Government investigates libraries
If digital government information is only available to the public through government-controlled web servers, will the government examine what people are reading? A recent study by the American Library Association may have some bearing on this question. As reported by the NY Times, law enforcement officials "made at least 200 formal and informal inquiries to libraries for information on reading material and other internal matters since October 2001." This raises the question: If the government is willing to examine what people read when it is difficult for them to do so, what will constrain them doing so when it is much easier to examine their own logs of web usage? Libraries Say Yes, Officials Do Quiz Them About Users. By Eric Lichtblau, New York Times June 20, 2005 Monday Late Edition - Final, Section A; Column 5; National Desk; Pg. 11. Also available here: U.S. libraries say agents are prying. By Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times International Herald Tribune, Tuesday, JUNE 21, 2005. Continue reading
Bill would privatize some USGS data
Congress Seeks to Privatize Some USGS Water Activities by Kris Christen. Chemistry.org, American Chemical Society. Reprinted from Environmental Science & Technology, June 8, 2005.
More of the data collection and analysis work conducted through the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) cooperative water program could be privatized under language in the U.S. House of Representative’s Department of the Interior fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill. Supporters of the privatization language say that it would stop USGS from competing with the private sector, but many environmental managers fear that important data collection efforts would be weakened.Continue reading
First in the nation state government podcast?
The Delaware Public Archives, part of the Delaware State Government does a podcast of its This Day in Delaware Historyseries. To my limited knowledge, this is the only state government sponsored podcast out there. Does anyone know of others? It would be nice if the Government Printing Office could start doing podcasts of either Bruce James or Judy Russell giving us a five minute rundown each week of new developments at GPO and/or the Federal Depository Library Program. Or even have the folks at the Office of Innovation and New Technology create a blog for them. Continue reading
EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced its New Legal Guide for Bloggers. This document informs bloggers of their legal rights including libel law, copyright law, and political advocacy. Continue reading
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) restores documents to their library
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is restoring public access to more than 70,000 additional documents after reviewing them for security sensitivity. The documents will be available NRC's on-line public library, ADAMS. NRC press release here Continue reading