From news.admin Mon Dec 10 20:51:22 1990
Path: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!ists!yunexus!davecb
From: davecb@yunexus.YorkU.CA (David Collier-Brown)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: liability of allowing news reading
Message-ID: <18842@yunexus.YorkU.CA>
Date: 10 Dec 90 20:51:55 GMT
References: <1990Dec10.175530.23753@cs.wayne.edu> <1990Dec10.193339.5349@zoo.toronto.edu>
Organization: York U. Computing Services
Lines: 49

henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>However, being a university, you probably also have firm policy commitments
>to freedom of speech, which may limit the effects of the rules you mention.
>It can be argued that discrimination and harassment are acts against people,
>and words are not acts unless they are targeted at specific people.  Of
>course, there are people who see "sexual harassment" in almost anything...

  Most universities already have an agreed policy, usually set up by
their library.  The CLA (Canadian Library Association) policy is:

                        Canadian Library Association
                      Statement on Intellectual Freedom

   All persons in canada have the fundamental right, as embodied in the
nation's Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to
have access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual
activity, and to express their thoughts publicly.  This right to
intellectual freedom, under the law, is essential to the health and
development of Canadian society.

    Libraries have a basic responsibility for the development and
maintenance of intellectual freedom.

    It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access
to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those
which some some elements of society may consider to be unconventional,
unpopular or unacceptable.  To this end, libraries shall acquire and make
available the widest variety of materials.

    It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee the right of free
expression by making available all the library's public facilities and
services to all individuals and groups which need them.

     Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these
responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and
groups.

     Both employees and employers in libraries have a duty, in addition to
their institutional responsibilities, to uphold these principles.


Adopted 1974, amended 1983 and 1985.

--dave
--
David Collier-Brown,  | davecb@Nexus.YorkU.CA, ...!yunexus!davecb or
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