=============== ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/CAF/faq/netnews.reading =============== q: Should my university remove (or restrict) Netnews newsgroups because some people find them offensive? If it doesn't have the resources to carry all newsgroups, how should newsgroups be selected? a: Material should not be restricted just because it is offensive to some. In 1989, Stanford University banned rec.humor.funny. The ban was lifted after a university committee recommended that newsgroups be selected according to library policy. In other words, removing a newsgroup is equivalent to banning a magazine from an academic library. The principles of intellectual freedom developed by libraries can (and should, in my opinion) be applied to the administration of information material on computers. These principles are explained in such American Library Association documents as the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, and the Intellectual Freedom Statement. With the permission of the American Library Association, these documents and others are available on-line. Many of these documents deal with controversial material and material selection policy. For example, article 2 of the Library Bill of Rights says: "Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval". The ALA Statement on Diversity talks about the importance of "materials that reflect political, economic, religious, social, minority, and sexual issues." The ALA Workbook for Selection Policy Writing tells how to create a formal policy. It also tells exactly how to respond to challenges to controversial material. - Carl M. Kadie ANNOTATED REFERENCES (All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.) ================= library/computer.ala ================= * Access to Electronic ... Services and Networks ... (ALA) An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library Bill of Rights" Says in part: "Libraries and librarians exist to facilitate the exercise of these rights by selecting, producing, providing access to, identifying, retrieving, organizing, providing instruction in the use of, and preserving recorded expression regardless of the format or technology." Also see "computer.faq.draft.ala" for *draft* questions and answers about this policy recommendation. ================= library/computer.faq.draft.ala ================= * DRAFT Q&A about 'Access to Electronic ... Networks ...' (ALA) (Draft) Questions and Answers about the ALA computer policy recommendation (computer.ala). ================= statements/bill-of-rights.aahe ================= * Bill of Rights ... for Electronic ... Learners This is the "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for the Electronic Community of Learners". It could become the first widely endorsed statement directly related to computers and academic freedom. ================= statements/cfp94.kadie ================= * "Applying Library Intellectual Freedom Principles to Computers" by Carl Kadie To appear as a chapter in the 2nd edition of _Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts and Social Choices_, edited by Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling, Academic Press. Originally presented at the Fourth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy, in Chicago, March 1994. If you have access to WWW/Mosaic, an eariler version of thie paper is http://www.eff.org/CAF/cfp94.kadie.html. The talk covers newsgroup selection at public access systems, file selection at ftp archives, complaints to the hosts of mailing lists, so-called adult material at Free-Nets, access restrictions on newsgroups, labeling TV shows as "violent", the CERT banner and privacy, and filtering newsfeeds for grade and high schools. ================= statements/stanford.statements ================= * Edu -- Stanford U. -- Netnews Selection Statements "In 1989 rec.humor.funny was suppressed in some of the Stanford University computers. After a campaign it was re-installed in those computers." This file contains 1) the "Statement of Protest about the AIR Censorship of rec.humor.funny" 2) a statement by the Stanford faculty committee on libraries 3) Notes from Professor John McCarthy on how censorship was fought at Stanford (also see "pub/academic/cases/jmcabstract") ================= cases/jmcabstract ================= Professor John McCarthy lead the effort to restore "rec.humor.funny" at Stanford. In March of 1991, he traveled to the University of Waterloo, a place where "rec.humor.funny" and "alt.sex" was banned. At Waterloo, he gave one talk on a new computer language and a second talk on "Network Publication and Free Expression". This is the abstract of that talk. (In May 1991, an advisory committee said the ban should be lifted. In October 1991, the ban was lifted.) (Also, see "stanford.statements") ================= statements/caf-statement ================= * Computer and Academic Freedom Statement -- Draft This is an attempt to codify the application of academic freedom to academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line discussion about computers and academic freedom. It covers free expression, due process, privacy, and user participation. Comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when posted to CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available on-line. (Critiqued). ================= statements/caf-statement.critique ================= * Computer and Academic Freedom Statement -- Draft -- Critique This is a critique of an attempt to codify the application of academic freedom to academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line discussion about computers and academic freedom. It covers free expression, due process, privacy, and user participation. Additional comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when posted to CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available on-line. ================= policies/netnews.uwm.edu ================= * Edu -- U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee -- Netnews These are the network policy resolutions developed by the Computer Policy Committee at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The resolutions were approved by the Committee and forwarded to the Chancellor. They were given final approval by the Chancellor as campus administrative policy (memo dated 02/23/93). They say (to paraphrase) 1) Netnews is important 2) No restrictions should be imposed without wide consultation 3) The principles of intellectual freedom developed for university libraries apply to Netnews material 4) The principles of intellectual freedom developed for publication in traditional media apply to computer media. ================= policies/netnews.uwo.ca ================= * U. of Western Ontario -- Netnews policy It says in part: "In its publications regarding Usenet, CCS should make it clear that the individual user bears the primary responsibility for the material that he or she chooses to send or display on the network or on the University's computer systems." It also specifies a procedure for dealing with challenges to material. ================= library/bill-of-rights.ala ================= * Library Bill of Rights (ALA) ================= library/freedom-to-read.ala ================= * Freedom to Read Statement (ALA) and Association of American Publishers. It says in part: "We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to reject it. We do not believe they need the help of censors to assist them in this task. