Confessions of a Mad Librarian

The Austin American-Statesman is reporting multiple threats to open records in Texas going through the legislature before the session adjourns:

Organizations representing news media and private investigators are armed with lists of scores of bills that each group says would unfairly and unnecessarily restrict disclosure of some governmental records.

Arlington private investigator Randy Kildow, president of the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators, said he's been playing defense throughout the session as his group monitors more than 100 bills relating to disclosure of government information. "Every one of them hurts," he said.

Advocates for open government say that public information is under increasing attack, particularly as records become more accessible via the Internet and people worry about privacy. Some open records advocates are calling for a study of the Texas Public Information Act, with an eye toward overhauling a law that was passed in 1973, long before personal computers and the Internet became commonplace in homes and businesses.

Posted by Eli at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank you, Berkman Center!

Kenneth Crews, founding director of the Copyright Advisory Office at Columbia University, provides an engaging review of the issues affecting authors and creators of copyrightable works, from books, articles, lectures and class notes, to software, databases, websites, schematics, drawings, blueprints, renderings, movies, songs, lyrics, sculpture, choreography, landscape designs, and many other products of human creativity. As more channels become available for access to these works, the issues surrounding control and use are becoming ever more complex.

Posted by Eli at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Government Accountability Office issued a report earlier this week on the E-rate program. Their conclusions? Not so good.

A new study issued by the Government and Accountability Office this week concludes that a Federal Communications Commission program that subsidizes school and library Internet, telephone, and computer costs has no real system for assessing its progress. The FCC "does not have specific, outcome-oriented performance goals or longterm goals" for its Universal Service Fund's "E-rate," plan the GAO says. That means the agency can't determine how far it has come in providing Internet and wireless connectivity for the nation's schools.

The report is long and has several appendices. Interestingly, it does mention Internet filtering concerns as one reason why some otherwise-eligible public libraries have shunned getting the E-rate discount:

Internet filtering requirements. Public libraries may be reluctant to participate in E-rate because of the requirement that recipients of Internet access or Priority 2 funding install Internet content filters in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act. Both of the nonparticipating libraries we spoke with cited this as a reason for nonparticipation, and ALA, based on responses to its survey, estimates that 34 percent of libraries do not apply for E-rate because of this requirement. One library official we spoke with said that Internet filters inhibit access to free and open communication. Additionally, according Internet filtering requirements. Public libraries may be reluctant to participate in E-rate because of the requirement that recipients of Internet access or Priority 2 funding install Internet content filters in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act. Both of the nonparticipating libraries we spoke with cited this as a reason for nonparticipation, and ALA, based on responses to its survey, estimates that 34 percent of libraries do not apply for E-rate because of this requirement. One library official we spoke with said that Internet filters inhibit access to free and open communication. Additionally, according to this official, if adult users want to access blocked information, library workers have to take the time to manually turn filters off and then back on, which creates an administrative burden.

(Page 32-33 of the GAO report. Wonder who the unnamed library official is ...)

Posted by Eli at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)