From U24803@UICVM.BITNET Tue Jan 23 08:58:40 1996 Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 15:07:07 CST Reply-To: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom , Office for Intellectual Freedom Sender: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom From: Office for Intellectual Freedom Subject: New Draft Interpretation on Electronic Access To: Multiple recipients of list ALAOIF MEMORANDUM TO: Executive Board, Council, Division Boards and Executive Directors, Division IFC Chairs, Round Table Chairs, Committee Chairs and Staff Liaisons, Chapter Presidents, Chapter Executive Directors, Chapter IFC Chairs, and ALA Listservs FROM: Candace Morgan, Chair ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee DATE: 1/5/96 SUBJ: Draft Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS on Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks Version 2 Attached is a revised draft of the proposed Interpretation. Below is a brief explanation of changes from Version 1.4 (6/25/95). Please send any comments or suggestions to the Office for Intellectual Freedom. (E-mail: Cynthia.Robinson@ala.org) If at all possible, suggest specific wording changes to address your concerns. This draft will be on the agenda of the Intellectual Freedom Committee at the 1996 Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio. Please feel free to circulate this document widely. 1. Introduction: The first six paragraphs are now identified as an introduction. 2. Introduction - 3rd paragraph: A phrase was added at the end of this paragraph to make it clear that the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS and all the Interpretations apply when libraries provide access to electronic information. 3. The Rights of Users: The order of the paragraphs has been changed to put concepts related to vendors, etc., together. 4. Equity of Access: The word "equal" has been removed from the first sentence. Several people commenting on the previous draft argued that while making electronic information "readily and equitably" available is an achievable goal in most libraries, making that information "equally" available is impossible for many libraries. 5. Information Resources and Access Issues - 3rd paragraph: The wording of Version 1.4 ("Providing access to electronic information ... is not the same as selecting ...") seemed to ignore that libraries select and purchase electronic products (CD-ROM, etc.), to add to the collection. Presumably, these purchases do meet the library's selection or collection development policy. The wording has been changed to respond to that concern. 6. Information Resources and Access Issues - 5th paragraph: Some people read Version 1.4 to mean that libraries must purchase anything a user wants, even if it does not fit into the library's mission. The wording has been changed to respond to that concern. The word "frivolous" has also been removed from this paragraph. DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Version 2 12/26/95 Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks: an Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS INTRODUCTION The world is in the midst of an electronic communications revolution. Based on its constitutional, ethical, and historical heritage, American librarianship is uniquely positioned to address the broad range of information issues being raised in this revolution. In particular, librarians address intellectual freedom from a strong ethical base and an abiding commitment to the preservation of the individual's rights. Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government. Freedom of expression encompasses the freedom of speech and the corollary right to receive information. These rights extend to minors as well as adults. Libraries and librarians exist to facilitate these rights by providing access to, identifying, retrieving, organizing, providing instruction in the use of, and preserving recorded expression regardless of the format or technology. The American Library Association expresses these basic principles of librarianship in its CODE OF ETHICS and in the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS and its Interpretations. These serve to guide professional librarians and library governing bodies in addressing issues of intellectual freedom that arise when the library provides access to electronic information, services, and networks. Issues arising from the still-developing technology of computer-mediated information generation, distribution, and retrieval need to be approached and regularly reviewed from a context of constitutional principles and established policy, so that fundamental and traditional tenets of librarianship are not swept away. It is the nature of electronic information that it flows freely across boundaries and barriers despite attempts by individuals, governments, and private entities to channel or control it. Even so, many people, for reasons of technology, infrastructure, or economic status do not have access to electronic information. In making decisions on how to offer access to electronic information, each library should consider its mission, goals, objectives, cooperative agreements, and the needs of all the people it serves. Such considerations will address rights of users, equity of access, and information resources and access issues. The Rights of Users All library system and network policies, procedures or regulations relating to electronic resources and services should be scrutinized for potential violation of user rights. User policies should be developed according to the policies and guidelines established by the American Library Association, including GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES AFFECTING ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS, SERVICES AND FACILITIES. No user should be restricted or denied access for expressing or receiving constitutionally protected speech. No user's access should be changed without due process, including, but not limited to, notice and a means of appeal. Although electronic systems may include distinct property rights and security concerns, such elements may not be employed as a subterfuge to deny users' access to information. Users have the right to be free of interference and unreasonable limitations or conditions set by libraries, librarians, system administrators, vendors, network service providers, or others. This specifically includes contracts, agreements, and licenses entered into by libraries on behalf of their users. Users also have a right to information, training and assistance necessary to operate the hardware and software provided by the library. Users have the right of confidentiality in all of their activities with electronic resources and services provided by the library, and the library shall ensure that this confidentiality is maintained. The library also should support, by policy, procedure, and practice, the user's right to privacy; users should be advised, however, that because security is technically difficult to achieve, electronic communications and files could become public. The rights of users who are minors shall in no way be abridged. (See FREE ACCESS TO LIBRARIES FOR MINORS: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS; ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND SERVICES IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA PROGRAM; and ACCESS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO VIDEOTAPES AND OTHER NON-PRINT FORMATS.) Equity of Access Electronic information, services, and networks provided directly or indirectly by the library should be readily and equitably accessible to all library users. Once the decision is made to provide access to electronic information, the user must not be required to pay to obtain the information or use the service. When resources are insufficient to meet demand, rationing service may be necessary to provide equitable access. All library policies should be scrutinized in light of ECONOMIC BARRIERS TO INFORMATION ACCESS: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS and GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES AFFECTING ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS, SERVICES AND FACILITIES. Information Resources and Access Issues Electronic resources provide unprecedented opportunities to expand the scope of information available to users. Libraries and librarians should provide material and information presenting all points of view. This pertains to electronic resources, no less than it does to the more traditional sources of information in libraries.(See DIVERSITY IN COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS) Libraries and librarians should not deny or limit access to information available via electronic resources because of its allegedly controversial content or because of the librarian's personal beliefs or fear of confrontation. Information retrieved or utilized electronically should be considered constitutionally protected unless determined otherwise by a court with appropriate jurisdiction. Providing connections to global information, services, and networks is not the same as selecting and purchasing material for a library collection. Libraries may discover that some information accessed electronically may not meet a library's selection or collection development policy. It is, therefore, left to each user to determine what is appropriate. Parents who are concerned about their children's use of electronic resources should provide guidance to their own children. Just as libraries do not endorse the viewpoints or vouch for the accuracy or authenticity of traditional materials in the collection, they do not do so for electronic information. Libraries must support access to information on all subjects that serve the needs or interests of users, based on the library's mission and objectives, regardless of the user's age or the content of material. Libraries and Librarians should not deny access to information on the grounds that it is perceived to lack value. Libraries have a particular obligation to provide access to government publications available only in electronic format. In order to prevent the loss of information, libraries may need to expand their selection or collection development policies to ensure preservation, in appropriate formats, of information obtained electronically.