FC: SUNY librarian advises colleagues to restrict NRC microfiche

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Previous messages:

"U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal government"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03137.html

"GPO replies to Politech article on libraries destroying data"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03138.html

I invite Mary Bennett to reply to the list. (Mary, I'm interested in 
finding out what prompted your alert.)

-Declan

---

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 10:21:42 -0600
From: "Don Wood" <dwood () ala org>
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: ALAWON: Volume 11, Number 9

ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 11, Number 9
February 21, 2002

In This Issue: A Message from GPO

The ALA Washington Office has received the following notice from the
Government Printing office and is forwarding it to you, for your
information.

The Library Programs Service has been notified that many of you have 
received an email message from Mary Bennett of the State University of New 
York, Oswego, urging you to restrict public access to a portion of your 
depository library collections, specifically the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) publications on microfiche.

Please be advised that Ms. Bennett has no authority to make such a request. 
Only the Superintendent of Documents has the authority to request that 
depository libraries withdraw or secure publications in their depository 
collections.  No such official request has been made.

Furthermore, the NRC has not requested GPO to direct depository libraries 
to take any actions regarding the NRC microfiche.  GPO remains in close 
contact with NRC officials concerning these materials.

The U.S. Government Printing Office takes its responsibility to assure free 
public access to depository library collections very seriously.  We do not 
condone this unofficial request to restrict public access, and we urge you 
to disregard it.

******

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 14:38:53 -0500
From: "Christie Vernon" <CHRISTIE () stcnet com>
To: <declan () well com>
Cc: <mmatis () albany edu>
Subject: GPO's "Water Resources....." being withdrawn

Dear Declan:
I was forwarded a note from you in which you expressed your outrage (fair 
enough) at the feds demanding back the document on U.S. water resources. 
You described l300 libraries as 'rolling over.' [That was a forwarded 
message, not my view. --DBM]
Two things, to clarify: if the library received the gov. doc. through the 
depository system, it is always the property of the feds, and they can do 
what they want to with it. EVEN SO, libraries resist.
If the library bought the document, they are not obliged to give it back.
As a result of this order, there was resentment, resistance, and hot 
discussion in the whole library community, esp. at the midwinter meetings 
in January.
The library community is highly resistant to this sort of thing and fights 
it all the way. I won't go into details. I am sure many groups, including 
feds, wish we were more tractable!
Regards,
Christie Vernon
CPSR Activist, and Member, American Library Assoc. Committee on
Legislation.

Christie D. Vernon, Ed.D.

Editor, STC Newsletter
10 Basil Sawyer Dr.
Hampton, VA 23666
(757) 766-5835
FX (757) 865-1294

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 10:28:52 -0500
To: declan () well com
From: Peter Suber <peters () earlham edu>
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government

Declan,
        Eric Cordian writes that "libraries cheerfully complied" with 
government orders to destroy information in federal depository 
libraries.  This is unfair to librarians.  These requests anger and 
frustrate librarians, who genetically want maximum access to maximum 
information.  Compliance with these orders is definitely cheerless and 
begrudged.

For example, here's a recent story about University of Illinois librarians 
facing this dilemma,
http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=10892

Peter Suber
The Free Online Scholarship Newsletter
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/index.htm

---

[Anonymized per request. --DBM]

Declan,

Questions to ask the GPO--

* Is it true that USGS "never asked that libraries destroy the
 information"
* Did GPO offer USGS the option GPO says they give agencies
 to "request libraries pull and hold until further notice"?
* Did GPO say "they couldn't expect libraries to maintain security?"
* What committee at USGS sets official policy on restriction of
 sensitive information and was it informed that one option was
 to request libraries pull and hold until further notice?
* We are told that the "original written instructions" from USGS
 to GPO were valid. Were they also issued -- with the understanding
 of their options?

Another article on the order to destroy the USGS CD-ROM, "Source Area
Characteristics of Large Public Surface-Water Supplies in the
Conterminous United States An Information Resource on Source Water
Assessment, 1999" (I 19.7699-248 USGS Open-File Report no. 99-248)
adds to the confusion about what USGS wanted FDLP to do.

