They are kidding -- I hope

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

In yesterday's Greenville (S.C.) News, there was an article with the
headline "New interpretation says theses are records, not research
tools."  To quote from the article:

"The Federal Department of Education has ruled that master's and
doctoral theses--research papers normally bound and put on the shelves
at schools nationwide--are student 'educational records,' much like
grade reports.  That means that they can not be checked out of
libraries, sent to faraway researchers, or called up through computer
databases without the author's permission, the News & Observer of
Raleigh (N.C.) reported."


The article goes on to say that making theses and dissertations
available for public use without the author's permission is a violation
of the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act.  Ways to comply with
the law include having current students sign a waiver, tracking down
former students to get permission, or taking authors' names off theses
(this last has interesting implications for cataloging!).

There are obviously many implications for libraries here.  I'd like to
know if this has been publicized elsewhere, and what thoughts people
have (aside from utter incredulity) on this.  (FYI--this was an
Associated Press story from out of Raleigh, N.C.)  Thanks.

Lisa Bodenheimer, Clemson University, Clemson, SC  Lisa Bodenheimer, Clemson University, Clemson, SC  bodenhl@clemson