Welcome Barrett Jones, Blogger of the Month for October, 2007
Hi all. I'd like to introduce our October blogger-of-the-month, Barrett Jones. Barrett comes to us by way of the IMF Library in Washington DC. Take it away Barrett! And thanks also to Cass Hartnett, our BOTM for September. Cass definitely put a human and public interest spin on her posts and showed how government information affects our everyday lives. Thanks so much Cass!!
- Air fresheners are bad, but regulations are fun
- How Washington DC shapes us all: in honor of Art Emerson
- Yellow tap water: thoughts on local government, part II
- Dead crows: thoughts on local government information access, part I
- Yes, EIS's matter! Hawaii Superferry
Barrett Jones, BOTM for October, 2007
Barrett Jones is a librarian at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. He holds an MLIS from UCLA and has worked in both government and special libraries, including the U.S. Courts and the Rand Corporation. He has presented at library technology conferences and written articles about technology for library journals. In his free time he tills the earth in his community garden plot with his wife Gabriela and plays in a noise-rock group with an unpronounceable name. [update 10/2010: Barrett is now working at the Library of Congress Office of Strategic Initiatives!] Continue reading
Lunchtime listen: “Good Copy Bad Copy”
Happy Friday! Please check out GOOD COPY BAD COPY - a documentary out of Denmark about the current state of copyright and culture. Our good friend Rick Falkvinge of the Swedish Pirate Party makes some extremely valid points about the need to balance individual privacy rights with copyright; right now, content owners like the RIAA and MPAA are stomping on individual privacy rights which is unacceptable to him and to many others. Many others on both sides of the argument make appearances on the film -- like Laurence Lessig, Siva Vaidhyanathan, and Dan Glickman (CEO of MPAA). We'd love to hear your ideas and perspective about file sharing and copyright.
Control of Presidential Records in the News
Presidential Records Act Stymied in Senate; ALAWASH Urges Action, Library Journal Academic Newswire, October 2, 2007.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) has placed a bill that would rescind provisions of a controversial executive order restricting the release of presidential records on hold without explanation. Bunning said that "the president ought to have the right to withhold any records he chooses." The American Library Association's Washington Office (ALAWASH) noted that "the records of the highest elected public office in the country, the President of the United States, belong to the people and are evidence of government activity."
Federal Judge Invalidates Order Allowing Former Presidents to Withhold Records, National Coalition of History, October 2nd, 2007.
On October 1, a federal district court judge gave historians and researchers a partial, but significant victory in a lawsuit questioning the legality of President George W. Bush’s Executive Order (EO) 13233, which broadened the rights of presidents and former-presidents to withhold federal records from the public. The judge struck down the section of the EO that allows a former president to indefinitely delay the release of records. However, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly did not rule on the constitutionality of the Executive Order itself, narrowly crafting her decision to address only specific provisions in the order.Continue reading
International Right to know week!
This is International Right to Know Week, “dedicated to the promotion of freedom of information worldwide. The goal is to raise citizens’ awareness level about their right of access to information under the control of government institutions.†Around the world, September 28th is celebrated as International Right to Know Day. This began in Sofia, Bulgaria at an international meeting of access to information advocates who proposed that September 28th be dedicated to the promotion of freedom of information worldwide. FOIA Advocates has a nice map displaying as well as what's happening in each country to celebrate this week. How about submitting a FOIA request in honor of the week? Continue reading