See this article--

"U.S. orders libraries to destroy key CD-ROM" By Inger Sandal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR Sunday, January 13, 2002
http://www.azstarnet.com/attack/20113RECORDSDESTROYED.html

This article claims that Geological Survey spokesman Butch Kinerney
"said his agency never asked that libraries destroy the information."

Earlier, Francis Buckley had said that Geological Survey
Associate Director for Water had followed GPO procedures and
requested that the CD be destroyed. GPO procedures
require an official request in writing and inform the requesting agency
of "recall options" including "Request libraries pull and hold until
further notice" (Admin Notes 11/15/2001
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad111501.html#3)

Those admin notes quote Patterson of USGS as saying--

 "Subsequent contact with the Government Printing Office and the USGS
 Committee that sets official policy on restriction of sensitive
 information has reconfirmed the validity of the original written
 instruction from USGS to GPO to destroy the report..." [elision in
 original]

The only document I could find on the USGS web site that seems to deal
with "official policy on restriction of senstive information" was
"POLICY -- Release of Data and Information under the Freedom of Information 
Act (FOIA)" WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 99.23
(http://water.usgs.gov/admin/memo/WRD/wrdpolicy99.23.html)

It makes only one reference to non-proprietary sensitive information even 
in the case of an FOIA exemption--

Exemption I--Matters of National Defense or Foreign Policy
This exemption is rarely used for WRD actions. Typically, information
may be withheld if there may be security concerns. For example,
classified mapping products or sensitive information concerning
international water resources activities, such as the Middle East
Peace Initiative, or potentially sensitive military information.

The ADS article also mentions that--

Advocates for greater public access complain that even though four
months have passed since the Sept. 11 attacks, formerly public
information continues to disappear haphazardly and without
explanation.

...it quotes Gary Bass of OMBWatch on the difficulty of even knowing
to what we are losing access--

OMB Watch's Web site now includes an inventory listing material known
to have been removed or restricted since Sept. 11. "It's very difficult
to maintain this kind of list you don't know what you don't know,"
Bass said.

---

Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 21:52:33 -0700
From: "James J. Lippard" <lippard () discord org>
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government

According to this document, there are a couple of such requests a year:

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/adnotes/2001/221601/an2216d.txt

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 09:47:17 -0500
From: Jeffrey Clark <clarkjc () jmu edu>
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government

Before challenging libraries on their compliance with a federal order to 
destroy conbtroversial documents, those who think like Eric Cordian need to 
be aware of one salient fact. Libraries desginated as federal depositories 
for government documents are in a contractual arrangement: they do not in 
fact "own" the documents. These remain the property of the federal 
government. So it's the government's call on this one... whether or not the 
library community would otherwise agree with restricting information in 
this way.

**********
Jeff Clark
Director
Media Resources (MSC 1701)
James Madison University
clarkjc () jmu edu

---

From: "Allen Smith" <easmith () beatrice rutgers edu>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 09:22:39 -0500
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>, dwood () ala org
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government
Cc: emc () artifact psychedelic net

On Feb 12, 11:35pm, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> The American Library Association's code of ethics for librarians says:
>
> http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html
> >We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all
> >efforts to censor library resources.

Indeed. The problem with "government document collections" is, IIRC,
that the _physical materials_ in question are owned by the US
government, not by the libraries in question. Therefore, the
government does have the right to say what is done with said materials
(except as any laws governing government document collections may
state). Note, however, "physical materials" in the above. Government
information is generally public domain - not copyrightable. Making an
electronic copy of all materials (especially, given ease of copying,
that which is already in electronic form) which comes into government
document collections would entirely remove the ability of government
to so easily later have such information destroyed - and would be
perfectly legal. As the son of a former government documents
librarian, I recommend this as a general policy.

        Yours,

        -Allen

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 06:33:28 -0600
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal government

Hi Declan,

Quick point, which will probably be made more authoritatively by other 
readers (but please keep me anon if you do print this):

The post to cypherpunks about federal depository libraries is somewhat 
misleading because it doesn't describe the ways in which the federal 
documents are a unique collection within the library. Essentially, a 
library which acts as a depository has agreed to store federal documents 
and grant public access to those documents - but it does not in fact OWN 
those federal documents.  They remain under the ownership of the federal 
government.  The comparison of government docs to "The Turner Diaries," 
"Why Buildings Fall Down," or "Heather Has Two Mommies" is a specious one, 
since those texts would presumably be purchased by the library rather than 
merely borrowed from an original owner; in the case of federal docs, the 
government is simply asking the libraries to please destroy government 
property, which is a contractual obligation of their role as depositories.

