IP: Free flow of information... NOT

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Art Wolinsky <awolinsky () oii org>
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 13:49:20 -0400
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Subject: Free flow of information... NOT

This was just passed on to me.  I thought it might be of interest to IP.

Art Wolinsky

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 12:05:22 -0500
From: Daniel Cornwall
Reply-To: Discussion of Government Document Issues
  To: <mailto:GOVDOC-L () LISTS PSU EDU>GOVDOC-L () LISTS PSU EDU
Subject: ALERT! Attn: users of ERIC and Dept of Education web site

Fellow govdoc'rs:

I have verified the information contained in the e-mails below by directly
contacting the Education Week reporter, Michelle Davis. The specific
information about the web site revision is:

"the department is working on a major overhaul of the existing website. They
want to remove outdated material among other things and improve graphics and
make it easier to use. In a memo sent to all senior staff, the department
said
that all information dated prior to Feb. 2001 will be removed unless it
needs
to be there for a legal reason or historical reason. However, they
specifically said that one of the major criteria for deleting information
from
the website will be based on whether it meshes with the Bush
administration's
philosophies. "

More information will be contained in an Education Week article by Ms. Davis
that will appear in the next issue.

Let me be clear. The Bush administration has a perfect right to remove
opinion
papers and official policy statements of any previous administration from
their current web site, PROVIDED this information is archived elsewhere for
future researchers. However, removal of any peer-based research that doesn't
"mesh with the current administration philosophies" is just one more sign of
the government's growing hostility to the free flow of information.  Please
consider writing the education secretary at the address below. - Daniel
Cornwall, Alaska State Library


Reply-To: <mailto:pnla-l () mail1 krl org>pnla-l () mail1 krl org
Sender: <mailto:pnla-l-owner () mail1 krl org>pnla-l-owner () mail1 krl org

Let's do something about this-- Bush wants to remove any information that
disagrees with his views from the Dept of Education web site, AND limit
funding for ERIC!

Emily Sheketoff is ALA's chief lobbyist.

Possible actions:
Write your congressional representatives (including senators), and the US
Dept
of Education, pointing out that we as librarians need this research to
support
our students' learning how to be effective teachers. Write to:
Secretary Rod Paige U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-0498

Cheerio!
Jonathan
Jonathan Betz-Zall, Branch Librarian City University 1000
SE Everett Mall Way Suite 101 Everett, WA 98208 425-353-0727
<mailto:jbetzzall () cityu edu>jbetzzall () cityu edu URL:
<http://www.cityu.edu/library/home.a sp>mailto:corby () MAIL LIB MSU EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 1:50 PM To:
<mailto:EBSS-L () LISTSERV UNCC EDU>EBSS-L () LISTSERV UNCC EDU
Subject: Education Department Questions

Dear Ms. Sheketoff,

I am chair of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section of ACRL.
Yesterday
I was contacted by Michelle Davis who is a reporter for Education Week.  I
don't believe she knew of my ALA affiliation, she was contacting me because
I
am the Education Librarian at a top rated school of education. She was
calling
for my opinion of a Department of Education initiative to remove from the
Department's web pages any references to non-Bush era education research.
The
Department maintains an extensive Web presence to assist students, parents,
and teachers in their educational information needs.  According to Ms.
Davis,
the Department has decided that information (and this is largely research
results, not opinion papers) that does not support the current
administration's views should not be made readily available to the public.
In
addition to this change on the Department of Education's site, I have heard
from other sources that a move is under way to limit funding for the ERIC
system, which is the other way that this information gets disseminated.

If this information is correct, I'm sure the members of EBSS would be very
concerned. Any assistance that your office can provide in helping me keep
the
membership of EBSS informed about the veracity of this information and the
possible courses of action we could take to try to counter this move would
be
greatly appreciated.  I'm copying this note to our section listserv so
everyone will know what's up so far.  I know you folks have many issues you
keep tabs on, and this might not be the most urgent, but it's quite
important
to us and I hope you will be able to provide some guidance.

Thanks

Kate Corby

Education and Psychology Reference Librarian
Michigan State University
Libraries 100 Library East Lansing, MI  48824
Phone 517-432-1442
FAX 517-432-8050
<http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/>http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/



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