAN has made its entire archive of programming freely available on its website. The archive contains 160,000 hours of programming. It seems that this will be a major resource for studying domestic politics in … Read more C-SPAN puts entire video archive on the web
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer will not be in attendance
Something is happening in Minnesota that is worth noting if you’re interested in the public sphere. There is a mining project in the Iron Range that is awaiting state approval. It would be the first mining project in the Iron Range that would mine copper and precious metals instead of the usual iron that has … Read more Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer will not be in attendance
New from Litwin Books: Library of Walls
Library of Walls: The Library of Congress and the Contradictions of Information Society Author: Samuel Gerald Collins Price: $32.00 Published: April 2009 ISBN: 978-0-9802004-2-3 Printed on acid-free paper “The experience [of reading this book] was something akin to watching a reality show featuring Jorge Luis Borges, Marshall McLuhan, Michel Foucault, Lewis Mumford, and Paul Virilio … Read more New from Litwin Books: Library of Walls