It's also misleading to say that this is without precedent.  The government 
has asked for federal docs to be destroyed in the past; the significant 
difference now is that it's asking for current, relevant federal docs to be 
destroyed, rather than outdated information.

I'm absolutely opposed to the government's attack on public information and 
on our hard-won right-to-know laws, but it's important that we get all of 
the facts straight.  The real issue here isn't that libraries (private and 
public) are abandoning their principles and destroying items in their 
collections at the behest of the government.  The real issue, rather, is 
that our government is now denying public access to information which has 
been printed and distributed with public money - information to which 
public access has often been won only after extended legislative, 
regulatory, or legal battles on behalf of the public interest.  We've seen 
decades' worth of hard-won citizen victories on government (and corporate) 
accountability evaporate, quietly, within mere months.

Hi Declan,

One additional point:  I disagree with the characterization that "Libraries 
cheerfully complied" with the government directive to destroy government 
documents.  I don't know of any cases of resistance, but I do know that 
some of the government docs librarians in my institution did not support 
the decision.  At least one of them is even a Politech reader.

I suppose it would be nice to think that some of those CD-ROMs are still 
intact out there.  I don't blame librarians for complying with their 
contractual (legal) obligations in this case, however, and the gospel truth 
is that libraries are not to blame for the government's attack on public 
access to information.  Criticizing libraries as "cheerful" accomplices is 
not only disrespectful to the many librarians who are true champions of 
freedom of information; it also distracts us from the real threat at hand.

Best wishes.

---

From: terry.s () juno com
To: declan () well com
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 00:13:33 -0500
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government

On Tue, 12 Feb 2002 21:56:09 -0500 Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
writes:
> The American Library Association's code of ethics for librarians
> says:
>
> http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html
> >We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all
> >efforts to censor library resources.

We might recall the battles in Boston when CyberPatrol marketed to public
libraries there, despite MA state law requiring adherence to ALA
standards.

I ran across a posting of the ALA code in an unexpected place recently, a
state law library in a courthouse.  It turns out that was prompted by a
judge objecting to the content of an article published in the only CT
state law journal, who in turn ordered subscriptions to that journal such
libraries are obligated to treat as an essential part of their
collections discontinued.  The corrupt judge found he couldn't directly
enforce that demand, but did defund judicial management funds formerly
available for such subscriptions.  At some of CT's state law libraries,
private donations now fund the same subscriptions, though the more legal
and ethical solution would have been disbarment of the corrupt judge,
acting in his official capacity.

That type of corruption invites the question of what effective means can
we enact to terminate judges who act out of political or personal
prejudices rather than professionally as justices?  Absent that, can we
ever hope to hold lesser levels of government responsible?

Terry

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 07:51:28 -0500
To: declan () well com
From: "J.D. Abolins" <jda-ir () njcc com>
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government

At 09:56 PM 2/12/02 -0500, you wrote:
> The American Library Association's code of ethics for librarians says:
>
> http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html
>> We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all
>>efforts to censor library resources.

Thank you for mentioning that ethics item. I wonder what would happen if a 
librarian refused to destroy the CDs or made backups. Perhaps the 
government would blacklist the library form getting further public 
documents and/or try to pull any federal funding for the library's 
"unpatriotic" act.

> From: Eric Cordian <emc () artifact psychedelic net>
> Subject: Libraries Cull Collections to Make Feds Happy
> To: cypherpunks () lne com
> Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 16:38:35 -0800 (PST)
[...]
> Maybe we need a program to certify people as "Trusted Citizens"
> in order to enable their access to forbidden technologies like
> chemistry and encryption.

I am not laughing. That is a significant likelihood down the line as 
security classification's "need to know" is being applied to normally 
unclassified public information. (By the way, this is a big kicker. The 
more traditional classification approaches assume that once a document is 
declassified or its level is reduced, most of the advantages of hiking up 
the classification are lost. Information deemed sensitive was classified 
before released to the public.