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression." ================= library/diversity.ala ================= * Diversity in Collection Development (ALA) An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library Bill of Rights" It says that collections should be inclusive, not exclusive. And that materials should cover the needs and interest of all patrons. "This includes materials that reflect political, economic, religious, social, minority, and sexual issues." ================= library/selection-workbook.ala ================= * Selection Policy Writing Workbook (ALA) The American Library Association's "Workbook on Selection Policy Writing". Although aimed at textbook and library book selection in grade and high schools, it also seems applicable to newsgroup selection. It includes information about how create a selection policy and how to handle complaints. It also includes a sample selection policy. ================= library/int-freedom.ala ================= * Intellectual Freedom Statement -- American Library Assoc An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library Bill of Rights" ================= library/int-freedom.can ================= * Intellectual Freedom Statement -- Canadian Library Assoc ================= library/censorship.def.ala ================= * Definition of "Censorship" and Related Terms (ALA) ================= library/README ================= * Library Policy Statements Library Policy Archive [part of the Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) Archive [part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Archive]] This is an on-line collection of library policy statements. It includes the American Library Association's Freedom To Read statement and the ALA Library Bill of Rights. (The ALA material is made available by permission of the American Library Association.) If you have gopher, the archive is browsable with the command: gopher -p academic/library gopher.eff.org The archive is also accessible via anonymous ftp and email. Ftp to ftp.eff.org (192.77.172.4). It is in directory "pub/academic/library". To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. In the body of your note include the lines: connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/library get get where is the name of a file that you want. File README is a detailed description of the items in the directory. For more information, to make contributions, or to report typos contact J.S. Greenfield (greeny@eff.org). ================= faq/netnews.writing ================= * Netnews -- Policies on What Users Write q: Should my university allow students to post to Netnews? a: Yes. Free inquiry and free expression are an important part of a ... q: Should my university allow students to post to Netnews or have Web pages? a: Yes. Free inquiry and free expression are an important part of a ... ================= banned.1991 ================= * Computer material that was banned/challenged in academia in 1991 A list of computer material that was banned at universities during (or before) 1991. It summarizes incidents and policies at Ohio State U., the U. of Illinois (two campuses), Case Western U., Boston U., U. of Waterloo, U. of Toledo, Western Washington U., Iowa State U., Pennsylvania State U., U. of Texas, U. of Newcastle, James Madison U., U. of Wisconsin, and others. ================= banned.1992 ================= * Computer material that was banned/challenged in academia in 1992 A list of computer material that was banned or challenged in academia in 1992. The institutions mentioned are: Ball State U., Boston U. (2), Carnegie Mellon U., German universities, Iowa State U. (3), Irish universities, James Madison U., Middle East Technical U., North Dakota State U., Pennsylvania State U., Princeton, Simon Fraser U., U. of British Columbia, U. of California at Berkeley *, U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U. of Manitoba, U. of Nebraska at Lincoln, U. of Newcastle, U. of Ottawa, U. of Texas, U. of Toledo, U. of Toronto *, U. of Wyoming, United Kingdom Net, Virginia Public Education Network, Virginia Tech, Western Washington U. (& U. of Washington), Wilfrid Laurier U. (2), Williams College ** ======== * Site of an unsuccessful challenge ** College not directly involved. ================= ================= If you have gopher, you can browse the CAF archive with the command gopher gopher.eff.org These document(s) are also available by anonymous ftp (the preferred method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp to ftp.eff.org, and then: cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.faq.draft.ala cd /pub/CAF/statements get bill-of-rights.aahe cd /pub/CAF/statements get cfp94.kadie cd /pub/CAF/statements get stanford.statements cd /pub/CAF/cases get jmcabstract cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement.critique cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwm.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwo.ca cd /pub/CAF/library get bill-of-rights.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get freedom-to-read.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get diversity.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get selection-workbook.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get int-freedom.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get int-freedom.can cd /pub/CAF/library get censorship.def.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get README cd /pub/CAF/faq get netnews.writing cd /pub/CAF get banned.1991 cd /pub/CAF get banned.1992 To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Include the line(s): connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.faq.draft.ala cd /pub/CAF/statements get bill-of-rights.aahe cd /pub/CAF/statements get cfp94.kadie cd /pub/CAF/statements get stanford.statements cd /pub/CAF/cases get jmcabstract cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement.critique cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwm.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwo.ca cd /pub/CAF/library get bill-of-rights.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get freedom-to-read.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get diversity.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get selection-workbook.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get int-freedom.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get int-freedom.can cd /pub/CAF/library get censorship.def.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get README cd /pub/CAF/faq get netnews.writing cd /pub/CAF get banned.1991 cd /pub/CAF get banned.1992