LibriVOLUME 50, NUMBER 1, MARCH 2000
Table of Contents
International Journal of Libraries and Information Services
Vol 50 (2000), No 1, pages 1-65
ISSN 0024-2667Editorial: 50th volume of LIBRI
Gateways to Freedom: Libraries and the New Millennium
URSULA OWENAbstract. The Index on Censorship, founded in the conviction that freedom of speech, along with the allied freedoms of conscience and religion, are fundamental human rights that the world community has a duty to guard, reports regularly on censorship in every issue of the magazine. After a brief survey of classic censorship, the author points out that the concentration of ownership in the media has affected the extent to which minorities are heard. For any concept of human rights to be universally accepted and globally enforced, equal respect and mutual comprehension between rival cultures is demanded. Hate speech, political correctness and the dangers of making exceptions to the absolute right to free speech are covered. The author concludes with the role the library has in supporting and disseminating the importance of free expression. Libraries can be places where 1) dialogue takes place; 2) the diversity of cultural lives is displayed; 3) the right to choose is pre-eminent; 4) people can be guided through information which some might find offensive; and 5) freedom of expression is taught and people are encouraged to know their own rights.
The Internet, Electronic Mail and the Academic Community in Ghana
M. OSEI-BONSUAbstract. Ghana's Internet industry is developing quickly due to private participation. Early attempts by academic and research institutions with foreign assistance aimed at promoting the use of e-mail in information provision and resource sharing. Since 1995 three Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been providing different Internet services at varying rates to over 6,000 customers. Due to the high tariffs charged by the ISPs for full Internet connectivity, many Ghanaian scholars subscribe only to e-mail to communicate and interact with people. While full Internet access is preferable, the reality is that many academics and researchers in Ghana cannot meet the high cost. E-mail facilitates communication with colleagues, but can also be used as an interface to a range of Internet information retrieval utilities to obtain information and documents. This article describes briefly some Internet tools and services accessible by e-mail and to assist Ghanaian (and other) academics with only e-mail access in its use to retrieve information and documents from the Internet.
Collection Management of Gay/Lesbian Materials in the U.K. and Canada
ANN CURRYAbstract. The gay/lesbian free newspaper press has been crucial in the fight for equality of rights for homosexuals both in the U.K. and Canada. The laws affecting the publication and distribution of these newspapers have developed differently in the two countries however. Therefore librarians in each country have faced distinct challenges. This article examines the legislation in both countries, specifically Section 28 in the U.K. and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada. It analyses the political and social climates responsible for the legislation in each country. The application of law and library policy to the Canadian gay/lesbian newspaper Xtra! West is explored through a 1996 censorship challenge in a British Columbia library. In the final section, collection management advice regarding gay/lesbian newspapers is offered, based on the results of a survey of 70 public libraries in British Columbia.
Homosexuality is not what it used to be. In scarcely a quarter of a century, same-sex experiences in the Western world have been ruptured from the simplified, unified, distorting, often medical, frequently criminal, always devalued categories of the past. Instead, they have increasingly become a diverse array of relational, gendered, erotic, political, social, and spiritual experiences, difficult to tame and capture with restrictive and divisive labels. Criss-crossing their way through class, gender, and ethnicity, a stream of emerging identities, new experiences, political practices, and ways of living together have been firmly placed on the political agendas of the future. (Plummer 1992)The Efforts of the European Union to Harmonise Copyright and the Impact on Freedom of Information
HARALD VON HIELMCRONEAbstract. The efforts of the European Union to harmonise copyright have been caused by two factors: 1) the need to adjust copyright to digital technology, and 2) the creation of an internal market for free trade in capital, goods and labour within the European member states. These efforts have resulted in directives on rental and lending rights, on harmonising the term of protection, and on legal protection of databases. These directives, although they strengthen authors' rights, should not worry librarians particularly. On the political agenda now is a Proposal for a Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the Information Society (dec. 1997). This proposal attempts to set new standards for authors' rights to control the use of their works in respect to reproduction, communication to the public by electronic means, and distribution of hard copies. The proposed rules concerning authors' rights to control distribution of hard copies will, in practice, prevent free trade with copyrighted works. Researchers may not have free access to relevant published information and ethnic minorities may be discriminated against. If the authors' right to control any communication to the public of their works by electronic means is not balanced with rules of legal deposit and public access (on the library premises), libraries and archives will face serious legal difficulties in preserving electronic cultural heritage. The general public in Europe and those from around the world who seek to know the cultural heritage shall have suffered a serious setback in the freedom to access published information.
The Influence of Attitudes on Public Library Stock Management Practise
NATALIE COLEAbstract. This article reports the findings of a study of the influence of librarians', elected members', and library users' attitudes on the availability of materials in public libraries in the United Kingdom. Using questionnaires and interviews, the study identifies various factors that affect stock management practise looking most particularly at the effect of personal attitudes on the availability of materials on subjects where strong personal views are held. It concludes that librarians are under great pressure to restrict access, and that they themselves often reduce access because they are only slightly aware of the issue of intellectual freedom. They are not used to applying professional values to library book stock management. The paper concludes with suggestions as to how stock management practices in Britain can be improved.
Obscenity on the Internet: a Challenge to Intellectual Freedom in the United States
JAMES MORGANAbstract. This article addresses one of the greatest challenges to intellectual freedom as the new millennium begins - obscenity on the Internet. It begins with a discussion of United States v. Thomas, a case concerning obscenity and pornography on the Internet, and examines how U. S. courts have dealt with the First Amendment and obscenity throughout the years. It explores the possibility of imposing a national standard for obscenity for a "virtual" community, and concludes with a discussion of how the courts may impact everyone's - especially a child's - constitutional right to receive information.
Promoting Intellectual Freedom Globally through Libraries: the Role of IFLA
ALEX BYRNEAbstract. Libraries have a vital role in the articulation and defence of the fundamental right of intellectual freedom, which is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Free and open libraries present a diversity of views, from both the present and the past. IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, has long promoted the improvement of access to and availability of information through its professional programs aimed at continually raising standards of service. But IFLA members have come to see that the international library community needs to address the dimension of principle, the right of all to access the information needed to live and prosper and the inseparable right to express ideas and opinions. In response to that recognition, IFLA established the Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) in August 1997. With support from the FAIFE Office in Copenhagen, the Committee is beginning to report on and address issues relating to intellectual freedom and libraries around the world. It promotes intellectual freedom, reports on the global state of intellectual freedom and libraries, and takes action on individual incidents. Through these activities, it helps librarians worldwide to pursue these ideals.