MORE 'ACCESS-TO-INFORMATION' POSTS
New CRS Report: Federal Depository Library Program: Issues for Congress
| Digital Preservation, Journal Articles, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Preservation
Direct to Full Text CRS Report (22 pages; PDF) via Federation of American Scientists Authors R. Eric Petersen Specialist in American National Government Jennifer E. Manning Information Research Specialist Christina M. Bailey Information Research Specialist Summary Congress established the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to provide free public access to federal government information. The program’s […]
New from the Colorado Library Research Service: Every year, LRS collects information from Colorado public libraries on challenges to their materials and services. 66 challenges were reported in 2010, with challenges to Internet sites and videos both surpassing books for the first time. Read the Complete Report (4 pages; PDF) Includes 4 charts. Also New […]
Egypt's National Library Seeks to Improve Access to Information
| Archives and Special Collections, Libraries, National Libraries
From Ahram Online: The National Library and Archives (NLA) recently announced plans to modernise the administration of the Egyptian National Library and improve access to information countrywide. [Clip] Firstly, the NLA aims to bring all of Egypt’s libraries under the National Library’s umbrella within a four-year period, along with standardising regulations governing all library operations. […]
Reference: Money in Government: MapLight's Launches Topic Pages, Search for Bills by Issue Area
| Data Files, News
From a MapLight News Release: MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that reveals money’s influence on politics, is pleased to announce the launch of its newest transparency tool, Topic Pages, during Sunshine Week. The new tool allows journalists and citizens to search for and track bills by issue area in the U.S. Congress and in the […]
From WBUR (Boston): The highest court in Massachusetts has rejected two challenges to a pilot project that continuously streams live, unedited court proceedings from one of the busiest courtrooms in Massachusetts. The OpenCourt project, run by WBUR, began in May with cameras recording and streaming live over the Internet from Quincy District Court. Direct to […]
Wisconsin: Libraries on the Front Lines of Advocating for Freedom of Information
| Journal Articles, Libraries, Open Access, Public Libraries
From The Oshkosh Northwestern: The Forrest R. Polk Library at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh serves as a repository for state and federal documents, including papers on government funded research and records from legislative hearings.”One of the major battles being fought now is in the area of open access to research funded by the federal government […]
Access to Information: Carnegie Mellon Performs First Large-Scale Analysis of "Soft" Censorship of Social Media in China
| News
From the CMU News Release: Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science analyzed millions of Chinese microblogs, or “weibos,” to uncover a set of politically sensitive terms that draw the attention of Chinese censors. Individual messages containing the terms were often deleted at rates that could vary based on current events or geography. […]
Web Version of List ||| Download Full Text Report (With Country Profiles) (72 pages; PDF) From a Summary: Two countries, Bahrain and Belarus, have been moved from the “under surveillance” category to the “Enemies of the Internet” list, joining the ranks of the countries that restrict Internet freedom the most: Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North […]
UPDATE: Google and Facebook Comply with Indian Court Orders (via OpenNet Initiative) From the The Wall St. Journal (via Google News): A person familiar with the matter said Google removed content from its search service, YouTube video site and Blogger after receiving an order to do so from Judge Mukesh Kumar of a New Delhi district […]
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Seattle Public Library has a long list of rules on things you can’t do in the library, to ensure the “comfort and safety” of staff and patrons. You can’t eat, sleep, look like you’re sleeping, be barefoot, be too stinky, talk too loudly, have a ringing cell phone, or make […]
