A Long and Winding Road for Open Access: Are We There Yet? | Peer to Peer Review

Barbara Fister, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN -- Library Journal, 10/22/2009
The occasion of Open Access Week has led me to reflect on my personal experience with the open access movement. Like many people, I wasn't terribly aware of it except as a vague and theoretical idea—a good one, but not one that seemed urgent—until my little academic library had its first real encounter with the dreaded "serials crisis." As Douglas Armato of the University of Minnesota Press remarked dryly at the 2009 annual meeting of the Association of University Presses, it's hard to consider something that has been going on for five decades a "crisis." It's more like a debilitating chronic condition.
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NC Church to Burn Books Despite Ban

From the Associated Press

Take A Look at These Resources from Pratt

The Humanities Department of the Enoch Pratt Free Library/ State Library Resource Center has put together a new guide entitled "Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read" located here.  It can also be found on the main How-to Guide page, under the heading "What do I read next?"

If you are looking for resources related to banned books, the difference between banned and challenged books, and more, this guide will get you to the right information. You'll even find a way to access banned books online.
We hope you find this guide useful and informative.

Rebecca Immich Sullivan
Job and Career Information Center Manager
Enoch Pratt Free Library

Feingold, Durbin and Others Introduce Bill to Reform Patriot Act

ALA Applauds Introduction of Bill
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 9/17/2009

• Response to administration's position
• Would revise NSLs and Section 215
• Patriot Act must be revised/renewed by end of year

Shortly after the Obama Administration announced its general support for renewing three sections of the USA PATRIOT Act, U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and six others today introduced the Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act.

It's aimed to "reform the USA PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance authorities to protect Americans’ constitutional rights, while preserving the powers of our government to fight terrorism," according to Feingold's office

Full Text of Article

Libraries and the First Amendment

McCormick Freedom Museum in Chicago is offering a kit of posters, signs, table tents, and bookmarks designed to challenge library users into thinking about First Amendment issues. Libraries that wish to host the Libraries and the First Amendment exhibit can register for a complimentary kit and access to an array of supplemental materials. In exchange, partner libraries are asked to provide the Freedom Museum with regular updates and feedback about the exhibit. McCormick Freedom Museum in Chicago is offering a kit of posters, signs, table tents, shelf dangers, and bookmarks designed to challenge library users into thinking about First Amendment issues. Libraries that wish to host the Libraries and the First Amendment exhibit can register for a complimentary kit and access to an array of supplemental materials. In exchange, partner libraries are asked to provide the Freedom Museum with regular updates and feedback about the exhibit…. (from Virginia Library Association Blog)

To inquire about hosting the exhibit, send an email to Libraries@FreedomMuseum.US