The content security concerns for public info started months before 
September 2001 with the emergency planning info from the US environmental 
"right to know" data. The approach to prevent "terrorists" from accessing 
the information was to keep the documents in certain libraries and require 
people to request access to them. The core concept was that if people want 
to see certain public information documents, they have to come forth and 
identify themselves. (At several periods in modern times, there have been 
"library awareness" programs where the government has sought info from 
librarians about patrons who sought certain types of books or fit a 
particular profile.)

Now, we move to another core concept: Don't let libraries have certain 
government documents and if they do have them, have the libraries destroy 
the records. Will the day soon come when people who purchased books such as 
"Applied Cryptography" via, say, Amazon.com to rip out and burn certain 
pages? <g>

Looking at some trends in digital rights management and electronic 
publishing (plus legal trends with DMCA and the proposed SSSCA), future 
publication of government public information might swing towards new 
e-formats with DRM that allow remote virtual redaction. For example, the 
info could have encryption keys that expire within a year and need to be 
renewed. If the info is deemed to be too sensitive for the particular 
person to have anymore, the key is not renewed or revoked. A variant could 
be a heartbeat approach where the e-document checks back to an 
authorization server.

Hackable? Yes, even if goes back to manual transcription. (Once I used a 
hand scanner to capture the screen display on another computer. Crude but 
it does work.) This still leaves legal and other repercussions.

Quick kids, memorize the value of pi to at least 5 decimal places and the 
periodic table before they are redacted fro "security" reasons. <g>

J.D. Abolins

---

From: "Richard Storey" <richards () primerafinancialgroup com>
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal government
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 10:14:07 -0500

Right.  What about the removal of, The Secret Team, by Fletchard Prouty,
from libraries across the country as well as the disappearance of the book
from book stores and the cancellation of the contract with the publisher?
This was the testimony of Prouty himself on a radio show. The Canadian gov.
made the importation of the book illegal (at the behest of Big Brother CIA,
of course).

R.S.

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 11:00:54 -0500
From: Tom Maguire <tmidsl () mindspring com>
Reply-To: tmidsl () mindspring com

Well this may seem like someone's good idea. I am sure it's
intentions were well founded.

The enemy within is the one from whom we have the most to
fear. Who is more trusted than your Postman yet what is the
definition of "Going Postal". People bent on doing wrong
will do so no matter what and will even be creative about it
from halfway around the world with no research available
just as well as from a trusted position within.

Maybe we don't need detailed nuclear weapon plans in
libraries. People who study such things should have to pass
the same muster as someone requesting a permit to carry a
handgun in NYC. You have to have a very good reason, no
criminal record, pass a psychological profile and leave the
examining officer with a warm fuzzy feeling. If there is an
ethical problem with restricting access to info maybe they
should review the NYC gun laws first. After all, the right
to arms was guaranteed.

One can only ponder the Post-Enron definition of "Getting
Layed"!

Tom Maguire
TMI Engineering

---

From: "Charles Aldarondo" <aldarondo () yahoo com>
To: <declan () well com>
References: <20020212215609.A4516 () cluebot com>
Subject: Re: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal government
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 12:50:33 -0600

On the item that got withdrawn, it seems that some of the information is
still available (which I probably got tracked for downloading):

http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/of/ofr00-510/pdf/ofr00-510_v2.pdf

Page 9 has a nice 1/2 page graphic of the US with markings of where the
points are and discusses the CD-ROM. It doesn't though provide the details
of the measurements of water flows, but enough information if any terrorist
was really interested in finding these water reservoirs. One example of it's
difficult to delete the past, because it's referenced throughout other
items.

Charles Aldarondo

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 20:00:28 -0800
From: Mike Ege <mtege () pacbell net>
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. libraries cull collections at behest of federal 
government
To: declan () well com

Indiana University memo on GPO recalls.

Lists other recalled docs since 1995.

http://www.indiana.edu/~libpers/lmt/2001-11-29_LMT_(GPD_Recalls).pdf

this issue is overblown.

mte

---




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